Random Reality – American Idol – The Top 11

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I’m back on the winning track! I successfully picked Brandon to go home last week. And I was right that it came down between him and Sanjaya. So lets see if I can keep those correct predictions going, or fall into a deep slump like the previous few weeks. Lets find out as we take a look at “The Top 11″…

**NOTE** I’m writing this as I watch it, so some of the song names will be missing since I can’t look them up until later**

Tonight’s guest music mentors are Peter Noone and LuLu fom Herman’s Herbits or something like that. Peter helped the guys, while LuLu helped the girls. The theme for tonight is “The British Invasion”. Basically, this is music from the 60’s that got started by the Beatles and took off from there.

Haley Scarnato started us off by singing “Tell Him” by Billy Davis. She’s keeping the “hotness” going. And she actually sung it pretty well. Randy thought it was the perfect song choice for her. She’s back says Randy. YO DAWG! Simon calls her a “naughty little thing”. He calls it “fun, young, but a bit shrieky in the middle”. He thinks they will be talking about a lot more than her singing tonight.

Chris Richardson sang “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” by someone. This was a little boring for me, but it wasn’t bad. Randy thought it was a great performance and showed a different side to Chris. He didn’t “push” the song, so everything was in tune. Paula thought it was “sexy”. Simon thought that was his best performance so far. He had good control on the song and didn’t make the song sound old.

Stephanie Edwards “You Don’t Have To Say I Love You” by Dusty Edwards. She is not a favorite of mine, but it was an okay performance. Nothing earth-shattering or anything. Randy didn’t like it at all. Too pitchy for him. Passing on Paula. Simon thought that she has “lost her edge”. She seems to be fading a little. She’s losing “her soul” says Simon. He misses the passion from the her.

Blake Lewis sang “Time of the Season” by someone from 1967. This was pretty good. The singing was right on cue with all of the sounds he made. Randy, Paula, and Simon all agree. They heard the melody and the sounds didn’t get in the way of that. Simon says that it’s the best performance of the night so far.

Lakisha Jones sang “Diamonds are Forever” by Kanye West. Yeah, I know someone sang that song before Kanye put it into a rap, but I don’t know who it is, so we’ll go with Kanye. This was not the best I have seen from her and it was a little “off” at times, but it was good enough to stick around for a little while longer. Randy didn’t like it a whole lot. Simon says she is a fantastic singer, but she appeared 50 years older than she is. Not his favorite performance from her either. She did look good with the diamonds, though.

Phil Stacey sang “Tobacco Road” by various people. It was a little “rock & roll”, but that fits Phil. Not the best of the night, but a solid performance. Randy thought it was a little pitchy, but pretty good to him overall. Paula thought it was a good song choice for him. Simon didn’t like it that much. There was no “grit” in his voice. He thinks he may be going home or have trouble, since he got outsung by a lot of other people.

Jordin Sparks sang “I Love You” by Tom Jones and a lady before him. Yeah, I don’t like her, but it was definitely a good performance. Randy thought it was great. Paula gushes over him. Simon thought she sang it beautifully, but the song was gloomy. He wants to go jump off of a bridge now. A depressing song.

Sanjaya Malakar sang “You Really Got Me” by you name it. Why is that little girl crying? Oh, because Sanjaya hurts her ears! No really, he screamed the song at parts but I actually like that better than him singing. Randy thought it was his best performance. Randy is still in shock. He came “out of his shell”. Paula thought it was fun. Simon agrees with the crying girl. That says it all. Of course, I think she likes Sanjaya and Simon didn’t.

Gina Glocksen sang “Painted Black” by the Rolling Stones. The song was good for you. Not her best, but it’s at least different. Randy wasn’t too impressed, but it was alright. Simon thought there were “moments of complete torture” in that performance. He thinks that she had to sing a lot better than that, if she wants to move on in the competition.

Chris Sligh sang “She’s Not There” by The Zombies. A pretty good performance from him. Randy liked the performance. It started off slow, but ended well. Simon didn’t think it was the best tonight, but he liked it a lot better than last week. It was fun and a right song for him.

Melinda Doolittle finished us off “As Long As He Needs Me” by someone I probably missed hearing. Another solid great performance from her. Randy said they saved the best for last. He calls her a professional. Simon wonders if she is really as nice as she seems. It started boring for Simon, but made the second part incredible.

Another odd night as no one totally sucked. You can really divide up everyone into two groups. Some that did okay, and some that did great. But I have three groups this week, just for the fun of it. And you may be shocked by my standings this week. Here is the breakdown…

My Standings

(Rock Solid)
1. Blake Lewis
2. Melinda Doolittle
3. Chris Sligh
4. Chris Richardson
5. Jordin Sparks

(Shaky Footing)
6. Lakisha Jones
7. Haley Scarnato
8. Gina Glocksen
9. Phil Stacey
10. Stephanie Edwards

(Earthquake)
11. Sanjaya Malakar

Sanjaya was just “out there” and was like a total earthquake himself. It wasn’t that good and he SHOULD go home, but I think he will stick around for at least another week. So honestly besides him, I think there are two people that didn’t do that great that could possibly be the SHOCKING eliminations this week. That would be Phil and Stephanie. Let me explain. Blake, Melinda, Chris, and Chris are all safe. Lakisha definitely dropped a few notches this week, but she is still the favorite, so she is not going anywhere. Jordin will be there as well, because she will be the “girl that I don’t like that lasts for longer than she should” this year. Haley has got the “hotness” factor, so she’s in because of that. I said last week that Stephanie could get “lost in the shuffle” since she sings the same way as Lakisha and Melinda and is nowhere near as good as them. This week she didn’t do that well and the judges said so. Besides her, it comes down to the rock girl and the rock guy. I think Gina is safe. Phil is a tough one. It could go either way. He has the potential to be better. So because of that, I think he’s safe. So it’s between Sanjaya and Stephanie. And since I think America wants to annoy me for another weel, I will predict that Stephanie will go home this week! Shocking, I know!

Sir Linksalot: American Idol

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!