Season 8 - Top 5! Whoo hoo!

SOOO sorry I missed last week! Truly I am. But, I twittered/Facebooked all of my thoughts. It was like a blog in short blasts. :-)

OK, so here's the deal. I personally think this is the best group of top 5 we've ever had on Idol. I can honestly say that there isn't one bad singer in the bunch. Maybe that's why I've put off writing my blog until now. There's really no one to make fun of! I'm not going to be slamming anyone this time, I feel sure. So... if that's why you tune in, you might not want to read any further.

But wait! I forgot all about the judges! Yeah, scratch that. Immediately I had to pause so I could touch on 2 quick things as the judges were announced. 1) Did Kara forget to shave her pits? I mean, she threw that arm up there to wave and... it looked suspicious. I've no room to talk in this area. Not to get too TMI, but with my dark hair I can certainly get the 5 o'clock shadow going on... there. But, if I was going to be on national TV in front of millions and was wearing spaghetti straps (which would NEVER happen. Read, NEVER), I sure wouldn't be throwing my pits in the camera if I hadn't ensured those babies were smooth as a - well, a baby's bottom. And 2) What in the world is Paula wearing? 'nuff said about that.

Ok, moving on! No, wait. It looks like Simon has on a newish black v-neck T. Way to go, Cowell.

I can already tell you I'm HATING Matt's hat. Again? Really?

Jamie Foxx is the mentor. Really? For Standards week? Really? Ok. Whatev. Bring it on.

KRIS ALLEN

Oh, my - Kris is looking ADORABLE tonight. I'm going to pretend for a moment that I don't know who's going home - or already gone. I will say this: If Matt goes home, Kris is my new man. I just love him. He truly is an artist in my opinion. Can't wait to hear him. "The Way You Look Tonight". Ahhh. You know, in week one of the top 36, I ranked Kris DEAD LAST. I had no idea what he was capable of. Now I do. He's awesome. And WOW, he controlled his weird sideways jaw thing. This is good. Smoooooth. Ok, I could've done without the tempo change. It seemed weird and disjointed. To me. And... weird ending note that made me nervous. But he worked it out. Good job!

Kara = blah blah blah blah blah

ALLISON IRAHETA

Allison's hair looks a lot better tonight. But, seriously, the girl has the weirdest personality. By the way - can I just say that Jamie Foxx is actually doing a great job mentoring. Also, Allison's outfit is the best one she's ever had on in the competition. I think she sounds amazing tonight. Great job singing this song so far. This is what I've been wanting from her - just singing, not the growling, grunting, gyrating stuff she's been doing in the past. ("It's weird to see a girl that you feel maybe is going to peak soon - even appearance-wise - because she's so mature-looking..." - Aaron) Well-said, honey.

Kara is just way too hyper tonight. Calm down.
Simon is WAY off on this one. Allison was the bomb.com tonight.

MATT GIRAUD

Ok, back to Matt's hat-wearing fetish. My good friend Jonnie has a theory. Should I share it or let him share it in the comments section? I'm not sure I can do it justice... but I'll try. Jonnie thinks that Matt has had surgery to remove his mole on his forehead and the hat these 2 weeks is covering it up. He thinks if Matt makes it past tonight - no, he bet me a million dollars that if Matt made it past this week that he woul reveal a mole-less forehead next week, and go hatless. We shall see. Good advice from Jamie Foxx on changing the key. I like the smokiness of the beginning. Love his cute little dimples. Anyway. "Nooooooot if you care for me" - that lick was SICK. It was so jazzy and yummy. Randy is off his rocker and Kara is his little puppet tonight. 6 out of 10!?!?!?!?! Whatever. Shut up, Kara. I thought it was awesome. Not emotionally connected? Is that the best she can come up with? I just love him - he seems like a humble guy and I like that. I do wish he was more confident, though.

DANNY GOKEY

Ok, I'm waiting for Danny to deliver tonight. I need him to be original. I love love love his voice. Now he needs to transcend the voice into... I don't know... something MAGICAL. This is my favorite performance from Danny, for sure. When he starts out so smooth and controlled, it makes me WANT to hear him GO OFF, ya know? WOW. WOWEE. Danny has found his niche. That was UH-MAZING. I will say that was one of my favorite performances by ANY Idol, ever. Seriously. Loved it. They should've let him go last. I don't care what Adam does, it'll be hard to beat that.

ADAM LAMBERT

So, I REALLY love the song "Feeling Good". But perhaps you'll recall that every single person that's attempted to sing it on Idol has met their demise as a result. Such will not be the case with Adam, but it's a sobering thought, nonetheless. Personally, I don't care for his arrangement... and I'm so sorry Lindsey but he is terribly pitchy. Lindsey says I say Adam is pitchy every week. I thought she was wrong, but now I think she may have a point. Ha! But see, I know this song and he's not on pitch. The big note was awesome, especially the control he showed coming down from the note. Is it just me or are Kara and Paula icy to each other tonight? "We're watching the Olympics and you are our Michael Phelps." - Paula. Okaaaay.

Ok, if I'm being TOTALLY honest, I guess Matt might've been the weakest of the night... followed by Kris, my next favorite.

My favorite of the night was Danny, by a long-shot. Followed by Allison. Adam was just ok for me tonight. Whenever they play the recaps at the end of the show, I always think Adam does better in his rehearsal snip. Wonder why?

Ok, I'm gonna go watch the results show... even though I already know who got kicked off. :-( I always think it's sad at this point to send anyone home. They're all good.

Season 8 - Top 7!!!!

7 is my favorite #... So, I decided to do something a little fun and different tonight! I'm adding video! Whoo hoo!

Ok, the band is on the stage tonight and I like it! I've missed having the energy of the band. They're, like, so far away... omgah! (That was for YOU, SIL#2)

Randy's sweater is ridiculous tonight. My goodness.

Abbey said "Ugh, she creeps me out" when they announced Paula and said she was hot.

Why is Ryan wasting time tonight? He's totally stalling... I'm going to twitter him.

I just twittered him. I totally did.

"It's a hot one tonight"??? Danny has on contacts. Stevie Ray Vaughan is in the house. "You gotta work tonight, baby"??? What's up with Ryan's one-liners.

Allison is up first, singing "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Allison seemed a little nervous when she first started. Ugh, the sound mix is horrible! She is screaming parts of the song and it's literally muffling on my TV. Anyone else's? I think this was my least favorite Allison performance. She just screamed in my opnion... but then again, it's a screamy song. I'd love to hear her croon something. Or just something a LITTLE softer. Seriously? The judges are falling all over themselves to compliment her. In the past, I could see this... but now? The girl's only hope, I can buy that. But her performance tonight? Meh. I need to go back laters and watch it again...

Anoop is doing Bryan Adams, probably my least favorite movie song person. Ugh. Me no likey. Ever notice how Anoop's lip sweats EVERY WEEK? Every week! But, you know, whatever. I like his voice a lot. Ah, the Indian version of my BIL, Scott is doing well tonight. I feel weird trying to watch him while voting for Matt on 2 different phones, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Ha! "Is there a special someone?" - Ryan. "Nope" - Anoop, then he wiggled those tricked out eyebrows. Hilarious!

Oh, my. It's Adam's turn. I'm actually looking forward to him. He's entertaining. No doubt about it. I honestly love his lower register. I'm not loving the chorus, but I actually like the rest of it. OK, I'm gonna grab Lincoln and video his reaction of Adam's singing. This should be good... Lincoln let me down a little. He was so enamoured with his own face on the screen that he couldn't care less about Adam Lambert. Me, either. Next!

Katie Couric in the house.

I have a bad feeling about Matty tonight. He, too, is singing a Bryan Adams song - possibly my least favorite song ever. EVER. But then again, Part-time lover wasn't on my faves list until he sang it last week, too. So, we shall see! I've been voting for him for 20 minutes as I am running quite a bit behind... and getting through most of the time. Don't know if that's good or bad. :-/ He's singing "Have You Really Ever Loved a Woman". Well, have you, Matt? Nevermind, I don't want to know.

Ok, I had to take a 5 minute break after Matt was finished. I'm crushed. He didn't do the best ever... in fact, there were parts that were hard to listen to. But, there were moments that were BEAUTIFUL and that's what I'm choosing to focus on.

Danny is singing Endless Love. Nice song choice. He should do well. Is it bad that I don't care? I'm just kinda over the whole Danny Gokey phenom. Starts out wobbly. Wow, out of tune! Which proves what I've said for several weeks: when he's not "pushing" it vocally, he can't stay on pitch. That's undortunate, but whatever. When he gets going and pushes it, he's pretty darn great. Hmmm, anyone else notice he's wearing his wedding band tonight? I'm sure his future wife will LOVE that if he ever gets married again... I liked the harp.

Kris is next. I like Kris. I L O V E the song he chose. Will I love Kris singing the song? Dunno. Let's see. Loving it so far. My favorite of the night. But WAIT - he just had a little pitchy bobble. Oh, wow - love what he did with the climax of the song. Gotta rewind and listen again! This is a hard song to sing, I'm sure. The backup singer rocks. Go, girl.

Lil is last. Seriously? The pimp spot? Gosh, is it so so wrong for me to wish that she has an epic FAIL tonight so that Matt can stay in? Probably... but I'm thinking it anyway. Personally, I think this is the best Lil has done since the top 36... but I still have problems with it. She didn't fully committ to the gospel side of the song like Quentin told her to do. There were nice moments, as Simon said, but overall it was just "ok" for me.

They should've switched Allison and Lil in the lineup. That would've sealed the deal.

Matt sounds better in the rehearsal, for sure. What happened to him tonight???

Bottom 3 for me, personally - unfortunately, Matt, Allison and ??? I don't even know. Danny, maybe? I didn't care for his version. Or did I? Mat and Allison were the worst vocally for me tonight. But I love Matty so I take him right back out of that category.

I honestly have no idea who is going to get voted out. If it's Anoop, Matt or Lil, they most likely WON'T use the save. Any of the others, they probably WILL use it. They have to use it eventually. What's the point of waiting until their is only 4 left, ya know???

And now for the surprise! I got a wild hair and decided to record a video of my thoughts tonight... as if the written word wasn't enough!!!! Here is the link - there are a few cute cameo appearances from 2 of my 3 kids:




Until next time...

From 8 to 7 - Results Show!

I normally don't blog during the results show... but based on last night I just couldn't pass it up. Besides, I actually have a lot of opinions that rise up during the results show... and I think that should be shared.

Hmph, they made it look like Paula was doing the "standing O" for Adam and she wasn't! It was for White Chocolate. Shoooot. Don't even get me started.

Paula is wearing gloves and Simon totally has a butt-cut going on. I mean, his haircut honestly is offensive to me. It looks like a butt. Simon, you have to be made of money - can you not find a better hair dresser?

Anyway... this is probably the first time I've gone into the results show not knowing who got kicked out.

Group number - Lil choreography at the beginning is ridiculous. Poor Scott. It's weird with only 2 girls left!!! And finally, THANK GOD THEY'RE NOT LIP-SYNCING THIS WEEK!!!!

Ford Music Video: Matty has some acting skills! When they showed Danny, Scoop Deny said "Ompah, Loopah". Ha! I love seeing the contestants behind the scenes and all of their personalities. They're pretty funny.

Aw, man. Flo Rida is performing their hit song and Lincoln loves this song... but he is currently asleep behind me in the chair with his mouth hanging wide open. Ha!


Anoop is in the bottom 3! He did so great last night.
Scott is in the bottom 3! He didn't.
Lil is in the bottom 3 for the first time! Thank goodness!

I would like to say one thing about Matt. I found out today that he is in the Big Brother program as a mentor. You can read the story here:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=63934149684&h=LCUGg&u=kpHwJ&ref=mf

CALAMRI! We were all trying to figure out what it was that Kelli Pickler hadn't heard of before. When Ryan said Calamari, we all yelled it out. Kelli's had some work done on her face and we can't quite figure out WHAT. We've narrowed it down to the cheek area. Possibly cheek implants.

Scott is gone. Will they save him? I can't believe they are even debating this! Seriously??? Oh, man, Abbey is cracking me up. She is taking the words right out of my mouth. Scoop Deny and Shelby are debating with us about whether Scott could even win. They say yes (I think they're playing devil's advocate, honestly) but Abbey and I say no. Don't waste the save. He's a nice guy, but as Abbey said "Sorry, this is a singing competition, not a personality contest." Ha! That's my girl.

Anyway, it's over. Once we get rid of Lil next week, it's going to be REALLY hard to start knocking them off one by one. I mean, seriously!

The heat is turned up now. Who will go home next???

Season 8 - Top 8! From Texas!!!

Hello!!! I'm very excited to bring you my thoughts on tonight's show from big, bad Texas! I'm not exactly sure how to even present all of the comments from tonight. But, I will start with the cast of characters:

First, Shelby & Scott - our hosts!

Seriously, we got home at 6:50pm... I sat down to make my Fantasy Idol pre-performance picks and turned around 30 seconds later and this is what Shelby had done:







She is uh-mazing!














Anne and her girls were the first to show up. Anne and her husband Mark were my music pastors at my church in Nashville when I first moved there. They have 3 beautiful red-headed girls. I love this family. Mark couldn't be with us, which was a bummer, but I look forward to his 2 cents worth in the comment section!

Anne has an interesting theory on American Idol song choices. She says - and I semi-quote - that for the most part, the contestants choose music from artists they like to listen to but can't sing like. They pick these songs because they WISH they sang like this artist or that artist, but end up shooting themselves in the foot. I dramatically paraphrased there, but it's 1am so I'm allowed.

Bottom line, she sounded really smart and made a lot of sense... and I don't at this hour!


Rhonda was the next to show up - without her boys (all 3 of them, ha!) much to the dismay of OUR boys... but I digress (whatever that means).

Rhonda and her husband, Tim, have been friends with Aaron and I since way back when we lived in Texas and attended Hope Fellowship together. Tim helped Aaron and I load our moving van when we got ready to move back to Nashville, and we will never forget that. This family rocks! Rhonda is so sweet, we had to beat the comments out of her. Just kidding... about the beating part. She had a zinger or two... notice the "preacher march" comment below.







I have been friends with Emily for forever, too! She and her husband Julio (see below) had their kids at around the same time we did... except they kept going and added one! LOL.

Take note of Emily's comments throughout the night - she's quite knowledgeable and witty!













Julio is our resident rocker. I mean, look at that hair! Seriously, though, Julio plays a mean bass and is a great musician. He is very quiet but when he says something, you will be glad you listened. Even if it's about Adam Lambert.













Jennifer is another great singer in attendance - she, Emily and I had some good times singing backups for Pastor John back in the day!



















And then there is me. I don't care for this picture, but it's late and I'm not vain enough to look for another one right now.

Speaking of which, all of these pictures were taken tonight with the exception of Shelby's. I was trying to add her pic to the blog and it disappeared completely from my computer. I have no clue why or how. But the one I included was from our fun day at IKEA and that's good enough to warrant inclusion in this blog!!!

P.S. Sherry/Mimi was also in attendance and I took her picture while experimenting with Anne Marie's fixed lens and didn't realize until I uploaded it that it was blurry. So... sorry for no picture Mimi! Maybe I'll come back later and add one... :-)

After going around the room and asking each person who their favorite contestant was, we all settled in to watch the show. Scott was in charge of the remote. I had my laptop handy in case someone said something funny. We weren't positive that would happen, but I wanted to be ready. Ha! Shelby was in charge of getting the wee little ones drinks - even though she didn't really sign up for that role. I felt bad for her. Abbey and some of the other girls took their own notes, which they have yet to let us see. Suspicious!

Finally, we are ready to begin and my first thought was: This is so FUN!!!!

Ryan says "THIS is American Idol" and we all screamed and "whoo hoo"'d. Especially Scott. He's rowdy like that.

Danny is the oldest and goes first. He chooses to sing "Stand By Me" from 1980. I would NOT have picked this song for him, but what do I know? I directed our senior choir on this song the night I graduated from High School... so, you know... Danny's version kinda pales in comparison to THAT. Good beginning, he has chops. Boring middle (Simon agreed) but then good ending.

Wouldn't you be mad if you were sitting behind Paula? - Me. (because of her dancing)
I would be mad if I was trying to sing and had to look at her - Emily

Kara likes to count. Every week. They've all been smoking some Danny Gokey crack. No, not THAT kind of crack. Drugs, people. I mean, it wasn't THAT great of a performance and they are acting like he gave the performance of a lifetime.

He's the bomb - Scott
Whoo, he almost had the preacher march going - Rhonda (and then she got up and demonstrated what a "preacher march" is, in case we were confused.)
He never sounds like he rehearsed it - I bet he sings it a different way every time - Anne

Jennifer takes note of the fact that there are children in the room and if she has any tacky remarks she might keep them to herself. I divulge the fact that I had just typed a tacky remark, but wouldn't say it out loud. They will just have to read it. (It was the smoking Danny Gokey crack remark.)

We also briefly discuss the fact that no one really talks about Danny's backstory anymore. I tell them it's because of this:


During the Top 36 when Danny performed, one of his friends (sitting on the red couches) held up this picture after Danny sang. Apparently, the media and a lot of other people didn't like it. There was backlash... but not enough to keep him out of the top 8.


Anne and Emily take an unscheduled water-break, much to Scott's dismay. Shelby has noted that we only have one singer down and already people are taking a snack break. WE ARE HARD-CORE.

Kris is next and we thought that meant he was the next oldest - we were wrong. He has chosen to do "All She Wants to do is Dance" - Don Henley. Not sure what I think about this. Strange. I have become a big fan of Kris over the weeks, but didn't he learn a thing from the Matt G move of singing amidst the audience from last week? Not a good move.

Never heard that version before - Emily
Guitarist who wanted to sing, instead of a singer who plays guitar - Simon (I agree with that statement this week)
Very disappointed - Scott
He just stood in one place like his legs couldn't move - Abbey (LOL)
Didn't do anything for me, not horrible but not that great - Jen

We have a brief discussion on how old we all were in 1985. Jennifer simply could not believe that I was a freshman in 1985. Ok, fine, she wasn't THAT astonished... but it makes me feel good to dream.

Lil is REALLY named Lil, ok? It's NOT Lit-tle. She's cute. Lovin' her hair tonight! Finally! "What's Love Got to Do With It?" I hate it already. Hello, Tina Jr. She's totally out of tune. She even has the Tina shuffle dance going on. Now it's a toss-up between her and Scotty Mac in my mind on who needs to go bye bye tomorrow night.

She got to go - Julio (from the kitchen, no less!)
She's Karaoke - Scott
Kiss of death with the "You look hott" comment - ALL of us.
I like her eye makeup - Me
She probably hasn't listened to good music in several years - Anne (because she has 3 small kids)
I listen to their advice and take in everything they say - Lil
She just doesn't use it - me

We take a break to find our children. Ha!

Anoop is next. We pause to have a deep, philisophical discussion about Anoop. He shouldn't do R&B, we don't think. He starts True Colors and I am LOVING this arrangement. Niiiiice. I love it when Anoop sings like this. I would love to hear more of that.

We have a moment of hilarity.
Scott pauses it on the picture of Anoop's parent's and says: "That is the Indian version of my dad."
He pauses it again when Anoop starts to sing and says "Oh, my gosh. I just thought of something... that might be the Indian version of ME! I feel sick all of a sudden."

We decide to rename Scott. His new name is Scoop Deny.

Here is a picture of Scott's dad, who he thinks looks like Anoop's dad:






















We catch our breath from laughing and the conversation continues:
You showed your true colors like a rainbow - Paula (gag)
Ah, straight up now tell me - Scott/Scoop Deny
I think my expectations are so low for Anoop that when he does ok, I'm pleasantly surprised. - Anne
They fixed Scott's hair, why can't they fix his? - Emily

Scotty Mac is next. He loves the macabre. Huh? What? Go figure. The first blind train conductor? (I got boo'd for this remark, by the way. Whatever!)

When he went for the high climax of the song, we all screamed, wailed, and made Scott/Scoop Deny rewind it.
Oh, come on - Bravo??? REALLY??? BRAVO????
There are children in the room or I would be really RUDE right now. - me (at press-time, I could not for the life of me remember what I was going to say, however.)

*** Does anyone else find it ironic that the lyrics to Scotty Mac's song are "The search is over... it was right before my eyes."

Allison is the baby of the group. She's next. "I Can't Make You Love Me" Ok, GOOD song choice, we all agree. We also all agree that it's a bit inappropriate for someone her age. We momentarily debate whether to make the youngins leave the room.

The worst I've heard her - Scott/Scoop Deny
meh - me
You gave all of your heart - Paula
Too much of your heart - me
Why doesn't someone tell her to sing "Heart" - Scott/Scoop Deny
She sounds like she's 35 - Anne
And a smoker - me
She needs to do a song by Pink - Anne
Or a Kelly Clarkson song - Emily
I just didn't feel it, Beth, I just didn't feel it. - Scoop Deny

Matt G is next - aka White Chocolate... aka Matty. I feel a picture is needed...


I sang in a children's musical at church called Angels Aware - Matt G.
Oh, my Gosh, I did that one! - Emily
Be quiet, he's acting - Scoop Deny (who promptly rewinds it)

"Part-Time Lovers" is the song. We've instructed the children to not pay attention to the lyrics. Ha!
Go, White Chocolate, Go!
WE. ARE. LOVING. IT! Celebration all around.

But, wait! The 5 yr olds in the next room suddenly become very loud and several of us demand that the show be paused. We take a brief moment ot usher the kids into the back room so we can hear Matty.

I'm still freaked out that we did the same musical - Emily
We did it, too - Jen
Us, too. - Anne
I don't feel so special now. - Emily
We had a fog machine and everything - Jen

I'm cracking up just reading that conversation!

Adam is next - and I am wondering what on earth he could do to take my mind... I mean, our minds off of Matt G. He's singing Mad World?

I liked to play dress-up, not soccer - Adam
What the crap is this song? - me
Wow - I've never heard him do that before - Emily (about his bobble at the end)
We all GASP at the standing ovation.
Every song sounds like the broadway version of that song - Anne
That's what he does - Jen
I love watching him on here, but wouldn't buy his cd - Emily
What would his CD even be? Showtunes? - Anne

We pretty much all agreed that Adam sang well tonight, but standing ovation from Simon-worthy? Nah.

During the recaps:
Did you know that when they show the recaps they're actually showing a clip from the rehearsal? - Anne
Listen to Danny Gokey - that is completely different from his performance. I don't think even he knows what he's going to do each time. - Anne

Anoop is safe this week, and not just because he's my Indian twin - Scoop Deny
Let me go to the garage and get my cardigan. - Scoop Deny

After most people left, Scoop Deny grabbed my lime green sweater and put it on... then grabbed a lightsaber and this is what happened...




Yep - that's Scoop Deny.

















I give a big shout-out to those under 18 in the viewing party tonight!

All in all, this was one of the most fun nights I've had watching American Idol. It made me sad to think of watching it by myself next week and then blogging about it with only my own comments. Blah. So Anne had the bright idea for all of us to get on Skype next week. Do it.

Focusing my thoughts long enough to wrap it up here. Top 3 for me - Matty G., Anoop (that's right), and Adam. Yeah, he was good alright?

Bottom 3 is easy. It will be: Lil, Scotty Mac, and Allison. I don't think Allison deserves to be in the bottom 3, I just think she WILL be. Well, either her or Kris, simply because he was 2nd and that's a bad place to sing.

Man, I gotta go to bed!!! Until next week... Buh Bye!