American Idol: The Twain 6

So the Top 6 went after the songs of Shania Twain, mentored by the singer herself.

I missed the show, but watched performances on YouTube. So I'll do the Best/Worst thing one more time.

Best: Boy, Lee and Siobhan were really good. Siobhan made a really marked improvement. I'll give the title to Lee.

Worst: Between the rest of them I can not give out a worst. Everyone was really good that night.

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This night was a great show. Everyone had great performances overall. Great to see "Teflon Tim" gone. I mean he was the greatest improvement of this season, but he should have never made past that first week of the Top 24.

American Idol: The Inspirational 7

So this week marks the return of Idol Gives Back for its third year. As a fitting theme the contestants were told to sing inspirational songs with the mentorship of Alicia Keys.

Last week we lost both Andrew and Katie. Who will be the next to go?

Because of the lateness of this post I will go with the Best/Worst format this week.

Best: Crystal Bowersox, hands down. She put so much emotion into "People Get Ready" by The Impressions. Simon spoke to soon when he said that Lee DeWyze's performance of "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel was the best of the night.

Worst: It's hard to say. Siobhan chose too big of a song, but rode it ok. Tim seemed a little lackluster and Casey was just drone. I don't know who could go home.

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It was good night, but to me it felt empty. I don't think I felt that since season 7. It was weird. In any case, Idol kicks off with an all star bill that is already underway in just 30-45 minutes we will find out who's out and in the top 6. J out.

Delayed AI Post

I am in Frostburg and as such attended the candlelight vigil service for Brandon Carroll. He and Ellis Heartridge were shot by Tyrone hall around 4 a.m on Sunday after a previous confrontation at a party earlier on. Ellis is in stable condition while Brandon died from the injuries he sustained. It has been a sad couple days here as many are reeling from this tragedy.

In any case, because I was at this service I wasn't able to watch American Idol. I am currently watching the performances on YouTube and will post my critique tomorrow. J out.

American Idol: The Top 9. . .Again

So the Top 9 head out after that dramatic elimination last week. Oh wait, no one was eliminated. The judges smartly used the save on Micheal Lynche after America foolishly voted him off. Now this week two people will be out at the end of it all.

This week the Idols tackle Elvis and have a mentor in. . . Adam Lambert? That's right, Adam mentors them while they were in Las Vegas. How will they do?

Crystal Bowersox: B+, she brought the soul to "Saved" and it was great. Yet I felt that something tiny was missing.

Andrew Garcia: B-, so I'm listening to Andrew's performance of "Hound Dog" and trying to figure out what is off about it. The way he changed it was not karokey, but it was off and that is when Simon hit it on the head. It was like that one performance in the musical that was not on level with the rest of the play.

Tim Urban: B+, doing "Can't Help Falling in Love" that was one of his best performances. It was beautiful. Two things though, was it the point of AI to make it so it looked like he was singing in the dark? and Ryan dancing with a guy in the background. . .awkward.

Lee DeWyze: B+, He showed alot of personality singing "A Little Less Conversation" and looked very comfortable. I liked it overall.

Aaron Kelly: B, Doing "Blue Suede Shoes", he did pretty well with a rough and grough 50 year old song. Too me he sounded like a performance in High School Musical. As a matter of fact I think Aaron probably would've been prime material for Disney.

Siobhan Magnus: B, Singing "Suspicious Minds" I felt as though she was much better. The first part was not good, but she redeemed herself with the second part. When the judges told her of her inconsistency as a person, she countered by stating not even she knows who she is and music shouldn't pinpoint it for her.

Micheal Lynche: B+, I don't think anyone will garner an A, but Big Mike's performance of "In the Ghetto" was absolutely beautiful. It was a bit slow, but the voice just pierced me. Something I don't think any other contestant has done tonight.

Katie Stevens: B, Not bad doing "Baby, What You Want Me to Do." She had the confident attitude and was good.

Casey James: B+, Another solid performance doing "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." I felt that a little something was missing from his acoustic performance, though.

Overall Grade: B+
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It was good night overall. I don't think anyone did or could touch that Elvis had when he recorded these songs. As I said elimination could go to two of any people so vote. VOTE BIG MIKE!!! J out.

Remember When Players Did Drugs on the Field?

So the announcement was made yesterday that Ben Roethlisberger would not be charged with the sexual assault of young women in a Georgia nightclub and he made a statement about it that night. You can see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwzPG1o69jY

To me he thinks he can do anything he wants and get any girl he wants and he can't. He apologized and everything but missed one key point. That he's been partying and is going to make a change. I think that he was a little to full of himself and hopefully this has brought him back to earth. Although, you never know. He got in trouble after he got sued for the same thing. Terry Bradshaw talked about Big Ben and here is what he has to say. . .

I liked the statement. Too many professional athletes think that they can "party hardy" and fore go the consequences. May we point to Ray Lewis, Micheal Vick, Gilbert Arenas, and Tiger Woods. What sets them apart from Ben is that they learned their lessons. Although, it is too soon to say that of Gilbert and Tiger, I'm sure they won't be putting themselves into anymore trouble.

In any case, I think there is something rotten in news coverage. Tiger Woods received the utmost coverage on programs that hardly ever covered sports, but when Big Ben is in trouble, for the 2nd time remind you, we see nothing. Everyone was on Tiger's case and let's see. . .has any of Tiger's trouble involved the law? Uhhh NO. In fact in the list I previously mentioned, Tiger was the only one who didn't have anything to do with law. Yet he has been extremely censured. What's going on here? I leave you to ponder that. J out.

American Idol: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH AMERICA!?

So I usually don't do elimination posts in the Top 12, but this was necessary. I only have one question for the 100 million people or so who voted last night. . .

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

Michael Lynche has been a consistent performer week after week. Maybe the drastic "Eleanor Rigby" was a misstep in your eyes, but was it really bad. Not an off key in that performance last night. Tell me. . .how can you vote off a contestant who really did nothing wrong this week and yet last week you kept a person who was off for a good part of song she sang (Siobhan)?

I mean Siobhan tore up "Through the Fire", and I don't mean that in a "oh she was so good" way. Yet the following day where it was more than certain she should have been gone, not only was she not eliminated, she wasn't even in the bottom 3!

Thank God the judges know talent when they see it and used their save.

I'm done with my manifesto. . .but American Idol is going to lose a faithful viewer for 6 years, if it appears that it has lost its legitimacy. I voted for Big Mike like 30 times last night. I mean now it seems to be a looks contest than a singing one.

I'm done. J out.

American Idol: The Top 9

So the Top 9 get to do the songs of Lennon and McCartney, perhaps some of the best music ever written. Can they do them justice? Apparently, Paul McCartney couldn't make it to be a mentor, but left them a video message to motivate.

Aaron Kelly: B, Not bad for him. Some rough spots but doing "The Long and Winding Road" wasn't a bad choice for him.

Katie Stevens B, Such a marked improvement for her. "Let It Be" is one of my favorite songs from them. She did it very well and as Kara said, she shouldn't be in the bottom three this week.

Andrew Garcia B+, Not a bad song choice and his rendition of "Can't Buy Me Love" was really danceable.

Michael Lynche: A-, I absolutely loved his rendition of "Eleanor Rigby." It was a risky chance he took changing the arrangement drastically, but it worked in my eyes. And for the first time this season, I think I actually disagreed with Simon on his critique, that it was to "musical like." It was current and hip and sounds like a track off his self-titled album?

Crystal Bowersox: A-, Excellent version of "Come Together" for Crystal. The fact that she had a didgeridoo completely won me over.

Tim Urban: B+, He was pretty good with "All My Loving." A much better performance than last week's.

Casey James: B+, The way he sung "Jealous Guy" just touched your soul. It really did. That was very good.

Siobhan Magnus: B, It was so much better than last week that I had to smack my ears. "Across the Universe" was such a good change for Siobhan. I loved that she finally changed it up.

Lee DeWyze: B, Not bad. However, I think "Hey Jude" is a bit. . .cliche? I just didn't feel it, but I loved the bagpipe insert.

Overall Grade: B+

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It was a good show for me. Very enjoyable. I liked the segments where the fellow castmates talked about each other. This show just seemed to be really good. I can't tell who will go because it was so good, but someone must go so we will see tomorrow. J out.