The Idol finale is always an overly pumped up bit of fluff with a whole lot of stuff that we can live without (can't believe they brought back those stupid awards).
However, there was one moment that made the two hours worth sitting through, and that was the Jordin-Rubin duet on "You're All I Need to Get By." That was amazing. I don't think I've heard Rubin sing a note since he won Idol and it reminded me why I loved the guy in the first place. What a great sounding voice he's got and what a smooth effortless way he has with a song... any song.
But that song was perfect for the two of them and they were perfect for each other. All season long, I've been feeling like Jordin is getting prettier, but she's so big. At the end of every song she stands next to Ryan and looks like a giant. Not just tall (and maybe a little heavy for TV) but broad shouldered and big-boned. Then she comes out with Rubin who towers over her and is way bigger and for the first time ever, she just looked like a beautiful 17-year old with an amazing voice.
And he looked great too, with that striped suit. I'm on the phone to Rochester Big and Tall this morning to order the exact same one.
They just totally nailed the song and looked like they should be touring the country together. That wasn't the only good moment, but it was certainly the best. I liked Lakisha and Melinda singing with Gladys Knight, and Melinda singing with the Wynans' and Kelly singing with Joe Perry. I think Kelly has lost some of her cuteness, but she certainly has a nice tush. And Carrie's got nicer legs than Haley Scarnato! Who knew? Actually Jill knew, cause she saw her on the Country Music Awards.
And it was nice to see Tony Bennett healthy and singing and the warm reception he got from the crowd.
I coulda lived without Sanjaya singing again, but it was funny when that girl showed up crying again, and nice to see Hasselhoff too.
As for the results... I'm good with them. Blake would have been the weakest singer ever to win Idol and we didn't need that. He's cool and original and will have a good career, I'm sure. It was in the cards when they were forced to sing a song back to back that so favored Jordin. But even his great moment, the Bon Jovi song was weakened because it's hard to look unique and original when you're reprising a song you sang two weeks ago.
As for the pool, Kristina Clemente won in a land-slide, by seven points over her husband, John Frost who tied with Steve Spector, who held the lead from the get-go, for second. Jill Gershman, who slipped in a couple of weeks ago to get ahead of Steve, finished in the money, but Destiny Esposito just nipped her at the finish line to take first. The nice thing about Destiny winning is she lives in Vegas, so I never have to pay her (jk, Des, the check is in the mail).
Just out of the money were Parker Andrews and Sandy Collins, who had, I think identical ballots, followed by Jo Clemente and Bliss Esposito, both siblings of higher finishers. At the last minute, I moved up in the rankings. I had the right idea... that audiences would tire of Melinda and Lakisha before the end and choose somebody younger and prettier. I just put my money on the wrong younger and prettier girl, Stephanie. Had I swapped her and Jordin... oh, well... if, if, if.
In last place, by an even more commanding lead than Kristina, was Andrea Taylor who hosted Jill and I for a theme dinner last night. Southwestern Chicken Salad in honor of Jordin's Arizona roots and coffee ice cream in honor of Blake's Seattle. All, very delicious.
In the ignominious position of lowest score without winning any money, was Sadie Saltzman, who was responsible for my greatest moment ever on this planet, taking me to see a live Idol broadcast last year (along with her mom Tracy). Sorry, Sadie. If I could have rigged it I would have.
And that's all for Idol this year. Have a great summer!
It was just one of those things.
I think everybody knows that start to finish, Melinda was the best singer in the competition. Other than the very first week, she was better than Lakisha every single week (and even that first week, she was clearly in second).
And even though some people performed better than her some weeks, she never once missed a note or had a really bad song. But, she lacked something. And in the end, it was that lack that cost her the chance to go to the finals. And it is that lack that makes me think that nobody is too unhappy about it.
Let's face it, with Melinda in the final, there were three possible ways to feel...
1) of course she's the better singer, but Blake/Jordin is more entertaining.
2) of course she's the better singer and she performed better than Blake/Jordin this week, but he/she has more star quality, or...
3) of course she's the better singer, and I hope she becomes a star, but I'm happy that she lost
I kind of think she was destined to lose if she got into the final and we were all destined to be okay with it, but maybe a little guilty because we rooted for the cute person over the talented person.
Well, guess what? We get to get that out of the way now.
Yeah, Melinda good rooked.
But, it's no skin off my nose.
I got nothing against her and the girl sure can sing, but she'll do okay and I'd rather see a Blake/Jordin final.
Who would have thought, 10 weeks ago that the final would have neither Melinda nor Lakisha. Actually it did. The final of the seniors division was last week and Melinda won. Now comes the final final.
I don't think Jordin is as good a singer as Melinda. But she's 17 and spent the last four years going to high school while Melinda spent it singing professionally, so that about equals things up.
And I don't think Blake is nearly as good a singer as any of the final three women, but he has entertained me plenty. Personally, I bet he has a hit record or two and then becomes a producer. He seems to have the chops for that.
Also, I have to say that Maroon 5 was not nearly as much fun to watch as he was performing one of their songs. It might have to do with me not liking this new song as much. We cut it into an upfront, so I've had to listen to it about four million times the last three weeks.
Anyway, Elliott looked good and sounded believable as an R&B singer.
And I'm looking forward to seeing all the returnees next week, and finally ending this so-so season once and for all.
As for the pool. All the money makers are already set (by my figurings). We just need to learn who finished where.
If Blake wins, John Frost takes first and his wife Kristina takes second. If Jordin wins, it's vice-versa. Yawn.
Either way, Steve Spector finishes third. He was the big winner when Melinda went home.
And in fourth and fifth place are Destiny and Jill Gershman, who has never won our pool but frequently finishes high. Jill would benefit from a Blake win, while Destiny's destiny falls upon Jordin's substantial shoulders.
Of course Andrea Taylor, a former pool winner, has a lock on last place money. Which means of the four people in my Idol watching group... Spector, Gershman, Andrea and I, only one of us finished out of the money. Whaaaaa.
Is anybody looking forward to that band show? I'm not, but I am looking forward to On the Lot.
I think this was the best three-person show they've ever had on Idol. Not because the singing was the best (though it was damn good), but because for the first time EVER, I don't know who is going to be singing next week.
Think about it. Year one... you knew that Nikki was going home and that the next week Justin would lose to Kelly.
Year two... you knew that Kimberley was going to have to make way for the much awaited Rueben-Clay finale.
Year three... with LaToya gone, you weren't quite sure whether it was Jasmine or Diane who would go home, but you knew one of them was going to be losing to Fantasia (and after thay sang, you knew which one).
Year four... Carrie... Bo... Vonzell. Was anybody surprised?
Last year... they said it was incredibly close, but after Chris had gone home, was there any doubt that Elliott was next and Taylor and Katherine would be in the finals.
The problem, as least a few times has been, that the strongest contender went home fourth... Tamyra, LaToya and Chris... once they went home, you knew where the thing was heading.
But this year was different. Yes, I think Lakisha belongs in the pantheon of fourth place finishers, but I also think her absense (and the fact that they sang three songs each) freed Melinda to be a little more unique, and made it seem, for the first time like a show dominated by younger singers rather than old ones.
And, Melinda's poor voting performance last week (on Dialidol) threw some uncertainty into the mix.
So, for the first time since this show began, I can say for certain that any one of the three is going home or that any one of the three is sticking around. And neither can Dialidol.
Going in, I thought Jordin was the favorite and that it was between Melinda, the better singer, or Blake the more versatile and charismatic performer to join her in the finale.
But Jordin didn't do that great tonight. She did okay, but personally, I thought she was the weakest of the three. At least until the last song that is. Wishing On a Star was a decent choice for her, but it wasn't a great choice. And neither was She Works Hard for the Money. She sounded good on both, but I didn't hear a heartfelt commitment for either song. It is funny that Simon who was concerned with her sounding too old, and the producers, who certainly have a stake in playing up her youth, both chose songs that were introduced before she was born.
Then for her song, she chose a song that was introduced before Simon was born, but she did sing the hell out of it. For the first time in the night she had real emotion and the crowd ate it up. She's also a good actress, cause she acted real excited when the Mayor told her what song she was singing, and then later told the audience she had never heard of it.
Blake was the big surprise for me. I thought he would be the weak link between these two powerhouses, but he did real well. Roxanne was repetitive, but that's the nature of the song. He did sound like he was covering Sting, but considering that Sting is one of the guys he stylistically favors, what's wrong with that? He was much better with his other two songs, which were both contemporary. Last year they did a top-40 night and this year, they wisely chose to skip it, but the fact is, Blake is the most contemporary and the most inventive singer they've ever had. The Maroon 5 song was perfect for him. I'm pretty sure somebody sang it last year, but I can't remember who and I know if wasn't as good. The Maroon 5 was probably my fave for him, but I liked the Robin Thicke too, and I'm also impressed with how confident he is making these songs his own.
And then there's Melinda. I don't know the order in which these songs are chosen, but I felt she made a mistake. I thought it was smart that they chose a rock-ish/sassy song to go second to contrast with the opening ballad, but then I thought it was redundant when she went sassy again for the third song. I would have rather she not sang Nutbush and sand I'm a Woman in the second slot and then went back for another ballad on the third song. Or even better, another ballad in the first slot and I Believe in You to close the show. That's a great song and she nailed it. Woulda been a great finish. Actually, when they announced that she was going to do I'm A Woman, at first I thought it was I'm Every Woman, and that would have been better.
In any event. I don't know who is going home. But whoever it is, I think I'll feel a little bad.
BTW... celeb spotting this week. Nigel Lythgoe (looking quite a bit like the other Bee Gee) having lunch at Budda's Belly on Beverly. He drives a Bentley.
There is a history on American Idol of having excellent singers finish in fourth place.
It started the first season when Tamyra, Kelly's only true competition was ousted ahead of the forgettable Nikki McKibbon and Justin Guarini. The third season was almost a repeat. Instead of seeing front-runners Fantasia and LaToya go head to head in the final, LaToya went home, leaving Jasmine and Dianne still alive.
Last year we saw Chris Daughtry go out fourth, and then went on to sell more records than any of the people who finished ahead of him (I'm just guessing, but I think that's true).
And now we have Lakeesha. Unlike the others, she isn't departing ahead of anybody who is noticably less talented than she, but she certainly was a strong contender and early on was favored to go all the way. If you believe DialIdol, the other early favorite is heading for the door next week. That site has Jordin and Blake getting nearly twice the votes of Melinda and Lakeesha. It's funny, but after all the talk of this year having such different Idols, if the final is Jordin and Blake, it will look a lot more like the usual than I had earlier expected.
At this point, I'd have to assume that Melinda's best hope is to inherit some of Lakeesha votes, but I somehow feel that's not something she could count on. For the longest time, Lakeesha and Melinda were seen as rivals, so I don't necessarily see those who sided with Lakeesha automatically choosing Melinda over Jordin or even Blake. Beyond their age, race, weight and vocal power, they are two very different performers.
So where does that leave the pool?
Mr. Spector likely shed more tears than Lakeesha tonight. After holding first place for eight weeks, he will lose six points tonight and tumble several spots. The only consolation is that his good friend, and perenial top finisher Jill Gershman will replace him at the top, even if it is temporary. Ms. Gershman, together with Kristina Frost had Lakeesha dead to rights at fourth place. Since she began the week three points ahead of Kristina, she maintains that lead. Kristina's husband John, who had a two point lead over his wife, gave back those two this week, with his pick of Lakeesha in fourth place.
What separates these top three point-getters is The Jordin Factor. Kristina has Jordin finishing second, while John has her in Fourth and Jill has her all the way down in seventh. Even if Jordin departs next week, an unlikely scenario, but the most promising one for Jill, Ms. Gershman will lose 9 points to both her top rivals and join her good buddy Steve in the hunt to stay in the money.
Right now, it looks like the Frosts have a lock on the first prize. Not only are they tied for second in point totals, but Kristina is the only one who has the top three finishers in 1, 2 and 3rd place. And unless I've missed something, John is the only other competitor that has all three of them in his top four. Kristina, along with half the competitors has Melinda winning it all, and she also has Jordin finished second, which is as high as anybody has her. John is one of the few to have Blake in the top spot, so it's hard to imagine a scenario that doesn't give one of them top prize.
Behind them, Destiny Esposito is also looking good with a strong point total and Melinda and Blake ranked one and two (with Jordin in fifth). Parker Andrews and Sandy Collins, whose ballots are identical are just a tick behind Destiny with the remaining candidates in 1, 3 and 5 place. Jojo Clemente, last year's winner (and brother of frontrunner Kristina) is in the hunt for money too, and so too is Mr. Spector.
If your name isn't listed above, you can forget getting any money from the pool this year, unless your name is Andrea Taylor (or in one of the remaining scenario's, Lori Smith). Andrea, who only two short years ago won this thing, is leading the charge for last.
But she's a darn good cook and Friday is her birthday, so life is good.
There is a history on American Idol of having excellent singers finish in fourth place.
It started the first season when Tamyra, Kelly's only true competition was ousted ahead of the forgettable Nikki McKibbon and Justin Guarini. The third season was almost a repeat. Instead of seeing front-runners Fantasia and LaToya go head to head in the final, LaToya went home, leaving Jasmine and Dianne still alive.
Last year we saw Chris Daughtry go out fourth, and then went on to sell more records than any of the people who finished ahead of him (I'm just guessing, but I think that's true).
And now we have Lakeesha. Unlike the others, she isn't departing ahead of anybody who is noticably less talented than she, but she certainly was a strong contender and early on was favored to go all the way. If you believe DialIdol, the other early favorite is heading for the door next week. That site has Jordin and Blake getting nearly twice the votes of Melinda and Lakeesha. It's funny, but after all the talk of this year having such different Idols, if the final is Jordin and Blake, it will look a lot more like the usual than I had earlier expected.
At this point, I'd have to assume that Melinda's best hope is to inherit some of Lakeesha votes, but I somehow feel that's not something she could count on. For the longest time, Lakeesha and Melinda were seen as rivals, so I don't necessarily see those who sided with Lakeesha automatically choosing Melinda over Jordin or even Blake. Beyond their age, race, weight and vocal power, they are two very different performers.
So where does that leave the pool?
Mr. Spector likely shed more tears than Lakeesha tonight. After holding first place for eight weeks, he will lose six points tonight and tumble several spots. The only consolation is that his good friend, and perenial top finisher Jill Gershman will replace him at the top, even if it is temporary. Ms. Gershman, together with Kristina Frost had Lakeesha dead to rights at fourth place. Since she began the week three points ahead of Kristina, she maintains that lead. Kristina's husband John, who had a two point lead over his wife, gave back those two this week, with his pick of Lakeesha in fourth place.
What separates these top three point-getters is The Jordin Factor. Kristina has Jordin finishing second, while John has her in Fourth and Jill has her all the way down in seventh. Even if Jordin departs next week, an unlikely scenario, but the most promising one for Jill, Ms. Gershman will lose 9 points to both her top rivals and join her good buddy Steve in the hunt to stay in the money.
Right now, it looks like the Frosts have a lock on the first prize. Not only are they tied for second in point totals, but Kristina is the only one who has the top three finishers in 1, 2 and 3rd place. And unless I've missed something, John is the only other competitor that has all three of them in his top four. Kristina, along with half the competitors has Melinda winning it all, and she also has Jordin finished second, which is as high as anybody has her. John is one of the few to have Blake in the top spot, so it's hard to imagine a scenario that doesn't give one of them top prize.
Behind them, Destiny Esposito is also looking good with a strong point total and Melinda and Blake ranked one and two (with Jordin in fifth). Parker Andrews and Sandy Collins, whose ballots are identical are just a tick behind Destiny with the remaining candidates in 1, 3 and 5 place. Jojo Clemente, last year's winner (and brother of frontrunner Kristina) is in the hunt for money too, and so too is Mr. Spector.
If your name isn't listed above, you can forget getting any money from the pool this year, unless your name is Andrea Taylor (or in one of the remaining scenario's, Lori Smith). Andrea, who only two short years ago won this thing, is leading the charge for last.
But she's a darn good cook and Friday is her birthday, so life is good.
I was wrong several times over about tonight. First of all, I thought Maurice Gibb was the only brother still alive. Turns out, he's the one who died and Robin and Barry are still kicking.
I also thought Barry was here for 70's or Disco week, but instead it was just Barry Gibb week turned out to be not as limiting as one might expect. I wonder why this year the show has chosen to focus more on individual oevres rather than on genres.
In any event, the Barry Gibb songbook encompasses three eras, all of which were very different. Their early stuff had a lot of ballads and love songs. Then they re-emerged with Saturday Night Fever as disco icons. And then Barry Gibb became more of an adult contemporary guy with a lot of Barbara Streisand duets. Considering that there were three girls left, I thought we'd be hearing a lot of early ballads and later stuff. I wasn't expecting nearly as much disco.
I actually kind of liked Melinda's first song, though the judges were right that it wasn't outstanding. She took a group song from their disco era and made it into a little more of a singer's song than it had been, but it was a single down the middle, not an extra base hit.
Blake's rendition of You Should Be Dancing was one of the worst songs I've ever heard on Idol. He should be dancing. Dancing and not singing. His falsetto was excruciating. I don't think anybody sings falsetto while trying to dance. It takes a lot of focus for a man to push his voice out in that register and make it sound like something. His voice sounded like a siren. I didn't like the beat-boxing, but it was a relief from the falsetto. That one song negated all the points he scored with me last week.
I did like Lakeesha's Stayin' Alive, though I think she could have picked a better song. All of her songs have an emotional impact for me. She clearly lacks Melinda's skills, but she makes up for it with emotion. Around this time, I started wondering why nobody was singing one of the older ballads like, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart. Jordin didn't do that, but I thought she was very smart to do To Love Somebody because compared to the three disco era songs that preceded it, it was much more of a singers showcase. It also allowed her to bring a little country feel to her delivery along with her R&B sound, making her sound very versatile.
She's also looking better every week. I'd now go so far as to say she's beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I'm not flying her to Vegas for the weekend, but maybe after her 18th birthday...
After Jordin opened the door, the other ladies sang some of the more ballad-y songs. Melinda sang Broken Heart, which was the song I was waiting for, but for the first 30 seconds, I thought it was a mistake. As soon as she started singing it, I realized why I wanted to hear it. It's cause Al Green once did a version of it and totally tore it up. The only problem was that instead of comparing her vocal to the famous cat-in-a-microwave sound of the Brothers Gibb, I was comparing it to the Al Green, which if you've never heard it, you really should. Melinda's take on it, wasn't quit up to Al's, but I have to say, in the second half, she definitely gave him a run for his money.
Another old Bee Gee's song I always liked was Words. Based on Blake's take on Imagine, I think he could have done that one very well. I also think he should have done one more ballady song rather than trying to go all Blake-y on both songs. Once again, I thought he was awful in his second song, this time on a mediocre song nobody ever heard of.
I like Lakeesha's second song though I do understand Simon's criticism of her. I just like Lakeesha, and while I don't see her making it to the finals as long as Melinda and Jordin are around, I would love to see her outlast Blake and make next week a three-way Divathon.
As for the pool, I sent emails this week to the seven people who have a chance of taking first place. If you didn't get the email... sorry. However, you might still have a shot at the money.
As for the first place. Steve Spector, who has held that spot since week one, when he correctly predicted the departure of Brandon could slip down for the first time this week. Basically, for him to have a chance to win it all, Blake or Melinda would have to go home. I think one of those occurances is possible. Lakeesha, obviously is vulnerable, and if she goes home, Steve will be fighting for survival. Actually, since Steve has Lakeesha in first place, he loses six points whether she goes home this week or next, but if she sticks around an extra week (and Blake departs) he loses fewer points for that.
If Blake goes home, that's a bad break for John Frost who has been gaining in the rankings and could win if Blake goes all the way.
However, at this point, I think John has a much better chance of being married to the winner. His better half Kristina not only has a great point total and the final four in the top four slots (something only she and John can claim) she also has Melinda and Jordin one and two. Pretty hard to beat that.
I really can't picture a final that's not Melinda-Jordin. And right now, I see Jordin winning it. However, my track record on picking anything this year is pretty terrible.
So, I did not hear any indication that either Chris or Phil had more votes than the other, so we don't know which one finished fifth and which one finished sixth.
Therefore, for the purposes of the pool, we will consider the two of them to be tied for fifth. If you have either of them in fifth or sixth place, you will lose one point, and for every place you have them higher than fifth or lower than sixth, you will lose an additional two.
I'm not erasing the show, so if any of you think you heard something indicating that one of them had the lowest vote total, let me know and I will check it out. You have till Friday end of day to appeal.
Between the fact that this is the first week we finally get to deduct double points, plus the fact that two of the singers went home, plus the fact that so many of us had Phil going early, there will be a lot of points deducted.
This will also be the week when the clear winners start to show themselves. We're down to four singers and only 24 possible configurations.
Though there have been some surprises along the way, with Phil gone, all the big surprises are over. Melinda, Lakisha and Blake were clearly the three highest scoring competitors from the get go. Jordin may not have been in the top four, but I'm pretty sure she was in the top six.
Next week I'm guessing they should have two songs apiece. Should be interesting. Wonder what color Blake's hair will be.
Blake puts on the Blake full force.
I've been so swamped with work the last two weeks haven't had a chance to post. I actually did post last Thursday, but I don't know if anybody saw it.
No biggy.
By the time I got here today, Kathy had already posted this, and since I share her admiration for Blake's performance last night, I will just add on to this post.
Blake and Lakisha were the two most exciting performers last night but since it's cumulative, one of them could easily go home tonight.
I think Kiki is more likely. At least she'll go out on a high note. That song brought out the best in her.
Blake also had his ultimate Blakian performance. Simon might be right that half the audience will love it and half will hate it, but on Idol that's better than everybody thinking you're just okay. The half that hate you, can't hurt you. It's all about the half that love you.
Phil put in another strong performance, so he very well might be safe. Jordin didn't do well, but will really benefit from the combined vote. She must be thrilled that she doesn't have to live of this one song. I did like her hair however.
Melinda was good as usual. You know she ain't going anywhere.
So that leaves... Chris. I have to think he's a goner. He was okay last week, but he went first and a lot of people did better after him. This week he was just okay, certainly the least memorable of the men.
But Chris and who? Phil was strong both weeks and has hit his stride. Blake was just okay last week and I have to assume that last week's votes outnumbered this week's. So Blake isn't 100% safe.
But if I had to make a guess, I'd say Chris and Kiki.
If it is, I have to say, for a year when the women were supposed to dominate, men have stayed pretty even with them.
As for the pool, I mentioned this last week, but not sure anybody noticed....
Unless they make it absolutely clear that one person was in last place and the other was in second last, I will count it that the two goners were tied for 5th.
I will hold onto the TIVO of the show and you have till Friday at midnight to tell me if you have evidence that I interpretted the words incorrectly.
They can be tricky with this stuff so i'll be listening closely.
Seth
