ADDED: If you're looking for the newest results show, click on the banner at the top -- Althouse -- and then scroll down to the most recent "Amercian Idol."
ORIGINAL POST: Exciting, isn't it? 35 million votes. Ryan Seacrest still has his incipient beard. And have you noticed he's wearing elegant suits, not those sleazy shirts of yore? I like that sleek, skinny tie -- with a tie tack.
Kenny Rogers sings a song. I TiVo ahead.
I love the commercial the kids do for Ford. Really! They sing the cool Hollies song "Just One Look," and they're all working on a car in the "Pimp My Ride" style, but in the end it comes out a Ford. Kellie is the big star of the commercial. I don't even care. I love "Just One Look" -- that's all it took. That's what a candy-colored pop song should be.
Ryan announces the theme for next week: the music of Queen! A squeal of intense delight is heard across America. This is it, folks! The ultimate crazy absurdity of "American Idol" will peak. We remember the wonderful Constantine singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" last season. But this will be everybody straining to reach the Queenish heights. And we get to see a big teaser for next week, with the kids all throwing themselves into "We Will Rock You." Oh, this is too sublime! I'm declaring this, in advance, the greatest "American Idol" episode of all time.
Now, to the results. They've thought of an exquisite new form of torture. They will divide the 9 kids into 3 groups. Group 1 begins with Taylor Hicks. Group 2 with Mandisa. Elliot joins Mandisa's group. So does Paris. That looks to be the bottom 3, I think. Group 3 begins with Ace. Kellie joins Taylor, so Group 1 cannot be the bottom 3. Chris gets to join them too, so clearly, this is the top. Katharine and Bucky are sent over to Ace. Very interesting. Either 2 or 3 could be the bottom. Group 1 is told it is safe, and that is no surprise at all.
And the bottom 3 is Group 2. Mandisa, Elliott, and Paris have never been in the bottom 3 before. And they are all terrific singers. Paris is told she's safe. It's Mandisa and Elliott at risk -- the two that Dial Idol put at the bottom. And Mandisa leaves. Standing ovation. I cry a few tears for the beautiful Mandisa, don't you? She blesses us in the name of Jesus.
April 5, 2006
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52 comments:
Not surprised of the outcome. Paris wasn't in jeopardy of being cut, but Mandisa has worn out her welcome. I honestly expected Taylor to be in the bottom three, so that was a suprise as well.
Was that Kenny Rogers or a Chinese man? What has he done to his eyes?
Ann i missed last night but oh my GOD...Kenny Rodgers. Have we been invaded by body snatchers and somehow i missed it? That is not Kenny Rodgers. Someone has taken his voice and replaced it in a new body and face.
Is there anyone left in Hollywood who has not had hideous surgery???
Taylor's got fans.
Rogers was doddering. He can stretch his face from here to China and he's still an old, old man.
Oh. My.
I honestly thought the Queen thing would turn out to be a joke.
I ... I ...
Wow.
What happened to the Sopranos blogging?
Much more interesting...imho.
Ann, btw it seemed like something weird happened at the point they announced that Mandissa was going home. The audio got blurred...like they tried to bleep something out. Any clues?
I didn't get any blurring on my TiVo. Maybe just digital acting up?
As to "The Sopranos"... yeah, I didn't blog that, but I did watch it. I like to rewatch. There's always so much going on! Maybe tomorrow!
Taylor must have a lot of fans. I'm a partisan, but going by his performance yesterday he deserved to be in the bottom three. I think that Mandissa deserved to be in the bottom three, but not Elliot and Paris. I would have chosen Taylor, Mandissa, and Bucky (who should have done much better on country night than he did). At this point it is a matter of who has the most fans.
Yeah, I noticed the oddness too, and that's on broadcast TV. It was almost as if there was a reality rift, or someone was about to say "just kidding" or "oops, sorry, said the wrong name" but then it carried on into the massive shock of it being Mandisa.
How far off was I? I was shocked when the Bucky/Ace/Katharine group was the one declared safe, between the two. Paris won this week, so she couldn't be in the bottom three, therefore to me it was obvious which of the three groups. From there is was just a matter of wishing and hoping Katharine would be put out of her misery.
I love Katharine McPhee. But you guys knew that already.
If I were on American Idol next week, I'd sing Fat Bottomed Girls. I'd have to, even if I knew I would be kicked off because of it.
Do you think it's as obvious to the kids on stage which groups are safe, and which are in trouble? I've got to think that as soon as Kellie joins Taylor, mentally he's going, "Sweet, I'm safe despite sucking yesterday!"
Ryan Seacrest still has his incipient beard.
I read that as "insipid."
Does anyone know who sings the "You Had a Bad Day" song for the cast-off? It's kinda catchy.
Theme casualty. Not the first time this has happened in the history of the show, but maybe the first this year. Mandisa is no where near the least talented left. But, she had a bad week in a theme she was in no way well-suited to sing. I didn't think she was going to win the whole thing anyway, but it's a bit sad to see her go a bit prematurely.
Next week is gonna be special. What are the odds that someone will sing "You're My Best Friend" and dedicate it to Simon?
You Had a Bad Day - Daniel Powter
Mandisa will be able to have a singing career, she's very good, and I can see Gospel/Christian as a good place for her.
The commercial was good and I've detected two positive comments in a row from Ann in close proximity to Kellie. Jinnmabe and I will have to withstand another week of people wishing bad for Katharine.
I hope Taylor sings "This Thing Called Love."
I think the odd reaction came because a lot of people misunderstood Ryan when he said "Elliot, you are safe". I was in the other room and what I heard was - "the person who is going home is....Mandisa (audience screams) you are safe" I thought he had just done one of those stupid 'gotcha' moments and Elliot was out. It was only when I walked in the room that I saw it was Mandisa who was standing with Ryan. I'm guessing a lot of folks in the audience were also thrown off and for a few seconds didn't quite now how to react.
My family lovessssssss Taylor He does indeed have some fans, lot of them here in Ohio. Kellie also got a couple of votes. For us it will be a hard choice if those are the final two, which we hope happens.
I am so sick of Ace and Kellie and Taylor - I wanted any one of them to go home.
I've just never taken to Taylor. He reminds me of Jay Leno, and strikes me as the sort of guy who would do what Jay Leno did (ie, hiding in a closet to hear what people say about him). He's just...there's something about him I don't like. Like beneath that "aw shucks" exterior there is something like biting on tinfoil.
Mandisa will have a career though.
I was sweating it out for Elliott.
Ryan's beard makes him look like Glen Goolia, the bad guy on Wedding Singer.
Mandisa was flogging awesome, I'm not happy with the outcome, as long as bucky doesn't make it more than 2 week,s I will overcome.
"Get on your bikes and ride!"
Poor Mandisa.
Well, it wouldn't surprise me a lot if Chris does "Tie Your Mother Down" next week. Simon will no doubt find it boring if he does. Have to agree though that there will be some mighty struggling next show...should be horrifically entertaining.
The thing I most regret about Mandisa leaving was the thought of just what she would do next week for a Queen song. I've been thinking about it for two hours now and still can't even begin to imagine [pause for someone to insert "Fat-Bottomed Girls" joke here].
I think I need to get some sleep.
My theory is that a lot of people who dislike country, which by the way would probably include most of the black audience, probably stayed away and didn't even watch the show. Which probably helped torpedo Mandisa.
Dean: Good point about the black audience and country. It's kind of embarrassing for AI that there is only one black contestant left. And the next theme doesn't seem to favor Paris.
Ooh...the Queen thing is true and the group number is back!
I think the black audience shying away from country week sounds like a good theory. Also, I think Mandisa put some people off with her super Jesus show the week before. A lot of people around the blogosphere seemed to interpret her remarks about lifestyle as an anti-gay thing, which could have lost her a chunk of her fan base.
The theory doesn't jibe with history, however. In season 3's country week, which was early on, the bottom three were Matthew Rogers (gone), Camile Velasco and Diana DeGarmo; neither Jennifer Hudson nor LaToya London made the bottom three (though they were the following week), nor did Fantasia or George Huff.
I am totally bummed Mandisa's out.
There's not really any other girl I'm crazy about.
Maybe Kellie should sing Fat Bottomed Girls next week. That'd be so effing hot, Simon might not be able to resist seducing her before the end of the contest.
Heh. So they've bitched from soup to nuts about Chris singing rock, and now next week's show is entirely rock (or, at least, as close to flat-out rock as any theme has ever been for this show.)
People are complaining about Queen, but I don't get that. Yes, we'll probably hear "Bohemian Rhapsody". But, you know..."Stone Cold Crazy"? "I Want It All"? "Tie Your Mother Down"? "Radio Ga-Ga"? "Show Must Go On"? "One Vision"?
All of those songs would be pretty good for "American Idol". They've got good grooves and the singer doesn't have to work too hard. I'd expect next week's show to have some very good music, and it might also help to convince people that there's more to Queen than "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions".
Mandisa alienated a key segment of fans.
Knoxgirl: "There's not really any other girl I'm crazy about."
It's a guy year -- at last. May I recommend Chris?
Halo: "it might also help to convince people that there's more to Queen than "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions"."
That's definitely needed!
Theme nights are a big chance for a type of music to gain new fans. Like country night... where the chance was totally blown. Tons of nonfans were watching, and if all the songs had come across as well as "Fancy," we might have gotten into country music. As it is, I went looking at Reba McIntire CDs. "Fancy" is a brilliantly written song. (I found and read all the lyrics, which Kellie didn't have the time to sing.)
"And the next theme doesn't seem to favor Paris."
Are you saying it will have a disparate impact?
CB: Maybe I'm insinuating it's intentional! (I'm not.) But I think they know who they are helping. They knew who country would help, and Queen will help the rockers. Actually, I think the themes are mostly about bringing in the audience and shaking up the competition, making it unpredictable. The predictable loser outcome is bad. This is the stage of the competition where you might be tempted to say I know the next three that have to go so I won't watch until it gets interesting again. Country kept Bucky from leaving at the predictable time and produced a shocker results show. That's was great for the show.
Professor,
I was just being a wiseass when I wrote that, then realized there might be something to it.
I assume that on any "reality" show where there is discretionary action by judges, contestants are kept or eliminated, to a certain extent, based on who makes for better TV, not on who is the better contestant. (how else to explain last night's America's Next Top Model--which, I hastily add, my wife makes me watch)
That said, if the network manipulates the programming to favor white contestants who would draw a bigger audience, does that violate the law?
One would think that the heavy regulation of network television would constitute entanglement, but not so, according to SCOTUS in CBS v. DNC.
Can Queen with Paul Rodgers hold a candle to Queen with Freddie Mercury?
Will Queen with Paul Rodgers perform next week?
I'm declaring this, in advance, the greatest "American Idol" episode of all time.
Okay, I did say the other night I was dumping the show...but I guess I gotta tune in next week! Damn them - they found a way to get me back on their hook!
Ann, just to buttress that last point more cynically: the point of American Idol is not to find the new singing star. The point of American Idol is to get you to decide to watch the next airing of American Idol -- and, specifically, all the ads therein.
Adam: Definitely. I watch the show (whether I love it or hate it, I don't know), but I never buy the recordings they put out. I love "Project Runway," but I'm not buying Jay McCarroll clothes.
I think some of the schtick is wearing a bit thin. Simon's poutiness in hating country came across (to me, anyway) as so childish and silly. Why even have him for a judge, if he admits he hates the entire genre? And it's not like he's mature enough to just talk about the performance; he HAS to mention "oh, by the way, I hate country" in his comments, as though that's the singers' fault. What's coming next week? "Well, Paris, I just don't enjoy the songs of Queen, I thought it was peculiar." O-kay.
By the way, did you see what Katharine was wearing last night? Yow-zaa.
If Dial Idol has the top right (and they certainly nailed the bottom) and Taylor Hicks got the most votes last week, there isn't any pretense of connection between results and performance left...if there ever was. After what was clearly his worst performance of the competition, and arguably the worst performance of the night he got the most votes? Just one more reason not to take the show seriously at all.
Robert - I think at this point in the season, at least some of the contestants have a pretty large fan base. That base won't turn on them just because of one bad night. But, if they were to keep getting worse each week, I do think they would lose their support.
That seems to be the way the show was designed to work. If they really wanted the worst performance gone each week, you would be voting somebody off.
I just remember Paris sang a "DIxie Chicks" song for her audition and it sounded GREAT.
Too bad she made such a sucky song choice this week.
Some of these folks have a large base but as the pool gets smaller and votes increase, they'll need to pick up new supporters to stay alive. Hicks can survive for awhile based on his past perfomances, which is fair enough since one bad week *should not* necessarily knock you out.
well, Mandisa really was the best voice...but I predict she will be HUGE in gospel. She probably is signing a contract today...massive talent. No pun intended.
I just want to knock Ace and Katherine's fat heads together...they are so insufferable...
ok, what the hell is Kelly going to sing next week? Really...any ideas???
Chris will own the show next week.
This is my first Idol season and I wonder: Why does the loser sing the song that made them lose? Why can't they sing a number of their choice from any previous performance? The band is certainly good enough to do it. And all the 9 can pre-select their farewell song.
Secondly: It seems to me that the losers perform the losing song better the second night.
Ruth Anne:
I am only speculating, but since they don't want to tip anyone off or spend a lot of time rehearsing and setting up the band, etc for a number of new songs in one day, they just repeat whatever was done the previous night. I don't recall but I think that may change as the numbers decline.
Anyway they usually do a better job
If anyone dares to sing "Death on Two Legs" or "Bicycle Race" I will vote for them for the entire two hours. If anyone has the good sense to sing "39" I will vote for them in a similar fashion for the remainder of the season.
I said last week, or the week before that Chris's version of "Walk the Line sounded NOTHING like Lives version" I was right, however I was WRONG in the fact that I didn't recognize that Chris was likely INSPIRED by live.
I spoke incompletely, both in language, and in knowledge, I appologize for that, since Chris himself said "yes that was live." However I still support my opinion that Chris is the only REAL artist there, because while he MIGHT have been motivated by Live's version of "Walk the Line" Chris Sounded nothing like Live, and in fact he sounded SO MUCH BETTER!
That performance alone guarantee's that I will buy his album. Sorry Madame Anne, you were right, it "was" live, but not in a way that "live" would have sung it.
Ann: I've heard that KELLIE will be singing Bohemian Rhapsody tonight. Please, please, please let this be true!!
My favourite Chinese New Year food (though you sometimes find it all year round) is the Dragon Beard Candy, an ancient Chinese Emperor’s Dessert. It’s made into very sweet thin strands and sometimes filled with peanuts.
If you’ve never tried it, you simply have to! The only place I know to find this online is http://www.geocities.jp/family_hong_kong/English/Dragon_Beard_Candy_index.htm.
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