American Idol- Top Nine

My ranking done last night (before the West Coast had seen it, so I didn't post) went like this:

1. Melinda: Was wonderful. It was so nice seeing her do a fun song, and it gave us a chance to see a different side of her, since she's kinda been doing the same sort of song for the past few weeks. I thought, "Tony Bennet. This will be right up Melinda's alley," & it was, but she did a much more upbeat song than I expected.

2. Jordin: She was having fun with this one too, and really shone. She just gets better every week, and it's so refreshing to watch her progress.

3. LaKisha: Great song, great performance. The last big note was better in the clip with Tony Bennett, though.

4. Chris: This was the best I have seen him. It helps that I know and like the song. It was nice to see him do something more than a ballad..

5. Blake: It was good 'cuz it was Blake, and was a good choice for him, but I wasn't as impressed as usual.

6. Phil: I thought he did pretty well, and I get what Paula meant about sounding like Frank Sinatra. His voice was very good for the style. But I thought others did much better. I was in the other room when he was singing, so I didn't watch, just listened. I can't speak to anything other than the vocals.

7. Gina: It was a nice performance, but not as good those above. I didn't actually like the end that much, but the rest was sweet.

8. Hayley: The dress was strange, especially since her hand kept going up and down right in front of the cleavage, as if she was a game show girl showing it off. I liked the bridge of the song, because she was having fun, and the rest was just okay.

9. Sanjaya: LOL, Simon, but it was Randy who I agreed with. I was just thinking that I still wasn't into the vocals, but it was my favorite performance from him because he had turned into someone who was actually "performing." At least he looked like he was in control of the performance, unlike most weeks when he looks like he's just hanging in there. Actually, I liked the ponyhawk last week better than the slicked-down hair.

I thought that the performances overall were better than they had been. And I loved the bit about Simon needing to be nice & struggling with it.

Spoilers, people! West Coast hasn't seen it.

At least he wasn't in the top three. Maybe not even the top five. And as people better than him go, hopefully those votes go to other people better than him so that he won't make the top four (which is usually a good spot to take account of the talent. After all Tamyra Gray & Chris Daughtry were lost at #4)

aspiringwriter said:

And you see that Chris has a top-selling album and is getting heavy radio airplay...

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Exactly.

MattW said:

Did Sanjaya not understand the sarcasm in Simon's comments last night? Did he really think it was praise?

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I really can't decide on his reaction. I can't imagine that he doesn't understand that people are voting for him for reasons other than talent or that he doesn't know that the judges think it's complete B.S. Since he said (to Tony or Ryan, I can't remember) that he wanted to show the audience that he "can sing," there has to be some knowledge of where he actually stands in the vocal ranking. The nice person in me wants him to be naive about it & sincere with his thank you, even though it shows him as being a little dimwitted, which the mean person in me is rolling her eyes at because how could he not know? The cynical side of me says he's playing up to it now. He knows where his votes come from, & he's inviting them, so he says "Thank you!" really loud & obvious as if he doesn't understand it's not a compliment, when he knows what it is & knows the audience knows what Simon meant too. And maybe it was just the slicked-down hair, but something about last night's performance makes me believe he's getting a little cocky about his "popularity" too.

PeeDee said:

I'm wondering if crap like "votefortheworst.com" is having an effect.

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You're wondering?