May 9, 2008A few final thoughts from your guest bloggerSo, who do you think gets their dream smashed into a million pieces this week and who moves on to the finale? Hmm... I know I said last week I was sure Syesha Mercado was on her way out, but that was before Jason Castro destroyed two perfectly good songs. Can Mercado hold on one more week and displace one of the Davids? Unlikely, but she's come this far, and with the right song, who knows? I was listening to my iPod in my office today and heard the late, great Eva Cassidy's version of "People Get Ready" and thought that would be a great arrangement for Syesha. Do you ever do that? Hear a song and think, wow, I'll bet [insert name of favorite Idol contestant here] could bring down the house with that? Am I a real dork for admitting that I do that? Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens Tuesday. All three contestants get to tour their hometowns this weekend, which sounds nice but I am sure is actually jam-packed with work and completely exhausting and distracting. It's been a real pleasure blogging here this week, folks, but I must return to my dog blog now. Wendy's back next week. Peace out, readers! May 7, 2008End of the road for...Jason Castro. I'm okay with that. Funny guy, nice kid. This was just not his venue. As Wendy said so eloquently a few weeks ago: See ya at FloydFest, Jason. Notes on the results showThe Davids are safe. Anyone shocked? I didn't think so. Who stole half of Paula's dress? Is anyone digging the Q & A thing? It's kind of creeping me out, actually. Maroon 5. Love those guys. Have all their CDs. Wish I could make a trip to Virginia Beach for the concert. Bo Bice sounded much better than his post-Idol CD. Back to the Southern rock roots. Oh, the ensemble version of Steeler's Wheel's "Reeling in the Years": Worst. Group Sing. Ever. Period. Discuss amongst yourselves. For whom should the bell toll tonight?Tell us about it, blog readers. Who will sing their last song tonight? Clearly from the comments on the performance blog posts, the preference is to say farewell to Jason Castro, who pretty much stunk up the joint last night. The Davids were both strong as usual, and Syesha may have won over some hearts with her emotional reaction after her second song. Did I mention that Castro really blew it in a big, bad way? I have liked that young man from the beginning, but what bugs me about his performance last night, other than it was dreadful, is the lack of effort. I can respect it if he really doesn't care if he wins or not, but he should bring his best performance to the stage. Then if nobody digs it, he leaves the game knowing he did his best and was true to himself. But I don't think that was the case last night. Where I could cut him slack in recent weeks for the theme being totally out of his element, he had literally thousands of choices this week, and he tanked it on two great songs. Sad. May 6, 2008Second round of songsCook’s second song is The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly,” one of my all-time favorite songs. He’s singing it to an audience of kids who will relate Who songs to the themes of CSI shows, so I hope that helps with the recognition factor. He does a good job, and I am a harsh critic when it comes to this song. I am now, finally, a Cook fan. Randy loves it. So does Paula if anyone cares. Simon said “welcome back David Cook.” Mercado’s second song is “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cook. I hate the dress she’s wearing so much it’s hard to pay attention to the song, but she belts it out big time. Randy did not like it at all. Paula gave her a standing ovation, and fawns all over her through tears. Simon rolls his eyes while Paula talks, but he agrees with Paula. Mercado is bawling through her glittery eye makeup. She said she researched the civil rights era-song, and it meant a lot to her to sing it tonight. Simon chastises Randy for making Syesha cry. Showtime! First round of songsRock and Roll Hall of Fame night: here are quick notes as I am watching, slightly delayed on TiVo: Seacrest reveals that three of the remaining four contestants have been number one in the vote totals at some point through the season. Hmm…hard to believe it’s Mercado since she hangs out in the bottom two so much she gets her mail delivered to those ugly stools. And then there were four
Yeah, she’s not really my favorite either, but you gotta hand it to the last, barefoot woman standing. Mercado's the scrappy, shoeless underdog now. I think she’s survived more near-eliminations now than Kristy Lee Cook. Can she pull a musical upset and knock off one of the boys? Probably not. I predict she will be in the bottom two again this week, and will sing her last song. 
I think it will be interesting to see which one of her competitors will be standing there with her in the lower half of the vote totals. It will be a real shock if it’s either of the Davids; Jason Castro would be the logical choice. May 5, 2008Producers not dumping Abdul
Some have suggested the incident proves the show is rigged, the judges' comments are not spontaneous and the results are not based purely on votes. If I were the type to believe in conspiracy theories or brilliant marketing stunts, I might be tempted to wonder if perhaps Abdul’s foible was planned, intended to give America’s top show a little more publicity and perhaps a boost in its falling ratings. Personally, I don't think it's that complicated. I suspect there may be other reasons for Abdul’s embarrassing moment. She may actually be as ditzy as she seems. After all, it can be awfully difficult to accurately remember everything that happened in, oh let's say, the last 15 minutes. Blog reader Pete already believes there’s plenty of shenanigans going on and that “American Idol” is scripted and manipulated. Let’s hear what you think. Has any of this eroded your belief that the show is spontaneous and anything other than a real competition? (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file) My turn! Meet your guest bloggerHello Idol fans! 
I am Nona Nelson, your humble guest blogger while Wendy wanders Europe. Our Ms. Maxey will return next week so, until then, I am honored to be your host here on Idol Times. My only qualification for writing about “American Idol” is that I watch it. Like millions of other Americans, I tune in each week and see contestants struggle to pull a rabbit out of their musical hats so they can live to sing another week. And each week, one more hopeful has his or her dreams crushed in the cold light of harsh reality television. We feel sad for a moment, but we Americans are a competitive bunch, goody bye, good luck, and its on to the next round. |
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