AI 11 - Nicks, Stevie, for the Nine's Own Idols

Note: I'm severely tired this week, so I'm not responsible for poor copyediting or weird trailings to nowhere, if any are contained within. I'm lucky to be getting this out at all.

Second note: Well, I didn't actually get this out at all, because I just saved it and never posted it! But here it is now, in original form save this note.

So I wasn't surprised to see Erika go last week, but I was truly disappointed that Elise was in the bottom three again. I don't understand what the problem is, except maybe she's not "pretty" enough for the bitchy, judgmental American voters. But she's plenty pretty, and better than that she's an awesome talent. I can't remember if I said or not, but when I was critical of Hollie or Shannon or someone earlier in the competition, a viewing companion suggested I was just jealous. I pointed out that if I were going to be jealous, I'd be jealous of a contestant with more talent, like Elise.

It seems like Tommy Hilfiger is using a better formula this week, letting the kids "go their own way," as it were.

Wow, Stevie Nicks! Awesome. Okay, well, she understands Colton's hair. It's nice for him that she does. I think he's picked a song that fits him, but I'm not familiar with it. Stevie Nicks really looks good.

Colton looks good with his eyes closed but I think he keeps them closed too much. Something sounds off to me with this song. He sounds slightly off key, but he's not fixing it, so I don't know what that means. It's like his voice is just about to break or something. I'd like to hear him really belt it out sometime, too. I don't hear a lot of power behind his voice. It sounded pleasing enough for a certain audience, though. He did feel dedicated and sincere.

Jennifer is gentle on the criticism and seems to be saying what I am. Maybe Randy also. . . no, because I don't think it was "unbelievable." I thought maybe he was sidestepping the quality by praising the emotion.

I wish Skylar had a different idol, but I guess Miranda Lambert fits her well. It just seems like you should pick someone who you wouldn't be competing with as your idol. But hey, it got Stevie Nicks to sing harmony with her! Wow.

Didn't someone already sing "Gunpowder and Lead"? No, maybe it was last year. She sounds good, and has lots of energy and passion. She looks and sounds like a real performer. My only worry with her is that she is too similar to others in her chosen concentration. I know it's who she is, so I wouldn't want her to change, I'd just be worried about it from a marketing and sales standpoint if I were producing this show.

Okay, so she was the one who sang this song before, in auditions. And thank you, Randy, for pointing out a special point of her voice that makes her stand apart from most of the country girls crowd.

Trios? Why are they doing this? I never understand this weirdness. I know you have to perform with others in the music business, but these are so contrived, it never seems like a good indicator of the work.

This one sounds like a seller to me, though! I'd buy it. Ooo. Maybe I just like Fleetwood Mac too much. Phillip's "Don't Stop" segment is my least favorite. I don't like how he bends words "heaw" or the faces he pulls. But I don't know. Is the accent real? I guess you can't help that.

I wonder if Heejun is seriously serious this week. I hope so, because if he wants to show versatility, he should be able to be serious sometimes. Oh, he's almost crying! But I disagree with how they're treating him about his past performances. I think he has always wanted it, and has always shown that. It just wasn't a way that was pleasing to everyone (the judges).

I think tonight's performance will turn their opinion of him. What's weird is that he sounds a little Billy Joel to me. Oops. He missed the S on the "precious secrets." But he sounds terrific. Very Michael Bolton. Oo--"my love" was a little off until he got louder and corrected it. There are still a few breaths they could complain about, if they choose to. But I think he sounds really good. And oh, look, a little unexpected run in there at the end, like judges like.

It wins him a standing ovation from the judges---and boos from the audience? Maybe they were saying "Heejun." I am really sick of hearing them say he wasn't taking it seriously before. I absolutely think he was. Oh, "people" don't realize it, Jennifer? People realized he could sing well. That's why America never put him on the bottom. It was you judges who were idiots and criticizing him when he was trying and performing as well and better than many of the others.

I wish Heejun wouldn't feel like he was letting people down. He wasn't letting me down! I think everyone with a brain saw what he was doing and why.

I'm surprised that Hollie's idol is Carrie Underwood. In fact I suspect that has more to do with the fact she's already sung Whitney Houston and Celine Dion and couldn't do another one of their type songs. It's handy for me that she's singing "Jesus Take the Wheel," which I had just gotten out of my head from the episode of GCB I watched yesterday. Thanks, Hollie!

I feel bad for Stevie Nicks having lost her mother. I hope it didn't throw off Hollie, though. I think she's a little bit fragile and impressionable (not a great trait, but something she can grow out of).

I wish Hollie wouldn't do the kissy-mouthed type of singing she does a lot. It's like a Shirley Temple filter of a sort, maybe trying to make her sound tough or soulful or deep---I couldn't say, but whatever her reason for doing it, she sounds better without, and I don't understand why no one's telling her that. Although she doesn't seem to do in the snippets of rehearsal we hear.

Hollie is confusing to me. She sounds good, perfectly apt, but there's still some quavering and imperfections. I don't know if it's that she's nervous or just doesn't have control of her voice. Minus the last little "Jesus take the wheel," the part from the second chorus on was better than the start.

I agree with Randy, and disagree with Jennifer, although I did think she understood the song a little better than many she has sung before. I don't understand Steven's criticism. Maybe the song was a little too deep for her in points. Maybe that's why she does the Shirley Temple thing.

Are they kidding telling Deandre not to forget where the camera is? If anyone knows where it is, it's Mr. Hairflip.

Are there men who only sing in falsetto? Is this a thing, and I just don't know about it? It's totally possible. I'm not as well-versed in the R&B as some. Oo, "inside" was totally, frighteningly off. The rest is okay. Not my cup of tea, and some straining here and there, but it's fine. All in falsetto, which to me sounds weird, but fine.

Jennifer is extremely unfair in telling people to pick up their phones and vote for Deandre. Are they kidding not mentioning his screwups? I just don't understand this.

How old is Jessica's mom? She looks like 24. So is Jessica transforming the song into a ballad? Seems like it.

This is a tough song to sing (not in a studio with many tracks). Jessica's doing a good job, but the power and quick changes are taxing her more than usual. It sounds better in the end when it slows down again.

Steven is confusing. I think he liked this less than other songs she sang, but didn't want to say so for some reason. I feel the same, but I'm willing to say so. It was very very good, but not as good as Whitney Houston week. I don't want to keep saying that.

Here we go with another trio. This is weak. See, here you can see how Deandre's voice sounds all right sometimes, but fades into weakness others. His bit in the "PYT" segment was surprisingly good, though. I wish he wasn't such a cheeseball and put more power and passion into his singing so we could really get a good listen to it. Joshua and Heejun were less suited to singing those Michael Jackson

Phillip is doing Johnny Lange. Stevie Nicks immediately sees his clear talent and individuality. It's hilarious to see Jimmy and Stevie Nicks interact.

I like that when Phillip is focusing on the audience and singing with his guitar, he's less likely to do the Joe Cocker-y face crazes. But you know, as attractive as he is, he's the kind of musician you listen to more than look at. I mean, nobody cared what Stevie Ray Vaughan looked like (other than him and his boot outfitter, I mean). It doesn't matter.

Jennifer is absolutely right! She's agreeing with me. Everything goes away and it's just him playing and singing the music. He is pretty awesome. I don't know if he's the American Idol winner type, but he's already got a career in the bag with this exposure of his talent, so who cares. I think he'll have other musicians lining up to work with him, in addition to the record company ready to sign him no matter what.

Wait, who is taking on Mariah Carey? Okay, that's why I was confused. Joshua. Oh, but he's not singing a Mariah Carey song---he's singing a Badfinger song reworked by Harry Nilsson! I didn't even know Mariah Carey covered it.

Well, it doesn't matter whose supposed version he's doing, this is an awesome son, and he's doing it! It sounds good. Maybe a few too many runs and trilling, but it's good. Aw, he's going gospelly again in the end. He's like Adam Lambert in the way he has to go crazy and oversing at some point in every song. And whoops, it broke him here at the end. But it was in a nicely dramatic "I can't gi-" spot.

Steven assigns the break to emotion, which is quite possible. Jennifer is adorably adulating. I disagree with Randy that it was "flawless," but it was pretty damn good.

Oh, great, a Madonna medley from the trio of girls, just what I need. That's weird. Jessica sounded a little like that one from last week who sang

What is up with the outfit on Skylar?! She looks like a nut with that hat. And she's got on the second butt sling top of the evening. I really love the powerful tone of Hollie's voice. I wish she had the confidence in and comfort with her voice Jessica has. I hope she gains it. THe women get second place with this. But there's no comparison to the Fleetwood Mac medley.

Oh my god, amazing, she got to sing with Stevie Nicks! Awesome! I'm so glad Jimmy had them do that, and I think that Stevie's reaction is exactly why he did. Elise deserves to work with someone like Stevie Nicks. Her voice is terrific.

Okay, usually I type while watching the performances. For this one, I had to stop. that was over the top amazing incredible perfect fantastic. Let's see them put her in the bottom three after this!

Tonight's ranking:

1. Elise Testone

2. Skylar Laine

3. Phillip Phillips

4. Jessica Sanchez

5. Joshua Ledet

6. Hollie Cavanaugh

7. Heejun Han

8. Colton Dixon

9. Deandre Brackensick (why did they choose his worst note for the recap?)

Who's in danger? Not Colton, so I guess Deandre, Heejun, and Hollie or Joshua.

Who should go? Deandre.

Who will go? I hope Deandre, but with my luck, Heejun.

AI - The Top Ten Already

This week marks the sobby start of tough departure footage, and Tommy Hilfiger as a fashion consultant for the contestants. Last week seemed like a positive step in style for some of them, but I'm looking forward to a more noticeable improvement. Tommy Hilfiger should be able to deliver that, even though he's always struck me as a sort of Ralph Lauren second runner. Kind of vanilla. As for the Shannon goodbye recap, I wasn't very surprised to see her go. I always thought they should have turned her away in Hollywood and urged her to come back another year. She was just too immature to make it very far. That's a shame, given her vocal potential. But she was creeping me out with her "I'm a big powerful singer girl, GRRR!!!" attitude, and something about her features landed just afield of pretty in a way that kind of bothered me. Sorry---I'd rather have straight up plain or a little homely than not quite right and eerie-off-putting, though. I thought maybe it was just me, and unfair to boot, but I guess whether or not it was unfair, it wasn't just me. I also don't know how well it went over that her dad was a professional baseball player. That's already more of a leg up than most people have, and I don't think that wins you fans, because they don't identify.

Tommy Hilfiger starts off giving Deandre exactly the advice I don't want to hear: "take down your hair!" No, please don't, Deandre. The only time you can focus on singing is when that mop of curls is tidily swept off your shoulders. Otherwise, that's all your performance is about, and this is not American Hairswinger. But no, Tommy has once again relegated us to Deandre's Salon of Song. God knows, Billy Joel only sounds right when you've got that shampoo commercial "like you just stepped out of a salon" attitude.

Diddy follows with the weird advice, getting totally off track with Christie Brinkley and private jets, neither of which were on the scene for him when Billy Joel wrote this song.

I wouldn't have picked this song for Deandre, but so far he's giving the best performance I've seen from him. The grit and absence of falsetto is a big plus. I don't know if he understands everything he's singing about, and therefore he doesn't have a lot of passion in all the lines. But it was definitely the best he's done since last year's audition stages. But it was a little too light and nothing to really matter. I guess I mostly agree with Randy, with a little of Jennifer.

As for the look, the sunglasses hanging print shirt was kind of cute, but the hair coupled with the white sleeveless jean jacket gave him a real Milli Vanilli flavor. All he needed was the bike shorts.

I agree with Diddy here in his advice to Erika. You have to be a New Yorker to sing "New York State of Mind." Unfortunately, Erika is not from New York, and she can't do anything about that. Her whole attitude is wrong, worrying about her dumb state and its baseball team. Clearly, she's trying to capitalize on states' votes, but they're going to vote for her anyway. Don't bother. Do what you have to do to win over the rest of the country.

Oh my god, I cannot believe that Erika listened to Tommy Hilfiger and cut off all her hair. It doesn't look bad, but she already looked unfeminine because of her figure, and now she has boy-short hair. Boy short hair that's a different color---not good for a show where people need to remember you and why they're voting for you each week, especially in the beginning when they're just choosing their camps! It's so disconcerting that her performance is secondary, and that should never be the case for a real singer. I am paying close attention to the second half, though, and again it's nothing special. She doesn't sound any more convincing than any lounge singer, and she keeps doing those weird deep phlegm things. Eh.

Ryan is thrillingly complimentary to Erika's 'do in comparing it to Sanjaya's ponyhawk. Frights and horrors. That's tougher than she deserved. It did look kind of cute, if boyish.

Tommy Hilfiger is redoing the same suit-y kind of look Joshua Ledet had last week. It worked then, and he's echoing that with a tuxedo look. Supposedly. I don't see tuxedo in his final appearance, and I thought he looked better in the Coasters/Platters-esque white dinner jacket from last week.

I can't believe Joshua doesn't know "She's Got A Way," or that he's calling it a pop song. It was popular, yes, but it's such a beautiful ballad it's not the same as. . . it's just not that far from soul. I wish they would address that, tell him to think about what the song is saying.

Uh-oh. I don't know what the problem is (I really didn't mean to pun on the song there), but for some reason Joshua isn't getting this right. His voice sounds like it's off and wandering, and his passion doesn't seem focused on what the song is saying. I don't understand the whole gospel second half, either. That works for some songs, but he can't do it for every song. It sounded strained and not pleasant to me. I didn't get any real feeling from him, and I didn't appreciate what he did to the song.

So I agree with Jennifer, I guess. What is wrong with Steven Tyler that he has never heard this song? Who doesn't know this song? Maybe youth or lack of interest in music could have shielded you from it, but Steven Tyler should damn well know this song. I can't relate to what this may have sounded like to someone (a recent immigrant or 8-year-old?) who has never heard this song, so I can't offer an opinion on what he sounded like to that kind of ear.

Skylar seems to be back to her more confident self this week, and I'm glad Tommy Hilfiger is willing to work with her "country and western" (love it! so '80s) look. Her resulting outfit is cute, but with no-impact boots (I can't even see them).

This is a good, solid performance. She is ever so slightly nervous, but that's understandable. She's treated the song perfectly, and she sounds great. She's believable, relatable, and good.

I agree with Randy and Steven, I suppose, although I think I'm a little more enthusiastic.

Yeeps! Elise is doing Vienna! Ah, Jimmy is advising her away from it. Listen to Jimmy? I don't know. I don't know why this girl is not getting votes, because she's awesome. Does no one know this song? If they think so little of Billy Joel on this show, why are they doing a week of him?

I don't know what they're doing to Elise style-wise, but I feel like her hair needs some attention too. She doesn't look very different when she come out, though. I like the color of her dress, but the vest duster is gross. And she needs (like many of the girls on this show often do) better support for her bust.

What are we here for again? The singing, right. Well, she's pretty awesome. A couple missed or cracked notes here or there because she's pushing or stretching, but pretty awesome. And sounds just like her without straying much from Billy Joel at all. At this point she's my easy top choice. I hope America feels the way the judges do here. She is unbelievably talented.

Oh, very cute that they brought her students on stage. Yes, please, win her votes any way you have to. She deserves them.

I immediately see Tommy Hilfiger has had a major influence on Phillip Phillips here. He looks. . . almost exactly the same as he has every week. In all seriousness though, Tommy was obviously against it, and tried really hard. Bravo, Tommy. You are absolutely right.Phillip may not be interested in fashion, but that doesn't mean he has to wear the equivalent of a burlap sack.

Diddy was right again here too. No guitar for Phillip. And if he thinks he doesn't use it as a shield he's kidding himself. Without it he's still got his arm drawn across his body to do the job. Who are those four girls in the studio? Weird, slightly creepy.

And yet there's the guitar again in the performance! What the hell. But it's sounding pretty damned good in the Phillip deconstruction style. Ah, yes, I like this. Possibly a little extra because facets of this song have always bothered me and they're mostly eliminated here, stretched out into something sexier and angry in a different way than Billy Joel's sounds. (This one passionate/determined; Billy Joel's sharply, snidely raging and ultimatum-smacking.) Excellent.

I didn't like the fashion choices, and unsurprisingly even Steven's scarf livened it up beautifully. Of course Phillip is uncomfortable with looking good and can't keep the scarf near his body for more than a joking few seconds. Is it possible Phillip is just self-conscious and insecure, and that's why he's afraid to try to look like he got his clothes somewhere other than the Old Man Clothes Dumpster? But it didn't really matter that he looked like a boring dirty hippie bump on a log, because the song sounded so good. Still, if he's going to stay in the forefront on this show, in spite of what Phillip says about him not being concerned with image, he has to understand you shouldn't actively have to try to blend into the background or the actual ground.

Hollie once again looks older than 17. I wish she wasn't wearing that weird cutaway blazer. What happened to the dress if she asked for a dress? How did she end up in a pantsuit?

I'm excited that she is going to sing "Honesty." I think she can be incredible, and I was hoping someone good would be singing this one tonight. It's a real benefit that they explained what the song means to her so she's clear.

I don't like the way she's turning it into a Whitney/Christina girl song. And she's not feeling it as much as she should. Maybe she can't; maybe she doesn't understand it fully yet. The second half is more real, powerful, and touching.

I think I agree with Steven. . . not so much with Jennifer. I think she knew all the notes, I just think she was a little unsteady and overthinking. I agree most with Randy. And I think she'd sound even better if

Oh my Goooood, she'd never heard the song either! This is just wrong, having people with no appreciation for or knowledge of music trying to be music stars.

Poor Heejun. He really wasn't as bad as the criticism he got last week. I don't think it was fair to him, and I don't think it's fair that he has to perform with the weight of that on him, but I guess it's true that's the biz.

I don't think Heejun was testing Tommy, I think he was genuinely confused and just trying to think of people he thought had good style.

Oh my god. I totally bought that he was going to singing it the way he has sung everything and screwed up! This is the perfect song for him and he's singing it pretty perfectly. What a charming kiss off to the judges! A little too low on the "victim of circumstance." But so much of this is strong and pleasant. He could have a little more power behind his voice, but it sounds really good. This was so much the right thing to do I don't know if I've ever seen such a great comeback.

I don't know if Jennifer quite understood what was going on, given her judging reaction. Yay, like to hear Steven call him something other than "Hayjune" with the "He-man." At least the first syllable was right. Hm. I don't know if any of the judges understood the performance at all. I think they've just decided they don't think he's one of the best and they are basically tossing him to the wolves---their choice for sacrifice. I don't think that's fair, or deserved.

Of course they're putting Jessica in a darling dress and and saying she could be a fashion icon. She's the polar opposite of Heejun on this show. She's clearly the AI pet this year. She has an awesome voice, but that spot is unfairly given this early in the game. America can have its favorites, but the show should not.

Okay, Diddy has been right on with everyone tonight except Deandre. Jessica has been overdoing it a lot. It's nice to see she listened to him, at least for the first part of the song. For the end, she went straight to the big bag of tricks again. It sounded great, though, very Whitney. But she's almost boring, in spite of how perfect she is. There's staggering talent in her vocals, but no noticeable artistic flair.

Jennifer had a good take on her performance tonight. And the dress was pretty cute. Reminds me of a dress I used to have, except mine was a-line and a little more antique-y looking.

I totally agree with Tommy that Colton's hair is a problem. "My hair's my baby" is also something you never want to hear a guy say. It's just kind of creepy. Makes me want to shave it all off. So does the look in general. It's too common at this point, and too much effort for a guy. I think guys can use product, fine, and maybe a brush or comb, but if he's using multiple products and heat tools, he's either got to have more impressive look than Colton or he's wasting his time.

Colton is doing "Piano Man," which for personal reasons I am so sick of and yet also still have affection for. It sounds like he has a traditional but interesting take on it.

Okay, mostly tradition? When I hear the opening, I hear Billy Joel's version. But then it sounds slightly fresher, which is hard to do. It's all just Colton's voice doing that, because he's not changing the melody much at all. He's changed the la-di-das a little. That seems to almost screw him up as he goes into the end, which is the biggest change from the original and doesn't really go, even though it sounds okay. It just sounds like someone tacked another (current pop) song on the end there. Still, that was a tiny bit on the rest of the song that was on the whole a strong performance.

I liked Steven's backhanded sort of compliment about his notes resolving into something good, because it's true. Randy's take was exactly it, though: the song was simply Billy Joel's version, but sung Colton's way, and different/great for that. As for the hair, I forgot to pay attention to it, but it doesn't look much different to me. Maybe a little less blond, a little choppier on top?

Sounded like the judges were on the same page as me with their picks. Tonight's rankings were pretty easy, to a point. Hollie and Skylar were maybe about even, but Skylars growl versus Hollie's pure sound edged Hollie to the top for me. I felt uncertain putting Erika on the bottom, because I don't think her voice is that bad, but she's just doing stuff with it I don't like. And I hated putting Joshua below Deandre, but I thought tonight's performance from Joshua was just plain off. Still, the unevenness in tonight's ranking (as compared to what I think of the general potential of the contestants) means I'm starting the separate picks of who's in danger and who I want to leave.

Rankings of tonight's performances

1. Elise

2. Phillip

3. Jessica

4. Colton

5. Hollie

6. Skylar

7. Heejun

8. Deandre

9. Joshua

10. Erika

Who I want to see leave: Deandre or Erika.

Who I really think is in danger: If America keeps up its sick and unfair voting, Elise and/or Joshua. But that would be wrong. Barring that, I'd say Erika and Heejun.

AI Season 11 - 11 Finalists and A Felon

"With cooperation from law enforcement". . . Ryan is such an ass. He already thinks he's Dick Clark, and now he's trying to throw some John Walsh in there too. Well, Ryan, you're neither. I'll admit you're a fanatically driven man with killer instincts on how to get ahead. So you may develop into a Dick Clark-esque career path. But you're not an original, or any kind of innovator.

Ah, the week of "Songs from the Year You Were Born." AKA "Viewers, Let Us Show You That We're Young (And You're OLD)." Always a treat. Then again, it usually turns into "Let's Find the Remakes and Do Those," so half the time you don't know what year you're in anyway.

I don't remember why Will.I.Am was a fan favorite mentor, but he is a likable fellow. Phillip's rehearsal of "Hard to Handle" sounded off key to me, but hey, they guy was on his way to surgery.

His performance onstage sounds much better. As usual, it's professionally presented and sounds good. There's nothing new except he's sans guitar. He's good. He's not my style, but he's definitely good enough to be someone people go to see.

I hate it when the judges remind you it's a song from the year the contestant was born. I feel like they really want to frighten people. In this case I guess it's clear he wasn't from the year of the Otis Redding version, but he does seem older to me than he'd be if born circa the Black Crowes version.

Hoo boy, Jessica's going to be a crazy not-old song. Oh! "Turn the Beat Around." She's older than I . . . oh, well, I guess not! She's sixteen. Ah, of course, what the hell am I thinking. I never even knew Gloria Estefan covered this. I guess if she was alive for the original, she'd be too old to qualify for the show. God knows, 36 is practically a walking corpse.

I love her pants. The song, eh, I don't think it was the right choice for her. She's doing it well, and it definitely gets tough at times with the rat-tat-tat and the syncopated rhythm and all that. She performed it pretty well, I just don't know that I felt her feeling it like she could have.

Ah! Steven agrees with me on the pants and the song. Jennifer too. "Stir" her in the right direction, Randy? But otherwise, I agree with you.

Did Ryan just plug Swagbucks with his "Swaggernaut" reference? I think he may have been referring to the pants, but who else says Swaggernaut? I've been meaning to blog about Swagbucks. If you haven't heard of it, it's a fabulously easy way to make a few extra pennies each day doing nearly nothing. You just let them track your searches (Google is already doing that for nothing!) and you win points here and there. You then exchange those points for items---my favorite is to use 450 points on a $5 Amazon giftcard. If you do the bare minimum, you get enough points for about one card a month. You can bump it up to two with a little effort doing extra things on their website. But even if you only get the bare minimum, that's $70 extra dollars a year you're getting from doing absolutely nothing. Well worth it. I wish I'd joined up when I first heard about it, but I worried it was a scam or pointless or dangerous, security-wise. It's none of those things. And (hint hint) you don't have to do all your searches through Swagbucks, so if you want to be private as well, you can just search normally. Basically it's just like choosing them as your search engine at your discretion. If any of you nonexistent readers plan to join up, please, please, please use my handy referral link, http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/bluela , as my mostly artsy non-computing friends and Anti-Facebook status has left me with one lonely referral and little chance of many more.

But I digress far, far afield from American Idol! I shall return to Swagbucks at a later date. Jessica Sanchez, America! I mean, now Heejun Han!

Oh, Heejun is singing Richard Marx! I love Richard Marx! We used to go visit my cousin in Florida and I would just listen to his tapes as we drove along the shabby glamour of the mixed deco/'50s-architectured beachline. . . I loved it. I'm so glad I got to spend the time there that I did before they started renovating and updating everything. People have no respect for history. It's sad. Heejun's mom is so cute crying! And his dad looks just like him.

I don't know how the judges are going to feel about "Right Here Waiting." It seems similar to the choices of his they don't like. I appreciate Jimmy and Will being up front about Heejun's accent difficulties. He really has to work on that. It would have been better had they told him it was a "c" in chance than saying "the 's'," but I guess I shouldn't split hairs.

Heejun sounds great at first. I love the breathy. I don't like how the "de line" brings me back to his accent, but it does. Still, it doesn't bother me as much as his changes to "you got me going crazy." The rest is all good, though. Except his stupid lensless glasses! But again, splitting hairs. He sounded pretty lovely.

What, is Randy crazy? I think Randy doesn't understand how Heejun sings with his breathiness. I think that's intentional. But of course Randy didn't like the song choice, Unlike Jennifer, I didn't hear him struggling with the song. Maybe not pushing far enough. I think he could do more.

I wonder if Elise is the oldest. I think she's got better choices than some, being born in 1983. I think I like how she's sounding and what she's doing with "Let's Stay Together." Yes, this is really good. So far, this is my favorite tonight. Is this song from 1983? I always thought it was older. Whoops---she went a little wonk near the end there. But it was easily overlookable with how sexy and smoky and smooth the rest was.

Janis? Is Randy nuts? The fact they both have a rasp is the only similarity I hear.

Deandre is too young. I will kick him. So, ah, good, he's doing a remake of a song from a year he should have been born. Yes, I think the contestants on this show are too young for their own good.

He's singing this too soft and light. He wobbled going into falsetto, I think he was off key on the next "love," and he generally seems to be struggling with the song or his arrangement of it. I'm a little confused. He doesn't seem to be able to dig deep for a good sound, and relies on his falsetto too much, and it doesn't work very well.

I agree with Jennifer also, to a degree. I see why Jimmy and Will thought it was a good choice for him, but I don't think he had the comfort or ability to pull it off perfectly. She was right about the key, but I think he was unsteady with it no matter what the key.

His hair is not dreads, Ryan. Are you stupid?

Shannon Magrane is sickeningly young as well. "Don't Speak"! Aaaaaahh! How can you be born the year that song came out? Instead she's picking a song I don't know, Mariah Carey (a good choice for someone who just failed at Whitney? Hm.) & Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day." She sounded off key on the "day" in rehearsal. She wants to prove Will.I.Am wrong? It seemed like he was just offering her helpful advice.

She's doing much better with this song, but her voice still sounds like it's straining sometimes, mostly when she's trying to get loud and powerful. I don't like those bits anyway. She sounds best when she's light and lilting along. It was quite good. And the gold lace shorts were hot, though slightly heined by the black pantyhose. I wish Shannon didn't make the aggressive faces and bird of prey movements that bother me so much.

Hey, the song was 18 weeks on the top of the pop charts? Not R&B? Well, I was busy at that time, I guess, and listening to lot different music.

I'm glad they pointed out how there are thousands of songs to choose from in a year. I don't know why Jessica claimed her choices were slim! 1994 had a crapload of fantastic songs.

Colton, you and Mike Daughtry had dinner and you both ate dinner? Hilarious and cute in how fanboy silly that description is. But nicely witty with the response he will start taking Mike Daughtry's advice next week.

1991 had a lot of good songs. He's singing some "obscure" White Lion song---given that a lot of kids probably don't know half the songs tonight (since the contestants don't seem to), this could be a time when the chance of doing a song the audience might not know could pay off.

It sounds good, and I like that he's showing more of a rock side than he has before. The song sounds familiar to me (I listened to that kind of thing in those days), but it's definitely not a chart-topper. I think it worked okay, and as I said this was maybe the only week it could have worked.

I totally disagree with Steven. I don't think the song was terribly special, and I think he could have chosen a similar song and done it just as well, maybe better thanks to the song. But it wasn't a song that pulled him down in any way. So I guess I feel more like Randy about it. Maybe it could have been even better with a higher quality song, but it was quite appealing as it was.

Wow, Erika looks old for her age. I don't like the way she sounds singing Bryan Adams, and the timing sounded off to me. Yikes! Will was pretty hard on her.

Why is she timing the phrasing this way? It's gross. And the way she's singing is highlighting the phlegminess of her voice. It's not attractive. Her dress is pretty awesome, though. It would look much better on me. I think I've sung the song better, too (though I don't know if I could now, my voice has been damaged and I am no longer able to practice singing like I used to).

I liked the echoing boo at Steven, but he didn't deserve it. Jennifer, on the other hand, is psycho for comparing Erika to Janis Joplin. But she was right on with complimenting the clothes styling. Randy has it right on with the weird arrangement criticism. It was odd and uncomfortable. It's just wrong that it was intentionally arranged that badly.

So Jermaine Jones has had to go home for lying about criminal charges and having four outstanding warrants. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. It's nice that they gave him a respectful goodbye and played his stage rehearsal. Man, to go out on the song from An American Tail! I love "Somewhere Out There," and his little clip sounded okay, but I don't know how I would have felt about the whole thing. It's a duet, and you really need the beautiful higher bits.

Skylar seems anxious and very different this week. I don't know what would have happened to change her mood or outlook. She's always seemed confident and relaxed, and rightly so. "Love Sneaking Up on You" did seem like an obvious choice, so I understand why Jimmy and Will were suggesting alternatives. I'd like to hear her sing some Melissa Etheridge, and she had some good songs that year (1994---wasn't that when Where the Day Takes You was released? Chock full of good Melissa Etheridge.) But "Hold My Hand"?! Jimmy, get real. And Coolio's "Fantastic Voyage"! That would have been a sight to see.

I'm having a hard time hearing her words, and I'm not into the weird Don Henley All She Wants to Do Is Dance/Dirty Laundry synth-heavy backing music. So I guess I'm agreeing with Jimmy and Will. This was not a good song choice. It's not like she's singing it badly, but there's not much she's doing to notice, and the backing music is too much in the forefront. The end showed he voice off a little, but there just wasn't a lot there. I think she's likable enough to survive this crap choice, but this was a crap choice.

What is Randy talking about that she could have chosen a country song. It may be crossover, but that was a country song. Bonnie Raitt had so much better songs, though! I wish Skylar had done one of those.

It is so cute that they sent Joshua crawfish, but it's a little wasteful they sent so many! I hope they find people to eat them.

Eep. I was looking forward to seeing Joshua wriggle out of the old-fashioned sound he does so well but may have been what landed him in the bottom three guys last week. But no, he's not wriggling out of anything, he's staying right in his talent comfort zone, singing "When A Man Loves A Woman." In this case, since more people know the song and appreciate an old-style delivery of it, they might embrace this. I hope so, because even though he claims he's doing Michael Bolton's version, he's doing a '50s-'60s soul version of it.

He is awesome. He is truly singular, a rare gem. I like that he took his retro blazer off and went a little wild, although maybe it was a little church speaking in tongues wild. But he was incredible. I hope he gets the respect he deserves from that.

I think the judges are trying to be extra obvious in declaring how great he was because they worry about what the voters did last week. Randy brought in a little reality bringing up Percy Sledge, since that was really the song Joshua was singing.

Nice! Last week I said how I thought Hollie was more Celine than Whitney, and this week she's doing Celine. Her parents are adorable. Unfortunately for me, a lot of time when I see an interview with a couple with any accents from Britain, I find myself seeing them as Creature Comforts animals! I think her parents just escaped.

Hollie's dress is beautiful. It gives her a little bulk, which surprisingly this one girl in the world could use. I don't think "The Power of Love" was the best Celine song for her, because it obviously wasn't something within her experience. And she was no Celine---she wasn't perfect, she wasn't over and above the whole song, but she was really good. Comfortable and confident to boot. It was solid.

In ranking, there were some tough choices for me. There were some people I really liked, then some people who had song troubles, then people who . . . well, I sort of wished I could rank by grouping rather than individuals. But I broke it down into what I think is my choice of best to worst.

1. Joshua

2. Elise

3. Colton

4. Hollie

5. Shannon

6. Phillip

7. Heejun

8. Skylar

9. Jessica

10. Erika

11. Deandre

As for who's in danger, I'd say my 8 and 9 are in no danger even though they rank below the others. Many people were "pretty good" this week, so the bottom two who were "pretty bad" stick out. I think the judges have put some power into the idea that Heejun isn't as good as Deandre, so Heejun might be in more danger than he deserves. But if the judges would remember, Deandre was not chosen by America, and Heejun was. Popularity matters in this competition. I hope Heejun still has enough to pull through. I would love to say goodbye to Deandre, but I think realistically, Erika is more likely to go. Her performance this week was bad, and she's another non-voted on contestant.

AI Season 11 - 1 of 13 Eliminated

I didn't put my "who's in danger" and "who's going" bit at the end of the last post, but in the beginning stages, it's generally the true lowest, and it turns out that was the case here! Justice was served and Jeremy Rosado hit the road.

In the surprising column is the fact that Shannon Magrane wasn't in the bottom two, but luckily the also-shocking presence of Elise Testone there guaranteed that Jeremy was sent home as he deserved. I don't know if that would have been the case if he'd met up with Shannon. That would have been bad, because even though she screwed up royally, Shannon has more natural ability than Jeremy could ever develop.

Possibly most shocking of all to me was that Joshua was in the men's bottom three! How did that happen? He was either the best or second-best no matter how you look at it. But maybe his classic sound, though rare and awesome, isn't the type of vocal that appeals to the AI audience. The AI audience should learn a thing or two if that is the case.

Until next week . . .

AI Season 11 - 13 Finalists Compete

First off, I'll say that I correctly predicted all the girls America chose for the Top 10, and actually had two of the Wildcard choices too, though I wasn't sure who would prevail there until after they performed. I was a bit uncertain about the boys, and the results showed that America felt the same way. . . I guess I'm glad in some cases (Heejun) but annoyed in other cases (Jermaine has a cool voice, but I don't see how he'll ever get anywhere in pop), and especially with what the judges did with the Wildcard "fixes" (Deandre and Jeremy).

Steven Tyler's Lichtenstein pants are awesome. Whoever made them is going to get a lot of extra attention for this.

What's weird is that even though I like a lot of people this year, I don't see anyone who stands out as my choice right off. For likely picks, I'd say Colton for his teen appeal, Hollie and Jessica for their powerhouse talent, and Skylar for her firecracker performance skills. But with Skylar I'm a little sad because Lauren Alaina was a bigger talent than Skylar and all she got was second place last year.

I love Joshua Ledet. I think he has a very old-school ('50s-'60s) soul sound. But it's unusual, exceptional. I'm just not sure he'll fit perfectly into this competition to the point where he could win it. He has a great tone and talent for tonight's theme of Stevie Wonder for the boys. His performance is spot-on and reasonably relaxed/easy for this stage of the competition. There wasn't anything extra WOW about it, but it was extremely well done.

I knew exactly what Jennifer meant when she said she wanted to punch him in the auditions. He is that good! He's awesome. And he handled this perfectly. It's definitely all he needed to do to stick with it, for now. But I think soon he'll have to pop more. We'll see how it goes, but I wish him well.

I agree with Jimmy (I often do) that Elise Testone's idea to do "The Greatest Love of All" seemed like a bad idea. It didn't sound good there even when she sang the tiny bit she did. But here arises what I see is a major problem with American Idol taking such young people---how could she not know "I'm Your Baby Tonight"? In the final selections I was literally in tears when the boys said they didn't know "I Only Have Eyes for You." And he (I think it was Phillip who said it) wasn't even ashamed! Sickening.

Elise was one of my favorites by the end of the auditions and finalist stages, and I think the delivery tonight was good at showcasing her voice. But she clearly didn't seem comfortable and passionate about what she was saying and singing in the song. It seemed like she was just doing it. I don't know if it was fair to have her sing a song she didn't want to sing, even if she'd chosen the wrong one to start with. Why didn't they suggest a third option, or something? I don't know. But again, I think it was definitely enough to keep her in for the time being.

Jermaine Jones, the big baby man, is singing higher than he ever has before, and finally I see how he could work in some areas of R & B. He wavered a little, but he sounded good for the most part. He's not my flavor, because in general he still sings deeper than I enjoy hearing. But with this I could hear how he'd be something someone else would like to listen to.

Erika Van Pelt is finally wearing a flattering outfit. I don't know what the stylists did to her in the girls' finals with that sad sack blazer outfit, and the purple strapless affair didn't help much either. But this red dress is just right. Her use of "I Believe in You and Me" seems like it's going to be just right also. I don't like the depths she goes to on some of the words (believe, fool, etc---the low digs she makes), but with the rest of it. she sounds good. And not like she's trying to be Whitney Houston. I like her feeling the song way more than I liked Elise Testone, who didn't seem to feel anything. But her voice didn't seem to quite measure up, even though it was good. I think she could have been a lot more stable and could have pushed and shown a lot more. I didn't feel that way as much when Jennifer said it in the girls' final show, but I agree with her about it tonight.

Colton Dixon has to be careful this week, since Stevie Wonder's usual sound isn't really something that goes with what he does. But tons of people have sung Stevie Wonder songs, and you don't have to do it like Stevie Wonder or even like any of them. Jimmy and Mary gave him good advice, and I hope he takes it.

Somehow it comes off sounding a little '70s Barry Manilow to me with only touches of Thom Yorke or something more modern. The second half was a little rock musical. None of that is too bad, and his voice sounded good, stable and on key. I just don't know if it was perfect to appeal to the kids. I'd say in its way, it tied with Joshua Ledet, but maybe I'd put Joshua a little higher for a solid delivery all around.

Whoo, Shannon Magrane is going with "I Have Nothing." This kind of thing makes me wish they wouldn't do Whitney Houston. I mean, I know why they want to honor her, but yikes, it's scary. And then it makes you sad because you know there's never going to be any more Whitney Houston.

Shannon starts off more like a timid girl on a Broadway stage. I like the styling---very '80s Whitney. I don't like the fact that she looks scared, and I don't like the growl, which Whitney didn't do (the right choice). Also, when I think she's trying to look passionate, she looks angry. Then scared. And I guess she was scared because she was going for the big note again, and she screwed it up. Then she put in more growling, and I don't think she ever fully regained it. This, again, is why they shouldn't take people this young. All along I didn't think Shannon or Eben should get through, because I think they're just too young. There are some people that age who are mature enough to do this, but those two clearly were not, even though in Shannon's case her voice definitely sounds mature most of the time. But I don't think she is old enough to do this properly, and comfortably.

Deandre Brackensick is like a girl in his vanity. It's embarrassing for him, and I don't even think he realizes it. If he's not gay, he's in trouble, because no girl wants that! "Master Blaster" may be too much for him, I think. I don't think he has enough depth to make it through this whole competition. Tonight keeping his hair pulled back was a genius choice to show he's not just a hair flipper. And maybe cutting that complication is what makes it possible for him to work this song as successfully as he does. It's good, and he's pretty on it. I was remarking to my fellows that he should cut that hair as soon as I saw him flinging it around, and it looks like he should, or should at least keep it back.

I totally disagree with Steven that he is anything like Naima, and in fact he's the perfect example of how to do right what she did wrong. He was natural and real and in sync with the song, while she was put-on and uncomfortable to watch. He's won my second or third place guy's spot, which is saying a lot because I haven't liked his personality and didn't agree with the judges giving him a Wildcard spot.

Skylar Laine is one of my favorites even though I don't like the country growl sound and she's more nasal than I like. I love that Mary told her to be softer---it drove her right to a new sound that we haven't gotten to hear before, and I'm excited to hear her "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" now. Oh, it started off good, giving me goosebumps and a little welling. She went a little off on a note, but she's good. It seems to be the ends of phrases where she gets a little wobbly on the notes. I still don't like the growling and don't understand why she puts it in here. But she's awesome in her ending here. She's much better in the power than the soft singing. She should get some more control there. This was really great performance from her, though not as confident as her last performance in the girls finals. I'd like to hear more of the softer vocals from her, in perfect control.

Heejun Han is hilarious and I love him. Love him! He should have his own TV show. But I'm a little worried about him, because he sometimes doesn't anunciate enough and maybe that's with songs he knows less, which I assume is the case with "All Is Fair in Love." It's not too much of a problem, though. He sounded a little off when he started, flat or too low or something, though it was a whole line so maybe it was hard to catch. He made Stevie Wonder sound more like an adult contemporary ballad, and he continues to be a little to soft and breathy. I agree with Randy that "it wasn't perfect, but it was really good." It definitely puts him above Jermaine, so I hope that's enough.

Oh, I'm so excited about Hollie Cavanagh. She's awesome. I'm still worried about her doing "All the Man the I Need," though I think Mary's advice helped her a lot. But it's another case of nobody can be Whitney. And then you get upset thinking how there's no more Whitney! But I guess there wasn't really a Whitney vocally for a while, which is its own sad thing.

I think Hollie has to be even more confident in herself and her ability. She's strong and steady, but I want her to be almost cocky, because she deserves to feel that way, and I think it would put her over the top. Her delivery was earnest and heartfelt, with a lot of power. I get more of a Celine Dion feeling from her power---the sustained notes rather than undulating melody---than Whitney, but it was a beautiful performance.

J. Lo's Jeremy Rosado should never have gotten through. His voice is okay, but I don't think he should have even made it to the top 24. He's a nice guy, but that counts for nothing. Surprisingly, he sounds on key and even on "Ribbon in the Sky." His voice is all one tone and sadly monochromatic against the lyrical backdrop of rainbow color here. Eh. He was okay, but his voice isn't so special. I think maybe Jennifer listened to too much cheese and she thinks this is quality. Shades of Stefan from last year. For me it was thin and light and not much of anything.

Uh-oh. Jessica Sanchez is doing "I Will Always Love You." She was awesome last week in the girls final, but you have to be more than awesome to do this Whitney style. I love Dolly Parton's version too, which is simple and honest and sweet. But this is supposed to be the Whitney Houston week. Can Jessica pull it off? Maybe so. The quiet a cappella opening was great. She did a little too much vibrato (still, in spite of Jimmy's advice) in the middle bits. And she needs to stop that damn hand flickering on the microphone that they all do. The end was lovely, and I even liked the breath she took at the end drwaing the microphone away. She's not Whitney Houston by any means, but it was extremely good. I think if she'd have ended up doing this closer to the end of the competition, she'd come close.

It's easy to agree with Randy that she's one of the best in the competition. That's obvious. She and Hollie are easily the best female vocalists. I wish they had ended on this instead of something else, as a better Whitney tribute. But no, they have to follow the stupid boy-girl thing and end on a boy.

Phillip Phillips has an obvious choice here with "Superstition." I like his thing, and I don't usually like that jam man with a guitar thing, but sooner or later (preferably sooner) we're going to have to see him break out of it a little. It's hard with him, because he performs like a professional, and I can easily see people going to see him perform this exactly as he did. But in judging his vocal delivery, he wobbled at a few points, and it was fairly predictable. It was fine, but nothing new or surprising or especially incredible. But apt, professional, and sounding good. It just sounded like everything else he's already done (except "In the Air Tonight was a little more inventive than the rest).

I don't know what Jennifer and Randy was talking about with "interpretation" and "reinterpretation" here. I was more on Steven bus with the "you just are," and I don't think the Phillips version was that far from the Stevie version. The most important thing is that Phillip Phillips has to be himself expanding to make it on this show. If he is only going to stay what he is, he's going to be back doing that own thing again. I think it's likely that will happen, which is why in spite of his talent, I don't see him as a winner in this competition.

I agree with Randy's top picks and Jennifer's choice of the girls as tops. I don't know what Steven was doing saying Elise was in danger, because she was miles better than almost all the boys. Unfair!

Taking into account the fact that they're taking the bottom boy and the bottom girl to an elimination round, I've done rankings for boys and girls separately, and together to show the usual fair play way. I don't know why they're separating the sexes, because it shouldn't have anything to do with who carries on. . . except I think they know they have some sluggard boys and for some reason, they want to keep them even though they shouldn't stay.

Chicks:

1. Jessica Sanchez

2. Hollie Cavanagh

3. Skylar Laine

4. Elise Testone

5. Erika Van Pelt

6. Shannon Magrane

Fil-as:

1. Joshua Ledet

2. Deandre Brackensick

3. Colton Dixon

4. Heejun Han

5. Phillip Phillips

6. Jermaine Jones

7. Jeremy Rosado

Everybody get down:

1. Jessica Sanchez

2. Hollie Cavanagh

3. Skylar Laine

4. Joshua Ledet

5. Deandre Brackensick

6. Elise Testone

7. Erika Van Pelt

8. Colton Dixon

9. Heejun Han

10. Phillip Phillips

11. Shannon Magrane

12. Jermaine Jones

13. Jeremy Rosado