American Idol (5/21) — The Last Show of Season 7!!!

Too bad Randy and Paula didn’t call eachother before the show… “Are you going to wear your bright red dress?… Oh, then I probably shouldn’t wear my bright red suit.”

First, how weird to make all the finalists were all white to perform.  I couldn’t even figure out who I was looking at during the performance.

When they first started showing the trailer for The Love Guru, I was annoyed at the waste of time.  However, it looks very funny and I loved the clip with Mike Meyers with the Davids.  It also allowed for the uncomfortable moment of Seacrest riding the magic carpet until we almost got a camera full of his crotch.  Awkward mishap!

Jason Castro – Oh, the tears in my eyes!  It was wonderful to see the Hallelujah performance again.  I seriously do not understand how anyone can watch a performance like that and still say that he’s not an amazing singer.

Funny moment at my house: My TiVo got ahead and my boyfriend saw the Jonas Brothers on-stage and as I was rewinding to the beginning of the segment, he said, “Who are those guys?” just as Seacrest says, “These guys need no introduction.”  So I started laughing and my boyfriend says, “No, seriously… who ARE these guys.”  We’re getting OLD!!!  (BTW, I don’t “get” the Jonas Bros. — as many times as I hear that song, it doesn’t really stick with me.)

Okay, so the night was full of amazing performances and it was a really fun show to watch.  My favorite was the George Michael montage… I’m a big fan.  And then a performance by REAL George Michael — kick ass!!!

And the winner is… DAVID COOK!!!

I’m shocked and thrilled!!!  I hope he has a long career!

Thanks to everyone who has read my blog this season and all the comments!  It’s been fun! 

I’ll probably blog again this summer if they have another season of Big Brother.

Otherwise, American Idol blogging returns in January (which feels so far away!!!)

Thanks again!

-Maggie

American Idol (5/20) — Final Performance Show!

Woo hoo! 

When I started watching tonight’s show, I started writing a list of famous people (those not related to the show) who were in the audience, but the only person I saw all hour was Luke Perry and his kids.  Anyone spot anyone else?

Cook vs. Archuleta

Was Seacrest joking when he said that D.A. only weighs 100lbs?  Adorable!  I also loved his reference to “Big David” and “Little David.”

Speaking of Seacrest, I was alarmed by his makeup tonight.  Even more orange than usual.

Extra credit to D.C. for doing something special with his comb-over for the finals… more of a comb-up.  Very nice.

Performance #1 (Clive Davis choice):

*** Note to the boys… don’t pull a Kelly Clarkson and piss off Clive Davis!  Look what happened to her career after that…***

D.C. — “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” U2  He did a great job and looked hot.  Obviously, this is one of the great songs, but not terribly exciting.

D.A. — “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” Elton John  I know I shouldn’t admit this, but my juvenile sense of humor kicks in with this song and it starts cracking me up every time. 

Performance #2 (new song):

D.C. — “Dream Big”  I guess this will be his first single if he wins.  Like the judges, I wasn’t wild about the song.  Kind of lame, but he did well.

D.A. – ”In This Moment”  Also known as “In This Moment Like This, Do I Make You Proud”  Ugh, these winner songs are so bad (not D.A.’s fault). 

Performance #3 (David’s choice):

D.C. — “The World I Know” Collective Soul  Very cool and unique — I dig it!

D.A. — “Imagine” John Lennon  I guess when you can successfully pull of this song once, you might as well do it again.

As a side-note, I do hope Randy retires his “You could sing the phone book” after this season.

To win? Archuleta  (I feel more confident about that after tonight’s show)

What will he do for the rest of his career?  We’ll hear him playing in grocery stores and pharmacys with “lite” ballads… maybe some musical theatre/Broadway… Christian pop songs.

More tomorrow! 

-Maggie

American Idol (5/14) Results show!

Is it really possible that this is the closest race to American Idol ever?  I find that a little hard to believe.

Well, it’s going to be hard to concentrate on anything except Simon’s hairy cleavage.

The Fantasia performance… Okay, I was a Fantasia fan during her season.  I guess her performance on tonight’s show was vocally fine, but with the pink hair, velvet jumpsuit, panicked look, etc… it was a little weird for me.  Were her teeth pink?  What causes that?  (BTW, I know she has braces on her teeth, but why the pink???)

Hometown visits:

First, these visits are reminding me about how bummed I still am that we didn’t get an American Idol Naperville Homecoming with Gina Glockson and Mayor Pradel last year.  That would have been so cool!

Anyway…

David Archuleta — Back to Utah.  I really think that David is a sincere kid who is genuinely surprised by how popular he has become.  It was cute to see him cry about all the attention.

Syesha Mercado — In Florida.  That was incredible when they showed the helicopter footage of the giant crowd for her.  More tears!  By the way, when they were showing the montage of Syesha’s “journey” this season, I was reminded about how much I preferred her style earlier in the season when she was fun, fresh-faced, girl-next-door cute… instead of the super sexy Syesha we’ve gotten recently.

David Cook — Back to Kansas City.  David seems to be more comfortable in front of a crowd than the other two.  He’s laid-back and usually makes me laugh.  Also, when he went back to surprise his old music teacher from grade school, I even had tears in my eyes.  What a sweet guy!  And the story about how he didn’t even intend to audition and made it this far was incredible!

For the finale next week:

DAVID vs. DAVID!!!

This is going to be a great finale!!! 

American Idol (5/13) Top 3 Perform!

It’s a big night on AI! Let’s get to it!

David Archuleta:

• Paula’s Choice: “And So it Goes” — Billy Joel First, I’ll say that I’m very impressed by Paula’s song choice. She picked a beautiful, understated song for David. He did a great job.
• Jeff Archuleta’s Choice (Come on… you know he picked it…): “With You” — Chris Brown My heart goes out to David because I think the kid is under tremendous pressure from his family and he often looks terrified on AI (especially during this particular performance). Anyway, I get what David was doing with this song… proving that he can be current, pop, fun, young, etc. I actually thought it was kind of a cool choice, but I agree with Randy that it was awkward hearing David sing about his “boo.” However, I still thought it was cute.
• Producers’ Choice: “Longer” — Dan Fogelberg I totally agreed with Simon about this performance. It’s just a lame song… David performed it well, but, in the words of Simon, “it was gooey.”

Syesha Mercado:

• Randy’s Choice: “If I Ain’t Got You” — Alicia Keys It was a good performance, but kind of boring and predictable. As beautiful and talented as Syesha is, I just don’t feel a “star quality” from her.
• Syesha’s Choice: “Fever” — Peggy Lee Yikes. When I saw Syesha heading for that chair, wearing her super-short dress, I wasn’t sure what to expect (lap dance). I actually liked this performance more than the judges did.
• Producers’ Choice: “Hit Me Up” — Gia Farrell Syesha certainly does sexy well. Hmmmm… it was a fun performance and (again) I liked it more than the judges did.

David Cook:

• Simon’s Choice: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” — Roberta Flack I was a little puzzled by the constant shots of the AI Stage Manager standing in the crowd with tears streaming down her face for this performance. It was like a middle-aged version of the Sanjaya crying girl from last season. Anyway, I thought it was cool… just like everything else David does. Plus, it was great that Simon picked something unexpected.
• David’s Choice: “Dare You to Move” — Switchfoot Okay, Simon is right… it’s not the best song in the world, but it is lyrically perfect for tonight and in the right style for David. Plus, extra credit for NOT singing Daughtry, Nickelback, Lifehouse, etc. Even though the judges didn’t love it, I thought it was awesome.
• Producers’ Choice: “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” — Aerosmith Confession: As a big Aerosmith fan, I really hate this song. I actually like Diane Warren and spotted her immediately in the audience, but this song makes my skin crawl. Nothing would make me like it… not even David Cook.

Going home: Syesha — It HAS to be Syesha, right?

Back tomorrow!

-Maggie

American Idol (5/7) — Elimination Night

Open up your eyes, Paula… it’s time for the live show.

It’s funny when they show footage of the Final Four taking their private jet trip and doing things together because, before watching that footage, I hadn’t thought about how COMPLETELY different the finalist are.  It’s hard to imagine what they even talk about.  The average rock dude, the kid, the stoner, and the beautiful actress.  Hmmmm…  (ON a side-note, that Beatles show in Vegas looks so unbelievably cool!!!)

Although the Ring of Fire Ford commercial was kind of cute, the finalists couldn’t have been happy about wearing those outfits!  Poor David Cook!  You can’t put a normal guy in those pants!

I hope AI ditches the Q&A section for next season.  First, nobody seems able to answer the questions and it’s terribly awkward!  However, I did enjoy when the finalists were asked about their greatest challenge this season and Jason Castro mentioned something about his brain being dead.  Interesting…

Adam Levine from Maroon 5 — now there’s a guy who can wear tight pants!  I’ve always imagined Levine as being short, but he looked tall next to Seacrest (although doesn’t exactly mean he’s tall).

Bo Bice… the usual from him… looking creepy and sounding great! 

Quote of the Night: “Somebody told me that I shot the tambourine man yesterday” — Jason Castro

And then Jason was eliminated.

Predictable.  It HAD to happen.

I will miss him!!!

American Idol (5/6/08) — Final 4 Perform!

Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Night!!!

Seacrest looks like he spent some extra time in the tanning booth this week to prepare for the Final Four!

David Cook –

• Hungry Like the Wolf — SWEET!!!  I love the song and (despite the somewhat lackluster reviews from the judges) I thought his version was a very cool.
• Baba O’Riley — Cool to choose a song that’s never been sung on AI.  Extra credit for hopefully getting people to stop calling the song “Teenage Wasteland.”  He did a good and evil job, as usual.  David seems like a genuinely nice and normal guy.  I think that he’ll have a great career, even if he doesn’t win.  I just hope he doesn’t get all Daughtry on us (ie: getting a huge tattoo with his own name on it across his back.

Syesha Mercado –

• Proud Mary — Well, I’m never a fan of people talking about themselves in third-person: “I said, Syesha, just have fun with it.”  Ugh.  Anyway, she looks GREAT tonight!  I think she almost “McPheed” us a couple of times in the low shots in that short dress!  I think that was one of her more exciting, fun performances.
• A Change is Gonna Come — I don’t know this song, but I love that Syesha picked two VERY different songs to show her range tonight.  She can nail a fun song and then follow it with a power-ballad.  She can wear a super-short dress and then follow it with a super-long dress.  JK.  I was surprised by how negative Randy was, but glad that Simon and Paula were so positive.  Good to see Syesha cry and laugh and show some human emotion because I think she’s sometimes seems a little robotic.  I’m impressed that she researched the song and had such a connection to it.  Cool.

Jason Castro —

• I Shot the Sheriff — I think/hope Jason was kidding when he said that he’s familiar with “a few” songs on the list from the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.  Bob Marley is probably a pretty safe choice for him, but he managed to really screw it up.  At least Jason always handles criticism well.
• Mr. Tambourine Man — Jason!!!  It’s getting VERY hard to keep supporting you when you forget the lyrics at this level and with THIS song!!!  What the heck!?!?!?  There’s no way he’s not going home this week, right?

David Archuleta –

• Stand By Me – The first time David has performed this song outside of his bedroom.  I’m not normally a big Archuleta fan (not that I dislike him, but the whole child-prodigy thing creeps me out a little), but I loved this performance.  He’s pretty amazing.
• Love Me Tender — David could just stand on stage and not sing and still move ahead to Final Three.

Going home?  Jason.  It would be a HUGE upset if it was any of the other 3.

See ya tomorrow night! 

American Idol (4/30) — Elimination Night

Great to see my Constantine again!  And Gina Glockson (go Naperville!!!)!  Even KLC made the trip back (on horseback, no doubt) to the show!

Jason Castro is SAFE!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!  WOO HOO!!!

David Archuleta is safe.  Of course.

David Cook is safe, too.  Good…

Now, let’s get rid of one of these pesky women (just kidding, of course)…

Syesha and Brooke in the bottom two.

Going home: Brooke White (those twins get their nanny back)

Well, my predictions just keep getting worse, don’t they?

See you next week! 

-Maggie

American Idol (4/29) — Top 5 Perform!

After I posted my blog last week… the one where I talk about Jason Castro quickly becoming my favorite Idol ever… I faced quite a few questions/concerns from family and friends:  “Ummm… I read your blog…”  Yeah, I dig him and I’m not ashamed!  I think he’s funny and I love how laid-back he is, but I also think he’s got an incredible voice (and eyes)! 

Onward!  Neil Diamond Night!  Sweet!

Jason Castro — A relatively boring first performance, but I did enjoy him gazing (almost Constantine-style) into the camera.  Second performance was pretty dull, too.  Jason, this isn’t the way to stay in the competition!

David Cook — He gave Neil Diamond goosebumps!  I was hoping for a cool/evil version of Sweet Caroline.  I wasn’t familiar with David’s first song, but I was surprised by how similar to Neil Diamond his voice was!  Weird!  Great second song (I didn’t know that song either).  I think he deserves to win the competition (and probably will).

Brooke White — Okay, I’m officially out of the Brooke White fan club.  I’m sure he’s a very sweet, genuine person, but tonight’s giant (crazy?)  smile and bouncing up and down version of I’m a Believer (a song I usually like) creeped me out a little.  Sorry Brooke!  The second song was better…

David Archuleta — Going for the BIG hits tonight with Sweet Caroline and Coming to America.  I think picking the hits is a good choice.  And, as Simon mentioned, it’s always good to pick a song with the word “America” in it. 

Syesha Mercado — She looks completely different this week.  I like her new hair.  She sounded nice, but it was a little dullsville for me.  The second song was more fun!  She was smiling and dancing a little.  More personality than usual, which was nice to see.

Let’s talk for a moment about the Paula screw-up.  Wow.  That was one of the most awkward moments EVER on AI.  I actually felt bad for her… you know it’s bad when Simon tries to help her out instead of making fun of her: “Pauler, why don’t you just tell us who your favorite is?”  Well, now we KNOW it’s live!  Then, getting Syesha’s name wrong and calling her “Brooke.”  Paula, there are only TWO women left in the competition!

Bottom two: Jason and Brooke

Going home: Jason (sadly)

Paula — you have 24 hours to sober-up and we’ll talk on Wednesday! 

-Maggie

American Idol — Final 5

Wow, it’s a big week for President Bush… Deal or No Deal AND American Idol?!?!?!  I hope our next President does game shows and reality shows, too.

I think that at this point, it’s pretty obvious that a David will win this season… which one?  I still think Archuleta, but it could go either way.

It was fun to see some of my favorite old Idols and how they’re doing — Broadway!  How cool!  I think people tend to overlook theatre accomplishments when they make blanket statements about how very few Idol contestants go on to have successful careers.  Oh well.

BTW, although I didn’t really like her at first, Leona Lewis growing on me.  The song has kind of a cool 80’s vibe to it.

So, Brooke managed to stay out of the bottom 2.  I’ve been a Brooke supporter this season, but I think that the results tonight were a matter of sympathy votes.  Nuts.

Bottom 2:  Syesha and Carly — I’m SHOCKED!!!  Carly had my favorite performance of the night.

Leaving: Carly Smithson   HUH!?!?!

Another surprising week…

GO JASON CASTRO (he’s quickly becoming my favorite Idol EVER for so many reasons…)

Cue the Reuben Studdard Christmas song.

Next week: Neil Diamond Week (I want to dread this and say that I think it’ll be lame and boring, but I think that it’ll be fabulous!)

-Maggie 

American Idol (4/22) Andrew Lloyd Weber Night

Although I haven’t been very excited about Andrew Lloyd Weber Night on AI (yawn), I’m psyched to see that they’ve expanded the band for tonight!

Syesha Mercado — She’s an actress, so this should suit her well.  She’s such a beautiful girl and has a great voice, but I was bored.  This was Syesha with charisma?  Hmmmm… I guess I disagree with the judges. 

Jason Castro — Well, color me AND Andrew Lloyd Weber surprised by Jason Castro’s song choice.  Cats.  Memories.  Interesting.  He sang so low that I could barely hear him.  Uh oh.

Brooke White — Whoa, that screw-up at the beginning of the song was one of the biggest mistakes at this stage of the competition that we’ve ever seen, I think.  I see that the VoteForTheWorst people are after her this week, now that KLC is gone.  Okay, now that it’s been pointed out to me that she keeps making the sad, pouty face over and over again… she’s irritating me a little.  I predict sympathy votes for her tonight.

David Archuleta — This week is MADE for him!

Carly Smithson — FINALLY, a faster song!  I think that’s a smart decision for Carly to separate herself from the crowd tonight.  Fun!  My favorite of the night!

David Cook — Not evil enough!  I like my DC EVIL!!!

Bottom 3 (do they still do bottom 3 when they’re down to so few?): Jason Castro, Brooke White, Syesha Mercado

Going home: Jason (NO!!!)

I’ll be back tomorrow! 

-Maggie