Siobhan (Through the Fire by Chaka Khan): This was one song I didn't recognize right off. I guess it's time to get back into my music files again because I was reminded by Chicagolady that one of my favs, Melinda Doolittle, had done a cover of this song on her album. I so wish I could find the file online to share it (Youtube, someone, I'm BEGGIN ya!), but all I'm finding are places from which to download it (seriously, Melinda, lets get a video out for this!). Siobhan's version was beyond painful and the only thing I'm grateful for is the fact that the what has amounted to her normal ending death-shriek wasn't quite as bad as in previous weeks. Don't get me wrong it was still there, it just wasn't nearly as prominent as usual. Maybe because she'd gone so far off key and I was cringing badly at that point so I never noticed?? Thank God Simon called her out on that. Maybe it'll disappear next week. My only consolation is the fact she sang in the death spot this week and maybe just maybe she'll end up out. No offense to the Siobhan fan out there. Oh wait, that would be her. Nevermind... Her odds have risen since Friday's odds check but actually had slipped since last Wednesday. Wednesday's odds reflected the horrid performance from that week while Friday's odds reflected the knowledge that we were going into an R&B/S week and the oddsmakers in Vegas thought she was going to be able to handle this genre better than most. I half expect to see her odds slip even farther this week after this week's results show. Statewise, the Maps show that she had 3 wins/1 loss for a 2 this week. Compared to last week, she broke even. Was this enough to keep her safe this week? Or will they toss her to the B3 to shake her up some? I won't be surprised if the latter happens.
Casey (Hold On, I'm Coming by Sam and Dave): Oh. I so liked this one. What I like best about him is the southern-fried rock type grrr he has to his voice. It's not nearly as good as Bo's, but it's pretty damned close. Actually, I think he's Bo-lite part deux (part one would have been Robbie Carrico... I'm sure I made that connection at one point or another but for the life of me I cannot find the entry). This was an absolutely PERFECT choice of song for him, but Kara's right, it's time to step it up and show us how much range he ~really~ has. I'm betting we still haven't heard his best yet. This week he had 3 wins/ no losses for a total of 3. This is 2 states down from last week but I suspect part of it is because there were 2 very strong performances that came after him and he sang very early in a 2 hour show. Working FOR him is that Siobhan really left a steaming dino dump in the line of performances this week. His odds slipped a bit from last week, however I suspect it's simply because Vegas didn't suspect his country voice could pull off this week's theme. Kudos to Casey for proving them wrong.
Mike (Ready For Love by india.arie): This was another song that I wasn't overly familiar with. It was nicely done but made me feel so sleepy. I was actually much more moved with last week's presentation to be honest. After the show, I checked out the original and sadly that's how the original is as well. I so wish he'd picked a more uptempo one, like Headed in the Right Direction. That would have been awesome just for the title alone. This week he had 2 wins/ no losses for a total of 2. This is just where he was at last week. At least he's not really losing ground, well according to DI. However, if you look at the odds that Vegas has him at, he's still slipping. I'm surprised Vegas didn't have enough faith that he could pull off R&B/S. It's possible that he's in danger this week, but there were others that were either worse OR just not connecting enough with the viewers.
Didi (What Becomes of a Broken Hearted by Jimmy Ruffin): Oh... now this one was just plain painful. And here I was thinking that we'd gotten the worst one out of the way for the night. I hate to tell Randy but this one didn't just flat-line, it skipped rigor and went straight into decomp. Thankfully Didi tends to be unmemorable and the only reason I even remember this performance is because I'm a lame-ass that takes notes. Can we send MsVanilla home now? She's not even the good custardy, french vanilla.... she's the plain ol cheap imitation vanilla that you get in all the all-you-can-eat places that comes as a freebee dessert. Dairy Queen wouldn't even serve her up, she's that bland. One win/ no losses but compared to last week she dropped in the Maps. Her odds are better than some but still riding that melted slick of nasty freebee icecream straight down the drain. She's in danger this week.
"Teflon" Tim (Sweet Love by Anita Baker): Seriously? You really picked Anita Baker? Dude, you don't have the voice! The little teen girls (and the young gay dudes as well as the nefarious people on that site) will absolutely love this. Ok, ok, it was marginally better than the other weeks, but not by much. This week he got a big ol' goose egg in the Maps which is down from the 1 state win from last week. His odds in Vegas are crashing as fast as Paige's did (and we saw what happened to her). Not to say the odds are really bad, but if you were to place a $100 bet on him today (not that you really would be this dumb, but if you had money to burn and felt like doing something totally frivolous) AND by some freakish miracle he actually friggin WON, you'd be $14,000+ richer (payday on Paige's would have been a bit more than that). Better yet, just cut the check to LadyStyx care of Blogger dot com, I can always use the extra hundred.
Andrew (Forever by Chris Brown): Yet another that I had to look up after the show. Man, I'm so behind the times. Just shows me to hang up my headset. Maybe I need to start writing about music a bit more often like I used to when I was streaming it. Chris Brown isn't exactly a favorite of mine, for personal reasons. I may just have to change my tune because I'm finding that I kinda like this song (say it aint SO!). The boycott just may end up getting lifted, or not, depending on how often he relies on the auto-tuner. Andrew did a very nice job with this. I really kinda liked it (not as much as Casey's but almost) and hope that he's finally gotten his footing. This is the type of performance he's been needing for weeks. The performance was miles above and beyond what he's been giving us, however there seems to still be a bit of work needed. Seems like momma's got all the personality in the family and he needs to channel some of that feisty through himself and broadcast it from the stage to his audience. Simon's right, personality is paramount in a contest like this. Sadly, we all know that it's not all about the talent no matter WHAT the judges profess. The question is, was this too little too late? He sang in the middle and even with a performance like that, are people going to remember to vote for him? He ended up, yet again, with a goose egg in the Maps, same as last week. At least he's consistant. His odds are still falling badly, but if he makes it through this week I suspect they'll rise a bit over this next week. He's still in danger, good performance or not.
Katie (Chain of Fools by Aretha): I so KNEW she was gonna get dinked for song choice. Don't get me wrong, she does have the voice to pull that off. However, they've been harping for weeks for her to young it up some. You cannot tell me there wasn't anything close to her age group on that list they were given. The Jackson 5 must have been there (*checks* yep they are) and a great deal of them in that group were her age or younger. Then there is all of Aaliyah's stuff (she died at the age of 22 so you KNOW a good deal of her stuff will be considered young enough), some early Alicia Keys (she was in her teens when she started, in fact a big deal was made about her age when her stuff started winning awards), Brandy ( I think she was young enough at the time her songs were released), TLC, or even some Toni Braxton. Plenty there and she chooses Aretha Franklin??? We won't even go into the fact that there is something missing when she performs. It's kinda like she's got a switch inside that either allows her to have a personality OR perform but not both at the same time. She's warm and friendly in her interviews (something Siobhan really needs to learn, boy is THAT one an awkward one in an interview situation, can't wait to see her on Letterman LOL!!!), but when she hits the stage she's more bottish (?)... it's like the lights are on but nobody's home (the same thing I thought and still think about Carrie). She had so much more going for her during her rehearsal with Usher. Then again, she kinda likes him. Another one with a goose egg this week. Same as she got last week. Her odds are still falling. She's in trouble this week too.
Lee (Treat Her Like a Lady by Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose): So we're given the heads up that Lee's been suffering from walking pneumonia and it's quite obvious , as evidenced by his rather hasty "but I'm fine", that he hadn't wanted attention brought to it. Too much has been made of how sick the kids have been and he simply didn't wanna go there. Good for him. O.M.G! This was an AWESOME choice of song for him and even though he's been sick, this is a great vocal. You can't even tell he's ill. I actually gave out a fan-girly squeal, threw a 6pk of panties at the set and then craved a cigarette afterwards. He SERIOUSLY needs to take Simon's advice and watch that back a couple times tonight because it was all that, the bag of chips and skip the 6pk and go for the keg. Yes, he still has a little tweaking to do performancewise but I suspect it's still a touch of the nerves and a genuine disbelief that he really is THAT good. This week he had 6 wins/no losses which puts him 6 states ahead of where he was last week. Oh I so hope he keeps this up because right now I'd be loving a Crystal/Lee finale. His odds have been slipping slightly but he's still substantially up from when he started this show. Betting people would be smart to put a few bucks on him while the getting's good because if he keeps up performances like this week, those odds will be rising soon.
Crystal (Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight): I love how they're convincing her to put a bit more color to her outfits. Or maybe, she just changing on her own? This wasn't a bad vocal at all. Although, to be honest, she never has given us a truly bad vocal. Yes, it was a tad tentative in the beginning but she tried something different. She hadn't played in a good long while and was just getting back to it again. Yes, her eyes were closed at the piano but I can chalk that up to simply trying to visualize the sheet music infront of her. Considering that when you're playing an instrument in a competition like this, you can't have the sheet music infront of you so you have to learn twice the amount of info than those that just stand and sing. If you're not as comfortable with the instrument, it makes it doubly as difficult so you need to concentrate harder. This was an awesome choice for her though. Although I am not so certain that I would have attempted that really high note. It was rather unexpected to hear it from her, but in it's unexpectedness it may have others who havent been fans sit up and take notice. This week she yet again got the lion's (or should we say lioness's) share of the votes managing a 13 state win. This is two weeks in a row. She is the ONLY one solidly in first place (green) on the Chart (which has been in yellow for everyone since day one). Her odds have been on a steady climb (at this point you'd need to put down $150 to break even) and she was one of only TWO participants that had their odds go up coming into this week , which is strange because she's not one you'd normally visualize doing this genre. No way she's going anywhere this week.
Aaron (Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers): He sounded better in rehearsal with Usher, why couldn't he bring that to the stage (better yet, spare us all and just let Usher sing it...) ?? You never ever pick a song that's been DONE by one of the previous Idols as that will just bring on the comparisons, and to pick a song that was absolutely DONE by last year's winner, Kris Allen (remember, I was a Glambert last year and even I liked Kris's performance... this was one of a few "Moments" he had all season), well that's just plain suicide. Guarantee you, the Kris fans would NOT have liked that at all. This week was 2 wins/ no losses, down from last week's state win. His odds are still dropping, but not as bad as some of the others. Pimp spot or not, he's in danger this week.
So who is most likely to be in danger? If you're anyone other than Crystal, Casey or Lee, you'd better expect a trip to the B3 and here's why you'll be going:
Aaron: Attempting a song that's been DONE and not just been DONE, but DONE very recently and failing to even hold a match to it (forget holding a candle to it , because you don't EVEN have a tenth of the talent to warrant even a birthday candle). Pimp spots can work miracles many times, but they won't always save you (see: Lilly Scott).
Katie: Choosing an ancient song (or at least by her generation) from a list that had more than plenty younger and more recent songs. If you want to sing older, get some training and take up opera. Hey, it worked for Josh Groban!
Andrew: Oh, he's back again but it's very possibly too late to win back all the fans he lost coming into the competition after that wonderful rendition of Straight Up. Looking at the Maps, this could very well be the case.
Tim: Simply put, he's overstayed his welcome, skirted by on his adorable looks and is the odds on favorite to be sent home. The Nefarious ones will declare it a victory whether he stays or goes as he's tied the staying power of Sanjaya. If he makes it one more week, they'll party harder.
Didi: Don't bother calling 911 for the coroner on this one, just call the ME and get it over with.
Mike: zzzzzzz and an early performance on a night where we're still at a two hour program, not a good thing. This will be the ONLY reason he'll end up there and if he goes it'll be a "shocker" because it is truly undeserved.
Siobhan: A terrible performance with a first position singing place? Please, the only people that could sing this position and come away unscathed are Lee and Crystal at this point.
Any 3 of these could make it to the B3.
If you consider the odds, the bottom grouping of 3 are Tim, Andrew and Katie. So this B3 really should be taken into consideration, although I think it may actually be unlikely.
Rickey's Bottom 3 Prediction: Tim, Didi and Andrew Voted Off Prediction: Andrew
And MJ has placed either Tim or Didi with a possibility of Andrew going instead.
Who deserves it?
Siobhan, Didi and Tim with any of them (preferably all of them) gone.
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