The Patient, The Bootee and 10 other relatively Drama free contestants

Alt title: Songs the Year They Were Born AKA:Making Some of Our Viewers Feel Really Old





Wow. What a week.

Sorry... sometimes I just can't contain the sarcasm. Yeah, most of them were either that dull or that bad. I'm seriously not totally feeling this season at all.  Is it bad of me to say that the most exciting part of this week's show actually happened off stage?

Guess what? Last week's picks are still my favorites this week. Even with the one being ill. I won't be surprised if they end up in the Top 5 at least.

This week's Styx Picks (in order of performance, because that's how I roll):

Phillip: Consider all the stuff these kids have to do while on this show, then add on the fact this poor kid's been really sick to the point of needing surgery this week and THEN add on the top of all that the fact he sang in the death spot. You'd think there's no way in HELL that he'd put on even a decent show and he'd be in danger, right? Oh hell no. It wasn't his best, but you really can't expect that it would be. Granted, surgery for kidney stones isn't as bad as the one for gall stones, but it IS an invasive procedure and you are terribly uncomfortable ( to say the least ) for days afterwards. So naturally his performance wasn't at 100%. I was pleasantly surprised today to see that not only did his odds go up this week, but he placed in second on the Chart with a 1-5 GREEN and hobbled away with 2 states on the Map! Yay !!

Skylar: Even though my viewing companions are really leaning towards the lukewarm with her, I really liked her performance yet again this week. Personally, it was one of the top 4,...*sighs* okay 5, performances of the night.  The Chart listed her in 4th with a 1-6 GREEN rating and she took 1 state this week on the Maps. With her odds still rising ever so slightly, I don't really see any danger for her this week. There were many much worse.

Hollie: Although her SUTA blast wasn't nearly as brilliant as the performer before her, she still got praise that was a tad better than she really deserved. She sang the pimp spot this week and rarely do they ever go home. Her odds are still rising so she should be sitting pretty for a few more weeks, unless she drops a major turd. However, we've seen that sometimes you can drop a load of crap for a performance and still manage to survive. She does need to learn to enunciate a bit better though. The Chart placed her in 3rd with a 1-4th GREEN rating and she grabbed 3 states on the Maps.

Nods of approval (although I don't back either of them yet):

Jacob 2.0  Joshua: The SUTA blast this one got was of nuclear proportion. It was so bad, it made Jessica's from last week look like a dress rehearsal. I asked one viewing partner how her *censored* (colon) was and she said "crispy". Personally, mine was so extra crispy that I think I'm going to need that enema I mentioned in the previous entry to get through the season after all. With any luck, both won't be receiving the SUTA treatment on the same weeks because with my luck, I'll end up face down in the hospital. This one grabbed first on the charts with a 1-4 GREEN and 6 states on the Maps. His stock is still going up. Unless he pulls a Jermaine Jones (click the link to see why I dropped this comparison), it looks like we're stuck with him this week and possibly for many more weeks to come.

Colton: I wasn't overly familiar with his selection this week and here I thought he'd said he was going to pick songs everyone knew? This year I haven't bothered to listen back to the performance to compare to the original.... until this week. I kinda had to since I didn't know the song at all (even with a few years worth of streaming experience). Maybe it's because that White Lion wasn't as well known as he thought? I mean they did show up on the scene around the same time White Snake did and I'm sure most have heard of that group. Anyhow, after listening back I have to say he did a very good job and is worthy of being mentioned. However, his odds are dropping and his judges review was shaky. He grabbed one state on the Maps and an 8th listing with a 5-11 B3 rating.

The only one to lose states this week is Heejun.

DeAndre and Erika both got the goose egg on the Maps.

So. Who may make a bottom visit? In order of performance:

Jessica: Poor song choice. The judges harped on the fact she chose an uptempo song . I think she can do it, just didn't pick one suited to her voice. We all know that if she chose another ballad that she would have been dinked for it anyhow. She couldn't win this week no matter what she did. Sad thing, I see her as being on point one week and then barfo the next. We'll have to see. Stock's still rising and she's the favorite on most of the sites. Listed 5th with a 2-11 B3 on the Chart and a 2 state win, she could be in danger this week anyhow.

Heejun: Dude seriously was the weakest link this week. Another boring ballad didn't help matters. Not going to blame the performance on the Jermaine problem because from what I'm hearing, it hit them ALL hard, especially since they weren't given the opportunity to say good-bye to their friend. The show still goes on and all. The judges panned him, his win/loss average on the Maps was a zero, his odds have crashed and he got listed with an 11th place 5-11 B3 rating on the Chart. Seriously, best odds are for him to go this week, especially since I bet that he's splitting votes with Jessica and she's the better singer.

Elise: The judges tried to make up for the luke-warm reviews from last week. I do have to admit, at the time she sang, it was one of the better performances. However, she was followed up by all of the ones in the Picks section and all of them were much more memorable. She sang early and wasn't overly memorable by the show's end. 1 win/ 0 losses . 7th listing, 5-11 B3 rating. Plummeting odds. Her only saving grace will be if  America really thought Heejun was as bad as I thought he was.

DeAndre: Pretty eyes and beautiful hair is only going to get you so far in this show. Especially if you keep coming off so light in the loafers. He needs to take a lesson or three from Adam Lambert and learn to be more comfortable in that body. It doesn't matter that Adam's gay, he still manages to make the gals squeal. While you're at it, learn how to work the audience as well as the cameras. His performance was a tad rough. I really think he shouldn't have tried attempting to solo a duet, just sayin. Why not choose one of those two? Lionel Richie had a wonderful tune out that year called Lady (You Bring Me Up) that could have been easily taken up another couple notes to fit his range. Plummeting odds, a goose egg on the Maps and a 9th listing with a 5-11 B3 rating tell me that America's seeing what I do and he's just not translating to the general public.

Shannon: Better than last week, but still an *UGH*. That certainly wasn't a good pick for her no matter WHAT the judges said. I appreciate the advice she was given this week, because I believe it'll help her in the long run. Randy's an idiot, but then again he's never been a singer so wouldn't know what lying down while practicing can do for a singer. For those that never were in choir and don't know, when you lie on your back while singing, you work your diaphragm and lungs more, which helps improve your breath support when you're in the proper position during performance. Odds are plummeting, only a one State win and the 6th listing with a 3-11 B3 can put her in danger. However, Miss Migraine is the VFTW poster child at the moment so it won't surprise me if we get her a week or two more yet. Especially since Heejun had such a poor showing.

Erika: A meh showing this week. I wasn't fond of the arrangement, to be honest and neither were the judges. This is another that was damned if she did and damned if she didn't. If she hadn't done anything to the song, the judges would have dinked her for being karaoke. A 10th listing with a 5-11 B3 rating, a zero state win and falling odds don't exactly inspire my confidence in her longevity on this show.

Any of those 6 can possibly go this week, for the reasons stated.... although Jessica has the best chances of surviving. The rest of them have rather abysmal odds.

If you go by worst odds: DeAndre's gone
If you go by whose odds dropped the most in a week: Elise (her odds went from +800 to a +3284)
If you go by worst performance of the night: Heejun

The other 2 are fodder.

Then again, considering that Jermaine got the heave-ho, they may just decide to keep them all because one was already lost this week. Either that or they'll use a judge's save now OR they'll keep it business as usual and do a non-elimination week later in the season.

Whitney Wonder or was it Stevie Houston?

I want my 2 hours back. Seriously, the Styxie is NOT feeling this year in the slightest. There were only 3 that I really liked and 4 that were worthy enough to make it through to the next round. Can we just take those 4 through and cut the season short? No? Damn.

Not going to go through all of them like I used to because frankly, it's a pain in the glutes and I'm less likely to keep it up if I go through every single performance. Have I said that I'm not feeling it this year yet? Oh, I have? Damn.

This week we had the boys singing Stevie Wonder and the girls were inflicted with Whitney Houston.......


Yeah. I had that same reaction too. They're forever telling the girls "don't do such and such artist because they're so difficult" and Whitney's one that's at the top of their lists of who not to do. Yet, they chose this very artist for them to perform. Ok  ok ok... I know it was in tribute but don't trash the gals for poor performances because the producers decided to honor Whitney. Oddly enough, the girls mostly did fairly well considering all things.

My picks for the week:

Skylar: Not sure what it is about this gal because I normally do NOT go for a female country voice. Why? Because I find it very annoying. But for some reason, I really kinda dig her. Even though she had to perform a song that was really completely out of her wheel-house, she managed to make it work.

Hollie: I didn't much like her through the auditions and I certainly was cheesed off when she knocked one of my early favorites out of being in the competition rounds. However, she really kinda won me over last night. She was definitely one of the best females of the night.... and that sustained note!!!!! OMG she made it look so freakin effortless! If Skylar gets the boot in the next few weeks, I can see myself easily backing Hollie on the girls' side.

Phillip: So cool they named him twice. *chuckle* I don't know what it is about him, because he so reminds me of a young Taylor Hicks and if you all remember, I was very much anti-Hicks that season. Okies... so he did the same song as he auditioned with and to be honest, they were on the fence with him until he picked up the guitar and did Thriller so... ya know. That kinda is a mark against him. However, there's something so fun about Phillip when he gets up there and totally gets lost in his performance. Not quite squwee-worthy but really has the potential to get there and pretty damned fast.

A not really pick, but an acknowledgement that the kiddo can sing:
Jessica. Hated the song. Hated the Economy sized SUTA we got with her. Hate that it feels that they're trying to cram her down our throats. My only hope at this point is that she's peaked early and crashes and burns. Otherwise, I'm going to end up with a scorched colon by the season's end and will require daily sunscreen and aloe vera enemas just to be able to watch this program. Oh... and that constant finger tapping on the mic is as annoying as the Gaspuletta's Lip licking.

This week was so ~meh~ that the Charts on DI aren't any help at all. Everyone's in the yellow and no one is rated lower than a 7 which means it's pretty much anyone's game at this point.

The Maps are not much more helpful. According the wins/losses only 2 of my favorites (plus that one other) had any substantial numbers.

Jessica, Shannon and Skylar all lost states this week. I don't believe this will do much for Jessica because she was in the girls' pimp spot and was SUTAed to near death. Plus she had a fair number of won states to balance her out.

DeAndre was the only boy on the loss map. This didn't help him at all.

This week we've been told that the lowest boy and lowest girl will be put up and the judges will decide which one stays. I wonder if they'll need to "sing for their life". Kinda XFactorish aint it?

So who may end up in the bottom?

For the girls:
Elise: Although a better choice of song than the one she originally she wanted to do, it was still rough (most of the country gals had trouble this week). Plus she sang first for the girls which meant an early spot on a 2 hour performance night. This doesn't help matters. 2 wins/ 0 losses

Erika: Although nicely done, the lower notes were still a bit rough. Her spot in the first hour won't be helpful. 1win/0 loss

Shannon: If Elise and Erika make it through it's because this one bombed out. She started off really good but the only thing I remember about her is the fact that she hit a bum note and then it took her several more notes to get back on track. When you go off key like that, it's terribly distracting and extremely frustrating because that's all your mind is on. 0 wins/ 1 loss

Skylar: As much as I liked her, Hollie and Jessica followed her and really blew their respective numbers out of the water. After the praise those two got, it'll be a miracle if she's remembered. Although she's alot more memorable than any girl that sang in the first hour. Well, other than Shannon who dropped that huge turd note.

For the boys:
Everyone?

DeAndre: A better performance than we've seen in a while but not everyone gets into that reggae um stuff. Ask Naima, she'll tell ya. This was definitely NOT the week to pull out flava. 1win/ 1 loss for a zippo, nadda, goose egg. His map count was the worst of the bunch. He might have had a chance if it was just Heejun and Jeremy following him. Unfortunately, he also had Phillip in the pimp spot.

Heejun, Jeremy, Jermaine and Joshua all ended up with only 1 win each and could also see that last spot.

Heejun: Dude's funny and I think I'll be following his Twitter just for those oddball pix, but dude is so very bland when he sings. Water has more flavor. Guarantee that if he makes it through this week, he'll start splitting votes with Jessica and then he'll be out.

Jeremy: JLo's favorite. I really don't see what she sees in him. Honestly. He can go home any day now. He had to be wild carded in so evidentally I'm not the only one that sees this.

Jermaine: Only things he's got going for him are that he's got that killer Barry White voice and he's a teddy bear of a person. This wasn't a particularly good week for him simply because he sang early. Otherwise, he handled himself well. I really don't see them getting rid of him if he hits the bottom spot  considering that they fought to get him on the show. Then again I could be wrong. I guess it'll all depend on who the girl is that hits that bottom spot.

Joshua: Although he had a better performance than most of the guys, Jacob 2.0 sang in the death spot.

The only saving grace for any of these guys is if Phillip's doctor decides that he simply cannot wait to have whatever medical treatment done to make him better. Surely, if he's put into the hospital for abdominal pain again, they'll insist on him stepping down from the competition. I've seen reports of gall stones and one that says it's kidney stones. If it's the latter, it's an easy peasy surgery where they thread something up and in and give it a zap or three and he's done. Walking might hurt and that strange little movement he likes to make will be out, but he'll still be able to compete.The surgery for gall stones, on the other hand, is alot more invasive and could mean him having to back out of the competition. This would be a shame because we really need a contestant like Phillip in there to make it worth the watch.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/03/08/american-idol-phillip-phillips-hospital-doctor-gallstone-contestant/#.T1lGqsAgfhJ

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/03/american-idol-phillip-phillips-back-from-hospital-will-participate-in-top-13-results-show.html