American Idol - Week Three - 3/27/07

Only one word came to mind when watching last’s night’s performances: SURPRISE.

Why “surprise” you may ask?
I was “surprised” on how well a lot of the contestants performed and “surprised” how really bad Sanjaya has gotten. It’s gotten to the point of mockery now, and it’s starting to annoy me. Sanjaya is not even trying, and it’s obvious from the judge’s comments to him that it was noticeable. But we’ll get to him in a moment.

I almost didn’t recognize Gwen Stefani without her trademark putanna-red lipstick. (look up “putanna”, it’s an Italian word…but I digress.) It didn’t seem to me like Gwen really “mentored” anyone during this week’s show. I mean, most of her advice was the same to almost every contestant, which was “stay with the melody”. I don’t know, I hope she just wasn’t booked this week for the ratings. (I mean, that NEVER happens on television, right?)

Sigh.
Enough babbling, and onto the contestants’ performances:

1. LaKISHA JONES – sung “Last Dance” – Now Kiki has proven that she’s not just about belting out slow moving ballads. She turned it up this week, doing a nice up tempo song which in my opinion was done very well. I know the judges loved her performance, but something was off about her tonight. Aside from the prostitute boots, (big shock Simon liked them?) I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was the fact she did an up tempo song? I think I found at times that her voice was bigger then the song. That’s not her fault, but I think that’s what was bothering me about her performance. It doesn’t matter though, because Kiki will be staying on another week.

2. CHRIS SLIGH – sung “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” – Is anyone else disappointed in Chris lately? I sure am. I was expecting better things from him by this stage in the competition, and at the very least he should have “wowed” me by now. But he hasn’t, and it puts him in the dangerous position that Stephanie Edwards was in last week. Now I’m not a die hard Sting/Police fan like some of my friends, but I know the song well enough to know that Simon was right. This performance was a mess, and Chris was definitely not singing with the beat of the song. He got way ahead of the music, and it made what could have been a very decent performance one of his worst. Hate to say it, but Chris will need to take a spot in my Bottom Three picks.

3. GINA GLOCKSON – sung “I’ll Stand By You” - Okay, officially, with last night’s performance, I have turned into a Gina fan. I was always on the borderline with her, because she hadn’t “wowed” me yet. This Pretenders classic is one of my favorite songs, and not only did Gina do it justice, she blew it out of the water. I found she had great voice control, and not only could you understand every word she sang, unlike other performances (COUGH – Sanjaya – COUGH) she showed an amazing tenderness and emotion. Simon was right on the money when he said this was her best performance, because it won me over. She is definitely around another week.

4. SANJAYA MALAKAR – sung “Bathwater” - I’m going to quote Simon right now; “it doesn't matter what we say, you are in your own universe”. That can’t be more true after last night’s debacle. I felt bad for Sanjaya for a while, but now, he’s just making a mockery of his place in the competition. Was I truly supposed to believe that he was trying to give his best performance last night? Come on, the ridiculous mohawk alone was enough to make his performance a joke, but then he pretty much mumbles the entire song (I for one could not understand a word) and though I’m not an avid Gwen/No Doubt fan, one co-worker of mine is, and he pointed out that Sanjaya actually forgot some of the words during the performance. If it was anyone else, he/she would have been called out on that note. But he wasn’t, which could be either blamed on the judges’ unfamiliarity with the song, or the fact of what Simon said that it really doesn’t matter what they say about him anymore. It hurts to even say this again, but expect Sanjaya to stick around yet another week, while another better-talented singer goes home.

5. HALEY SCARNATO – sung “True Colors” – As most of you know, I am a huge Cyndi Lauper fan, and this song is one of my all time favorites. So as a fan of the original artist, I can only say this about Haley’s rendition of this song: Mediocre. I didn’t hate it, but at the same time I didn’t like it. I like the beginning of it (even though Randy said it started off rough for him, I didn’t think it was that bad), but I hated the way it ended. Haley has proven that she did deserve to be in the Top Twelve by this point, but as Simon said, it was forgettable. There wasn’t an outstanding vocal or performance to make her stand out like some of the others this week, which puts her in the precarious position of the second person to occupy the Bottom three tonight.

6. PHIL STACY - sung “Every Breath You Take” - All right, color me impressed. I’m not a big fan of Gollum here, but I have to give him props for a very good performance of one of my favorite Police songs. He paced it really well, and knew exactly when to come in with the big notes. I worry for Phil though, because even though this was one of his better performances, I still don’t think he has thrown down his “wow” performance that will win over fans. Despite Simon’s comment on how he proved he was seriously in the competition, I don’t think we’ll see much better then this. I could always be wrong, but I think this was the best we’ll see Mr.Stacy do. Though I thought his performance was good, I just don’t think he’s made enough of an impact yet, which believe it or not, earned him my last place in my Bottom three picks.

7. MELINDA DOOLITTLE – sung “Heaven Knows” - Melinda looked out of place tonight. And Simon couldn’t have been more right about her outfit. Who dresses the contestants at this point? That was a truly “ghastly” looking outfit, and it made Melinda seem uncomfortable. But I digress, because despite the fashion choices, she truly proved she can sing up tempo songs. (did her and Kiki talk and decide to do up beat songs this week?) Still though, it wasn’t the best performance I’ve seen from her. Vocally, it was stunning, but it didn’t measure up to her past performances. Maybe that’s part of the problem? I come to expect Melinda to out do herself every week, so of course one week is going to seem weaker then the rest. Despite that, you know for a fact Melinda is around next week. Most definitely safe.

8. BLAKE LEWIS – sung “Love Song” - Finally, no beat-boxing, and he sounded great! (is it just me, or did his rendition of this song, sound more like the re-make from a few years ago then the original Cure song?) Regardless of which version he was doing it did sound great, and proved that he doesn’t need to add beat-boxing to every song to make it sound good. Some people said it sounded boring, but I truly don’t think so. It sounded in tune, accurate, and most of all he entertained me. (not to mention the fact he’s becoming easy on the eyes for me). Is he the strongest male performer at this point? I would have to say yes, since Chris S. is not living up to the potential he should. Safe? No question.

9. JORDIN SPARKS – sung “Hey Baby” - What a firecracker this one is. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, she is definitely growing on me. Simon was right when he said her performance was a little “copycattish”, but she sung it magnificently. She has youth, energy, and as the judges said, she’s not afraid to take risks. Because of this, I am really starting to believe she has a better chance of reaching the finals then Melinda or LaKisha. Her rendition of this song was contemporary, and though she really didn’t put too much of her own spin on it, it sounded good enough to definitely keep her safe.

10. CHRIS RICHARDSON – sung “Don’t Speak” - Why was Chris in the bottom two last week? It’s hard to figure out, because he truly gave an outstanding performance. I chalk it up to the “Daughtry factor”. What is the Daughtry factor you may ask? It’s what happened to Chris Daughtry last year when he was voted off. People thought he was so good, that they just assumed he would be safe, without voting. This is what happened to Chris. I truly find it hard to believe that Sanjaya has more teen girl fans then the handsome boy-band look-alike that Chris is. His performance of this well-known No Doubt song was pretty darn good, but not as good as last week’s. I like his spin on it, and thankfully he took Gwen’s advice and just stuck to the song. Even if this wasn’t his best performance, he will not be in the bottom three this week. I think his fans learned their lesson, and their voted their little heads off this week to keep him in. I predict he is safe.

My Bottom Three Picks: Phil Stacy, Haley Scarnato and Chris Sligh.

My Pick to be Eliminated Tonight: I think Phil’s performance was just good enough to keep him in, so I would say it’s between Haley or Chris. Hmm….I’ll say Haley.

So what do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? Comments?