American Idol - Week Five - 4/10/07

Watching last night’s performances, only one word came to my mind: strange.

That is the only way I can describe the performances last night. Why Nigel Lythgoe (the producer of AI) decided on a Latin-themed night is beyond me. Did he think the results we saw last night were going to be any different? NONE of the contestants are of Hispanic or Latino descent, and, not that that should matter, but none of them proved to show the “passion” Jennifer Lopez was talking about. (yes, including Blake)

Every one of the contestants were “off” tonight, and none of them gave a stellar “wow” performance. I could honestly see why Simon was obviously getting progressively frustrated with each performance. None of them connected to their song choices, and though J-Lo did an okay job in coaching them, I don’t think anything she could have said would have helped the contestants last night.

I was really disappointed with most of the performances, which I think has put one of the previous front running favorites in the danger zone. But we’ll get to that, so I should stop gabbing and go on to the performances:

1. MELINDA DOOLITTLE – sung “Sway” – Melinda really needs to stop her whole “surprised look” faces. It’s really getting tiresome. But I digress….to her performance, which was absolutely….mediocre. It was bound to happen, but this was not at all one of Melinda’s best performances. And her song choice goes on to prove what I have said before; she has an old school quality and voice. On a night where she could have easily picked a more contemporary song, she chooses Pablo Beltran Ruiz’s 1953 classic. How she will connect with a younger audience, I’ll never know. Her vocals were solid, but like Simon said, it was a pretty wooden performance. I felt no passion of emotion from Mindy-Doo this week, but I don’t think she’s in danger. I say she’s safe again.

2. LaKISHA JONES – sung “Conga” – My Kiki did not do well this week. I think that her song choice was poor, and she had absolutely NO Latin flavor. I agree with the judges when they say she was having fun, but “Conga” is the type of song that lends itself well to a group singing and dancing along. Most definitely a safe choice, but because of the fact it wasn’t performed well either, it puts Kiki in a very dangerous position. I hate to say this, but she is my first choice for my Bottom Three picks. I hate doing it, because I love Kiki, but a bad performance is a bad performance. Sorry Kiki, but this week is your first foray into the bottom three.

3. CHRIS RICHARDSON – sung “Smooth” – Chris is surprising me more and more each week. By no means is he the best singer, but his performances have been pretty solid for the past two weeks. My honest opinion is that he started this song a little rough. He was a bit off key at moments, but once he got into it, and finally caught the beat, he was sailing “smooth-ly” to the end. (see what I did there? HA!) Chris even added his runs in the end, which most times are out of place, but it really fit in this song. Plus, he’s using his looks (yes, I still have a crush, sue me) just like Haley. Difference is Chris is a much better singer. I think Chris should be safe once again this week.

4. HALEY SCARNATO – sung “Turn The Beat Around” – I don’t know about anyone else, but I didn’t even hear her singing. All I saw was a pair of very shapely legs walking and prancing around onstage. If Simon is on the money (which I think he is), and Haley is using her looks to overcome her lackluster vocals, then it’s working. I mean, damn, if those shorts were any higher, it would make Britney Spears’ now infamous car exits pale in comparison. Does it matter I didn’t understand a word she was singing when the fast vocals came up? (she could have been saying anything during those vocals and I wouldn’t have known) Regardless of Haley’s clothed striptease, I think the judges comments were spot on, especially Simon’s observation of Haley’s fashion choices. Based on last week’s appearance in the Bottom three, and her poor performance this week, she is my second choice for my Bottom Three picks.

5. PHIL STACY - sung “Maria, Maria” - OFF-KEY. Completely and utterly, almost the whole song. I’m surprised, because though I don’t think Gollum here is horrible, he was doing okay. This was a completely bad song choice, and it showed several times throughout his performance. He started out rough, and the end was excruciating. (was it me, or was he just screaming the words at one point?) What goose bumps was Jennifer Lopez talking about during the mentoring session? Was it cold in that studio or something, J-Lo? Because Gollum’s performance did nothing for me. No passion, no emotion, and a complete lack of in tune vocals. Gollum, I’m afraid you found your way once again into my final choice of my Bottom Three picks.

6. JORDIN SPARKS – sung “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” – Jordin has gone beyond just “growing on me”. I’m officially a Jordin fan, and I’m pulling for her to make it to the end. Her performance was pretty good, but I found it lacking, just like LaKisha’s performance. It seemed like a safe song choice, and definitely below Jordin’s talents. It was sung well, and her performance was fun and energetic, but it lacked passion, a prevailing problem with ALL of last night’s performances. One of the things that puts Jordin in the safe zone though is the fact that even though there was no passion, she still made it fun, and her vocals were spot on. I have a good gut feeling that Jordin is safe again this week.

7. BLAKE LEWIS – sung “I Need To Know” – By far, the judges were right. Blake definitely had the best performance of the night. (though I don’t think it had quite the connection the judges said it had). I admit I wasn’t a Blake fan when I first started watching, but he has grown on me. Last night I actually saw a bit of that “star quality” that I think gives him a good shot at the finals. It was talked about in the beginning that there was a good chance one of the women was going to win this year, but I think Blake’s performance last night has shown that if anyone will have a shot at being one of the final two, he’s going to be a forerunner. I have no doubts in my mind that he’s safe.

8. SANJAYA MALAKAR – sung “Besame Mucho” – First off, don’t hate me. I’m trying to be as non-biased as possible. (though my favorites are obvious) And though I don’t like some performers per se, I do try to honestly judge each performance fairly. Saying that, and with a complete disdain for what I’m about to say, but….Sanjaya was not horrible this week. I daresay it wasn’t half-bad, which absolutely KILLS me to say. Was it his song choice? Was it his subdued hairstyle and manly goatee, making him look a bit less effeminate? Or was it his bosomy sister’s brief appearance onscreen which distracted from his performance?
(I have to wonder how much better his sister would have done should she had earned a place in the Top 12 instead of him. Each week, her male fans would have had at least 2 good reasons to keep her safe – ahem – but I digress again). It wasn’t a bad performance, and regardless of what you might think of him, he finally showed he had some singing chops. Did he deserve to go home already? YES, weeks ago. Is he going home this week? (do you really wanna know that answer to that?) Look at it this way….if he was safe during his worst performances, do you think he’s going home this week, with a somewhat decent performance? Unfortunately, safe once again.

My Bottom Three Picks: Phil Stacy, Haley Scarnato and (though I HATE to say it), Lakisha Jones.

My Pick to be Eliminated Tonight: Haley’s legs may have saved her once again this week. Phil “Gollum” Stacy is my choice to go home, but why do I have this gut feeling that we have seen LaKisha’s last performance? God, I hope I’m wrong.

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