American Idol Top 3: Are We There Yet?

I don't know what my problem is, but all of a sudden, American Idol is making me grumpy. It's gotten very boring because the Top 3 can all actually sing quite well. It's unheard of! It's certainly no good for my recapping purposes. I can't make fun of Paula all night. She's even become predictable.

Well, let's get on with it anyway. Here are your Final 3:

Jordin Sparks    Blake LewisMelinda Doolittle


Each of the contestants gets to sing three songs tonight - one picked by the judges, one by the producers and one by the finalists themselves.

Round 1

Simon's pick for Jordin is Rose Royce's "Wishing on a Star." She sounds great, looks great, the judges think she's great...everything's great.

Blake takes on The Police's "Roxanne" at Paula's request and does a fine job. Sure, he's dressed like a 10th grade math tutor, but vocally he's already redeeming himself from last week's atrocities. Blake's back to being Blake. The Dawg and The Barfly think he's hot 'n fresh, but all Simon heard was a Sting impersonation. Well, at least Blake didn't do the duck bill.

Next up is Melinda with "I Believe in You and Me" by Whitney Houston. You all know Whitney. She's recorded with Randy Jackson. Just ask him. Or don't ask him. Either way, he'll tell you. Yo, yo, yo, he knows Whitney songs are tough to sing, but Melinda can handle it. She blew it out the box, or so I'm told. Of course she did.

Round 2

Jordin kicks off the producers' choice round with Donna Summer's "She Works Hard For the Money." Leave it to the producers to pick such a cheesy song. I agree that Donna Summer is probably right up Jordin's alley, but the woman had much better songs than this. Heaven knows why they chose this dud. Jordin, once again, sings the crap out of the song but she isn't really connecting. As Simon would say, I'm not exactly jumping out of my chair. Simon doesn't say that this time, and he, Randy and Paula all still love Jordin.

Blake takes on Maroon 5's "This Love," a song I hate from a band I loathe. Thankfully, Blake is much cooler and much less annoying than Adam Levine, mostly because he's not under the false impression that he is the reincarnation of the not-even-dead-yet Stevie Wonder. Style-wise, Blake looks like he's going on a boat race with Simon LeBon, and I dig that. Vocally, he's much more genuine than Levine and I dig that too. The judges pick up a shovel and dig with me, and all agree that this is turning out to be a good night for Mr. Lewis.

It's hard to imagine the producers throwing us all a curveball, but they do with their odd choice for Melinda - "Nutbush City Limits" by Ike & Tina Turner. The judges all salivate over Melinda again, but I'm pretty lukewarm on this one. Not that Melinda doesn't sound as wonderful as she always does; it's just not doing anything for me. She usually seems to connect with the audience during her performances, but this particular time is different. There's no soul. To steal a favorite line from The Dawg, it was just aight for me, man.

Round 3

Into the home stretch comes Jordin with a rehash of Shirley Bassey's "I (Who Have Nothing)" - a song that she already nailed earlier in the season. It sounds pretty much the same as the first time she did it, which is fantastic. But, I'm not a fan of the contestants repeating songs during the show's run, like when Carrie Underwood couldn't free herself from "Independence Day" or, worse, when Ruben tried to convince everyone that "Superstar" was actually his song. Still, it's another killer performance from Jordin, so I ain't mad at her. The judges are happy too, although Simon is disturbed that such a young girl (cue Kip Winger - she's only 17! 17!) is doing such an "old-fashioned" song. Paula's diarrhea of the mouth must be contagious, because Simon's inoffensive comment prompts Jordin to make some lackluster jab about how the song he chose for her was from the '70s. Everyone looks confused. Simon looks annoyed. Jordin looks like a gal who may have one foot in her mouth and one out the door.

Yay! Blake is on again. He's keeping me awake. I know I said last week that the girls would eat him alive, but he's more than holding his own. He may not be as technically proficient as Jordin or Melinda, but has a spirit that both women are lacking. Now dressed like the quintessential charming hipster doofus, Blake's personal song choice is Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone." Randy says that he liked the Maroon 5 song better, but The Dawg is whack, yo! I think this might be my favorite Blake performance yet. Simon is with me on this one, and praises Blake more than I've heard him do all season.

Melinda goes back to repeats to close out the show with "I'm a Woman," brought to you by the fine people at Enjoli. Or maybe it's Peggy Lee. Does it matter? Melinda did this song superbly the first time around, and this time is just as good. Randy thinks it's hot, Paula jibber jabbers something that no one understands, and Simon thanks Melinda for consistently delivering each week.

Of course I agree with Cowell that Melinda is the most consistent performer, as well as being vocally superior to the other two, but I feel like Blake has that "yo factor" that The Dawg is always barking about. A little yo goes a long way. I guess we'll see soon enough if it can get him to the Finals.

Seacrest asks the judges to predict who the Final 2 will be, and Randy is confident that it will be the two gals. Paula can't commit to an opinion or a language, as usual. All Simon will say is that he wants "my girl, Melinder" in the Finals. What's this "my girl" business? First he's slobbering all over Hayley, then he's kissing LaKisha, and now he's claiming Melinda, Melinder, whoever as his property? Hmmph. That's it! Our faux affair is so over.

Ryan didn't bother to ask me my prediction, but I will give it anyway. Melinda will obviously be in the Top 2 because she consistently wows everyone with her ability to sing anything. Originally, I was convinced that Jordin was going to squeak past Melinda to take the crown, because the show seems to favor young girls. However, I think Jordin is just holding steady while Blake continues to evolve and take risks. My gut is telling me that Jordin will be eliminated tomorrow night, leaving Melinda and Blake in the Finals. The ultimate winner? Well, I'm not going to form an opinion on that until next week!

Comments

Andrew said…
My predict-o-licious pick for this week's boot-ee: (drum roll.....)

Melinda Doolittle.

Yep. The BlakerGirls will be in overdrive mode tonight, furiously speed-dialing their way into the hearts of their hero (and ATT's open arms as well). And I'm thinkin' that Jordin picks up the LaKisha Lovers because they're still pouting that their Diva is at home eating cheese puffs on the couch again, rather than staying on the show and setting off the FCC's jiggle sensors (censors?) with those necklines of hers.

Or not. Whatever.

I'd be happy with any of these three winning. I predicted Jordin from the start, Blake's proven he deserves it, and Melinda is simply Melinda(TM).

So yeah, Melinda goes home.
Dale said…
I think Melinder could get the boot just for fun too so I'm siding with Andrew here. All opinions subject to change.

I'm glad your faux affair has ended.
I found your blog by searching for blogs about idol.

Here's my thoughts on this season.

It all starts back at the audition phase. I think that there are a lot of people who get turned away by the first wave of judges who are really good singers, but never get to see Simon and co. Think about the people who show up in later seasons who are very talented, but say that they were “turned away” in prior seasons, not even seeing Simon. I think idol producers waste time with all the “intentional Bloopers” that they try to produce for that first unbearable month of the show. As you probably guessed, I don’t really watch that part, it’s a waste of my time.

If they didn’t waste time on putting bad people through “intentionally” just to make the “Blooper Reel” and only put good people through to Randy, Paula and Simon, it would be a totally different competition, a competition of only “great” singers. This recent top 12 is evidence of this. It’s how we got the “Sanjaya Class”, the name I’ve given the first six to go from the top 12. Ok, maybe a few of them were pretty good, like the big haired Chris, but for the most part, the first six were a fair bit weaker. We could have had a “Strong 12”, but it all stems from that first audition phase.

I will say this though, America actaully got it right in crunch time. We’ve enjoyed a strong finish in an otherwise laxidasical season.

This season will have good memories tied to it for me, because of talking about it with all of you and some of my personal friends. It’s been a lot of fun, thanks for making this weaker season memorable and worth watching.

That’s my take on American Idol, Season 6.

...I voted for Jordin tonight, I tapped out at "200".

It became a game for me to see how long I could keep hitting redial.

At first I stopped at 150, then decided to go to 175...but, I couldn't resist only being 25 redials away from 200, so I went the rest of the way.

As long as Jordins in the final, I'm happy.
Lee Ann said…
Your comment at the Castle cracks me up!
You get me going almost every comment you make!
Luvya!
LoraLoo said…
I just hope you're right, because I really want to see Blake in the top two. Hell, I'm one of those Blakergirls redialing to vote (Okay, but only 5 times last night, I'm not still 17...).
If AI is getting boring, maybe next time you should try Eurovision. Hopy crap, is that insanely bad!
Anonymous said…
Melinda Doolittle in her first-ever Nightclub engagement

November 17-21, New York City

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed "Best of New York" by New York Magazine, will debut MELINDA DOOLITTLE in her first-ever nightclub engagement from November 17 – 21. The “American Idol” finalist will perform an intimate evening of jazz standards, pop hits and Broadway classics, in addition to selections from her CD, Coming Back To You. All shows are at the Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street). For ticket reservations and club information, please call (212) 339-4095 or visit feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com