Idolator
You'd think that last night's episode of American Idol, in which not one but two contestants were eliminated, would be chock-full of material. You would be very, very wrong.
WHO'S OUT: Phil (which actually surprised us); Chris (which we were expecting when he was paired with Blake in the pre-elimination setup). Both contestants' send-off performances were filled with bro-hugs and tears; Phil fared slightly better than Chris, who at least got to have an "I love you, man" moment on camera with Blake, thanks to the Fox sound techs not cutting their mics during their pre-swan song embrace.
SHOULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN "COUNTRY CROSSOVER WEEK" INSTEAD? Bon Jovi performed its new single, the twangy sorta-hit "(You Want To) Make A Memory," thus dashing the hopes of the girl in the audience who'd brought along her shirt from the Slippery When Wet era. Seriously, though, after all that coaching of the kids in the ways of rock, you'd think they'd have busted out one of their chestnuts from the past—or at the very least, "Lay Your Hands On Me."
ALL FILLER, BUZZ KILLER: Talking-head segments from Ruben, Fantasia, and Taylor Hicks. A recap of last week's "Idol Gives Back" show, in case you really needed to hear Ben Stiller crack self-indulgent jokes again. One of those eternal "inquiring photographer" segments during which all the interviewees forgot the names of half the contestants. A Robin Thicke performance that was actually pretty good (although we wished Lil Wayne had run in) but completely unneccessary. A Ford ad set to "Paint It Black" that channeled the Panic! At The Disco stage show. (Seriously.) If only we'd watched this on tape-delay—there was a lot of fast-forwardable material. Tell us why these results shows are an hour long again? Is it because 'Til Death ran out of battle-of-the-sexes clichés?
LET A THOUSAND MINI-POSTAL SERVICES BLOOM: Blake name-dropped the home-studio program Ableton Live when asked how he came up with his arrangements, thus setting up a rush on the software for dudes who want to impress their local ladies with their re-arranging skills. He also used the word "mashup," thus ensuring that within the next three weeks, someone's going to have the brilliant idea to blend together Ruben and Clay.
PAULA ABDUL OUT-OF-IT SCALE: 3/10, thanks to the minimal camera time.
Next week: The three church ladies and the "edgy" Blake take on the disco era, with Barry Gibb serving as coach!
American Idol [americanidol.com]
Earlier: Idolator's American Idolatry archives
[Picture via Men On TV Screencaps]
Comments
"If only we'd watched this on tape-delay--there was a lot of fast-forwardable material."
yeah- I watched last night's show in about 10 minutes. $20 says LaKisha ballads up a disco song next week. "Last Dance," perhaps?
But "Last Dance" was the song that got Stephanie the boot earlier this year. It's got the taint of defeat on it now.
LaKisha's predictable, though. I say she does "I Will Survive."
I think LaKisha is the next to go, no matter what she sings. I really like her, but America Luvs Blake, and Jordin and Melinda ain't going anywhere.
Am I the only one who can't look at Robin Thicke when he sings? He looks far to much like his dad for my personal comfort.
LaKisha sings "It's Raining Men" and gets called out for being too safe.
@janine: That's exactly what I was thinking. Also, millions of dollars are probably being spent right now on finding a way to bottle and sell that hair gene...
I just hope that next week it's a Jenny Craig retrospective.
Bon Jovi just performed on whatever Country Awards show just happened. They have beyond crossed over. They know where to make their money. Paula's face was crazy bloated last night, right? She looked more chemically altered, physically, than normal.
I went to see Elvis Costello last night so I wasn't able to watch the guy duo get the boot. But Idolator's as-per-usual excellent summary fills my information void nicely. I was so expecting Lakisha to get ousted I was somewhat surprised by the result. I'm glad she made it through. Barry Gibb? Barry Gibb? Oh, that's going to be good. I already am liking the suggestions above.
If only we'd watched this on tape-delay--there was a lot of fast-forwardable material.
Man, you guys don't TiVo this? Idol is why DVRs were invented. The wife and I wait until the results show is two-thirds over, then burn through it in 15 minutes.
I earned back my dignity on my Jordin prediction, but I was dead wrong about the one guy-one girl elimination thing. But I'm happy: the women should be outnumbering the men at this stage. Hell, they should've been outnumbering them weeks ago.
Phil Stacey gave the single best farewell-to-Idol performance I've ever seen - on-key, exuberant, and with real showmanship. I haven't been a fan, but he almost made me feel sorry to see him go. If he'd been that good all season, he wouldn't be gone now.
Is it so wrong that I sorta liked that new Bon Jovi song?
I also came to the bizarre realization that if Phil Stacey weren't an AI contestant, but just the dorky guy in the office who cracked odd jokes once in a while, I'd totally have a crush on him.
In an ideal world, next week's show would feature the remaining female contestants perofming an earth-shattering rendition of "Its Raining Men".
@Thierry: Do you mean a gene to prevent it from happening? Thicke hair is handsome, but it is by no means sexy.
@JudgeFudge: in an ideal world, next week's show will still feature this song, but Blake will be forced to participate as well.
I don't get this "Robin Thicke" thing at all. If he'd been one of the other ridiculous guys trying to sing falsetto during the AI auditions, we'd all be laughing at him.
I had to listen to some Curtis Mayfield, just to cleanse my ears.
And I'm really glad that Chris Richardson won't be making google-eyes at me thru my tee-vee anymore.
Phil Stacey was on Good Day LA this morning, and he said his job in the Navy is singing. I don't know what that means, really, but can anyone picture him as, say, a Navy SEAL? Because that would be awesome. I want an action figure
@janine: I know many a member of the Hair Club for Men who'd pay good money for Thicke hair. Phil Stacey, for one...
@Big Money, No Whammies:
I don't know what that means, really...
They don't ask, and he doesn't tell.
@Big Money No Whammies:
Lakisha already sang "Last Dance" when Gwen Stefani was the "mentor." So you were right, in a way!
"I also came to the bizarre realization that if Phil Stacey weren't an AI contestant, but just the dorky guy in the office who cracked odd jokes once in a while, I'd totally have a crush on him."
The thing about Phil Stacey is that he IS the dorky guy in the office that you have a crush on. Then he decides he likes you, too. Things go terribly wrong, and the results are not pretty for your pet bunny rabbit.
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