He mentioned it back during Hollywood week if I remember correctly. I’m pretty sure that he got it sometime after the audition because he was really excited about it. I think that it was a really smart thing to do.
He really would have missed a huge chunk of his senior year anyway, given how long he has stayed, and when he is finally booted he will have tons of offers made in the weeks right after leaving. With the GED, he also has the chance to focus fully on his Idol responsibilities instead of spending three or so hours a day being tutored.
The bickering between Seacrest and Cowell is clearly staged or even scripted at times, but tonight I definitely got that they really don’t like each other and that Cowell particularly loathes Seacrest.
I think this was the best show of the season. I was a little disappointed that Melinda didn’t do Crazy, but her talent is so great that she makes any song sound good. Jordin did well to take the mentor’s advice and refrain from cheesing up the song with an audience or stage jaunt. McBride was right: it was a stand still song.
Lakisha chose the perfect song for her. The lyric was meaningful to her, and Jesus is a popular figure among country fans. Chris was enchanting as usual. I think I’ve finally figured out the key to his appeal: it’s the head turn — a subtle quarter-twist of his neck by which he glances off to the side, and then comes back. I thought his voice sounded especially good this week. There was a vulnerability in the pleasant tone.
Blake continues to struggle in his segues into and out of falsetto. It’s an awkward switch for him, and one that he should avoid. He was atypically unremarkable last night. Phil gave a great performance. I think he’s finally decided just to be himself, and to let that self come through the song.
This is your brain. This is your brain on Sanjaya.
Phil Hate.
**
Chris** Hate.
**
Jordin** Love.
**
Sanjaya** I have to like anyone who has such interesting hair.
**
Lakisha** Jesus, take Lakisha. Home. I mean, to Lakisha’s home. You know what I mean!
**
Melinda** So good, I didn’t even know it was country.
Blake Terrible, but I want him to stay.
**
Simon** Had a dream about him last week. When I woke up, I felt kind of guilty.
Lakisha’s song was a rehash of Carrie Underwood’s unbelievably popular hit- making it the second time she’s chosen a song a former AI contestant is well known for. I don’t know how the judges managed to keep from saying “I know Carrie Underwood, and Miss Kiki, you are no Carrie Underwood.”
Ditto. I have them tied this week. Chris can’t leave soon enough for me. Sanjaya was a big warm bowl of fuck this week, but he’ll survive because the suck was so unbelievably bad this time.
Simon: blah blah hate hate It was nasally and tinny and it sucked.
Chris: It’s a style of singing.
Simon: What?!?!
Chris: It’s a type of singing, in case you didn’t know.
(what I wanted to hear from) Simon: A type of singing? You’re actually attempting to educate me about types of singing? Oh, you pathetic little boy- I’ve been doing this since before you puking up your momma’s milk, you cut-rate boy band wannabee. It’s a miracle you’ve come this far. You know how to do one thing and one thing only, and it’s make doe eyes at the prepubescent little girls who wouldn’t know a talented singer if they tripped over one, but they’re the ones voting for you, God help us all. But making doe eyes at the voters isn’t a substitute for talent. Get offa my stage, you hack. Oh, and our hearts go out to the Virginia Tech students and families.
The dismissive look on his face said exactly that.
Here’s the thing, though. Chris has been singing like this from Day 1. Why have they praised him on some performances and not others? If they don’t like the nasally singing “style”, why give him any praise at all?
When he did that in the middle of Blake’s critique, it was really awkward. It even sounded like he didn’t care and that he was just saying it because he should.
And it was nice of AI to acknowledge the shooting–I guess–but as I said to my husband (who is now only watching to see what Sanjaya does next), “I don’t want reality injected into my reality television shows, thank you”. It was weird and jolted my out of my warm and creamy Idol fog that I have as the show starts.
ETA: Liberal, is there anything you’d like to tell us?
Yeah, Sanjaya sucks hard but Chris needs to go home just for being a little shit. An inconsistent-singing, mostly crappy little shit.
Broken Wings is empowering only if the time limit allows for the last verse when the woman escapes the abusive guy. Which it didn’t.
Jesus Take the Wheel? I believe in Jesus as much as the next person but I don’t think He would recommend throwing your hands in the air when you are skidding across black ice. I didn’t mind LaKisha’s voice on this. And Martina didn’t give her any good advice for her to ignore this week.
“When the Stars Go Blue”? As someone mentioned last week, this was the case of a country star having covered a pop/rock song and making it eligible for the category. I don’t blame Blake for using it (much like I can’t blame him for his weird-looking mouth when he sings) but somehow I blame the producers for including it. Tim McGraw’s version wasn’t even country.
Simon doesn’t need to be the spokesperson for sympathy for the families. I’d say Paula but she would melt into a puddle.
I think Ryan was obligated to acknowledge it in the introduction. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so serious, for that matter. And Chris probably couldn’t risk not doing a shoutout, even if he didn’t want to (though I don’t see why he wouldn’t). Chesapeake’s not that close to VT, but he still might know someone there, and anyway, his fans know where he’s from.
Beyond that, though, yeah, it was odd that Simon mentioned it how and when he did. It was almost like he was saying “I like pie.” (Do people around here still know what that means?)
I know the show presented it as “Tim McGraw’s ‘When the Stars Go Blue’,” but Adams himself is in that precarious not-quite-genre called alt-country, which for my money is truer to classic country than the current pop country drivel. This song had more country pedigree than most (especially Sanjaya singing Bonnie effing Raitt).
