Three contestants and 3 songs each tonight – one that they choose, one that the judges choose, and one that is “luck of the draw” (I wonder what that means? Guess I’ll find out when it airs).
No guest judge tonight – YAY!
I got a 5" Black & White TV as a free gift when I ordered a bunch of office supplies from Staples. Since technically it belongs to the company since I spent company money on the company office supplies, I just had to keep it on my desk next to my computer, right?
I really only turn it on during my lunch break, but today I couldn’t resist watching Oprah because she taped this episode last Wednesday night from the AI stage immediately following Josh’s ouster. There were no real big surprises or anything – Josh would be returning to base the following morning; Kimberley doesn’t care if she wins, but if she doesn’t, she will be using her success on the show as a springboard for her career anyway; Clay will use his newfound fame for good causes outside the music industry; Ruben claimed he wasn’t shocked to be called down to the final 2 because his mamma taught him to always expect the unexpected, to hold his head high and never let them see you sweat and Oprah and her best friend Gayle call in and vote just like all the rest of us peon people. Their votes go to Ruben. Like I said, no big surprises. But it was a fun show. I actually missed a lot of it because the phone kept ringing, though. If anyone else saw it and wants to add something, please do.
Kelly Clarkson came out and sang a different song than any of the other ones she’s performed before (thank goodness! If I never hear “A Moment Like This” again it will be too soon), so it was nice to hear something different from her for a change. She’s got a nice voice, but does anyone else think she sounds too much like Mariah Carey? If I’m not looking at her when she’s singing, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.
I can’t wait to hear what songs the judges pick for these kids to sing tonight!
I missed the show tonight. I got home in time to see the recap, but I missed all the judges comments. Can someone recap and tell me what they sang and what the judges said?
Hrm. I really didn’t like Clay’s rendition of “Unchained Melody” until the very end, when he nailed it. But the first 2/3 kinda blew, in my estimation. And “Vincent” was poorly suited to his voice, but that wasn’t his fault and he did what he could with it. I do think “Mack the Knife” was pretty darn good, though.
I think Kimberly’s performances were most consistent and all were thoroughly enjoyable and though Ruben was showing signs of wear at the end, he’s still my favorite to listen to.
Oh, I really liked Clay’s Unchained Melody, but I agree with you about Vincent. Kimberly and Ruben drew songs that were more their style and it showed.
I thought they all did a good job, but I realized that I hope Clay wins. I just find myself looking forward to his performances more than the other two.
That random song seemed a bit like a set-up in favor of Kim and Ruben. How come they each got songs they liked and were familiar with?
Grace: The judges were pretty nice all night except for Clay’s random song, Vincent. He forgot some words and it was very slow. I think he still showed good range and all but it did not help him. They said he more than made up for it with Mack the Knife, which was great. I thought they were trying to screw him over by picking that song for him bit he pulled it off. Randy said that he did not like the arrangement of Unchained Melody, but that Clay still managed to make it sound good.
Randy said Ruben’s random song was not his best performance but it was okay. I agree, it was a little off. I don’t remember the rest of the commentsfor him or Kim.
I’ve only been able to get through for Clay twice, so I hope it makes it through to the next round.
It was an interesting night tonight! I liked the “theme” this time. eheehe. For the first hour, I voted about 30 times for Ruben because that’s all I could get through. My mother has the next hour and she’s voting for Clay because she considers him “once in a lifetime.” I could live with that. HEE!
Anyway:
Kimberly 1: HA! Band of Gold! How fitting! Pretty good, but I can’t help but think that the Glendale performance was better.
Ruben 1: Absolutly perfect!
Clay 1: A beautiful song, one of my favorites, but while Clay sung it well, it was not one of his better performances. Accoustic stuff is clearly not for him. Then again, “Vincent” is one of those songs that can only be sung by the original artist.
Kimberly 2: Started out breathy, but got stronger. Yes, good, but not good enough for the top 2.
Ruben 2: See #1.
Clay 2: Mack the knife? Was Paula trying to sabotage him? Well done, but I can see that in Las Vegas. That’s not a bad thing, but I don’t think it’s entirely a good thing either.
Kimberly 3: Excellent! A bit squeaky, but excellent and strong!
Ruben: See #2.
Clay: See Ruben. See also “Solitare”. Stunning and powerful in every way.
I spent a whole hour trying trying to vote, that’s how. Since I was also watching Warrior’s Challange(Knights) on PBS, it helped the time go a lot quiker!
I was just relentless, that’s all. HEHE!
My mother says that Ruben might end up being eliminated. She says he’s good, but he’s “nothing special”. She’s not as relentless as I am though. Mwhahaa…
I really hate seeing this competition come to an end! These three are all fine singers. I almost don’t care who wins! They’ll all be just fine. But I thought Simon’s suggestion that we vote Seacrest off was the line of the night.
I had no trouble at all voting. Except for a few busy signals, I was able to connect whenever I tried in the first hour. Not gonna tell you who I was voting for.
I’m not making any predictions about who stays and who goes. Too dangerous!
Hmm…I wonder if it differs by area code. On the Idols website, they say you might get a busy signal if the local circuits were overloaded. I must have redialed 75 times or more and only got through once.
All three were excellent. I will say this; I complained about the voting on a lot of weeks, but in the end, they absolutely got it right. This is the right final 3. Well, except for the absence of Frenchie.
One thing I noticed about tonight was that in order to fit all the songs in, they were sped up. Didn’t work for the slow songs.
KIMBERLEY: “Band of Gold” was a lucky pick, but she wasn’t energetic enough in the delivery. A song like that, you should be dancing all over the stage. Doing Natalie Cole for her last song was an inspired pick, and she was brilliant. I can’t even remember the middle song.
RUBEN: Excellent delivery all around. Faultless. He doesn’t have the hair-raising moments Clay and Kim do though - he’s just smooth.
CLAY: Poor on “Vincent.” Terrific the rest of the way. “Unchained Melody” started out way too fast, but he threw caution to the wind and blew away the last half of the song. He gets a lot of extra credit in my eyes for being far more energetic on stage than Kim or Ruben.
I think Kimberley will be voted off. I don’t know who I would vote off.
Wow, I don’t get the Ruben love tonight. I thought he was just OK on his first song and Randy (FINALLY) was the only one who was at least honest enough to say so. It’s SO painfully obvious how much Simon/19 Entertainment want him to win. The constant promotion of him in spite of his MEH performances has finally pushed me over the edge to pissed off. I don’t want a performer shoved down my throat! Ruben flat out sucked on that last song. He was OFF KEY for half of it, he merely SCREAMED the other half and he couldn’t hold a note if he had a basket in his arms! He wasn’t merely so-so, he was TERRIBLE tonight. Just terrible. For heaven’s sake, the judges couldn’t even PRETEND their way to a compliment about that last performance. They skirted all around it by saying that he deserved to be this far in the competition and he had a great night, but nothing specifically about THAT song.
Kimberley Locke, on the other hand, was ON, baby! I have not always liked her – she’s gotten her share of criticism from me over the course of this competition. But unlike Ruben, she finally stopped screaming her songs and started letting the beauty of her voice shine through. She nailed every single song tonight. Absolutely wonderful. She earned her place in the final 2 and I SO hope she makes it (and yes, I plan on voting for her if I can get through).
Clay was awesome. Utterly spectacular. That boy has a set of PIPES! “Vincent” was a suckass song and it’s dreadful that he got randomly saddled with it. But even though he missed some words (which, frankly, I didn’t even notice until Paula brought it up), he nailed everything he did sing. “Mack the Knife” is also a stinker of a song for a POP idol (Paula, what are you trying to do – sabotage this competition??!) but he blew me away. Ruben could NEVER do what Clay did with that song. He doesn’t even hold a candle. “Unchained Melody” gave me chills. There’s nothing more to say. I’ll call for him for an hour and a half and Kimberley gets the last half hour.
In 45 minutes of voting for Clay, I managed to get through 35 times. I decided to throw a few Kimberley’s way if I could get through.
I haven’t gotten a single busy signal. 40 votes in under 5 minutes. Oh wait - 3 busy signals in a row. Come on West Coast Dopers – Send some votes Kim’s way!
Oh wait - 3 busy signals in a row. Come on West Coast Dopers – Send some votes Kim’s way!