Concur, what a joke he is.

Sad to see Sligh go, but not surprised. Guess I need to go check out K's link now...

I don't think he'll make it once we get down to around 5-7 contestants. The proportion of people voting "for real" will start dwarfing those that aren't.

But if by some miracle from God he makes it into the top 2, he'll win because when the audience doubles with the people who are watching just because it's the finale (and maybe even triples if there's enough Sanjaya pub), they'll all be voting for him.

I agree with Logan. At the moment, while it's clear that Suckjaya is the one who should go home, there is still a pool of unworthy candidates who can be picked off without much teeth-gnashing.

The problem for me will come when a Blake or a Jordin or a (it hurts to say this because I hate him) Chris R. get booted off and the Faux-hawked One remains. Last season when Daughtery got the boot, I was pissed, to an extent that I didn't think possible. I had no idea that I carried any emotional investment in this show until he was voted off. To my mind, as a performer, vocalist, and future star, he's the one most akin to Kelly Clarkson, and seeing Taylor Sticks win made me nauseous.

Welp....looks like I need to start watching American Idol and start voting for Sanjaya.

I usually tune out as soon as auditions are over (and I watch less of the auditions each season, as it's pretty much become a parody of itself), but I really have a strong desire to this Sanjaya win just because he seems to bum everyone out with his singing. I never hear Top 40 music except for random split-seconds when I'm flipping through channels, so Sanjaya getting a record deal wouldn't pain me.

Go Sanjaya!

I always thought he took a dive. I think he wanted to be free from the Idol chains (first place has to go to a certain record company at a given rate). I think he'd already shown himself to be a big star and winning probably would have been bad for him financially/career freedom wise.

Daughtry is still signed with Clive Davis. Anyone in the top 12 is tied to them, at their option. That's why that Mario Vazquez kid quit right before the top 12 was announced a few years ago, because he (mistakenly) thought he would do better on his own.

That is what they said about Vasquez, at the time, but I read that he sexually harrassed a male intern and got the boot.

This site is probably work safe, but rather than taking a chance: hxxp://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/american_idol_4/2007_Mar_15_lawyer_mario_forced_out

Great. This might finally end this AI frenzy that we've gone throguh the past couple years.

Again I didn't watch, who were the other 2 in the bottom 3?

Phil and Haley.

I don't get this attitude. I'm as big a music snob as there is (or so I've been told :p ), but the music these people make doesn't touch my life in any way, so who cares? It's entertaining TV, and if people want to spend money on music sung by people they've been force fed through a TV show, more power to them. It's not going to change my life in the least.

How many "Idols" can you have?

I find it funny the people who are up in arms because people are voting for the kid. Big deal. That's what is great about the system. The people have spoken, he stays.

Waaaaaaa Sanjaya stays, Waaaaaaaaaaaa.

Fwiw, I am in the camp that thinks Sanjaya staying at this point is not a big deal... Like others have said, the people going now weren't going to win anyways... I'll probably start to get upset if he gets in say the top 5 (arbitrary number) against people that I think have a legitimate shot at being successful artists.

but they'll still be successful artists

it's a show and if sanjaya enterains people so be it. personally I think it's way more interesting with him in.

and I'm a huge Blake fan. I think he's really good but I could care less if he wins or not. he'll still go on the make music.

The difference between Gwen Stefani the person and Gwen Stefani the performer is like night and day. The minute she started singing last night, I realized why I hate her so much - her performance is nothing more than faux attitude and an affected voice that annoys the shit out of me. She's the female version of the dude from Green Day. Her voice wasn't even recognizable from how she spoke like a normal person the night before. I admit she probably wouldn't be the performer she is without all the side show stuff, but it comes at a price. Namely, she's impossible to listen to or watch. But I'd very likely enjoy a video of her casually discussing her life as she gets ready for bed...

w0rd.

Oh, and I thought it was funny that she performed with a rapper named "a con." At least, that's what this guy told me his name was:

That song that Gwen Stefani sang last night sounded like it should be the theme to some 1980s TV show. Also, she's taking this rapper Akon (whom I had never heard of) with her on tour, so he can pop out during this one song and scream "YEEAAAARRGHH!" or whatever he does? And he gets paid for this?

I think he crunks during some other songs.

Am I to understand that he takes a shit on stage during Gwen Stefani's performance?

Or do I not know what "crunk" means?

your not down wit da crunk?

even white boy Benji was down wit da crunk on So You Think You Can Dance.

poser.

I'm not really much into shitting in public.

If it's Akon, he's quite big right now if I recall right.

And my dad always told me that shitting in public wouldn't get me anywhere in life.

Akon is the chipmunk guy, if I know my hip-hop/rap (ha!). He's the dork singing like a chipmunk on that "lone-leeeeeey, I'm so lone-leeeeeeeey" song that Disney has on its radio program. I can't change the channel fast enough.

They should call him Acorn.

Acorn?

Because he sounds like a fucking chipmunk.

Wait, he raps on a Disney song? And he shits on Gwen Stefani's stage?

And he gets paid for this?

I don't think it's a Disney song, because then he'd owe royalties to Chip n' Dale. But they play it on Radio Disney.

or casually singing without the attitude and affectation.

Laff - that's where I remember it from as well.

Doesn't he also sing the kid-friendly "Feelin' Like a Big Dog?"

Enough to buy a new car I bet.

Why doesn't he just buy a used car?

My friends, you are witnessing the EXTREME EVOLUTION of this thread.

Edit: "EXTREME EVOLUTION" was my nickname in college.

bottom line is that the stage shitter is making more than you

You don't know that.

I'll bet you a year's supply of crunk he does.

I'd crap on a stage to make his bank.

Can we please step away from the Akon. Thanks.

Are you trying to derail this thread?

I'm trying to find a Pumpy post that doesn't reference shitting in public. So please stop talking about Akon and Sanjaya.

wait, sanjaya shits in public? vote sanjaya early and often.

On Tuesdays at 9pm.

This may not be anything new to Idol regulars, but I thought it was interesting in a I'm-aware-of-the-show-but-have-zero-interest-in-watching-it sort of way.

http://www.myajc.com/post/idolblog/3...opped_out.html
3/29: Chris didn't want to win(UPDATED)
March 29, 2007, 2:16PM EST

Here’s a small revelation Chris Sligh said during the media press conference: after his rendition of “Endless Love” was trashed a couple weeks ago, he considered dropping out. He asked the producers would he be able to stay on tour in the top 10 if he dropped out. They said no. So he stuck with it.

Ultimately, his heart wasn’t in it. He even said out right, he didn’t really want to win.

“I never came into this wanting to win it,” he told me. “I came from an indie alternative rock background. For me, I think winning ‘American Idol’ would have hurt what I was going for.” (Indeed, I think he’s taking cues from Chris Daughtry, who now readily says he’s glad he didn’t win in retrospect.) Tell me if I’m wrong but I think Chris is the first finalist to ever admit not wanting to win it.

He thought his take on the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” wasn’t as bad as the judges said. “I really gave my best,” he said. “I admit it wasn’t a great performance this week but it wasn’t terrible.” He added, “That’s the competitive side of me that kicks in.”

And yes, he did win the $50 bet with Phil Stacey about getting voted off (and he did get his cash.) He said he didn’t know it was still live when he said that since Brandon and Stephanie’s farewell songs got cut off before it aired.

He also said he scaled back his mockery of the show after death threats popped up on his blog following his joke with Simon about Teletubbies and Il Divo. “I got scared,” he said.

He noted that he chose songs he liked or felt would challenge him and he wasn’t trying to appease the audience or the judges. “All six songs [he sang on the show] were risks one way or another. I felt like that was ignored [by the judges.]”

And he wished singers could use instruments and would allow original songs. He also wished he could blog during the show, which the producers wouldn’t allow.

He defended Sanjaya. “People underestimate Sanjaya… He has a good voice,” Chris said. “I think he gets a bum rap.”

So he didn't want to win because it would harm his indie credentials, but he wants to go on the Idol finalists tour. Sounds like he realized he didn't want to win the moment he was voted off to me.

Hey MJ4H - do you like Sarah Brightman? Well, it turns out she's jumping on the bandwagon and doing a gothic metal album right now. Chloe's next! :p

haha. I have heard Sarah Brightman, but if I remember right her wide vibrato is quite off-putting to me. Don't you wackos lay a finger on my Chloe, though!

Not only are ratings down this year, but voting is down quite a bit:

Odd drop off at the Top 12.

KS - where do those numbers come from? How official are they?

Someone put that together based on Seacrest's announced voting each Wednesday/Thursday. I don't think there's an "official" release, other than what they announce on the show.

Why do people keep saying Haley is getting the "sexpot" vote? She is fugly as hell.

what?

I'm with MJ4H. The onlynegative is that she looks a little like Marie Osmond.

Simon was dead-on about her performance. She looked like she was performing in the talent portion of a beauty pageant. She must have hit 12 separate marks while prancing around the stage, and unfortunately, she looked down at nearly every one of them.

Having not watched a second of AI this season, my thoughts for the night:
1. Jordin
2. Melinda
3. Lakisha
4. Blake
5. Haley - sideboob
6. Gina - challenged
7. Phil - nosferatu
8. Chris R - Billy Packer would say fagged out
9. Sanjaya - looks like a womanlier version of that David guy who got kicked off the Real World #2 (or was it 1 or 3, or 4, oh well)

The top 3 stood out. Blake was OK. 4-9 were pretty much interchangeable.

I said she is fugly as hell. Its like she went to a sorority induction that includes spanking on the ass with a paddle, only she kept getting smacked in the face.

Concur!

I can't be hearing (reading) you correctly. It almost looks like you think Haley is unattractive. There must be some internet-interference or something.

Also Haley is hot because internet.

I mean I don't think Haley is in "the McPheever class" but she is smokin' hot, honestly when she gets voted off my interest will pretty much gone for the year the other's just don't hold my interest.

She looks like unsliced bacon

Once a year the producers of American Idol feel compelled to tune in to the Oldies channel. Maybe it's some misplaced feeling of public service. Maybe it's just plain hubris. Whatever the reason, the results are never all that pretty.

I don't think the judges really understand the standards. I'm not sure I do, myself. They're from another time, when people apparently didn't mind songs that seemed to last six hours, since they travelled three days by horse and buggy to reach the lounge in the first place.

What are the proper standards for evaluating standards, anyway? Do they have anything to do with Standard Gasoline, which became Esso, or Exxon, or Exxon-Mobil, or any variation along those lines? At any rate, I'm going to pour a little gasoline on a rather weak fire tonight, as my ratings won't look much like the ones the judges would apparently experess.

1. Melinda Doolittle. Paula keeps dropping hints that she believes songs should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Unlike Haley's legs. I get it, really, I do. Every song from Melinda is a complete performance. And I think Melinda gets standards. Just sing with a pure tone, stay on key and in control. Hard to find anything wrong with it, and she's back on top after finishing three points back for the first time last week. Kinda like Florida basketball this February. Score of 95.

I want to say 2-9, the rest. But I'll try and sort them out.

2. Blake Lewis. I think he, too, understood the theme, and stuck with the most basic of lounge songs. What else do you do with standards week, anyway? It was a solid performance, nothing to write home about. Score of 78.

3. Jordin Sparks. She was the only one truly taking chances this week, and that should be rewarded. Her song has some complexity, and she did basically a nice job, but her voice was rather nasal for the first time this season. Maybe she has a cold. Score of 77.

4. Sanjaya Malakar. At this point, he could marry Bobby Brown and belt out the sweetest vocal ever heard and the judges would rough him up and kick sand in his face. He's young, but you can tell he should be this type of schlock for a living. Once he starts to truly get performance, he'll be hitting home runs with the soft stuff, because there is a nice quality about his voice that overcame a bum note here and there. It wasn't bad, and this was a truly mediocre week. Score of 74.

5. LaKisha Jones. The beginning was so badly off-key that not even her usual tricks could save her. LaKisha has an incredible talent for being able to move into a note quickly - she must have perfect pitch. With the usually bluesy stuff she sings, that cover works well. But being forced into an older song, well, I can't imagine a worse choice for her. I also have to wonder what was going on with her "choice" to abandon the pure big note at the end - that smelled like a producer setup to me. I think she's getting bad advice because the Idol people think they can't market her. Definitely her worst performance of the season by far. Score of 69.

6. Phil Stacey. Not as terrible as the judges made it out to be, but it was an odd take on a song he should have hit out of the ballpark. Here's a hint, Phil: when the judges get on your case because you sounded like you were singing at a funeral parlor, do not, whatever you do, say you were inspired by your wife. Unless your name is Scott Peterson. Score of 65.

7. Haley Scarnato. At least I know Simon and the gang were reading my comments last week. She does sound like she's singing in a pageant. I don't mind that she's shamelessly trying to get the male vote, because she is absolutely gorgeous. I think about voting for her myself for that reason alone. There are some runs of a few seconds when she actually sounds quite good, but for whatever reason she is incapable of putting together a cohesive singing performance. This one was more than a little rocky. Score of 63.

8. Chris Richardson. Okay, I did not get the judges' love on this one. Backstreet Boys meet Tony Bennett. It just didn't work for me, dawg. Not a bit. It sounded like a bad parody, which would have been fine if he was aware of it. Score of 61.

9. Gina Glocksen. Haley has an excellent sense of fashion. Gina, however, consistently tries to stuff her body into some scary-looking costumes at times. She outdid herself tonight. She looked like a sausage, and I think it strained her voice, because she sounded terrible. She over-throttled the nice control she found last week, and had quite a few pitch problems. She is in very serious danger this week. Score of 58.

Bottom three tonight: Gina, Haley and Jordin. Girls' night out.
Who should go: Sanjaya, lifetime lack of achievement.
Who will go: Gina.

I'm actually with you this week for the most part, Jim. My only changes, would be to give Blake a tie for first with Melinda (because his was just a lot more fun), and Sanjaya should be somewhere in the bottom 3.

I think Gina has the rocker following. I say Haley or Phil go this week

Melinda (and Lakisha) still BOOORRRRIIIINNNNGGGG. It's amazing how the judges say they can't critique Melinda. Yet, everyone else gets sliced (like Jordin) for not making it hip {or their own). Uh, hello. Melinda hasn't sung anything she's done so far this year sound like it was recorded before 1968.

My wife and I agree that Melinda is simply so distracting to look at that we can't even concentrate on her singing performance. For the same reason, Gina has to lose the tongue piercing, at least when she's singing Tony Bennett stuff.

This week, nobody wins. Kinda like country week.

The judges are constantly after "young, young young" and then give them this crap to work with. And then they complain that the passion for the music isn't there when they're forced to sing songs that they probably hate. None of these kids were even born when this stuff was popular. And most of all, none of this music is relevant in today's world, so how are we to determine who is the biggest pop star by last night's performance?

It reminds me a lot of Reuben back in Season 3... he was outstanding every week and everybody loved him, but when it was time to make a modern sounding album, he had no shred of credibility and it flopped. He could nail the 60's R & B sound like no other, but you're not going to buy a 60's R & B album because that went out of style 40 years ago!

Anyways, this week I believe that Melinda was very strong. Her song was very difficult, almost like 3 seperate songs within the main one. And she nailed all the parts. I also thought that Lakisha was very boring. Both of these girls are very popular but WILL NEVER be huge pop stars, they are too old fashion.

I felt that Haley was trying to have sex with everyone with her performance. My wife didn't appreciate that.

And I think that Blake was the strongest this week, and still my pick to be the breakout star of the show, whether he wins or not.

We both agreed with Jim. We thought Sanjaya was quite good this week, and that this is his niche. Of course, we both think he should go based on his overall track record. Meanwhile, I think I need to committ Easy Mac. Haley is not quite in McPhee's zone, but she is hot.

Yeah. Sanjaya was actually restrained and sounded somewhat decent. That was close to what we heard in his audition that made us think he was a good singer. I was surprised the judges blew him off so quickly, but maybe they didn't want to throw more gaas on the fire for his fans. If he's been getting so many votes based on awful performances, imagine how energized his fan base would be if Simon gave him even a backhanded compliment.

Sorry, Sanjaya was terrible. Off key most of the time.

Haley's legs sure can sing. Chris R. was terrible, and I was shocked that the judges praised him so effusively. Sanjaya was bad - seems like some of you are just getting used to him. Phil is going home.

Seriously. Another showtune from Melinda?! Can she sing something not written for broadway, already??

She looks like Ms. Piggy crossed with Michaela from last year.

Tony Bennett pulls out of tonight’s Idol performance:

The legendary crooner, who turned eighty a few months ago, is not well enough to put his golden pipes on the air.

According to a spokesperson for the star, he has a cold.With just hours left until tonight’s live show, producers from “American Idol” are working hard to find a stand in.

A source close to the show told Access Hollywood they are trying to get Canadian singer Michael Buble to fill in.

Good God! Michael Buble! When I went to Tampa a couple of weeks ago, someone accidentally left a Buble CD in the car and I almost wrecked trying to change the channel, then realized it was a CD and flung it out the window once I pried it from the CD player. That was some seriously awful stuff.

there are no accidents

He actually lost out on the Grammy this year to Tony Bennett for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. For whatever that's worth.

You're right. I believe it was a deliberate attempt on my life.

WTF is Paula wearing?

Sanjaya represent!

As long as we're making a list of things to call you...

Does Mike Bubbly always look and sound this intoxicated? And his singing sucks

For the 5 steps forward Harry Connick Jr. brought this genre into the spotlight the past decade-plus, this guy is setting it back light years. Yeesh.

Nice Bubbly, I like you for that joke alone. And I take that back, I'm pretty sure he's coked up

Nosferatu will not be stopped!

Haley is coming back sluttier than ever next week. More Bacon!

Woohoo, another week of looking at Haley!

That's too bad. I hope they don't make her sing again now that's she losing it on stage.

ouch

I just want to see someone, when they get voted off, once the music starts, to just drop the mike and walk off the stage.

Oh yeah!!!!

That'll be Sanjaya, because he's a rebel like that.

gina got screwed. This week was really out of her comfort zone/ style and she paid for it.

It really pisses me off the Melinda/Lakisha can basicly find loopholes to perform the same styles every week but Gina gets forced to sing something out of her range.

I realize there was no way she was winning but she was unique to the competition and to me it is dissapointing to see her go.

Are you guys aware that Jim has been nailing it? Forget super hardcore football sims, this guy should be doing entertainment sims. :)

I am on a rather freakish streak this season - I'm currently leading the prediction competition on another board. Which means next week I'll probably blow it completely. J-Lo and salsa music. That's a tough read.

I can only pray that Sanjaya comes out dressed like Charo on the Love Boat.

That's a strange fetish you've got there....

Yes, it's the "I want to be entertained since he's going to be on the show anyway" fetish.

Bye bye, Gina...

*sigh* :(

Dola-

Though she did look bad Tuesday.

I was ecstatic, I couldn't stand how full of herself she was.

I didn't get that vibe from her at all.

I think it stemmed more from the Hollywood episodes than the elimination ones. My girlfriend and I constantly got the impression that she felt she was better than everybody, which caused both of us to hate her since and be very happy when she got knocked off (well, I was extra happy that Haley stuck around).