Sadly we still get to hear the shreks of Suckjayha.

Just set your DVR for Cinemax, April 12, 2009, 2:30AM.

Akon was terrible. No reason for him to have been on this show twice already. I don't get what people like about him AT ALL.

J-Lo's performance was fun. I felt like I was watching Sabado Gigante. It was fun interpreting her passionate rendering of words I didn't understand into a completely different context. Even my wife was laughing, which doesn't usually happen (she just hits me and tells me to shut up).

So since Pumpy ruined my pic request, does anyone else think Sanjaya looks strikingly similar to a certain Tudor?

Personally, I think Sanjaya has a Seth Bullock kind of thing going on. The way he looks up through the top of his eyes, and his new mustache and goatee. It's kinda freaky...

Can't complain too much about the results. Sanjaya has his niche and I figure I won't be surprised to see him make it longer than Phil, maybe Chris R., and possibly even LaKisha... So that would mean top 4.. .but I can't seem him lasting past Melinda, Blake, or Jordin - who knows though...

For Phil - it seems like either what someone mentioned that he wants to go home to his baby (since he knows he won't win), or what I thought is he just personally doesn't know how he's still there.. he seems to be a bit cavalier each week assuming that he's the one going home.. as he keeps staying, it just gets weirder and weirder seeing him act like he knows he shouldn't be there.

what like you sing in Spanish, no one knows what the fuck you are saying therefore it's good?

oh and nice tablecloth you were wearing j-blow.

what a night, acorn too.

*Weekly Conspiracy Report*

Just wanted to point out that, once again, there was no specific tying reference made to the number of votes and who placed in the bottom 3 of the votes. In fact, it was even more vague last night than I recall from previous shows, because he just picked up from a commercial break by going through each contestant and telling them they were or were not in the bottom 3, and then at the end made some mention of 35 million votes.

what better simon man boob talk or acorn

You know, I remember reading something about this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot. Turns out Akon's performance wasn't live, it was tape-delayed...by 3 weeks.

"Akon performs first, except not really. This was taped the night of the Top 10 results show."

well its not quite a haley sex tape (thank god), but ....

Olivia Mojica (season 2) extremely explicit sex tape.

edit:

It seems there is a trailer on the website I hxxp'd which has some explicit aspects, so you just has to placate your fanTastic Ego somehow else.

Except he said that he will ask the three people with the lowest amount of votes to go to the center of the stage.

Never heard of her, but I didn't watch the show back then.

Bitter much?


And, oddly, Paris Bennett has joined Vote for the Worst in their quest to make Sanjaya Malakar the new American Idol. Paris says, she “and a few other contestants” are using the Web site to “screw with the results.” “We want to see him [Sanjaya] win because it’ll kind of prove that ‘American Idol’ is kind of losing its taste….it kinda isn’t going for talent anymore and more for popularity.”

Tonight's rumored song list from MJ's Blog:

Why am I not surprised that the eyebrow-raising head-bopper would select that shit song?

I haven't looked at the spoilers yet (I'm assuming it's country which is good for country fans like me), but i love this.

At the end of PTI TK says - "Time to see if Melinda can turn a country song into a showtune"

Awesome.

Sanjaya may sing that?

Good god...

That list has been making the rounds. I got burned the last time I used a new source for a list, so I'm not going to write a preview based on that one.

All I can say about Sanjaya's choice is that he's showing more than a little hubris if he goes in that direction. He may be cementing some of his fan base by trying to be cute, but he'll be losing the momentum he gained by sounding half-decent the last couple of weeks.

Nice job by the eternally mediocre Paris Bennett. With her first album just out, I have to wonder where she took PR lessons.

I think Sanjaya should have done "Friends in Low Places" if he was really looking for irony.

I'm suprised that there wasn't a fist fight for Jordin's song.

Speaking of, how do they decide who gets which song? Is there a picking order?

Little known Idol fact: fist fights.

How else did Scott Savol make the final five?

I'll probably be in the minority, but I didn't like Jordin's performance there (the song posted above was obviously wrong), and I'm a fan of hers.

And yep, Simon said that she has now shown she could win.

Finally, Simon has decided to just say Sanjaya was horrible, which he was.

People will undoubtedly say that he was too mean, but come on...it's been a farce for a while and when you keep trotting him out there, you should expect it to get ugly.

And by the way, maybe he could have done a halfway decent job with that if he wasn't cozying up to the backup singers and running around the entire time.

Chris is singing like he has a rat in his throat.

Liked: Phil (wow), Melinda

Disliked: Jordin, Lakisha, Sanjaya, Blake

Continue to fucking despise: Chris

Good to see Sanjaya being Sanjaya again.

No one should sing "When Stars Go Blue" except Bono & the Corrs (but I'll give Ryan Adams a pass since he wrote it and all). And yes, I'm looking at you, Tim McGraw.

My ranking:
1. Blake - liked him better than the judges
2. Melinda - stretched genre a bit, thought she was good
3. Jordin - rebound performance by me
4. Lakisha - better than the judges thought
5. Phil - worse than the judges thought
6. Chris - he stinks
7. Svenjaya - he really stinks

I predict Chris goes home.

some producer deserves a raise because after Simon rolled his eyes at Chris' VT comment it was a quick save for him. Im sure someone piped in with some pertinent info regarding Simon's callous behavior.

That was an atrocious night.

is this a surprise?

I should have expounded. I thought Melinda stretched and sung something outside her genre, something which she is frequently criticized for not doing. I generally don't have that big a problem with her not doing so, so I probably am not the best one to praise her for pulling it off.

I was gonna say if people are complaining that that wasn't country enough, there is no pleasing you guys.

I did the same thing. Chris may have meant it deeply, but it just came across as pandering.

Country night, like many other broad-based themes, is a tradition on American Idol. Unlike most years, none of the 24 semi-finalists were native country singers. Yet, as always, the theme went fairly well. Country music is pleasant enough and accessible.

I am thankful that none of the seven reamaining contestants pandered to the audience by wearing a cowboy hat. That could have something to do with the recent Don Imus controversy, though hair straighteners and extensions are more the rule for the African American ladies currently dominating the competition - not really a nappy thing going on there.

Overall, it was a hit or miss night. Three hits, four misses. I was expecting better, though overall it was a light, mildly enjoyable show.

On to the ratings:

1. Melinda Doolittle. Already her seventh top score in the ratings, tying the record set by Katharine McPhee last season (I'm sure if I did these back in the days of Kelly Clarkson, the record would be much higher). Again, I find myself going back to old commentaries and wondering how to critique a professional singer in an amateur competition. She showed off her lower register with a very controlled and nuanced performance. Score of 93.

2. Jordin Sparks. After two down weeks - her first of the year - she picked a singer's song and interpreted it neatly and cleanly, letting the strength of her voice and purity of her notes stand on their own. Jordin never knocks me out or overly wows me, but she clearly has enormous talent and belongs among the elite in this competition. Score of 87.

3. Phil Stacey. What the hell happened? Fester can sing country. I had no idea. He honestly should switch genres immediately and never question that decision again. Score of 86.

4. Blake Lewis. A huge drop down to number 4. I found his choice of songs very indulgent. He missed far too many notes, his falsetto needs practice. I was bored, didn't enjoy that rendition at all. And it didn't even sound country - I may have been more likely to excuse him had he kept with the theme. This was his worst showing of the season. Score of 64.

5. LaKisha Jones. We criticize people for not leaving their comfort zones, and LaKisha deserved a lot of criticism in the early weeks for that reason. Well, she heard the criticism, and the last three weeks has left her comfort zone. It didn't work tonight. She had more trouble with pitch, and never understood the pacing of the song. Local girl may be in some trouble now. Score of 57.

6. Chris Richardson. Please forgive me, but we all feel horribly about what happened at Virginia Tech. Spending a few years on the other side of a big state does not give you any special insight into what's truly a global tragedy. Reminding us where you live just sounded like you were pandering for votes, and did a great disservice to your fellow contestants. I thought it was entirely appropriate that the show opened with a reminder. No more needed to be said. Ranting aside, this was an excruciatingly disjoint, uninteresting performance. And telling America that you're intentionally producing a nasal sound reminiscent of a dehydrated goat does not help your chances. Score of 52.

7. Sanjaya Malakar. After a couple of decent weeks, the bottom fell out again. It really defied criticism - at one point I thought he was trying to use the song to badly parody a gay man coming out of the closet, but that really wouldn't make sense as he seems to prefer the cuddly bad boy personna. I think he just mailed it in this week, maybe the pressure of being hated is getting to him. Score of 25.

Expected bottom three: LaKisha, Chris and Sanjaya.
Who should go: Sanjaya.
Who will go: LaKisha.

On Melinda - I give her tons of credit this week. She went out of her comfort zone and completely nailed it. I'm still not a huge fan of hers, but I can't deny how good she was last night.

On Chris R. - This is more to what Jim said. A TON TON TON of kids from the Hampton Roads area go to Virginia Tech. Chris R. is a pretty young guy who is a manager at a Hooters in VA Beach. I have no doubt that he personally knows a lot of students that go there and could very well know someone directly impacted. While Ic an see how it's perceived as pandering, I have little doubt that he meant it and is more impacted than other contestants. Yes, it's a global tragedy, but sorry - those of us in VA are impacted more just like those living in and near NYC were more impacted by 9/11.

Dola:

For someone who has been a Chris fan through most of the show, I thought he was TERRIBLE last night.

I was amazed they didn't mention any of her bad notes.



Yes, she finally went out of her comfort zone. However, I'm very disappointed that in a genre that is so incredibly popular she managed to pick a song no one has ever heard of. I think this has at least a little bit to do with people not feeling uncomfortable hearing an unfamiliar version of a familiar song.


and, I totally agree on what Wade said. Chris R. had to say something about Va Tech. Just as the Washington Nationals donned VT hats. Just as the vigils popping up all over Northern Virginia. New Yorkers have laid claim to 9/11 despite the fact that Virginia was hit by a plane as well. This is a huge tragedy for us and people be damned if they don't like Chris saying something on the show.

I'm admittedly often accused of being tone def, but I only heard one bad note (a longer note unfortunately)... I thought all and all for the level of difficulty it was an outstanding performance and Jim gave a fair ranking imo..

Obviously, my spoiler list was all wrong. Well, it wasn't my list at least. But I do think one thing was correct in there - the whole Blake/Jordin switcheroo for next week. Apparently, Jordin was supposed to close last night's show with a different song, but in the end decided to save that song for next week and close next week's show, so she switched with Blake for this week. Given how good Jordin was and how blah Blake was, I'm fairly confident that he wasn't initially intended to close the show. I'm floored that they didn't criticize his weak vocal. Way too many missed notes, not to mention that he basically has given the same style of performance for at least 3-4 weeks in a row (hey, if we're going to get on Melinda, he deserves it too). Finding your comfort zone and not simply copying yourself from one genre to the next is a fine line, but his performances are starting to feel a bit too much like a trademark at this point. It's like he's on auto-pilot, and it doesn't matter what genre they're doing, the performance is the same. It's been like that since the Who's Your Daddy song.

I thought Melinda was very good last night. I'm glad she did something different. I was expecting something from Oklahoma.

Jordin was fantastic, and I think she's #1 in my mind right now. Again, not something I'd ever want to listen to, but at her age, and with an obvious pop sensability that can cover several genres competently, she not only deserves to win, she'll probably be the most successful of the remaining bunch, too.

Phil could be the Josh Gracin of this competition, although he didn't really come into this saying (or knowing) he was a country singer. But if he wants a career, it's his only choice.

Sanjaya...I almost wish he had done Boot Scootin Boogie. Or maybe a medley. That was simply atrocious.

And don't even get me going on the "nasal is a vocal style" comment from Chris R. I almost came out of my seat and put a fist through the TV when he said that. You know, I guess chipmunk and cookie monster are vocal styles, too, but not ones most people enjoy listening to. And I don't agree that he had to say something about the VT thing, because I think it is wrong for one contestant to do it, and not the others. I don't see why they couldn't have done something very quick at the beginning, either after Ryan's intro or with him, and just let it go. The way it came off, though, was even worse, because he took some criticism and then blurted that out, and it came off looking like "I'm in deep trouble up here, let me deflect the criticism by bringing up VT." I'm sure he was going to do that regardless of the reaction to his performance (and again, I don't agree with it), but unfortunately for him, it came off even worse than the idea itself. Not that I wouldn't mind to see him gone, regardless of the reason.

On Chris R. - I'm not saying he had to do it, but I think to call it disingenuous is unfair baed on how closely he is likely tied to the situation..



I agree on Blake - he's been my favorite and I didn't like this week. FWIW, his rendition of "When the Stars Go Blue" was actually pretty copy-cat of Tim McGraw in my opinion... I have commented for a couple of weeks that he needs to beat-box again.. he's gotten away from fun-creative Blake to this singing style that he seems to like and is trying to "show off his voice" which, let's face it, is not what got him here...

He needs to go back to being the fun guy that beat-boxes and dances rather than mr. echo-driven crooner or whatever you want to call it.

Yeah, the brooding, mysterious Blake character works well in small doses, but that shouldn't be the shtick he brings every week.

And I don't think Chris R. was being disengenious, but it came off that way given where he inserted the comments, and like I said, I have an issue with 1 contestant bringing it up when the others were silent about it. I think Ryan's comment at the beginning should have been it for the night, and I wonder if that was the intent of the show or if Chris R. even told them that he needed to say something. And I think Simon's comment at the end might have been a reaction to his rolling eyes thing at Chris' comment, and not necessarily planned either.

Who knows...either way, I'm hoping Chris R. goes home tonight. The "nasal is a vocal style" comment is one of the most ridiculous comments I've ever heard a singer make in my life.

Well, and we know how well lashing back at the judges has worked in the past (read: often it bites you in the ass)...

As much as I liked Chris R. early on, I haven't liked him lately and think he will likely go and is the most deserving person to go not named Sanjaya... Although I could see Jim being right and LaKisha going, I think she has been "exposed" recently...

Something no one has mentioned about LaKisha... throughout the show she has done an ok job of hiding her lisp in her songs... but when she sings a song where she says the word "Jesus" over and over it was just so glaring to me... And really detracts from the song... I'm not trying to insult her as I'm sure she can't help it, but let's face it, hearing a lisp in singing (this was a mild problem with Chris S. also) is just not appealing...

Whether or not Chris was being sincere wasnt my point. I was just pointing out that Simon getting caught rolling his eyes on camera was dangerous territory and whatever producer got in his ear about it did a good, perhaps even great thing, business wise.

I was more responding to what Jim said.

I pretty much don't care one way or the other about Lakisha. She's got a good voice, but isn't that great of a performer, and her style is nothing I care about. I don't necessarily want her to go, and I don't care if she stays. She's clearly fighting a losing battle with Melinda and Jordin, though, and it's usually around 5-6 contestants left that we see the similar-style people start getting picked off. The only thing that could save her this season is the weak batch of contestants. I don't see how Phil, Chris R., and Sanjaya are not the next 3 to go home (in which order, who knows). Lakisha is teetering on joining that group.

I'll be shocked if Jordin, Blake, and Melinda are not the top 3. Well, maybe not shocked, but for the show to have any credibility, Lakisha is the only one of the other 4 who could be in the top 3 and not make the show look bad.

Completely agree re: both of these comments. Jordin was my early favorite, and I think she has the best shot of winning this whole thing and being successful afterwards.

Phil was a shock as a country singer. I thought he was going to be bad, but that was his best performance by far.


I would rank everyone the same as Jim did, but I would give Blake about 10 more points. I enjoyed his performance for the most part. This is the first week, where I think it will be very ugly if Sanjaya doesn't go.

I think Blake may be tonning it down on purpose.

He is definantly much more entertaining when he is beatboxing and "freestyling" more but if he had been doing it all along he would be criticized for that.

I think he knows he hasn't been in much danger to this point and he is just waiting untill they get to the final 4-5 before he goes back to being the old Blake, at which time everyone will praise him and he will gain more suppot because of it.

I think Simon needs to say next week after Sandgina sings:

"I want to be very serious for a moment. Sanjaya, you are without a doubt the worst singer we have ever had at this stage of the competition. It was a colossal mistake on our part yo put you through, and it is destroying the credibility of this show every week you are on. You're a terrible singer and you need to go home. Now."

He'd go home for sure.

I think that would spur on Sanjaya fans and AI haters even more.

Personally, I think they need to come up with some way to trick him into getting into a pissing match with Simon. We need some sort of "YOUR DAMN RIGHT I ORDERED THE CODE RED!" moment. Not gonna happen, I know, but I think the show coming out and admitting a mistake would backfire on them terribly.

Well I thought this might be the first chance we've had in a while of getting Sanjaya off the show, but sadly I don't think that will happen. I think Chris will be going, not because of his VT comments, but because of his bickering with Simon over his nasal singing. It's almost never a good thing when you get into a disagreement with Simon. I didn't mind his VT comments really given his connection to the area. I don't think he did it to make himself look good after the judges panned his performance, they just have a short time to comment after the judges critique and felt the need to add his support regardless of his performance.

Phil was certainly the surprise of the night, kept his voice under control and didn't try to shout like he does most songs. I couldn't understand what he said while Simon was commenting about his performance, but it sounded like country was where he wanted to go with his career.

Thought the divas would struggle, was right about two in my opinion. Let this be a warning to future Idol contestants, never ever sing a song from a past Idol contestant. It never sounds as good as the original. Lakisha made a very bad choice that might land her in the Bottom 3 for the first time. But I don't think she's in danger of being eliminated. I thought Jordin really struggled at the beginning of the song. Looked uncomfortable and nervous and sounded "off". She picked it up towards the end of the song, but I would put that as one of her worst nights. Give her credit though for singing a song in front of the person who made it a hit.

Melinda was the surprise because I thought it was going to be a disaster for her when she picked a song not even Martina McBride had heard of. Anyone know where that song came from? She gave it a surprisingly good country performance I thought, but I was distracted by the green tent she was wearing.

Also did not like Blake's performance-he looked completely uncomfortable and I thought he really struggled with the song. It goes without saying I didn't like Sanjaya's performance nor his snotty attitude afterward. Hope that begins to turn the tide against him.

I have no idea where that song came from, but then again, until last night I had never seen Martina McBride nor heard one of her songs.

Even as out of touch with mainstream as you are, if you've heard any country in the last 15 years i'd be surprised if you haven't heard a Martina song...

But, as a country fan, I didn't know the song either - I think it's a very obscure song.. no idea if that was intentional.

Well, the only song I can positively link to her is the one performed last night, but you're right, I've likely heard her songs before, I just didn't know it. Still, as little country as I hear (technically, I don't listen to any of it :p ), it's also possible I've never heard her before. I didn't recognize her song last night, for instance.

Word. I thought that was one of the most arrogant and snotty comebacks I've ever heard on this show. I haven't really liked him anyway so I might be somewhat biased, but after that I hope to hell he's gone soon.

What an idiot....

"I sounded like shit? Well....I was trying to sound like shit. Shitty is a singing style. Didn't you know that? Um....er....peace to Virginia Tech!"

Are you agreeing with my comment about Martina McBride, or calling me an idiot? :D

It seemed obvious to me, but apparently enough people, spurred on, no doubt, by the Don Imus thing, are complaining about Simon's eye-roll that he had to release a statement clarifying what was the only common-sense interpretation of what happened:


Simon Cowell has spoken out about the incident on last night's episode of 'American Idol' when Chris Richardson interrupted the judge to offer his condolences to the victims of the Virginia tragedy.

Mr Cowell appeared to roll his eyes at Chris as he extended his "prayers" to those involved in the shooting.

But Cowell told TMZ: "I couldn't hear what Chris had said. I was talking to Paula. My reaction (rolling my eyes) was to what he had said previously, that singing nasally is a form of singing."

Many viewers thought that Simon rolled his eyes because he thought Chris' comments were insincere, coming as they did in between a barrage of heavy criticism.
But the famously rude panellist appears to disagree.

"When I watched the show back, I was horrified" he added.

Thank...

God...

Sanjaya will be washing my car tonight. Welcome to Hollywood.

About time.

He is cryng like a little bitch

So all of a sudden he got less votes this week. Uh huh.

I can see why that would be hard to believe????????

So he lost, eh? I didn't know or care, but I kept reading about it. Whatever, if William Hung could sell a few albums and go on tour, Sanjaya will surely be infesting someone's airwaves before long.

Not hard to believe, I'm sure Haley's voters didn't put their vote into Sanjaya, plus he was even worse than normal.

I would point out to the conspiracy theorists, that Seacrest specifically said he was dividing the groups by those who "received the most votes" and those that "received the least votes," or words pretty much to that effect.

You beat me to the punch, I was going to come say it too.

And I'm sorry, but it is VERY logical that Sanjaya would get less votes now.

Actually, what he said was he was dividing them into the "groups that had the most and least total votes." I was waiting to see how he phrased it, and the minute he said that, I saw the loophole. If the top 2 and bottom 2 had so many and so few votes that you could switch out people in the middle and still say that the top 3 and bottom 3 groups had the most and least total votes...there you go.

Say the voting went like this (the names are really interchangeable, all that matters is that 2-4 of them would have a pretty close number of votes in the middle):

Melinda 12

Jordin 8
Phil 5
Chris R. 5

Blake 5
Lakisha 2
Sanjaya 1

If they broke the 2 sets of 3 into least and most total votes among them, it seems to me that, in this example, Blake, Phil, and Chris R. are interchangeable. They could switch out that third person and still correctly claim that each group had the least and most total votes, collectively. That's what he said.

Too often we've seen the third person in the group be someone no one expected to be in the bottom 3. A couple of weeks ago, it was Chris R.. And each week, that person is immediately saved and then the bottom 2 are left. I still see the possiblity that Blake was put into the bottom 3 for no other reason than to create a bit of discussion (or Chris R. put into the top 4 for the same reason, given the nasally comment and VT thing).

Sorry, I was all over that last night, and it just convinced me even more that something is probably up. Nothing that changes the outcome - Sanjaya is gone! - but something to stir up the audience a bit, to "give them something to talk about," particularly since Sanjaya is gone.

Oh, and I have to say...Fergie is awful. Ugly as hell and can't sing. Is this her attempt at getting into Avril Lavigne territory or something, bringing in an actual "rock" band (oooh I'm cool look at my acoustic guitar with the Dio sticker on it!)? My wife had never seen or heard of her before, and exclaimed, "Oh my God?! Is that Kirstie Alley?!"

ROFL! My wife said the same thing about Fergie.


I also don't think it is hard to believe that Sanjaya was legitimately beat. The vote total has gone up the last few weeks, and it's not hard to believe that it is not Sanjaya picking up most of the "new" votes as well as the votes that went to Haley and other beaten contestants. I'd imagine the vast majority of Haley voters went to one of the other girls.

I don't think they fix the vote at all - I've said all along Sanjaya was bound to go by at worst, the week where there were only 5 left. That said, I still think there is reason to believe they screw with who they say is in the top and bottom 3. They're just too vague, and there have been enough strange, 1-time inclusions in each category over th years for me not to believe that theory has some legs.

Plus, it gives me something to do/think about during the vote-off episode, which is usually terrible until the final 10 minutes, anyway.

After that happened, I said, "That's Fergie, she's in the Black Eyed Peas. They did that song My Humps." I acted like I knew what the hell I was talking about. She goes, "Your WHAT?" I said, "Exactly!"

Yes, we're in our mid-30s and getting older every day.

that fergie is a no talent hag

It's not as if there aren't people that monitor fairness in the voting process. And that disclaimer at the end is only in case there was some manipulation of the voting going on through what is termed "power voting." Does that term have some leeway? Maybe, but I'm certain they would have to defend the process to the Standards and Practices committee.

What is the actual prize for winning this thing outside of being "The American Idol"?

Is there like a new car or money or something?

You get to sleep with the judge of your choice. Simon Cowell was very relieved when Clay did not win season two.

I think it is a guarantee of a million dollar signing bonus on the record deal.

:rolleyes:

it would be far more interesting had he still been in

I wonder if they top the vote totals again next week.

I think the voting totals are actually closer than that and with the loophole, they can mix and match however the producers feel that will generate the audience coming back week after week. You knew something had to be up when the media and others started to ramp up the "AI integrity" thing this week. They will do anything to not kill the golden goose. (that and welcome to hollywood, where they made it an art form in doing stuff like this).

:rolleyes:

FWIW, I encourage the conspiracy theorists to look at DialIdol and see the bottom 3 - they were spot on.

Well then they are obviously part of the conspiracy :)

Let me just say that Martina McBride did easily the best "guest live performance" in the history of Idol. Comparing her performance to each of Fergie, Gwen Stefani, J-Lo, Michael Buble (whom I am a big fan of), Akon and Tony Bennett was akin to comparing Kelly Clarkson to Sanjaya.

Let this be a reminder to the American Idol staff to focus a little more on getting in good singers to guest perform in what they like to call a "singing competition".

Though they are not spot on every week...

Totally agreed on Martina and I made the comment last night to my fiance. Now, I've only watched the last two seasons so my sample size is smaller - but she really smacked down all of thsoe lip-synching popstars.

Country rules! ;)

I don't see what's so :rolleyes: about them possibly fixing something that has no bearing on the ultimate outcome of that week's vote. I've said it before, but I'll say it again...I'm not saying they sent Sanjaya home when he didn't have the lowest vote count. I believe he did. I also believe Lakisha was in the bottom 3 based on her votes. I have doubts as to whether Blake really was. His inclusion there serves 2 purposes - it provides additional "water cooler" talk to sustain the show through 6 AI-free days, and it potentially energizes the fan base of someone who, by all accounts, most people and the judges think is top 3 material. And the vague way they do their results doesn't give me any comfort that something like that might not - might not - be going on.

That's all I'm saying.

Oh, and Arles, with that Michael Buble comment...you are dead to me. ;)

Don't they usually give the top 2 a Ford as well?

I completely agree and I'm not a fan of country in general. Simon appeared to be giving an enthusiastic standing ovation which I rarely see.

Yeah, that rings a bell as well.

Seems more fitting for the bottom two.

"Hey, sorry you lost. Here's the keys to your new Festiva. Now beat it."

I just find the grassy knoll talk to be a bit silly. When he addresses it specifically, you find some loophole. What do you need him to say - Blake, you had the 3rd least votes, LaKisha, you have the 2nd least, Sanjaya you have the least? It's just too cumbersone. I just feel you're looking for somethin gout of nothing here. For weeks you've said he says nothing about the bottom 3 being the lowest vote getters. He does, and you find some other loophole. I'd get annoyed if he had to spell that out every week.

I found a loophole because I think the way he phrased it was purposeful.

Look, I'm an attorney, and I make my living by reviewing things just like this, to make sure my clients aren't leaving themselves open to unnecessary risk because someone says something in a particular way that can have alternate meanings, yet still say they addressed whatever the issue is. I also do a fair bit of the same kind of "wordsmithing" for my clients. I know how the game is played. And when you have a company that intentionally changes the facts for the "entertainment value of the show" the way this one does (cut-and-paste auditions to appear like they were in front of the judges, or the auditions alleged to have been in Austin that weren't, for instance), then I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt - I'll read into what he says precisely what he isn't saying.

So, like i said, you're saying he would have to look at each individual person and say "you were the X placed # of votes"?

No, I think there are a variety of ways he could say it without vaguely saying stuff like - "Here's your bottom 3" at 9:40pm, and then 15 minutes later saying, "After 38 million votes, Sanjaya you're leaving us tonight." Or, as he did last night, referencing the total group vote for the bottom and top 3.

Basically, for as long as I've been paying specific attention to this, he has yet to specifically link the votes to the individuals in the bottom 3. But he doesn't need to specifically announce each person's vote or tell them which number they were to satisfy me. Instead of the usual boasting about the number of votes and segue into the "bottom 3," why not say something like, "Thanks to you, we received an AMAZING 32 million votes last night. And right now, we're going to find out who the bottom 3 vote-getters were, based on YOUR votes."

Last night was as close as he's come to linking the voting process to the bottom or top 3, but as I pointed out, he did it by saying they were the lowest vote-getters as a group. That leaves all sorts of wiggle room, IMO.

*sigh*...

Don't forget to add in that it was for all the voters both male and female across all timezones in the United States for the full time period that voting was open.

The way you phrase it, it still leaves the potential open that they would only be counting 8:00-8:15 PM CST.

:p :D

Hey, you asked! :)