American Idol: Deja Vu

I didn't like the stunt they pulled last week with not getting rid of anyone, so I'm pretending last week didn't happen. Sure, they raised a lot of money, but did you notice tonight how Ryan thanked America for donating money and thanked the celebrities for donating their time and talents. Puhlease. I'm pretty sure my feelings on celebrity-thons are well known and would take way too long to write here. There are very few things I'm extremely opinionated on, and that is one of them.

First, since I'm ignoring last week, I'll simply direct you toward an article which couldn't have been written better than if I had written it myself. He got everything from Phil's smarmy sucking up to Timberfake's delusions. Seriously. Spot on.

Now to this week. Live blogging (i.e. dvr'd but I write before I hear the comments).

Phil Blaze of Glory
I finally figured out what it is about Phil and I. I like Phil on the chorus, but cannot stand him on verses, bridges, and everything else in the song. He's got a good voice when he's belting, but he can't find a note when he's singing at a lower volume. I didn't think this was his best performance, but I didn't hate it. Parts of the song sounded like he was singing Dead or Alive. Way too many times I've predicted that he was leaving, so I'm just giving up on that.

Jordin Livin' on a Prayer
Did you catch the "oh no she didn't" moment? Bon Jovi did. In all her excitement she told him that her mom would be so jealous and that she grew up listening to him and really turned her on to his music. The look on Bon Jovi's face was priceless. Nothing is better than having someone making you feel old by telling you that their parents loved you. It reminded me of that scene in Empire Records where Rex Manning is excited that a girl is getting his autograph until the girl says, "it's for my mom. I've never even heard of you." Ok, to the performance. She was OK. She's the second best on this show. Clearly not pushing it for the top this week. Something was off the whole song.

Lakisha This Ain't a Love Song
I always love to see what advice she's going to get that she's going to completely ignore. How could be in your 20s and not have heard Bon Jovi's songs? She knew him because she saw him on Oprah? I thought for sure she'd say she knew him from his acting gigs. I'd bet good money that my parents rolled their eyes when they heard it was Bon Jovi night thinking there was no way they'd know any of the songs, but then knew at least 2 of them. (I dare them to prove me right). Eh, Bon Jovi could be wrong. I can see her going home this week. She's been pretty underwhelming recently and I could do without her. Simon thought differently and wanted to have a spectacle with her tonight. On the other hand, Kudos to costuming for giving her a slimming down outfit that didn't look like it can only be found in the big girl's section of Sears.

Blake You Give Love A Bad Name
Ooh, he's going to mess with the song? This will be interesting. Apparently Bon Jovi isn't all that thrilled either. What's up with the hair dye? Brunettes have more fun? At the start, he sounds like a version I've heard on a jukebox a few times. Here's the thing with Blake. He does a lot of beat boxing, but he also hits the parts when he is singing. So I always give him a pass. If he were a one trick pony and the singing parts were only tolerable, I might feel differently. But I've seen other singers on this show speak parts of songs, or clearly butcher several measures of the song, but pull it out in the end. At least his non-singing parts are entertaining and aren't just slow parts which you grit your teeth and bear knowing the song will pick up pace. Not my favorite rendition of this song ever, but they're always telling these kids to make it their own. Good performance in my book.

Chris Wanted Dead or Alive
Oye. He's going to kill the theme for my favorite new show of the season (Deadliest Catch). He started singing and he still bugs the bejeezus out of me. I still feel like he's the guy that got by on looks in high school, but really can't sing all that well. You know when you're in high school and theres that one guy that sings mildly well, but because he's cute and he's in YOUR high school, you think he's Elvis or something. Then you graduate and realize there's an Elvis at every high school and there's nothing particularly charming about your Elvis. And in hindsight, you realize your Elvis isn't even all that talented, but you were blinded by the thought that you knew him and he was going to make it big. Clearly the boy is still in this thing because the current high school students haven't seen the light yet.

Melinda Have a Nice Day
Her thing all season has been to sing lesser known songs. Sometimes I wish she would sing something America is going to know. I would have loved to hear her on Dead or Alive. Can't have my way every time I suppose. Nice to see she can rock it out though. I just hope she goes the way of Carrie Underwood and wins the thing with her versatility and not the way of Chris Daughtry and gets the shocker boot.

Heading home? Man, this is tough. They've had 8 hours of voting and now 2 people are leaving. I won't venture to guess if they'll do bottom 3 or just smell ya later. It really could go any way this week, and I think we might have a shocker. My gut says it will be Chris and Lakisha, but it really wouldn't surprise me if Jordin was sent packing. Since I've blocked out last week's performances, I can't remember how I think America voted last week, so this whole week is an anomaly .

A thank you from the President? Wow, this show has stooped so low.