Well we started off with a stage blackout in deference to the tragedy at Virginia Tech, then Ryan kicked it off with a silent crowd and “This…is American Idol.”

Show starts, and we hear that there was only one choice for Country Night as the mentor - Martina McBride. I don’t own a single song from her, but apparently 16 million people bought her stuff. I have heard some of her songs, but I don’t own any. I do know that Carrie Underwood did one of her songs, but that’s about it.

How did it go, and was Blake still an angry singer? Let’s find out!

Phil Stacey - “Where the Black Top Ends” - Coincidence that Phil is going first? Isn’t that usually the spot producers put people who are on their way out? Martina wanted more soul in the beginning of the song. Did Phil listen? A bit. I actually didn’t hate the song, or the performance (except for the last big note). But he should have worn a cowboy hat so we wouldn’t have to see his head. Really I think that country can be sung by anyone. The judges absolutely LOVED the performance, no negative comments at all.

Jordin Sparks - “Broken Wing” - This was a song that Martina sang, and so there were some nerves there, but Martina thought it was awesome. First off, I’m channeling Paula at the moment, because Jordin looked fantastic with long wavy hair and a long red and gold shimmering dress. The voice was equally beautiful. Again, country songs seem to be all about inflections, twists of the voice, and evoking the most intensely sappy emotion ever. As long as you look like you’re going to cry at some point in the song, you’ll be fine. With the last note, she’s going to give Melinda a run for the money - and did you notice she was crying at the end? The judges loved it and Simon predicts that she could win AI. Another Carrie Underwood comment anyone?

Sanjaya Malakar - “Let’s Give ‘em Somethin’ to Talk About” - Viewer question: if you couldmake one of the judges sing a song who would you pick and what would you make them sing; answer: have simon sing Shiny Happy People so he could show his true personality. Curly hair and a bandana on his head - he wanted to sing this because he often “gives people something to talk about”. Martina wants him to project more. And actually at the beginning of his song, which is usually his rough spot, he actually did project. Unfortunately, I am not hugely fond of this song, so anything but the original doesn’t do it for me - I was hugely bored and was tempted to fast forward through it…but I didn’t, neither did Randy, Paula, or Simon. And then Ryan and Simon began a huge bickering session and Simon continued to butcher him, calling Ryan names like “big mouth”. That was odd - I’ve never seen AI linger on an argument like that before.

LaKisha Jones - “Jesus Take the Wheel” - Why would she sing a Carrie Underwood song? And why a religious song? This has been the downfall of previous contestants - anyone channeling Mandisa right now? Not my favourite, but let’s see how she did, because you know everyone will be comparing this to Carrie because it’s so recent. Personally, I don’t like the song at all, music or lyrics. Anyone who takes their hands off the steering wheel and expects “Jesus” to drive home shouldn’t be in the car in the first place. LaKisha hurt me this week - the performance was flat at times and a bit shaky. I forsee a drop in her ratings this week. Randy caught the pitchy-ness, Paula agreed and added shouting, Simon thought the song choice was a bad match.

Chris Richardson - “Mayberry” - Dangit - he’s from NC (so am I), and how incredibly hot does he look in rehearsals? Martina thinks he could be a country singer. I wish he’d worn a cowboy hat for his performance. WHOA - microphone feedback hit for a moment. I like the orchestra member on stage with him, and his voice did all the usual country inflections. For those of you who don’t get the song title - It’s from the fictional town of Mayberry, NC, that was featured on the Andy Griffith show. But back to Chris - a couple pitchy spots, but with a country song it’s hard to spot pitch problems usually. Randy did not feel any sense of connection from Chris, Paula agreed, Simon hated it. Chris looked like he was almost in tears at the end - I’m not sure if it was because of his dedication to Virgina Tech, or Simon’s comments. Chris may be out this week.

Melinda Doolittle - “Trouble is a Woman” - Viewer question: have you ever run into any crazy fans and what do they do? Answer: a lady said OH MY GOD and ran toward Melinda, so Melinda got scared and ran like SHE had done something wrong. Very funny. Martina loved the song, and Melinda’s expressions/mannerisms, but correctly pointed out that Melinda needs to break the “shy” thing. I can’t stand country music, in general, but I loved this song. It may very well be Melinda and Jordin in the finals. I loved the movement around the stage, and the emotion. Randy loved it, Paula loved it, Simon loved it and said he saw a bit of Tina Turner in her performance.

Blake Lewis - “When the Stars Go Blue” - First off, couldn’t he have tried to look the part? Checkerboard shirts are preppy, not country. Martina thought he sounded a bit nervous in rehearsals and was a bit worried about his performance. Seems like the mentors have had this same feeling for weeks now, but the judges think he can do no wrong. Once again, Blake looks zombie-like / angry / upset / pissed off during his performance. What is up with that? Why did he look at the band during his performance? It was almost like he was not able to hear them or something was wrong, and boy was it. He was totally off pitch several times. Absolutely awful performance. (Idol 2007’s assessment) Randy was deaf again tonight and loved it, Paula loved it, Simon thought it was OK. I just don’t get it - Blake even looked like he knew that it sucked.

My predictions for tomorrow are: Chris and Sanjaya in the bottom two.

This sarcastic entry was posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 8:37 am and is filed under American Idol, Music, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.