American Idol Recap

OK, American Idol's Top 12 performed, here's my take - I'll try to do this every week. Try and contain your enthusiasm.

Since this is the first week, I'll give you *my* opinion of the performer as well as what I thought of this week's performance...

This week's theme was Diana Ross songs - I think that's quite difficult for the first week because both she and her songs are so iconic.

I love Diana Ross - I think she is fabulous! OK, so she made up a word - pronounciate isn't a word, you have "pronounce" and you have "enunciate", but "pronounciate", uh, no - but it doesn't matter because she's Diana Ross. Hell Dubyuh invents words all the time and he has no talent at all, so Diana is more than allowed to do so!

Now, on to the competition:

• Gina - The "rock chick" - I like her, she's "rock" but she's not angry, she has a self-deprecating sense of humor and she has a good voice. This week she sang "Love Child" which is one of my favorite Ross songs, and she was OK - I expected better.
• Haley - The "boring girl". She's a pretty girl and she has a sweet voice but her performance of "Missing You" was a disaster - she forgot the lyrics, she panicked when she forgot the lyrics and she under sang the song. Frankly, she should never have made it to the Top 12 in my opinion. And worst of all she may actually be the reason Sanjaya makes it through another week!
• Blake - The "beat box boy". I don't like him or his his "style" - it annoys the hell out of me when he interjects songs with that scratchy, squeaky thing he does. And who the hell is his punk azz to rearrange "You Keep Me Hanging On", only one of the most famous Diana Ross *and* Motown songs ever? He has a good voice, but I didn't like his performance.
• Brandon - The "boring boy". His voice is OK, and he seems nice enough, but his "Can't Hurry Love" was, well, boring.
• Jordin - The "cute girl". I don't know the song, but IMO, she presented a beautiful vocal and looked absolutely lovely. I really like her. I think she will blossom in this competition as she gets more confidence. She's only 17 and already has tons more presence than Boring Haley.
• Lakisha - The "girl who is too good for this competition". I think this was the performance of the night, hands down, bar none. She didn't just tackle a Diana Ross song, she tackled "God Bless the Child" - a *Billie Holiday* song that Diana Ross sang, and she owned it. She looked great, she seemed perfectly comfortable on the oh-so-intimidating *big stage*, and she just *brought it*. Phenomenal!
• Chris R - The "Justin Timberlake boy". He's cute, his voice is there, but...BLEH. "Boss", the song he chose, was not well known and frankly, I just didn't care.
• Chris S - The "guy with the big hair and best male voice". He is IMO, the best male in the competition - which, granted, really isn't saying much this season, but he really can sing. I love him but I *hated* his performance this week. Again, like Blake (only less smug) he has no business rearranging an classic like "Endless Love". It almost sounded like a march. He needs to *listen* to the words - it is a sappy, romantic love song and we like it that way - it is not an anthem! And as Simon said, he needs to put the glasses back on, they are a key part of his persona.
• Melinda - The "other girl who is too good for the competition". She sang "Home", a song with which I wasn't familiar, but it didn't matter. She was awesome. If I had to pick, tonight I would pick Lakisha because her song was more challenging, but if not for Lakisha, this competition would belong to Melinda, IMO.
• Stephanie - The "girl who can sing". Unfortunately for her with Lakisha and Melinda, she won't make it. She sang "Sweetest Hangover" - she messed up the lyrics and I found it boring, but she looked good and sang well.
• Phil - The "bald guy". He, along with Chris S. is my favorite guy. He's not as good as Chris S, but he should be around for a bit. He sang "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", it was OK.
• Sanjaya - The "kid who can't carry a tune in a paper bag"! This child has absolutely no business being in the competition, let alone the top 12 - and he knows it. And to boot he selected "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", only one of the most iconic Motown songs ever. And he slaughtered it. It was a train wreck. GO AWAY!

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Who leaves?

In the name of Apollo, the god of music - Sanjaya, Sanjaya, Sanjaya!!! GO, RUN, far, far away, and don't look back - ever!