Chris Sligh did his obligatory “voted-off interview” this morning and actually said “I never came into this wanting to win it.” Umm, hello – why waste everyone’s time then. Why do something half-assed? Why did he say this? “I come from an indie, alternative-rock kind of background. For me, I think winning American Idol would hurt what I was really going for” said Sligh. So what you’re saying is participating in the competition wouldn’t hurt your indie-rock style but winning it will? That just makes no sense. If the competition is good enough for you to participate in without hurting your reputation then it should be good enough for you to win it. Trust me – indie rockers across the United States have already discounted you for participating, it doesn’t matter whether you were the ultimate winner or not.
What this sounds like to me is a 10 year-old who isn’t picked for the little league team he wanted and says “Well I didn’t want it anyway.” I’d have loved to see Sligh’s facial expression while he gave the interview – was he pouting? At one point in his interview he says, in reference to his band Half-Past Forever, “I think a door should open up for us… that would be great.” That’s not a surprise; America knows why you did it especially given the success of Daughtry. I don’t see much in the way of record-sales coming from Sligh and his band; it will be interesting to look back in a year’s time to see how this has all panned out.
Yes I am part of the Psychic Friends Network. I just posted not a few hours ago that I felt Chris Sligh was going home tonight and BOOM, guess who’s leaving American Idol this evening? Yes – that’s right – Chris Sligh. Okay to be exact I felt it was either Sligh or Phil Stacy, Stacy was in the bottom three (along with Haley Scarnato) so I was pretty accurate. Of course it doesn’t take a genius to guess that; Sligh’s humor has just been off as time progressed. His performances have been going downhill. His humility is gone completely. I’m certainly not surprised about his departure.
Another thing I’m not surprised about is that Sanjaya Malakar avoided the bottom three for yet another week. Perhaps it was his faux-hawk that kept him in this week. Of course it could also be the push by Vote For The Worst as well as Howard Stern to keep Malakar in the competition and push him to the top! What is known for sure is that next week we’ll get to see Malakar perform again; what is not known is how his hair is going to be styled.
If you look back to the Birmingham, AL auditions you will remember a very funny standout in contestant Chris Sligh. He won America’s heart by poking fun at David Hasselhoff. Paula Abdul was quite entertained by Sligh’s performance of Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” doing a little girly-dance in her seat and giving him a standing ovation. Something has changed about Sligh’s humor though; I find it to be a bit arrogant and cocky. There can sometimes be a fine line between confidence and cockiness and I think Sligh has crossed over to the latter.
On Tuesday night’s show he performed “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and was warned by Gwen Stefani to pay attention to his tempo. Well he must have either forget it, wasn’t able to do it, or took the advice and filed it away for future use but one thing he didn’t do was pay attention to his tempo. The performance was a wreck. When he was questioned about it for a minute there I thought he was actually going to say it was fine but thankfully the smart Sligh came out and he agreed that his tempo was off and quickly making an excuse. At this stage in the game there are no excuses. Even aside from the tempo issues Simon Cowell felt that the performance was a train-wreck and I have to agree. If I had to guess it would be either Sligh of Phil Stacy who goes home tonight.
Ousted American Idol contestant Alaina Alexander saw what Antonella Barba’s sexy pictures did for her popularity and has decided to put up some revealing pictures of her own. Now these are not in the typical Barba fashion of prancing around in a national monument showing us her best wet t-shirt moves but these were done in much better taste. In my opinion the pictures are fantastic! Alexander is a beautiful, and smart, girl. The pictures are all posted up on Alaina Alexander’s MySpace Page.
So I wonder if the question is now whether Alexander will be getting offers from pornographic video producers to host their videos like Barba did. What about Playboy Magazine? Will Hugh Hefner find talent in Alexander where America didn’t? I’m not sure why these pictures were put up but I’ll tell you what, she’s one smart girl. Her name has faded from the spotlight since her dismissal from the show and guess what – she’s one of the hottest blogged American Idol topics today. I couldn’t read all the stories and pass on it myself. So what do you think – will this get Alaina Alexander the extra oomph she needs to get noticed in the entertainment industry? I think time will be the judge of that.
I’m going to have to give tonight’s best of show award to Jordin Sparks yet again. I think that her youth is going to play out to her advantage. She has a fantastic voice, as do Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones, but Sparks is a bit more upbeat and I think that will appeal to a broader audience. Honestly, I’m getting a bit bored with Doolittle. Her voice is very consistent and fabulous but she has lost any spark (no pun intended) that she may have had. I found myself yawning during her performance tonight.
Back to Jordin Sparks; Gwen Stefani called her “refreshing” and I absolutely have to agree. Her performance tonight was just that – refreshing. Randy Jackson said “that was a very very risky thing to do…you could literally sing anything, you’d be a great recording artist and that was brilliant.” It was definitely a risky song but I think she pulled it off with spunk, charisma, and a nice vocal performance as well. Paula Abdul always mumbles something about her being young and adorable, no epiphanies from Abdul tonight, not surprising. Simon Cowell agreed that it was a good performance “I think you are probably the most improved contestant we’ve seen in terms of the last few weeks.”
Right now I’m really gunning for Jordin Sparks. I think that vocally she can hold her own in this competition but hands down she wins the American Idol Miss Congeniality award. Her enthusiasm for her performances really shows through and that is what Doolittle is missing.
American Idol fans have undoubtedly heard of it – Vote For The Worst. This site was started in 2004 to support voting for the candidates who are more entertaining, regardless of their talent level. The reason for this is “During the initial auditions, the producers of Idol only let certain people through. Many good people are turned away and many bad singers are kept around to see Simon, Paula, and Randy so that America will be entertained.” Well, entertained we are. It’s no surprise that there is a preliminary round of judging and some of the most horrible talent we’ve seen is told that they’re talented so they’re absolutely surprised to hear the negative feedback from the judges. VFTW just wants to “give back” to the American Idol producers.
This year VFTW’s poster child is none other than Sanjaya Malakar. VFTW celebrated Malakar making the top 10 because that means he’s going to be on the American Idol tour. VFTW has a pretty large following and while they haven’t assured Malakar a win this season they have certainly pushed him farther in the competition than he’d have gone without them. Check out some of the hate mail VFTW is getting; some people take their American Idol very serious and VFTW is quite upsetting to them. What do you think of VFTW?
I must say that I was completely shocked to not only see that Stephanie Edwards received the lowest number of votes but Chris Richardson was right there next to her in the bottom two. Seriously, is America not watching the same show that I am? Granted Stephanie Edwards’ performance was a little lackluster but vocally she is definitely one of the strongest in this *singing* competition. Chris Richardson’s performance on Tuesday night was touted as his best yet and I have to agree. Yes the song was a little boring but again vocally it was a very strong performance. I think the tweens of America have united and ensured that the likes of Sanjaya Malakar (who I think is a nice kid) remain in this competition for the long haul.
When you think about it, this is really a bad season for American Idol. They have some of the best vocalists ever but the mockery that is public voting is really doing harm to American Idol. Heck there is even a person on a hunger strike until Sanjaya Malakar is voted out. J, a girl who could stand to lose a few pounds, has taken a vow to hunger strike until Malakar makes his exit. She even has a MySpace page up! This often-watched and often-ridiculed talent competition is going to have to do a lot of work to get past this season. It has been rifled with scandal and its only getting worse.
Jordin Sparks, 17 year-old phenom from Glendale, Arizona, stepped it up a notch in Tuesday night’s performance. Her song of choice was “I Who Have Nothing” by Tom Jones and Sparks’ performance was absolutely moving, sending chills up and down my arms. She has show exactly why she is in this competition and has put herself up there with Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones as the powerhouses of the competition.
Upon completion of the song Randy Jackson, who was amazed by the audience support, said “That was a very tall order for you…you’re 17…one of the best we’re gonna see tonight.” Paula Abdul felt that Sparks is a “wonderful performer” and Simon Cowell said “you sang it beautifully.” Cowell then went on to say he was a bit depressed and felt like jumping off of a bridge but that was because of the song itself and not the performance. If we see more like this from Sparks I think her future is going to sparkle very bright.
In other performances both Haley Scarnato and Sanjaya Malakar stepped it up a notch and had decent performances, a stark contrast from their performances to date. Phil Stacy tried to shake it up with “Tobacco Road” and while he had fun vocally the performance fell flat and Cowell feels he may be in trouble tonight; I tend to agree with Cowell.
Paula Abdul sat down with TV Guide magazine for an interview and of course her relationship with Simon Cowell came up. On air the two seem to bicker and often take pot shots at each other. It’s hard to tell if this is just playful banter or if they are seriously jabbing at each other. This past week Abdul set the record straight saying “Simon and I actually get along great. We have cultivated a fun relationship. He’s actually become a really good friend.” Well that’s good to know; she likened their relationship to a brother-sister type relationship as Cowell jabs at her while she’s trying to formulate her critiques.
In the interview she was also asked how she rates her performance as a judge this season and she feels “like this is my best so far.” Wow, that’s a far cry from what the fan base has said this year. She received more critique for her off-the-wall behavior this season than any seasons past. I know next year will trump this year. Aside from the odd behavior she basically says the same things – she’s the bubblegum judge as I call her. She won’t tell it like it is. I know Cowell is there for that but if I have to hear Abdul say “how lovely” someone looks one more time I will pull my hair out.
Tomorrow night the top eleven perform. Rumor has it that this week is “British Invasion” week – this should be interesting indeed.
Brandon Rogers, once a backup singer, received the lowest number of votes last week and was sent home. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me because I actually predicted it after watching the performances on Tuesday night. Rogers was one of many contestants that forgot his words. His vocals were OK but he has continually lacked the stage presence that is needed to do well in this competition. Another former backup singer, Melinda Doolittle, has taken over the stage and made it her own. Had Brandon Rogers been able to follow in Doolittle’s footsteps he may not have been voted off this past week.
Starry Constellation Magazine nabbed Rogers for an exclusive interview. Rogers felt at “peace with the decision” as he saw it coming. A lot of conversation was had about his song choice; at season six contestants should know that the song choice will make or break you. Pick a song that showcases YOU and make it yours (but don’t terrorize it like Chris Sligh did) and chances are you’ll perform better. Heck even the judges agreed that Rogers went home because of his song choice assuring him that it wasn’t his vocal performance or his singing ability that sealed the deal.
Read the entire Brandon Rogers interview at Starry Constellation Magazine.