American Idol: Top 7 Finalists

(S06E30) The show begins in a subdued mood tonight, with Ryan giving "our thoughts and prayers'' to all the people affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy.

However, the hush doesn't last long. The crowd is fired up. They really, really love their Top 7 Finalists. Not only do they boo Simon a lot throughout the night, but the angry horde also turns on Miss Paula. They boo loudly during her critique of LaKisha's shouting.

Meanwhile, Simon has obviously had ENOUGH of Sanjaya. He's done being nice. He's done holding back. He's done trying to ignore Sanjaya with the hopes he'll go away. All I can say is -- it's about time, Simon. It's no fun watching Idol, unless an outspoken Simon is "telling it like it is."

AND. THIS. IS. AMERICAN. IDOL.

Martina McBride, a contemporary country music superstar, is on hand this week to guide the finalists through Country Music Week. Martina says, "The best country songs sound like conversation." She knows Simon isn't a big fan of country music, but hopes "tonight will change his mind."

Ryan says that country music has been very good to previous Idols. Will it be kind tonight? It can't be worse than last week's painful Latin-themed torture, can it?

1) PHIL -- (Keith Urban's "Where the Blacktop Ends) He says he chose this song because it reminds him of playing in the dirt and being a country boy. Martina is impressed by his soulful ending, but thinks the beginning is stiff. She encourages him to put more of the soulful stuff in the beginning. Phil comes out dressed all in black, and dawg, he is on fire. He's moving around for a change, playing to the audience. And I'm not a Philly-fan, but I think this might be his best performance ever. Randy is impressed too. He thinks Phil could have a career in country music. Paula agrees that the genre works for him. She thinks he sounded good from the beginning to the end. Simon says "well, it's only taken 10 weeks." He thinks Phil picked a good song, the style of music suited him, AND he showed some personality. Phil says this is the "genre" and the type of music he wants to do. Did he ever tell us that before?

2) JORDIN -- (Martina McBride's "A Broken Wing") Martina thinks Jordin did an awesome job during rehearsal. She encourages Jordin to plant herself on stage, and not move around during the song. What I like about Jordin is that she really connects to the emotion of the song. And watching her tonight, I'm thinking, "Wow, Carrie Underwood, watch out." Is there any genre Jordin can't sing? Okay, even she didn't have the best Latin-themed performance last week. Randy calls it "probably one of the most difficult songs to sing." He thinks her performance was "da bomb." Paula loves Jordin, thinks she has a beautiful voice, and loves that she planted herself on stage and "told a story." Simon says (based on tonight's performance), "I actually believe that you could win American Idol." I totally agree. Jordin is my choice to win.

3) SANJAYA -- (Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About") The SanMan isn't as clueless as most of us think. He specifically chose this song because he knows HE IS THE ONE WE ALL TALK ABOUT. Martina thinks if he projects a little and sings with a stronger voice, he will seem more confident and do well. Sanjaya is NOT in a cowboy hat (as I predicted), but he does look pretty odd with a red bandana covering his mop of curls. And the singing, is, umm, very low energy and pretty mediocre karaoke. Why does he always run out of steam halfway through the song? Randy echoes my sentiment, calling it "very karaoke . . . very bland, and boring." Then Randy asks, "What are we doing up here?" Paula sagely replies "We're watching somebody who loves adversity." She tells Sanjaya he's "a lovable guy." Simon cuts the BS and calls it "utterly horrendous" to an angry booing crowd.

Ryan sticks up for Sanjaya, asking Simon, "Was it the song, or you just don't like Sanjaya?" Simon hisses, "Excuse me, who rattled your cage?" Then Simon says what he really thinks about the whole Sanjaya-controversy. "I know this has been funny for a while, but based on the fact we're supposed to be finding an American Idol, it was hideous."

Ryan asks Randy, "if Sanjaya nailed it, would Simon really ever like it from him? Simon responds, "I liked him last week, Big Mouth."

Wow, there's a lot of negative energy in the room tonight. At least Randy can see the positive. He likes Sanjaya's hair "scarf."

4) LaKISHA -- (Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel") Martina loves Kiki's voice, and thinks she has a gift. I'm just glad LaKisha's other "two gifts" aren't hanging out like they did last week. I'm especially glad she covered up this week, seeing as she's singing to Jesus. Randy points out that Kiki had pitch problems. He thinks she could have done more with it, being she's a "gospel girl." Paula agrees with Randy (and this is where she's booed), and says Kiki was shouting, but she's still brilliant. Simon says "It's like eating a hamburger for breakfast -- it doesn't go together." Meaning, he didn't think it was a good song choice for LaKisha. And he agrees with Paula that LaKisha was shouting. Simon says Kiki blew them away early, and was the one to beat, but it's crucial that she picks the right song. Yeah, I've soured on LaKisha. She's got a great voice, but is lacking something. I still think she'll make the Top 4. But I don't think we'll see her in the finale.

5) CHRIS -- (Rascal Flatt's "Mayberry") Martina questioned his choice, but after hearing him sing, thinks his voice fits the genre of music very well. For the first time in a long time, I don't hate Chris' performance, but that's because I don't recognize the song he's singing, so he can't destroy it for me. I'm still not a fan of the nasally singing or vocal runs, but it didn't make me cringe this week. Randy says "you sang it okay, it was cool," but it was "a bit nasally," and had pitch problems. Big Dawg also didn't feel any emotion from Chris. Paula says "the joy and the love that you feel on stage didn't come through." Simon says, "I heard a very nondescript, nasally, tinny vocal which had no impact on me at all. it was completely and utterly insignificant." Simon, you're a week late. This is exactly how I felt last week about Chris and you lurved him. Chris admits that it's his intention to sing nasally each week. Huh? Then he sends out a prayer to Virginia Tech. (EDITED TO ADD: THEN SIMON ROLLED HIS EYES SETTING OFF THE LATEST IDOL CONTROVERSY. In response to the controversy, I've written a separate post. Go check it out. You can watch the clip for yourself and chime in with your thoughts).

6) MELINDA -- ("Trouble is a Woman" by Julie Reeves) Martina has never even heard of the song before (that makes two of us) and is worried at first. After rehearsal, Martina thinks Mindydoo "sold" the song. First thing I notice is that Melinda looks about 15 years younger this week. She isn't dressed like a 40-year-old. Even her hair looks younger. As usual, she sounds great. Randy says "another solid performance from our resident pro." Paula also likes it, saying, "once again a girl who knows how to pick the right song and sing her heart out and perform like there's no tomorrow." Simon thinks "it was fantastic" but asks Melinda to lose "the surprise." He likes the song choice, the look, and saw a "little Tina Turner attitude." It's nice to know that Simon, like the rest of us, is getting tired of Melinda being "shocked" by praise.

7) BLAKE -- ("When the Stars Go Blue" by Tim McGraw) Martina hopes Blake relaxes on the show. She thinks he has an interesting style. My biggest problem with Blake is that I never see him emotionally connect to the music he sings. But based on the giggly teen-aged girls in the audience tonight, that doesn't really matter. It didn't blow me away, but I'm pretty sure Blake is headed to the Top 3. Randy likes Blake's style, and loves that he knows who he is. Paula says that Blake has the "whole package," and she thinks it's always fun to watch him. Simon says it didn't make him jump out of his chair. Wait, has Simon every jumped out of his chair for anyone? Then Simon switches gears quickly, and gets serious to offer his best wishes and support to the families who suffered during the recent Virginia Tech tragedy.

That wraps up tonight's show, and only one question remains: WHO WILL GO HOME TOMORROW?

Based on tonight's performances, my favorite was JORDIN, followed by MELINDA, and then PHIL (surprise, surprise!) After those three, I'd rank BLAKE and LaKISHA as a tie, followed by CHRIS. And in last place, I'd put SANJAYA.

But we all know that each of us has our favorites, and we judge these performances based on that. We also know that most viewers are going to vote for their favorites no matter how well or poorly they perform in any given week. That's what this show does. It hooks you and reels you in. Each week that you vote, you become more and more emotionally-attached to your favorite finalist. And it becomes that much harder to watch them go, while others stay -- courtesy of voters-for-the worst.

SANJAYA clearly deserves to go home after this week's uninspired performance. But something tells me that he's safe. I think PHIL's journey is finally going to end tomorrow, which will be sad because I finally thought he gave a decent performance.

Tomorrow: One-hour Live Results Show #9 -- Martina McBride sings!

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