Wow, what a difference 90 minutes makes. Whereas I walked out of this week’s disappointing two-hour performance show completely drained of all will to live (or, well, at least karaoke again… or, okay, karaoke Diana Ross songs again), the half-hour results show almost felt over before it began — and left me wanting so much more! But, don’t worry, I’ve read your comments and see you’re totally diggin’ the verbiage, and there’s plenty of dish to go around.
First of all, the left side of the stage (at least as seen from Sec. F, Row 6, Seat 14) is so much prettier. You wouldn’t think so, but after watching Tuesday’s show back on the TiVo, I realized that they pretty much only show the left side of the audience, and no wonder; things do just look better from that angle. So, lesson learned — the lower on the alphabet my ticket, the more spiffed up I’ve gots to be in case my parents catch me on live TV. (And, believe me, they’re lookin’ — every time they cut to they audience Tuesday night, my dad apparently paused the TiVo and walked right up to the screen to scan each row for me. Awwww.)
Second, I realized quite quickly that they don’t so much change things up for repeat audience members like myself. Same mash-up mixes — "Since You’ve Been Gone" with "Feel Good Inc." — and, more importantly, the exact same opening routine by Corey the Warm Up comic. To the second. So, dear readers, you will all know I have nothing much to say if I spend one of these entries recreating this routine for you in blog form, because I daresay by week three or so I’m going to know it all by heart.
Third, before we get to the show itself, I gots to give a major shout out to EW.com Judging the Judges panelist Anthony Fedorov, who was in the house (with a much better seat) Wed. night and was just as super-cool and friendly in person as he has been on the phone over these past four weeks. Also spotted: season 5-ers Paris Bennett and Lisa Tucker (whose still-stunning mother got warm hellos from all three judges, by the by), and Fox star Michael Rapaport, whose attempt to remain inconspicuous by not standing as the judges entered the studio was thwarted when Randy made a point of stopping to say hi on the way in. Not sure if you were more embarrassed about passive-aggressively pimping your sitcom on Idol, Michael, or the fact that your sitcom is The War at Home, but either way you are sooooo busted!
Now, the show. I haven’t had a chance yet to see how it looked onthe TV, but, man, was that group number awkward to watch live. The aforementionedsmaller-than-my-high-school-auditorium stagejust doesn’t really accommodate 12 performers all that easily. Andsince Slezak didn’t note it in his write-up, let me just say thatpairing Kiki and Sanjaya together during "Stop in the Name of Love"was, well, hilarious.
As was whatever you want to call the explosion of lace Ms. DianaRoss was trailing behind her during her rendition of "More Today ThanYesterday" — which, by the way, the audience so wasn’t feelin’. Slezak’srage at Chris Sligh’s "eight note range" comment about Ross is well-documented, but even the Idolstage sound system’s penchant for blasting through a singersimperfections couldn’t so much hide the Entertainer of the Century’stinny singing. Just reporting the facts as I (unfortunately) hear ‘em.
Speaking of Sligh, here’s a tip: you’ll know the dude wants to giveyou a hug if he approaches you slowly, arms open, with a "you look likeyou need this" pout. He did that routine with all three of the bottomthree this week — he was the first guy off the bench during the ad breakafter Brandon and Phil were named to console them, and he was one ofthe first to snag Sanjaya after Brandon had finished his farewellperformance. (More on that in a bit.) The guy just likes to hug.
Which is more than I can say about Kiki — she didn’t seem to want todo much of anything, really. Lemme ’splain. If you’ll recall, the benchorder, after Phil and Brandon were pulled into the circle of shame, wasas follows, left to right:
Top row: Sligh; Stephanie; Blake; Sanjaya; Haley
Bottom row: Mindy Doo; Chris R.; Jordin; Gina; Kiki
I point this out because an interesting social phenomenon occurredon those benches after Diana Ross left the stage and the cameras wereoff: On the left side, the cool kids; on the right, the outcasts. Towit: Sligh, Stephanie and Blake smiled and laughed and shared insidejokes while Sanjaya and Haley fought a losing battle with their "I justwant to throw up" expressions as they awaited to hear their bottom-three fate. Meanwhile, on the bottom row, Mindy Doo went all faint ontop of Chris R., fanning herself after Diana Ross’ not-so-subtleattempt to get her to sing along. Jordin quickly played along andalso fanned Mindy Doo, who then said something that caused Jordin andChris R. to explode in teary-eyed giggles. At which point Jordin was socompletely turned to her right that she totally boxed out Gina. Soinstead, the rocker chick was forced to carry on conversation with ablank-faced, vacant-staring Kiki, a (best guess) transcript of which Ihave recreated below:
Gina: Congrats on making it this week.
Kiki: [Smiles] Thanks. [Breaks smile. Faces front again.]
[60 seconds pass]
Gina: So, what did you think of Diana?
[5 seconds pass, then Kiki turns back to Gina]
Kiki: Hmm?
Gina: Oh just, I mean, um — what did you think of Diana Ross tonight?
Kiki: She was okay.
Gina: Yeah, I thought…
[Kiki turns back to staring off into the middle-distance.]
Gina: [trails off]…she was a little….Pitchy….Is all.
[90 seconds pass]
Gina: [More to herself] The weather’s sure been nice.
Stage manager: Back in 60!
Gina: [Sighs.]
The big surprises of the night, though, came after Brandon was votedout of the show and took to the stage to sing his farewell. Anyone inthe audience with an alert ear heard the logo music for 19Entertainment play before he began, meaning, of course, the cameraswere done for the night. Maybe Brandon heard it too, maybe not, butregardless, if the performance he subsequently gave of "Can’t HurryLove" would’ve been the one we’d seen Tuesday night, then Sanjaya wouldbe flying home this weekend instead of Brandon, guaranteed. The guyprobably wouldn’t even have been in the bottom three. Not only was heon pitch and on point with all the lyrics, but — with the Top 11 allstanding behind him on stage — the guy finally sang like hedeserved to be the lead and not just backup. Even his shaky dancingwas… er, less shaky. And, by the looks of Blake’s and Chris R.’smore-than-just-teary eyes, Brandon’ll be missed too. Blake even turnedaway to compose himself, he seemed so upset.
And this was well after the show was over, too, so there’s no waySimon can say that these deep feelings were merely for show. As theweeks go by, Shirley and I will definitely be eagle-eyed about whetherthe same sentiment is doled out to the next few contestants to walk theIdol green mile. What else would you like us to look for?
Comments (1-30) of 65 Add your comment
So it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing more performances from washed-up has-been divas this season?
Entertainer of the Century, my butt! There’s a dozen other performers who deserve that title more.
I’m off the soap box.
It seems to me that we’re watching a contest of who stinks the least, and whoever is in charge of counting the votes is getting the count wrong.( they must be from Florida, or related to the President.) I mean Branden was bad, but could someone please get Sanjaya a bucket to carry that tune? If not him, than bring me one to throw up in when he’s done. Its a sad day when you miss Kevin “chiken little” Covais. I’m pretty sure he would have had a shot with this group of so called “talent”. I think I’m going to watch it on mute next week and only watch Simon shred them afterwords. Where has my American Idol gone?
Ha!!! That was awesome, I bet thet do have awkward convos haha. And did you say the left side of the audience is more attractive, or seeing the stage from there is a better view? Plus hysterical about Rappaport, and how come the cameras didnt pan the crowd for Lisa and Paris? Are you gonna do this every week? (YAY!!)
You didn’t go into just how horrible Ross sounded.
Thanks for the recap from the audience view. “Entertainer of the Century”? when? how? Can you explain who Kiki is?
It’s a bummer that Diana Ross didn’t sound so good (and that she chose to cover that on-every-chain-clothing-outlet-playlist easy-listening song), but she’s simply past her prime. Entertainer of the *last* Century. I don’t think we need to go re-examining her past merits or her legacy.
Anyone ever wonder if Melinda and Kiki ever speak? Everyone’s boiled it down to those two and I’ve never seen them exchange a glance.
Can’t believe that anyone would still pay big bucks to see Diana “I used to be a great singer” Ross in concert. Her hair weave must be cutting off the circulation to her vocal chords. I thought she was great as a mentor this week and I think she might make a good judge if Paula is ever kicked off the show, but she needs to give up her singing career ASAP.
Kiki is LaKisha. Is it me or she seems a little cold. Be it after her performance on Tuesday or on the result show on Wednesday.
If you think Diana Ross is bad, wait till the week of JLo. Can’t wait to listen to her singing live…yuck.
I love hearing the things we don’t see on tv. Maybe because this season isn’t that compelling, I’m very interested in who is talking to whom, and how they act when the cameras are off. Keep up the good scoop.
Awesome stuff!! I love the Kiki dirt. THey need to have a permanent camera on her mom and aunt while other girls, particularly Melinda, are performing. They were stone-faced and shooting daggers at Melinda when she sang, “I am Woman” while all the other parents danced and clapped. the few shots of Kiki in the balcony showed a similar reaction to solid performances.
How tall is Seacrest? He looks about 5′3″.
To take the ‘boredom’ out of AI, they need to bring back the wild card. Remember some of the ones they gave the boot too? It would have made for a better program.
At this point….. I’d rather be listening to Sanjaya’s sister than him.
Two things: 1) LOVE the behind-the-scenes reporting, and 2) my wife and I make a point of watching “War at Home.”
my favorite moment was when diana ross begged people to “sing along.” when she put the mic up to melinda and chris, i was like, “please let melinda show you how it’s done, ms. ross…”
and am i the only one who feel that, of all the diana ross songs to sing, SHE sang a boring song.
Wild Cards–Clay Aiken was a wild card judges’ choice, remember????
“…see your totally diggin’ the verbiage”????
It’s “you’re,” not “your,” Mr. Journalist!
Oy.
I would love to see more dirt on the interactions between the contestants….they all try to play off the “we’re a big, happy family” vibe, but you know there has to be some issues between some of them.
Wednesday’s show was so poorly planned–according to my clock, they didn’t pull Sanjaya to the bottom 3 until 9:28, leaving them a quick 2 minutes to put someone back to safety, send someone home, watch their good-bye montage, and have them sing their farewell song. This was very poor planning on someone’s part. Anyone else notice this?
I have also noticed Kiki’s stone face and cold demeanor. I am not sure if she is afraid of becoming too emotional or just doesn’t care about the fate of her fellow contestants. This actually may have an adverse effect on her chances of placing in the top two or three.
You can totally tell that the pretty/cool kids are all friends. Blake, Chris and Brandon all seemed like buddies from the get go (pictures please!) and Melinda seems to the girl best friend to these guys! Love it! Meanwhile, there seems definitely to be total outsiders. Did you notice how far away Phil stood from Sanjaya with the bottom 3?
I have also known that Kiki (Lakisha) seems very turned off by the others. Seemed cold to the idea she may have severe competition in Melinda. So it doesn’t surprise me to hear she’s being cold to others. I feel she’s going to take the big surprising fall mid final 12, not Melinda. Does she think it’s okay to display diva like behaviour after only one show of the top 12? There is no guarantee you’ll get to the final 2 or even win. So show some genuine warmth or you may find yourself cut before your time. Voice or no voice Lakisha.
Also, there was a definite rumor of one of the contestants freezing out everyone else because they thought they had the show in the bag. My first thought was Chris S, but maybe it’s Kiki?
More, Adam, please!!!! I had the feeling Lakisha was like that- glad to have it confirmed. Sorry, but she can’t touch Melinda’s class and talent.
is it true they have rehearsal shows before the real show, and the judges have already seen the performances by tuesday night?
also – do the contestants get cue cards with the song lyrics?
Would it kill AI to show a closeup of Anthony Fedorov ? But thanks for mentioning him in the article.
And I totally don’t get all the Lakisha love. Good voice, but absolutely no personality and no looks either. Let’s see AI try to market her if she wins.
Oh, I like Lakeisha. I hope this stuff isn’t true. I think that maybe she just doesn’t fit in, she’s the only one with a child, and has different responsibilities and worries than some of the other people. Anyone with me?
HadasBT,
The cameras did show Paris and Lisa at the beginning of the show.
—
Awesome in-person recap. I do notice that LaKisha has the same face everytime. It’s like her smile and side bangs are frozen in time. She doesn’t do anything interesting or show any emotions.
Could it be that Kiki is just really shy? Personality or not, it would be a shame if she left sooner than later. You can’t deny her talent.
Oh I like KiKi too. I agree– she’s in a completely different place in her life than most of the contestants. And maybe she’s just a quiet person. Not everyone needs to be as out there as Chris. And I enjoy Melinda’s singing, but her “Oh god can I really sing?” attitude gets old. I don’t care if it’s genuine; if I have to watch it for the next 11 weeks I might dig my eyes out.
I do agree that as a single mother LaKisha probably has different worries than the others, but I think it’s important to point out that she’s not the only one with a kid. I know at least Phil has a couple.
Great article. Hope we get one of these every week.
I have always gotten the impression that LaKisha is missing that sparkling personality that a superstar needs to have. She has a great voice, but lacks sparkle when she isn’t on stage. That’s why I’ve never thought she could win this season.
And I had a feeling that Brandon was choking because of the pressure. Sad to hear that he could have gone further if he wouldn’t have let it get to him, but I am glad that he was able to redeem himself a little in his final performance, even if America didn’t get to see it.