Apr

24

I think now that Sanjaya Malakar is no longer on the show, American Idol has a whole different feel about it. Everyone on the show now is, as Randy Jackson quips, “in it to win it.” There wasn’t really a contestant tonight that I can say put on a poor performance, everyone gave it their best effort.

There wasn’t a famous vocal coach this evening because the show was focused on Idol Gives Back and they ran a bunch of clips from the judge’s trips to Africa and all over the United States to showcase the problem of hunger in the world.

So here’s how the show went down tonight:

Chris Richardson - Chris sang the Clapton song If I Could Change The World and although I think we’ve seen Chris do better, the judges all liked it. Chris still very much shows the boy band style that it seems is hard for him to break out of. That however, doesn’t seem to be affecting his popularity.

Melinda Doolittle - Hold On To Your Faith was Melinda’s choice and this performance just brought her another week closer to claiming the Idol crown. I believe Melinda is the most talented American Idol we have ever seen and as Simon said, it was a vocal master class from her tonight.

Blake Lewis - Imagine by John Lennon was Blake’s choice and even thought the lyrics to that song are the most ridiculous words I have ever heard in American music, he did a great job. I’m sure there are a line of producers waiting to sign Blake as soon as the show is over.

Lakisha Jones - I think we are seeing the same thing that happened to Paris Bennett last year, starting to happen to Lakisha this year. She set such a high standard for herself at the beginning if she slips even slightly, the judges come down on her. I think Lakisha could win American Idol, but she’s not getting a fair shake from the judges at this point.

Phil Stacey - Phil sang The Change by Garth Brooks and though I thought his performance last week was better, he’s finally over a hurdle that should keep him around for at least another show or two.

Jordin Sparks - Jordin is electric and I don’t remember seeing someone on past Idols who could make the crowd rise to their feet and explode with enthusiasm as she can. You’ll Never Walk Alone was Jordin’s tune and she very well could win with more performances like tonight’s. Jordin seems to be growing on us all as has been evident these last few weeks.

Tomorrow night is going to be a special night for Idol as the show will be two hours long and will be more about providing food for the needy more than anything else. Unfortunately however, someone must go home and it will be a huge let down after a stellar evening tomorrow.

So who is leaving American Idol tomorrow? Sorry, no predictions from me this time. I’m tired of being wrong.

Alan

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Apr

18

Well, there you have it. Another one of my American Idol predictions were wrong. I picked Chris Richardson to go home tonight and shocker of shockers it was Mr Hair himself, Sanjaya Malakar.

It must have had something to do with his poor performance yesterday evening. It was probably Sanjaya’s worst song this season and I think the joke finally wore off. This restores a bit of credibility to the whole Idol process as far as I’m concerned. When you have 38 million voters, it’s pretty hard to tilt the favor to a contestant that’s undeserving of rising up in the ranks. Even with the power of Howard Stern and VoteForTheWorst.com they couldn’t muster up the millions of votes it would have taken to keep Sanjaya around any longer.

I do have to say that the Sanjaya joke was fun while it lasted even though it unfortunately took down two very talented people in the likes of Chris Sligh and Gina Glocksen. And for a while this evening it even appeared that it might take down Lakisha Jones.

And that was a big shocker as well, to see Lakisha in the bottom two. Come on America, Lakisha should at the very least be the runner up in this whole gig. Now that Sanjaya has finally bit the dust maybe we can get back to what this show is all about, being a singing competition.

Don’t worry about Sanjaya though, he generated enough publicity that he is certain to be a very rich young man.

Alan

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Apr

18

Okay the joke’s over! If Sanjaya Malakar continues to get millions of votes and keeps inching his way up the American Idol ladder, contestants with real talent will go home before he does.

Who are the contestants up to this point that have a serious chance of winning American Idol strictly because of their talent? Well, I can think of 4 and only 4 that have any business winning this year’s crown. Those four are, in order of talent:

Melinda Doolittle - Come on America we all know that Melinda is the most talented singer on the show. The only way she won’t win is if someone else’s personality woos us more.

Lakisha Jones - Simon is beginning to give Lakisha, or Kiki, a hard time, but she is still the second most talented singer on the show.

Jordin Sparks - Jordin could win because she is probably the most improved on the show this season plus she has an infectious personality. You just can’t help liking her.

Blake Lewis - Blake has a chance at the win, but I don’t think he has the talent of the other top three however, he has a great personality and his ability to make every song his own may take him over the top at the end.

There you have it, one of those for singers should win the show. If Sanjaya makes it into the top 5 we have a serious crisis on our hands folks. Everyone knows that Sanjaya’s performance last night was pathetic and he finally showed us how ridiculous this whole VoteForTheWorst.com crap is. Sanjaya made a mockery of the entire American Idol process last night and I think the reaction from the judges made that evident.

If Sanjaya is sill on the show when any of these top 4 go home it will be a travesty.

Alan

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Apr

17

I’ve been giving Phil Stacey and his army of voters from EcoQuest International a hard time, but tonight I believe Phil has given them, and anyone else, a reason to vote for him. Phil opened the show tonight and for the first time, really shined and looked quite comfortable. All the judges we very complementary of his performance and Randy Jackson commented that Phil was in his element tonight.

The rest of the show was pretty good as well. Country seems to be a genre that easily makes talented singers stand out, and others, well, they sound like Sanjaya and Chris Richardson.

Phil Stacey - Phil sang Where The Blacktop Ends and it was what we’ve been waiting 10 weeks for Phil to do, show up. But actually he did better than show up, he proved he is a country singer at heart and it was really quite impressive.

Jordin Sparks - It is amazing to see how much better Jordin seems to get every week. Jordin sang a song by the Idol coach this week, Martina McBride, called Broken Wings and it was probably Jordin’s best performance this season. Simon said this week she showed she could probably win American Idol. I’d have to agree with that.

Sanjaya Malakar - I though Sanjaya had the opportunity with Something To Talk About to definitely make a statement here that he has some real talent. The Bonnie Raitt tune is right in Sanjaya’s range and it’s a soulful song that was perfect for him, but it was terrible. Sanjaya never got going in his performance and it had all the excitement of watching water evaporate. It was Sanjaya’s worst moment and he deserves to be voted off the show for sure, but I don’t think that will happen.

Lakisha Jones - Lakisha, or Kiki as she is being called now, picked Carrie Underwood’s Jesus Take The Wheel and I thought she did very good, but not so with the judges. None of them liked it because we’ve come to expect a knockout performance from Kiki every week and this one was just okay.

Chris Richardson - Country is definitely not Chris’ strong point. His interpretation of Rascall Flatt’s Mayberry was, to be kind, awkward. It just didn’t work for Chris and he looked way more out of place than Lakisha or Phil Stacey has in past weeks. It was not good and none of the judges thought so either. I predict Chris will be going home tomorrow evening.

Melinda Doolittle - Trouble Is The Woman was Melinda’s song and it was absolutely stellar. Melinda is the resident professional on American Idol and by all measures she should win. However, Jordin Sparks is proving she is a close second.

Blake Lewis - When The Stars Go Blue was Blake’s choice tonight and he proves he can put his style on everything and have it turn out great. No matter what happens to Blake, he is sure to end up with a recording contract after American Idol.

I already predicted who will go home tomorrow evening, but let me say it again. Chris Richardson will say bye on Wednesday’s show. He was in the bottom three last week and he didn’t do anything to step it up like Phil did. Sorry Chris.

Alan

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Apr

11

Well, I finally got one of my American Idol predictions right. Haley Scarnato is going home. I guess when the numbers keep dwindling down, the chances of having a prediction come true, increases. Not that I’m that gleeful that Haley is going home, I was beginning to like her. Unfortunately, Haley just didn’t have the singing talent to keep her around much longer.

I also think that regardless of the voting power of EcoQuest International dealers, Phil Stacey’s days are numbered as well and we will probably see him go next week. But, I do have to say that Phil has a pretty good attitude about the whole thing. At this stage of the game, all of the contestants are very blessed to have made it this far out of the tens of thousands of people that tried out for the show.

It does seem like the judges critiques have a lot to do with how people vote. I don’t think that Haley was all that bad last night. In fact, I think it was one of her better performances. However, none of the judges really liked it all that much.

Then there is the Sanjaya Malakar phenom. Sanjaya continues to inch closer and closer to the eventual American Idol crown as he wasn’t even in the bottom three contestants this week. It’s looking like he just might steal the show as I predicted a few posts ago.

Get used to it America. Sanjaya Malakar is going to be the next American Idol.

Alan

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Apr

10

Jennifer Lopez was the coach this week for the American Idol contestants and she claimed that she watches the show just like every other American does. Well, I hope she wasn’t disappointed in tonight’s performances because they were a little on the rough side.

We are down to only 8 contestants now so everyone has to bring everything they have to each and every song and I just don’t think that happened this evening.

Here’s how the singers did tonight:

Melinda Doolittle - Melinda sang Sway and it was her most challenging song yet as she said she is so, “not sexy” and the song called for some sexiness to it. Yes, it wasn’t her best performance in the competition, but she’s still way better than everyone else. And she had a great line for Simon when she said, “He really wanted to say something bad and he finally got the chance.”

Lakisha Jones - Conga was Lakisha’s song tonight and she was hot even though both Simon and Paula thought she was playing it safe. Lakisha is still second best of all the contestants.

Chris Richardson - I think Chris returned to his Boy Band impersonation tonight. He sang Smooth by Santana and even thought it was good, it could have been much better. Last week was Chris’ best performance and this week was a few steps down from that.

Haley Scarnato - As long as Haley keeps wearing short shorts I think she will do just fine. She might actually have a shot at winning if she could just sing. I think the name of her song was Turn The Beat Around and I thought it was pretty good, although there are much better singers in this year’s competition. She doesn’t really have what it takes to win unfortunately.

Phil Stacey - Maria Maria by Santana was Phil’s song and it was just okay. I think Phil has gone just about as far as he can go in this whole shin dig. It wasn’t bad, but his voice squeaked a couple of times and his performance lacked that extra something that would make someone want to actually vote for the guy. If Phil didn’t have thousands of EcoQuest dealers voting for him, he would be gone and that just might happen tomorrow.

Jordin Sparks - The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You was Jordin’s song and it was very plain for me even though the judges really liked her. I don’t get it with Jordin. Yes, she is very good, but she isn’t as good as Paris Bennett was from last year and Paris was a year younger than Jordin. However, Paris never got a fair shake from the judges and she had incredible talent. I think Paris had the potential to win last year if the judges would have praised her a little more.

Blake Lewis - I think Blake put on the best performance of the evening when he sang I Need To Know from Marc Anthony. Blake can sing anything and he is a great entertainer as well. He might surprise us and win.

Sanjaya Malakar - Jennifer Lopez was really impressed by Sanjaya. I wonder if she was impressed after she saw him sing tonight. Sanjaya started out good, but her just never got going and Simon said, “It wasn’t horrible.” For Simon, that was a complement.

I wasn’t all that impressed with the show tonight. At this stage of the game they all have to be much better.

So, who’s going home? Ho hum, another American Idol prediction that will probably be wrong. Tomorrow we wil say good bye to Haley Scarnato.

Alan

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Apr

10

As Sanjaya Malakar continues to rise in fame and become a household word because of American Idol there is a growing demand for anything “Sanjaya”. Many Sanjaya items are beginning to show up on eBay in the form of t-shirts, license plates, domain names, Italian charms and more. Some of the stuff is just stupid and some might be worth having. Check out the featured auctions below for Sanjaya Malakar stuff on eBay. Keep checking back as we will feature the 10 soonest ending auctions so they will change all the time. Have fun checking out the goofy stuff on eBay.

  • AMERICAN IDOL Season 6 Autograph Card SANJAYA MALAKAR -
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    End Date: Saturday May-17-2008 19:40:39 PDT
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  • Sanjaya Malakar AMERICAN IDOL Autograph Signed Drumhead -
    US $49.99
    End Date: Sunday May-18-2008 10:44:02 PDT
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  • SANJAYA MALAKAR steppin out magazine AMERICAN IDOL -
    US $0.01 (0 Bid)
    End Date: Sunday May-18-2008 18:39:04 PDT
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  • ITALIAN CHARMS SANJAYA MALAKAR CHARM -
    US $1.99
    End Date: Monday May-19-2008 19:32:43 PDT
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  • ITALIAN CHARMS SANJAYA MALAKAR CHARM -
    US $1.99
    End Date: Monday May-19-2008 19:32:45 PDT
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    • Alan

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    Apr

    10

    This week’s American Idol show tonight will mark another chapter in the famous life of now superstar Sanjaya Malakar. Well, maybe he’s not quite a superstar just yet. The American Idol contestants that are left, all 8 of them, will be coached by Jennifer Lopez or J-Lo and will sing a Latin style song.

    Of course we can probably expect something weird from Sanjaya and his hair tonight. Maybe he will shave it all off and go with the bald look, ya think? Maybe he will take up the KFC offer and sport a bowl style haircut tonight and earn himself $5,000 and a lifetime supply of artery clogging KFC Famous Bowls. Or maybe Sanjaya will do his own thing and surprise all of us with something totally unexpected, like sing great.

    MSNBC is running a poll right now to see if you think we should just leave Sanjaya alone and not criticize him or if you think he really is bad for the show and makes it a joke just by continuing to be on it. It’s pretty interesting to see the results.

    Whatever you think of Sanjaya, he sure is giving American Idol a lot of publicity and while some think that he will be the end of the show, he is generating so much buzz that in reality it may be a good thing. Many of us are watching just to see if he gets one more week to sing badly and have teeny bopper girls vote for him. Oh yea, and we do watch to see what he will do with his hair as well.

    I said in a previous post that Sanjaya will win American Idol this season and I’m sticking to that prediction. Even though Melinda Doolittle is obviously the most talented of all the performers this season, it is Sanjaya that’s generating the most overall publicity. I’m sure the produces of Idol want to keep him around as long as they can.

    Alan

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    Apr

    4

    We’ve almost reached the point in American Idol where it’s really up in the air as to who is going to go home every week. I’m saying that because I’m dumbfounded as to why Gina Glocksen got voted off the show this evening and Haley Scarnato and Phil Stacey are still around to get another chance. I could almost say the same thing about Sanjaya, but he has the entire population of girls between 8 and 13 voting for him as well as half the population of India casting their votes his way.

    Saying I’m shocked isn’t quite the right emotion I can come up with right now. Although Gina’s performance last night could have been better, I didn’t think it was poor enough to justify this happening to her.

    I don’t know, but I think that Idol needed that edgy touch that only Gina could bring this season. American Idol needs freshness, grunge, alternative, different music and now there isn’t anyone left that’s going to do that. Gina Glocksen was the alternative that Idol sorely needed to keep its edge. The whole Sanjaya Malakar thing is controversial and frankly just strange and a little funny, but it’s a shame when it gets in the way of real talent.

    Phil Stacey as well has a whole block of people voting for him. Phil is connected to the network marketing company EcoQuest International and he is getting thousands of votes from this company’s large network of dealers. And it’s the same thing as with Sanjaya, it’s not right that someone with more talent goes home because the votes are purposely stacked against them.

    Gina, we will miss you and I hope you got enough exposure to propel you to new heights and hopefully productive music career.

    Our love goes out to you Gina.

    God Bless,

    Alan

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