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‘American Idol,’ Who’s Marked for Elimination?
Well the ‘American Idol’ contestants sang the American classics with either reverence or regret on Tuesday night and by Wednesday night’s elimination we’ll see if it mattered.
Little has changed in the realm of who’s leading this fiasco of a season as Melinda Doolittle continues to do no wrong. Even ‘AI’ judge Simon Cowell said Melinda is presenting a problem, “I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to criticize you. This is a problem.” Doolittle earned great reviews once again for her rendition of “I Got Rhythm.”
Doolittle’s biggest competition might come from Jordin Sparks who continues to gain momentum. Her take on “On a Clear Day” impressed not only the judges but Tony Bennett as well. The true test will come when Sparks finds herself in the Top 3, that’s when her fan base should really kick in and elevate the show to a level where it might actually return to entertaining.
LaKisha Jones, long thought to be a frontrunner, may have slipped a bit after Tuesday’s performance. Shirking the advice of Bennett, Jones did her own thing with “Stormy Weather” and started off a bit slow. While all three judges gave her positive reviews, Jones isn’t a lock to crack the Top 3 anymore.
That Top 3 spot may end up falling into the lap of Blake Lewis. Whether he deserves it more than Jones is debatable but he does have one thing in his favor. He’s the only guy on the show that has a chance. It would be hard to imagine a Top 3 without a one of the guys getting an invite. Lewis did a decent job with ‘Mac the Knife” but swing isn’t really his style.
Chris Richardson is the only challenger to the “guy card” for Lewis. The buzz surrounding Richardson has continued to mount and his take on “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” probably bumped him up a few more notches. Simon, Paula and Randy all had positive remarks for the ‘Idol’ hopeful and he should have no problem in tonight’s vote.
The remaining four contestants on ‘American Idol’ fall into the next class of performer. These are the ones that have either flown under the radar during the voting process or, in Sanjaya’s case, defied logic, wisdom, and musical taste to survive. Gina Glocksen sang “Smile” and was unremarkable. More so than anyone else, Glocksen has kind of drifted into the deeper waters of the competition by just not flubbing a song yet she’s never really established herself with a song either. Haley Scarnato sings “Ain’t Misbehavin” and it comes across as a bit over the top. Scarnato’s time on ‘American Idol’ is coming close to an end as her looks won’t carry her much further. ‘American Idol’ has already proven that looks will only carry you so far in the competition.
Phil Stacey wrecked his performance on Tuesday night and because of that he is the leading candidate to earn a ticket home. His take on “Night and Day” couldn’t elicit a single positive from the judges and Simon went as far as saying that Stacey’s performance “had all the joy of somebody singing in a funeral parlor.” Because of Stacey’s performance Sanjaya Malakar will probably be safe once again. Malakar covered “Cheek to Cheek” and he should have kept it covered. Irving Berlin, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, they all performed this song and had they known Malakar was going to have a go at it 50 some years later they would have thought twice. Nothing else to say about Malakar. As long as he gets bailed out by performances like Stacey’s he’ll be sticking around the ‘American Idol’ stage.
