Nuffnang!

Friday, April 29, 2011

'American Idol' Top 6 recap: James Durbin steals the show on Carole King night

'American Idol' Top 6 recap: James Durbin steals the show on Carole King night

American-Idol-Top-6-James-Durbin.JPG 
  
 
James Durbin turned in the best performance of the night on 'American Idol' Wednesday as the Top 6 took on songs from multi-Grammy singer-songwriter Carole King. See the video clip below.

California rocker James Durbin may have pushed himself into front-runner status on "American Idol" last night after converting a sleepy Carole King ballad into a fun, guitar-driven rock song that had the audience going wild.

Durbin was the star of the night, out-shining the other finalists in the Top 6 who sifted through the vast songbook of prolific hit-maker Carole King. There were some other good performances, but none as entertaining as Durbin's.

Here's my take on last night's live show, which could have easily been condensed to one hour but was stretched into 90 minutes:
• BEST OF THE NIGHT: James Durbin and Scotty McCreery
• GOOD, BUT NOT GREAT: Lauren Alaina, Haley Reinhart, Casey Abrams

• DANGER ZONE: Jacob Lusk (with Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams joining him in the bottom three)

THE PERFORMANCES
(order of appearance)

JACOB LUSK ("Oh No, Not My Baby") – Oh no, Jacob is in trouble this week. Jacob was soulful, upbeat and full of energy, but I just wasn't feeling it. The whole first verse was so high-pitched, it was annoying to listen to. It was also annoying to watch, with that tacky bow-tie, checkered jacket and bouncy dancing. I'm not sure why the judges liked this performance so much.

LAUREN ALAINA ("Where You Lead") – Lauren got a big surprise during her rehearsal, when Miley Cyrus showed up. It seemed to give her the inspiration to turn in a good performance last night. But I don't think she stepped it up as much as the judges had asked her to last week. Jennifer Lopez felt differently, saying Lauren pushed it hard, and Randy Jackson felt she came out with some extra swagger. I think they were being too polite to the likeable teen.

SCOTTY McCREERY ("You’ve Got a Friend") – Scotty put a slight country spin on this pop classic. He seemed to try too hard to hold back his southern twang, but I thought he sounded really good. Not as good as James, but one of the best performances of the night.

JAMES DURBIN ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow") – Mr. Heavy Metal showed his softer side last night, starting out his song a capella and drifting into a grooving, rhythmic, 60s-style love song. (see video clip below) It was terrific – definitely the best of the night, and good enough to prompt Randy Jackson to proclaim: “This guy just might win the whole thing!” Randy even left his seat to go up on stage to give James a hug.

CASEY ABRAMS ("Hi-De-Ho") – I liked how his voice sounded at the start, but I wasn't crazy about all those grunts and groans that followed. Blues lovers probably loved this performance. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

HALEY REINHART ("Beautiful") – Haley got off to a shaky start, then sounded smoother as she went along and hit some very tough notes at the end. It was good and entertaining, but probably not strong enough to keep her out of the bottom three.

NEXT UP: On Thursday's live results show (April 28 at 8 p.m. on Fox), we will have to say goodbye to one of the finalists as the Top 6 gets cut to 5.



Saturday, April 23, 2011

'American Idol' ousts Stefano Langone and determines Top 6 finalists

'American Idol' ousts Stefano Langone and determines Top 6 finalists


By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/22/2011

American Idol eliminated Stefano Langone and determined its Top 6 tenth-season finalists during Thursday night's live results show broadcast on Fox.



Langone became the seventh finalist -- and second male finalist -- sent home from American Idol's tenth season after he received the fewest home viewer votes following Wednesday night's performance show, which featured the Top 7 finalists performing songs from the 21st century.

"It started my career man and that's something that's -- You can't put a price on that -- That's everything. So, I'm just so blessed. I came this far, and it's great. It really is. It's great. So, I can't wait to sing right now!" the 21-year-old from Kent, WA told Idol host Ryan Seacrest when asked how the show has changed his life.



"This is the beginning of a new era in my life and I'm ready. I'm ready for it. Words can't express how blessed I am to be here and to just be alive and get to express myself through music. I mean, that's unbelievable and I'm so thankful for that. You dream about this stuff and you see it in the movies, and then to actually be a part of something like this, that's a dream in itself and that's something that I work for everyday," Langone added in a video montage that followed his ouster.

Prior to Langone's exit, Haley Reinhart, a 20-year-old from Wheeling, IL, and Jacob Lusk, a 23-year-old from Compton, CA, were revealed by Seacrest to be the other two members of this week's bottom three vote-getters.

Langone -- whom the judges had initially selected as a "Wild Card" finalist -- had received very positive feedback from Idol judges Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson following his performance of Ne-Yo's "Closer" on Wednesday's show. 

"Yo, yo yo. Wow, Stefano, Stefano... Listen, I thought it was going to be a little -- at first I thought, 'Look. He's going to come out, he's going to do it, it's going to be a little jerky, a little kind of bad karaoke,' but you know what? Dude, you turned me around. You know what? You did a very good job," Jackson told Langone.

"You smoothed it out, and what I loved that you did in the first part of the song was you took your time with the verses. That's what I always want you to do. Jennifer And I talk about this all the time. Take your time. We know you have the power and you're going to slay it in the end with all the big huge notes, but you took your time. I was really proud of you, and you kind of worked the dance steps out a little bit too."

"Stefano, nobody can say you weren't all up in it. I was hoping you'd dance and you did. Good job! Really good man," Tyler said.

"Speaking for the girls in the audience, I thought it was very, very good. You really had your swag going on -- being the only girl on the panel -- I really liked it. I really felt like you picked it up all through here when you came around [our seats]," Lopez added.

"It really felt like a concert. It felt good. It felt like a real performance. If you own the song, it was more you than anything else. I really, really liked it. I thought it was a really, really good job, baby. Good job!"

In addition to Reinhart and Lusk, Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, and Scotty McCreery also still remain in the running for American Idol's tenth-season title.

Over 52 million home-viewer votes were cast following Wednesday night's performance show, according to Seacrest.


Final Song - Stefano Langone - Lately - American Idol 2011 Top 7 Results Show - 04/21/11

Thursday, April 21, 2011

American Idol Top 7 sing 21st century songs


- ssorich@ledger-enquirer.com
 
Maybe this season of "American Idol" will give us a current recording artist after all.
There were no major causalities when the top seven "American Idol" contestants performed songs from the 21st century Wednesday night. In fact, the show was a welcome departure from the recent trend of antiquated ballads.

As an added bonus, the judges acquired a slight mean streak. Even though their praise still seemed a bit inflated at times, they managed to deliver some constructive criticism during the 90-minute show. Weird, right?
Here are my rankings; share yours in the comments section.
1. Haley Reinhart, "Rolling in the Deep"
2. Casey Abrams, "Harder to Breathe"
3. James Durbin, "Uprising"
4. Lauren Alaina, "Born to Fly"
5. Scotty McCreery, "Swingin'"
6. Stefano Langone, "Closer"
7. Jacob Lusk, "Dance With My Father"
One contestant will be eliminated on Thursday's results show, which airs 8-9 p.m. on Fox and will feature performances by David Cook and Katy Perry. Here's a full recap of Wednesday's episode:

Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/04/20/1547042/american-idol-top-7-sing-21st.html#ixzz1KsZiL2oq

***
Things kick off with a group performance from this season's "Idol" castoffs: Ashthon, Karen, Thia, Naima, Pia and Paul. They sing Pink's "So What." It is random and chaotic and I love it. The best part is Paul, who totally doesn't fit in but tries to hang out anyway. Awesome. Now I REALLY can't wait for the tour -- which I'll be covering, of course.
Now, the main event.

Scotty McCreery, "Swingin'" by LeAnn Rimes
Props to Scotty for choosing a song by a woman this week. He could have gone the easy route and opted for Josh Turner. Post-show note: Sure, Scotty called this a LeAnn Rimes tune, but online discussions taught me it was originally released by John Anderson in 1983. Either way, this is kind of a weird song. It's not slow, but it's not really fast, either. I wish he would have gone for something that wasn't so, um, middle ground. I'm not going crazy. Vocally, Scotty sounds the same. That may be a good thing or a bad thing. He certainly needs a little "oomph."
Steven: "I liked it...Good."
Jennifer: "It's time, like, to pull out the big guns...We were expecting more from Scotty."
Randy: "To me, that was so safe."

James Durbin, "Uprising" by Muse
Jimmy Iovine maintains that James is more than just the heavy metal guy on "Idol." Is he right? James takes the stage with marching band drummers. Somehow, I'm not surprised. Well, the performance is definitely entertaining, especially when James pulls out some of his signature high notes toward the end. Some of the verses sound a little weird, however. James doesn't always boast the strongest vocals in the world, but he has energy. And this performance makes me more inclined to believe he could have a niche in modern rock
Jennifer: "That is going to be theatrically the best performance of the night...That was really amazing."
Randy: "I hope you follow this direction when you make a record after this."
Steven: "That was crazy good, man."

Haley Reinhart, "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
Did you notice Casey wasn't featured in Haley's pre-performance bit? Strange. Anyway, I'm so happy Haley chose this song. I really wanted her to pull out some Adele tonight. She sounds great. Of course, Haley will inevitably get the "no one will ever be as good as Adele" criticism. Which is true. But Haley delivers a darn good performance, proving her potential appeal as a current recording artist. Even better, we don't get the inflated sense of sex appeal that sometimes cuts into Haley's performances.
Randy: "I think that you chose a perfect direction for you...I thought that it was a great performance."
Steven: "I thought that it was a great performance as well."
Jennifer: "You brought a little bit of Haley to it in certain moments."

Jacob Lusk, "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross
Jacob tells us his dad died when Jacob was 12. The big question is at what point during this performance Jacob will start crying. It seems like he doesn't take long. It looks like there's a minor sound glitch early on in the performance. Jacob messes with his earpiece. Sound problems or not, this isn't Jacob's strongest performance. In fact, I think it's one of his worst efforts. The vocals are kind of, um, all over the place. Is emotional appeal enough to save Jacob? I'm not sure.
Steven: "This man is so good."
Jennifer: "Emotionally, it was a beautiful performance."
Randy: "Vocally, it was good, but it didn't make me jump up and down."
Wow, Mark Ballas is in the audience! Seacrest interviews him, but Mark doesn't mention Pia.

Casey Abrams, "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon 5
Great song choice. I was seriously worried that Casey was going to sing John Mayer. This song works really well for Casey, who takes the stage with his guitar and puts a hard rock spin on the tune. It makes me believe he really could find a place in modern music. There's lots of energy and the vocals are pretty solid. My biggest complaint? Casey always seems so angry when he performs current music. Tone the rage down a bit, dude. And kissing Jennifer Lopez at the end? Weird.
Jennifer: "I loved it...It was really great."
Randy: "I enjoyed it...Continue to take chances."
Steven: "You already are a cult hero." While praising Casey, Steven has to be censored. A lot.

Stefano Langone, "Closer" by Ne-Yo
Well, at least he didn't choose a Ne-Yo ballad. Stefano hits some nice big notes tonight, and there aren't any glaring flaws in this performance. Still, the whole thing comes off a bit cheesy. I'll channel Simon Cowell and say it's a copycat performance. I'm just not going crazy, despite Stefano's attempts to woo me with his dance moves. By the way, those dance moves are awkward. Three words: too many gyrations. I'll summarize this one as average.
Randy: "You turned me around...You took your time singing the verses."
Steven: "I was hoping you'd dance and you did."
Jennifer: "I thought it was very, very good."

Lauren Alaina, "Born to Fly" by Sara Evans
Man, I wish Lauren would have pulled out some Taylor Swift or Miranda Lambert this week. I figure that's how the record company would market her if she got a contract post-"Idol." Anyway, this performance is fine. Lauren hits some nice notes, though I agree that she underestimates herself at times. My biggest critique of this performance is that I wish Lauren would have done something a little more fun. While Sara Evans is great, the song doesn't let Lauren show a lot of personality. It should be good enough for her to stick around another week, though.
Steven: "You're so good naturally." Wants her to do some Faith Hill, Shania Twain or Alison Krauss
Jennifer: Wants her to sing bigger notes
Randy: "You can sing anything...You must believe."

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

GOV: Official email account for each M'sian adult

Official email account for each M'sian adult

















All Malaysians who are 18 years old and above will be assigned an email account each in order to receive statements, bills and notices from the Government.

The initiative would allow direct and secure communication between the public and the Government, said Tricubes Bhd chief executive officer Khairun Zainal Mokhtar.

Tricubes Bhd is the company developing the 1Malaysia Email project in collaboration with Microsoft.
Khairun said Tricubes Bhd would also spearhead the development of a web portal which would include social networking services, online bill checking and payments.

"Currently, the company is still running stress test for the portal.

"Hopefully, we can get it ready by July this year," he told a press conference at the fifth progress update of the Economic Transformation Programme in here, Tuesday.

Published  on The Star, April 19 2011

Friday, April 08, 2011

American Idol 10, 2011: Top 9 results show recap – Elimination shocker!

American Idol 2011: Top 9 results show recap – Elimination shocker!

(SOURCE: Click the title) 



Either American parents need to stop their 13-year-old daughters from voting or “American Idol” producers decided it’s time for Pia Toscano to have a recording contract and pulled her from the competition themselves. Because I don’t care who you’re a fan of, you can’t deny that Pia’s elimination Thursday night was shocking and unwarranted.

Or maybe it was just that horrible outfit Gwen Stefani made Pia wear.

Something just isn’t right. In my Wednesday blog, I did mention that things could get interesting and crazy because Thia and Naima’s fans had to throw their votes to someone. But I never thought Pia would be the one to feel the negative effects.

Sigh. If only the judges would’nt have used their save so early. Or if only young girls were a little more picky with the guys they think are hot. I mean is it really that easy for young girls to crush on a guy? The pickings are slim, so I just don’t get it. Casey Abrams looks like a dirty frat boy. James Durbin kind of resembles Sloth from “The Goonies.”

Scotty McCreery looks like the Mad Magazine guy (THIS I, Jeff Lim 100% agree with this author). Jacob Lusk will probably never believe in “getting it on.” Sure Paul McDonald and Stefano Langone are commercially good looking, but they’ve both been in the bottom a couple times so that doesn’t add up. So maybe young girls aren’t really shallow. Just desperate. (As always, backlash welcome. Let me have it!).

I’m just confused. I guess I’ll never understand what happened tonight, so I’ll just move on to the episode recap.

I should’ve known things were going to go wrong when the show started the way it usually does with the terrible group medley. Apparently last week’s awesome format was just a big tease one-time thing. Oh well, I did kind of miss Scotty’s and Casey’s awkwardly terrible dance moves. So that was fun to see again.
Then we get a random visit from Russell Brand. Not sure what that was about. I guess there’s some Fox whoring going on. I didn’t pay attention.

Ryan finally pulls up Casey Abrams, Stefano Langone and Lauren Alaina. He sends Lauren to safety first, then Casey, leaving Stefano in the Bottom 3. At least I got that prediction right.

Next we get a special treat with Constantine. And by special treat I mean pointless filler. Speaking of pointless filler, we next get a whole segment on Gewn Stefani’s TERRIBLE styling from Wednesday night. The more I think about it, the more I think I blame Gwen for Pia’s elimination.

More results. Ryan asks Paul McDonald, Scotty McCreery and Pia Toscano to come to the center of the stage. Scotty and Paul are sent to safety and Pia lands in the Bottom 3. I haven’t had Pia in the “100 Percent Safe” bracket for a couple weeks so it’s not a huge surprise she’s in the bottom. I just though she could fall in the bottom one week then her fans would be scared into voting harder and she’d ride the wave to the Top 3 at least.

We get more ridiculous filler of the contestants visiting slime-ball internet “news” service TMZ.
Ryan then calls up James Durbin, Haley Reinhart and Jacob Lusk. James is sent to safety. Then Haley. Haley’s performances the past two weeks have really done good things for her. At least America has noticed that.

Iggy Pop performs. Who knows how they talked him into doing a show like “American Idol.” Which I’m sure is something Steven Tyler asks himself everyday.

And it’s final results time. Jacob, Pia and Stefano. Ryan pulls one of his stupid pranks and makes me think my dream has come true but instead sends Jacob to safety. So then I thought my prediction that Stefano would go home was right. No. Ryan reveals the shocking news that Pia has been eliminated.
Everyone is shocked and rightly so. Next to Chris Daughtry’s elimination, this has to be one of the biggest shockers in the show’s history.

Next week it’s time a guy goes home. It’s only the Top 8 and there are seriously only two girls left. That’s ridiculous.

What are your thoughts on Pia’s elimination?

AI 10 Report Card Top 9: Wow! I Still Love Rock N Roll!

AI Report Card Top 9: Wow! I Still Love Rock N Roll!

**********
Last exploited with Season 7s Top 4 (David Cook, David Archuleta, Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro), Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is one of those voluminous themes that I can appreciate for the pure scope of material to derive from.

But the RnRHoF is not actually the theme, because neither one artist nor their catalogue need to be in the Hall for the Idol’s to perform (now that would’ve been super sweet – imagine Pia doing “Ray Of Light” by inductee Madonna to appease the judges’ weekly wish for her to lay off the ballads!) The real theme – though I don’t think Ryan mentioned it – is 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll (no “Ray Of Light”, but raise your hand if the marriage of Haley and “Like A Virgin” titillates your sensorium!) which, according to Hall guardian James Henke, is a list “compiled with input from the museum’s curatorial staff and numerous rock critics and music experts…” (thanx Wikipedia!).

While it’s an expansive reach that touches the genres of each contestant’s métier, we’ll never be sure just how many of the 500 actually cleared for Idol, so we’re not really sure the full list choices the T9 had to choose from.

The 500 Songs… list wasn’t utilized so well last go around. I mean, my Report Card headline read “Jason Castro Must Be Destroyed” (yep, his “I Shot The Sheriff” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” are infamous Idol abortions that are still recalled with horror – and it was his long-overdue swan song. Though the headline skewered metaphorically, not literally). Since it was top 4, the finalists were given 2 choices (the best of that night? Of course, David Archuleta’s “Love Me Tender”).

But, like that Top 4, there’s such a stark contrast in styles and sensibilities in this year’s Top 9 that you could only proverbially hold your breath. I did. And you know what? I exhaled. Because, after all is said and done, and despite a few mishaps throughout the evening, Rock N Roll comes out unscathed.
 
“If I wind up in the bottom three, it won’t be because I sang the song bad, it won’t be because I sang the song wrong. It’ll be because everybody in America wasn’t ready to look at themselves in the mirror…” To which I reply “What conviction! What pride! What a bunch of absolute horse shit!” Not sure what his gobbledygook signified, exactly (what, the panel’s weekly masturbatory drug-induced fantasies aren’t enough for your ego, you buffoon?), with those actual words spewing out of his gargantuan head right before delivering another in an elongated line of vocal Sturm und Dangs, Tyler Perry’s Jacob Lusk (that’s what my brilliant, hilarious and, sadly, spot on, friend, Jim Cantiello, has perfectly nicknamed him) not only all but guarantees himself a spot in the bottom three for his staggering impertinence (my fingers are crossed), but it would be a long time a-comin’ for this howling, shrieking, drag queen to disappear from our screens every week. It’s time, America. Send this Idol menace home. Or to Logo.

Not content with being this year’s Idol cipher, Reinhart – to those who couldn’t see past the charade – mustered an afore unseen groove last week with a giddily mediagenic “Bennie & The Jets” (in which the teenpop machination of her basis slyly alluded to a more ‘adult’ métier, whether she – or we, really – knew it or not). Not so lucky this week. The idol joke of the year – besides the fawning over Jacob – is the “Janis” moniker the judges desperately tried to pin on Reinhart. Janis Joplin? By way of what, the mouseketeers? If Kidzbop recorded a version of, say, “Me & Bobbie McGee”, would you still call that “Joplin”? No. Tolerable? Sure. Affected? Heh, of course, don’t be ridiculous. Not the embarrassment I was hoping for (for a swift dismissal), she musters merely a B- for performance, but for the chutzpah to take on a rock icon of Joplin’s stature and not totally fail? She get’s an A plus for that.

Casey’s owed us some blue-eyed (?) soul for months now, and by pulling out his stand-up bass and interpreting the great CCR “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” with a restrained, winsome vocal, he – temporarily, anyway – found the mojo and sparkling elucidation that won me – and many others – over during the auditions and Hollywood weeks. Let’s just hope this isn’t provisional. Playing it safe or vocal rein? Does it matter? It was my favorite performance of the evening. Lauren, on the other hand – perchance due to her youth – lacked any corporeal alliance to Aretha’s “Natural Woman”. I’ll agree with Randy that it was a “good job” for a “difficult” song – Alaina does boast a strong, if pedestrian, voice – it was too dainty to make any real dent. But it sure was pretty.

Durbin’s instinct to shout to the rafters even when not necessary, forgoing quieter moments, is a frustrating power-over-emoting mechanism. That final banshee yowl is what almost invalidated an otherwise effective, reflective take on the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. But no one’s ever accused him of understatement. It struck me as hypocritical (as it did with Lusk earlier) that Randy failed to call out Durbin’s “pitchiness”, as he often does, especially the final fail wail, but in Durbin’s case, the imperfections worked for the obvious poignant toll the song has on his psyche.

Idol is merely batting practice for an almost surefire superstar status (now there’s an alliteration), I know, but technically, if there’s a fault in Scotty’s unabashedly proud Americana (besides his apparent awkward duet disability – see last week’s “I Told You So” – and peculiar facial tics), it’s his timbre. Not aesthetically, of course – that’s pure and blissfully hokey – but rather, it lacks youth, which, ironically, given his age, should be a marketable stronghold. 

His Elvis impersonation didn’t help in that regard, but, despite its corny glacé, worked as good as any Elvis impersonator currently seen on the Vegas strip. And, speaking of Vegas… Pia let slip during last week’s interwoven, post-performance mini-interview that she was performing “River Deep, Mountain High”, and my immediate fear came to fruition. Sung as powerfully and vocally adroit as is her forte (despite the very noticeable misses on more than just a few notes), Pia eschewed the grit and intensity of Tina Turner’s monster chops, instead merely enervated the much needed joy by invoking Celine Dion’s soulless version. She sang the hell out of it, that’s a given. But at what cost?

Unfair, the panel’s incessant whines regarding Pia’s weekly ballad recitals when Langone is, while preferable, just as guilty. His forceful nature always nullifies the effect/affect he’s aiming for, and there’s nary a time we don’t know he’s performing. While his “When A Man Loves A Woman” lacks the vital sophistication, his voice is gorgeous and his cadential falsetto assuages any physical melodramatics.

We’ve become dependent on Paul’s burring, but he’s testing my patience on a weekly basis. There’s never been an iota of lung power to anchor his flinty chops, which isn’t a necessity for his hipster (and not to mention cougar) appeal, but even he’s never been more mush-mouthed and indecipherable. He’s merely a derivative. Of himself.

REPORT CARD:
Jacob Lusk
Song: Michael Jackson’s MAN IN THE MIRROR
My grade: D (docked a FULL grade for his audacity and innuendo)

Haley Reinhart
Song: Janis Joplin’s PIECE OF MY HEART
My grade: B-

Casey Abrams
Song: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN
My grade: B+

Lauren Alaina
Song: Aretha Franklin’s NATURAL WOMAN
My grade: B

James Durbin
Song: The Beatles’ WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS
My grade: B+

Scotty McCreery
Song: Elvis Presley’s THAT’S ALL RIGHT MAMA
My grade: B+

Pia Toscano
Song: Ike & Tina Turner’s RIVER DEEP & MOUNTAIN HIGH
My grade: B

Stefano Langone
Song: Percy Sledge’s WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN
My grade: B

Paul McDonald
Song: Johnny Cash’s FOLSOM PRISON BLUES
My grade: B-

Friday, April 01, 2011

American Idol 10: Results 11 to 9

Article 1: American Idol Results - Down Two

It's a Twofer! 
 
Shaking the same 'ol same 'ol results show format up a bit, the Idol contestants sang in groups instead of the usual show opening song where they all sing a song or a mash up of songs.

This new strategy worked well in some regards, but in others, well not so much.. Lauren and Scotty did a fine country duet singing "I Told you So". Their voices meshed well together and it was a sweet opening act. Then we had Jacob and Naima, who were given a lackluster song "Solid" by Ashford and Simpson, which they both valiantly tried to put some life into but failed.

A trio of girls, Haley, Pia and Thia sang Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". Oh boy, I thought, here was a chance to see Thia and Pia come out a little and show their pop sensibilities to the audience! (As we are so well-versed in their masterful handling of ballads.) But no no no. Pia can't relax her voice enough to have fun with a fun song, and over sang it, and as for poor Thia? Well she was regulated to being a background singer for the whole song. Not really fair. Neither was the poor song choice for Jacob and Naima. It makes you wonder, just a tad, if the producers are in some contestants corners more than others.

Then we had our garage band boys led -- in every sense of the word -- by James. James made it clear why he is a crowd favorite when he out-shone and out-sang a weakly sounding Paul, a so-so Casey and a decent Stefano in their presentation of Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run". While Stefano did good enough, only James did the song justice and Casey was surprisingly unimpressive. As for Paul, his whispy vocal style was painfully bad, especially in stark comparison to the other band members. Also, Haley and Casey -- just because you CAN growl/sing, doesn't mean you have to in every song.

Season 3's winner, Fantatsia came back to sing her new single "Collard Greens & Cornbread" the third single of her album Back to Me. it was a kind of a eclectic song, mixing old style singing and Fantasia's unique style of singing. Clearly she has grown as an artist with a masterful command over her voice.

On the other end of the spectrum were guest stars Jamie Foxx and will.i.am performing "Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)", from the new Pixar movie Rio.

Although it was an extravaganza type of performance, what with girls dressed in parrot-inspired garb, acrobats and drummers filling the stage, it was somewhat lackluster. Foxx and will.i.am really didn't sing well for one, and there just seemed to be a general lack of energy.

In the end, Thia, Naima and Paul found themselves in the bottom three. And since Casey was saved last week, this week was a twofer.

Paul managed to squeak by the two more vibrant ladies to sing another day.

ARTICLE 2: SOURCE:
"American Idol" results: Do women prefer to vote for men?

(CBS) The "American Idol" producers couldn't maintain the drama of last week, when ERs all over America had to call in additional defibrillators and spiritual counselors. Instead, in last night's results show, they split the contestants up into small groups, asked them to sing together and then revealed which was eligible for the axe. The little groups were a splendidly cruel and honest means of showing who could really sing, who could really dance and who could really do neither terribly well.

Naima Adedapo and Thia Megia are eliminated on "American Idol," Thursday, March 31, 2011.
(Credit: FOX)

Pictures: "American Idol" Season 10

Special section: "American Idol"

Lauren Alaina showed that, even sitting down, her voice has all the power of a Range Rover, while Scotty McCreery, seductive as he is to some, has the range of a power drill.

Jacob Lusk needed little effort to reveal that when it comes to performance and entertainment, he needs only voice, not gimmicks, while Naima Adedapo looked like she knew she was singing at her own wake.
Indeed, she was immediately told she was in the bottom three.

Lusk was an excellent warm-up for "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino, who showed what it means to perform with your heart and soul, not merely with your mouth, arms and legs.

Next, it was a curiosity to see Pia Toscano sing something that had a beat beyond the foxtrot, as she attempted to re-create, um, Charlie's Angels or something, with Thia Megia and Haley Reinhart.
Pia really took a risk--she wore trousers. But it was all a little soft. As was Megia's performance of "Daniel" the night before, one that landed her in the bottom three.

Then we had the interlude, in which we were allowed to see even more nosey footage of Casey Abrams losing his mental equilibrium after the judges had last week used their save to keep him in America's eye.
But before we could be too appalled at this prurience, there was Abrams, guitar in hand, in a band that featured Paul McDonald, James Durbin and Stefano Langone. They managed a slightly wingless version of Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run," finishing rather better than they started.

Steven Tyler offered them a gig to open for Aerosmith. While we wondered just how serious he might not have been, we were suddenly overwhelmed by a lot of drum-bangers.

And behind them sat Jamie Foxx and will.i.am. What they lack in vocal range (a lot), they make up for in bravado (a helluva lot). Their song was launching a movie called "Rio" (produced and distributed by the same Fox that brings you "American Idol," of course). It was about partying and samba. It needed a little Brazilian.
As soon as we returned from the commercials, Lauren Alaina was crying. Presumably she didn't want to lose a friend, or two, which she did. McDonald was told that he was safe, and Megia and Adedapo had to take the long walk to probable obscurity.

In truth, McDonald was fortunate to survive, after his dull, complacent performance of "Rocket Man."
Some might suggest that his survival - and, this week, that of Durbin - might simply be down to the fact that the voters are predominantly female. Could it be that girls prefer to vote for boys, while the older ladies prefer to vote for someone talented, but conservative, like Pia Toscano?

Last year, the first three to be voted off in the finals were women. Now the pattern is being repeated. The first four to be voted off this year have all been women. Last year, moreover, Crystal Bowersox was the lone female representative in the Top 5.

But it might just be that the voters, though predominantly women, still enjoy an amusing objectivity. They won't put up with flat singing, wobbly dancing or smug acting - not unless the guy is really, really hot. (Does anyone remember Jason Castro?)

Adedapo and Megia, for different reasons, really weren't good enough. The same, however, might be said of perhaps half of the remaining nine.

 END OF ARTICLES...  That's all folks, thanks for having the time and entry to read this blog entry.