ROCK ON AMERICAN IDOL

Last week was Rock week on American Idol and I thought all of the contestants gave powerful performances. I especially liked Melinda Doolittle's performance. She is the bomb! Melinda is so extraordinary, she steps up to any challenge that she is given. I loved the attitude she added to her performance. Her performance is always appropriate to the musical genre. At this point I fully expect to see Melinda in the Final, and I predict even if she doesn't win she will receive many offers for recording contracts. I was surprised that we said good bye to Phil Stacey but Oh well America voted and that's what happened

AMERICAN IDOL SAYS GOOD BYE TO SANJAYA

Last night American Idol said good bye to Sanjaya Malakar and thus ending our love/hate relationship with this young man. We loved sanjaya for his hair and his quirky ways. we hated Sanjaya because he was saved week after week and better singers were being sent home. I think it is safe to say that now that Sanjaya is gone American Idol will live to be seen another season. Myself and many others I am sure were afraid that if Sanjaya won American Idol that the show would be taken off the air.

AMERICAN IDOL COUNTRY MUSIC NIGHT

Last night was country music night on American Idol. Some came through it with flying colors such as Melinda and Jordin. Some struggled such as Lakeisha and Chris. I think Phil was surprised that he actually could have a career as a country singer. Sanjaya had another mediocre night, but don't let him fool you, he knows exactly what's happening and loving every minute of it.

GO SANJAYA GO

I think it's simply amazing that Sanjaya stayed out of the bottom group for the third week in a row. Sanjaya may go places due to the growing number of people that are following him and supporting him, not because he is a great singer. American Idol ratings will remain high for the rest of the season because people have got to watch to see if Sanjaya will win, or just when he will be eliminated. Everyone who remains in the competition at this point will probably earn a fair amount of money either through talk show appearances or recording contracts.

MY PICKS FOR AMERICAN IDOL

Based on last night's American Idol performances the following are my picks for the top group and the bottom group. Melinda, Lakeisha, Jordin, and Blake will be in the top group. Sanjaya, Chris, Phil, and Haley will be in the bottom group.

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter. I did a lot of singing with our church choir over the Easter Holiday. Our choir sang on Saturday evening and on Easter Morning at 10:00 AM. The music that our director selected was really wonderful. The choir sounded really great. All of our hard work in practice really paid off. In addition to the choir we also had brass players and a timpanist. All of this combined made our Easter services very beautiful and joyous. Not that Easter is over it is time to get back to American Idol. I know I will be anxiously watching tonight in anticipation of who will be next to leave.

AND NOW THERE ARE EIGHT

Last night's American Idol results show produced more interesting results. The one thing to remember is that the results are not based on performance but on how America voted. There isn't a strong correlation between performance and how America voted. If there was Sanjaya would have been gone a couple of weeks ago. I think it's interesting that Sanjaya has been out of the bottom group for the second week in a row. The fact that he wasn't in the top group gives me hope that he doesn't have a very good chance of winning American Idol. Gina Glocksen is out of American Idol but she should have some good opportunities coming her way. I predict she will go much further than Mr. Malakar because she is more talented and hands down a better singer.

IT'S ALL UP TO AMERICA

It's all up to America after last night's performances on American Idol. I'm not making an official call for who I think will be in the bottom three. The weakest performances were probably Sanjaya, Phil Stacey and Gina Glocksen. Sanjaya will probably be saved again by VFTW and as for Phil and Gina it's any body's guess. I guess we'll all just have to watch tonight.

DON'T LET HOWARD STERN AND VFTW RUIN AMERICAN IDOL

In case you haven't heard, Howard Stern is promoting a web site (www.votefortheworst.com) that encourages people to vote for the worst American Idol contestant. The web site has been around since 2004 and is currently encouraging it's followers to vote for Sanjaya Malakar. Most of the mail the site has received is negative, and one respondent is threatening to sue. The site claims that it had encouraged people to vote for last year's winner, Taylor Hicks. I don't consider Taylor to be the worst among season 5's contestants, however maybe it explains why Chris Daughtry was voted off so unexpectedly. I say the best way to prevent this site from ruining American Idol is for everyone to increase the number of votes for who ever you choose to vote for.

TWO OUT OF THREE AINT BAD

I got two out of three of the bottom three correct. Phil Stacey was in the bottom three not because he performed poorly but because he didn't have enough people to vote for him. I agree with Chris Sligh leaving. His performance wasn't all that bad on Tuesday night although he did have problems with the rhythm. Sanjaya must have a small army voting for him to not be in the bottom three

THE COMPETITION IS GETTING TIGHT

The top ten sang on American Idol last night and the competition is getting tight. The ladies performed strongly with the weakest being Haley. The guys performed well with Sanjaya and Chris Sligh being the weakest. If it were up to me, I would hand the title of American Idol to Melinda Doolittle today. I don't care if Melinda wins or not she is going places. For the second week in a row the judges have said she is singing like a professional. I have no doubt that Melinda will record a cd that goes platinum within a short time. Based on last night's performances I think the bottom three will be Sanjaya Chris Sligh and haley.

SINGING COSTS $0.00

Singing is the least expensive way of making music. We all have a voice that we never payed any money to get. Contrast this to playing a musical instrument. Musical instruments sell for hundreds if not thousands of dollars depending on the instrument. I play the violin and some violins sell for thousands of dollars. Also consider that it is possible to join a chorus or church choir for free and if the director is good this also equates to free singing lessons. In the words of the credit card commercial "Singing zero dollars; the enjoyment it gives you, Priceless!".

INTERESTING RESULTS

Last nights American Idol results were very interesting. It is true that Stephanie received some what negative feedback from the judges on Tuesday and for this reason it makes sense that she sent home. I was surprised that Sanjaya was not in the bottom two. Based on the way they have performed to date I would say that Sanjaya should go home before Stephanie.

HOT NIGHT ON AMERICAN IDOL

I thought all of the performances on American Idol were hot last night. Even Sanjaya; who I had previously been unimpressed with; came through with a strong performance. I love what Simon asked Melinda "Are you really as nice as you seem?". Tonight's results show should be very interesting, be sure to watch.

I LOVE TO SING

I love music and I love to sing. I sing with my church choir and my choir director has been holding extra rehearsals for the men. We are practicing music for Easter and Holy week. Singing with the choir is not performing. We are enhancing the Liturgy and our singing still has to be good. It has been said that good music enhances the liturgy and bad music actually takes away from the liturgy. The music we are working on is very dramatic with a lot of contrast, loud soft fast slow. Contrast makes music rich and interesting. I can't imagine life without music and singing.

AMERICAN IDOL'S WORST

I found out why the American Idol voting results have been so interesting this season. It seems there is a group of people that have adopted the practice of voting for who they feel is the worst. I hope this group is small and shrinking. I would hate to see the worst American Idol contestant win American Idol. This would be a disservice to this person giving them false hope that they could have a successful recording career and could spell disaster for American Idol.

BELIEVABLE RESULTS

I agree with last night's results on American Idol, with the exception of Phil Stacey. I don't think Phil should have been in the bottom three. It makes sense that Brandon left us last night. After all, he committed one of the cardinal sins of singing, he forgot the words. Sanjaya will probably continue to be in the bottom three unless he makes some drastic change that will really impress the judges. I wonder if the guys noticed that there were no ladies in the bottom three?

LADIES YES!!! GUYS NO!!!

The finalists sang last night on American Idol. The ladies continued to excel and I still am not impressed with the guys. The only guy who is starting to show some promise is Phil Stacey. He gave us some nice vocals although Simon said some of his big notes verged on shouting. I love to watch Melinda Doolittle. She has this look of total amazement as she listens to the judges overflow with positive feedback. It's as though she is living a dream that is finally coming true and she still can't believe it. I can't wait to see who will be going home tonight.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE EXTRAORDINARY

What separates mediocre singer from the extraordinary? The primary thing is passion. Extraordinary singers are passionate about their singing. They understand what they're singing and they bring life to it. Have you ever seen a singer sing a sad song and they looked like they were crying? They looked like they were crying because they were feeling the song and the music and it was moving them to tears. A singer can sing the right notes and have a nice tone but they will never be extraordinary if they don't feel the music and get passionate about it.

A COMPARISON OF SHOWS

After seeing last Thursday's results, I thought to myself maybe the judges should still have a say as to who goes and who stays after America starts voting. I got this idea from watching the NBC show "Grease Your the One that I Want" On this show America votes for there favorite Danny and/or Sandy to star in the next Broadway production of Grease. Those with the two lowest number of votes enter a sing-off, and then the judges decide who will stay. I guess the difference with this show is that the success of an entire Broadway show is at stake and with American Idol it is only a single person's career

RESULTS NOT LOGICAL

I don't mean to belabor the results that determined the 12 American Idol finalists but they're not logical. Logic would dictate that the 12 finalists would be the 12 best singers and in at least two cases that didn't happen. I feel Sundance and Sabrina should be in the top 12 but apparently they didn't receive enough votes and they were eliminated. In the words of Forest Gump "And that's all I have to say about that." Moving forward, I have my sights on Melinda Doolittle. I think Melinda is awesome, very versatile and very likable.

I'M SPEECHLESS

I'm speechless after watching the American Idol results show last night. No, I'm not saying that I'm not going to say anything in this post. I'm just very surprised at some of the results. The biggest surprise is that Jason "Sundance" Head missed the top 12. I was sitting in front of my TV last night just before Ryan announced if Sundance or Sanjaya would be going home, saying to myself "If they send Sundance home I'm going to scream." It all comes down to the fact that more people voted for Sanjaya than Sundance. Just remember what I said in a previous post, America votes and the judges don't matter.

THE LADIES ROCK

The ladies sang on American Idol last night and let me tell you they rock. They are performing many levels above the guys who are eating their dust. Gina took the judges advice and returned to the "edgy" lady that they saw in her audition. I love the comments Simon had for Melinda Doolittle when he called her tiger and said "I thought we had a kitten but we have a tiger". Hopefully the ladies have motivated the guys to get to work and up the anti on their performances.

THE WOW FACTOR IS MISSING

Last night on American Idol the guys sang and the judges were not impressed. The guys don't seem to be stepping up to the bar to impress the judges. The WOW factor or the IT factor; call it what you will; seems to be missing. I listen to Sanjaya and I don't hear any power in his singing. Song selection seems to be a problem. They're not selecting songs that allow them to show the judges what they are capable of. If the guys don't step up to the plate it could be an all female finale

AMERICAN IDOL MONEY MACHINE

Those who have had success on American Idol have made some incredible money. I'm not just talking about the winners, but also the runner-ups and others. First consider the runners-up. Clay Aiken, Bo Bice, Katherine McPhee etc. all have phenomenal recording careers. I would suggest that all those who made it to the top 12 are doing very nicely. Even some who never made it to Hollywood managed to make some money if they happened to get invited to appear on a TV talk show. American Idol gives performers a huge head start to their recording careers by giving them exposure. Before these performers first recordings hit the market American Idol fans have already decided to run out and buy them.

Be sure to watch American Idol tonight and vote for your favorite

WILL THE REAL RYAN SEACREST PLEASE SIT DOWN

The other day I asked myself did I ever hear of Ryan Seacrest, and my answer is no. I googled "Ryan Seacrest" and pulled up a web site containing his biography. It turns out that Ryan was not widely known before American Idol. He hosted some local radio programs and did some work for ESPN but nothing that would give him real visibility. Look at Ryan now, he is a household name and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, all because of American Idol.

ANOTHER FOUR GO HOME

America voted on American Idol and another 4 contestants went home. Some of the results are what I expected and some I was surprised at. I actually expected that we would be saying good bye to Leslie Hunt. I was not impressed by her performance. I was surprised to see Nicholas go considering the feedback he got from the judges, but like I said in a previous post once America starts voting it doesn't matter what the judges say. Apparently Nicholas didn't have a very large following.

WHO DO YOU LIKE?

So who do you like on American Idol? I'll start with the guys. I like Sundance and Chris Richardson. I have to admit that I'm partial to Sundance because in my book it takes a huge amount of dedication to leave a new born son for weeks. I would have had all the respect in the world for him if he decided to leave Idol to be with his son. It's harder for me to say who I like with the women because more of them stand out as being very talented. I have to say I really like Melinda Dolittle. She is this huge talent and is very humble. I think Simon summed her up nicely when he stated that she is very talented and doesn't know it.

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AMERICA VOTES THE JUDGES DON'T MATTER

On American Idol, once America starts voting the judges don't really matter. Last week Antonella Barba got lousy feedback from the judges and then America voted and Antonella lived to sing another day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the judges no longer have a roll. They still influence the Idol wannabes through their comments and they are entertaining in their own way. If a contestant has enough people that are willing to vote for them no matter what it doesn't matter what the judges say.

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RANDY CONTRADICTS HIMSELF?

Last week on American Idol Ryan Seacrest had a dialog with Randy Jackson after a female contestant sang a song that Randy felt was too big for her. Ryan argued that Randy is always encouraging contestants to take a risk on their song choice and now it seems like you're telling them that they shouldn't have taken the risk. Randy explained that he still encourages contestants to take a risk, but if they select a big song they have to sing it exceptionally well. It can't be a mediocre rendition. I would say that Randy is looking for contestants to sing the song better than the original artist or to sing it well and make it their own.

GROUPS DAY IS TOUGH

One of the toughest parts of American Idol Hollywood week is groups day. It seems that this is a make or break for many contestants. Bailey Brown is a good example of this. She got excellent feedback from the judges during her San Antonio audition and made it through her first Hollywood week audition. When it was time for the group performance Bailey forgot her lyrics and thus it was the end of the road for her. Other contestants run in to problems with joining a group or getting along with other group members. It may seem unfair for a contestant who is otherwise extraordinarily talented to be eliminated for not performing well in a group but group performing is something that most entertainers end up doing at some point in their careers.

WHAT THE JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR

In my last post I talked about the American Idol judges saying that they found a contestants facial expressions distracting. Your initial reaction may have been "so what". If a singer does something that distracts their audience, their audience wont have their full attention on their singing but will be partially focused on what the singer is doing that is distracting. I played violin in an amateur orchestra for 15 years, and my director explained to us that professional orchestras usually dress in black and white so that their audience will focus on the music they are playing and not them. So as you can see in addition to talent stage presence is important.

I hope you have been enjoying reading my Blog all about singing and American Idol. Please feel free to comment.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE JUDGES

How about those American Idol judges? Paula is sometimes not critical enough; Randy usually hits it about right; and then there's Simon. You gotta love Simon, or hate him. I think Simon is sometimes too critical and can definitely be cruel. This season we have seen some surprises from the judges. With one male contestant, Simon and Randy said yes; and Paula said no, she felt he was off key. Then there was a female contestant that Randy and Paula said no due to her distracting facial expressions and Simon said that he would have said yes. Amazingly they brought her back to give her a second chance and did put her through to Hollywood. With so many people coming out to audition, the judges really do have have a tough job to select only those who are truly exceptional

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My wife and I started watching American Idol two years ago. So far, we have supported rockers; Bo Bice two years ago and Chris Doughtry last year. I'm not really sure why we supported them considering that neither one of us is a huge fan of that genre. Probably the reason why we supported them is because they are both very talented and versatile. Bo Bice is a rocker but can also do a great job with a ballad. Chris Doughtry always seemed to find a song that he could apply his rocker style to.

One of the male contestants that auditioned in Minnesota stated that Chris Doughtry had opened doors last year. When this contestant auditioned he sang in what I would call rough Chris Doughtry style. Simon challenged him to come back and sing an ABBA song. He came back and sang Dancing Queen in his same rough rocker style taking it away from the genre of an ABBA song. Chris would have sung the song keeping within the genre and adding a bit of his own style. It seems the minnesota contestant was unaware of the versatility and flexability required to make it on American Idol.

Have you been watching the American Idol auditions? I know I have been enjoying them. I get a kick out of watching these people come out and show America what they have. In some cases it is very little if anything. I am always amazed at the ones that think they have all this talent and stand in front of the judges in total disbelief when the judges tell them no.

In my opinion, these people fall into one of three categories; those that are very talented and are ready to compete, those who have a lot of potential but aren't quite ready, and finally the ones who don't have a clue and probably should not have taken the time to come and audition. For those in the first two categories I have found a product you might be interested in.

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