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Blog Entry 48 of 65 Editor's Blog

My name is Annie Hundley and I'm the editor here at valleynews.com. My blog will range from what's up with the site to life for a newbie in LA.

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American Idol: It just keeps getting worse

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Contributed by: Annie Hundley / valleynews.com on 3/28/2007

Well Gwen Stefani turned out to be absolutely useless as American Idol's celebrity mentor in last night's show. Stefani came across as a dazed, ditzy star who doesn't know much about sining. Or at least she wasn't willing to share her knowledge with contestants. Another weirdness with Stefani was that either her song catalog isn't large enough, or she was stingy in granting musical rights, because half of the contestants ended up singing songs that "inspired" Stefani. So what does a Donna Summers song have to do with Gwen Stefani? You've got me - the show made no attempt to explain.

LaKisha Jones kicked off the show singing the Summers' classic Last Dance. Stefani didn't give LaKisha anything to work with in their "coaching" session.

"I should be asking her for advice," Stefani said in a taped interview. "She's amazing."

The judges loved LaKisha - saying it was a great vocal and Simon complimented her by saying she looked 30 years younger than she did during last week's performance.

Chris Sligh tackled Sting by singing a song by The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. Stefani warned Chris against loosing the rhythm of the song and didn't get it figured out by show time. Randy and Paula critiqued Chris' inability to jive with the band's tempo. "I thought it was a mess to be honest with you," Simon said. "It just didn't feel right."

Gina Glocksen sang The Pretenders' song I'll Stand By You. Stefani praised the choice as a great match for Glocksen's voice. "You picked a great song," Paula said. "It showed vulnerability and allowed you to soar with your vocals."

I thought Gina was quite good last night. I'm not a big fan of her, but she stood out as one of the strongest singers with that performance. It also lead to my favorite Simon quote of the night: "The transformation between a few weeks ago and tonight is literally chalk and cheese."

Huh? Never heard that one before.

Sanjaya Malakar moved beyond inadequate and on to defiantly horrible last night. He's taking being the worst contestant on American Idol to a whole new level. First, let's start with the hair. Sanjaya pulled his locks into a row of pony tails along the top of his head and then hair sprayed the tails into a gigantic lion mane/Mohawk. It looked like he had come straight from a 10-year-old girl's slumber party.

Then, there was the song. Sanjaya picked a lyrically complicated song, which he proceeded to forget the words of. He even went against Stefani, who apparently aggressively lobbied to get Sanjaya to pick another song. She probably didn't want a No Doubt song ruined by Sanjaya, who one blogger I read recently named "The Destroyer of Popular Music."

But he persevered, and sang Bathwater. "It's a difficult song, but he chose to sing it, so good luck for him," Stefani said. After his truly ear-destroying performance, Simon said, "Look, Sanjaya, I don't think it matter anymore what we say. You're in your own universe. People like you. Good luck."

Now that Simon's written Sanjaya off for good, couldn't producers just have him perform while commercials were running or something? Ooops! Looks like we missed Sanjaya this week. (Cue collective sigh of relief.)

Hailey Scarnato sang the Cyndi Lauper song True Colors. I'm a big Lauper fan and I though Hailey did a nice job. She kept the song really quiet and tender, which works for her small but beautiful voice.

The judges weren't too thrilled though. "You didn't really grab me with it," Randy said. Paula was actually quite insightful when she said it was a nice performance, but it had an adult-contemporary bent to it. She thought Hailey should have made it younger. "It was sweet but forgettable," Simon said. "Too safe."

Phil Stacey also tackled Sting with Every Breath You Take (a Police song). It was a risky choice, I thought. Singing Sting well can't be easy. But Phil's voice worked well with the song. He even brought out a little bit of the performer in him, really connecting with the camera and even possibly crossing over into the Ace Young eye-humping with the gooey looks he was giving the camera.

"I actually kinda liked that dawg," Randy said.

"This may surprise you Phil," Simon said, "but I actually thought that was very good."

Melinda Doolittle sang the Donna Summers song Heaven Knows and knocked it out of the park. Again.

"You actually are living the words, not just singing the words," Randy said in praising her performance. Paula agreed. "You tell stories with your singing," she said. Simon nitpicked about Melinda's outfit (seriously? Dude, you only wear T-shirts) but said "vocally, you were outstanding."

Blake Lewis rocked the house singing Love Song by The Cure. He kept it very simple, no beatboxing or dancing, just a really great vocal performance.

Paula was jumping out of her chair, calling Blake the show's dark horse. "I'd love to see you in the finale," she said.

But Simon warned Blake from getting too comfortable. "You're in the Chris Daughtry zone where you're independent and you're making your own choices, but you've got to be careful that it doesn't become indulgent." I'm not too worried. Whenever Simon thought Daughtry was indulging last season, I enjoyed it. So I hope Blake keeps it up.

Jordin Sparks sang the No Doubt song Hey Baby. She did a good job, but she didn't do anything different with the song. Paula liked it, calling Jordin hip and young. But Simon called Jordin out for being a bit "copycat-ish." But he also said he'd give Jordin the most improved award.

Chris Richardson closed the show with No Doubt's Don't Speak. Stefani warned Chris from doing "vocal Olympics," saying that in past shows Chris has relied too heavily on runs, complicating songs where they should be sung more simply.

Randy said, "I liked your flavor." Paula said, "You're good Chris, really good." Simon said he liked the arrangement, but that it wasn't a great vocal.

So who's going to be sent home tonight? Since we all know Sanjaya is invincible, I think Chris Sligh is probably pretty vulnerable. He didn't perform well, and he was early in the show.

For the record, I voted for Gina and Blake.

Stay tuned...

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Submitted By: Robin Nolet

posted on 3/28/2007 @ 5:46:20 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Hey Annie! I always expect great things from Melinda and Kiki, but I was pleasantly surprised by Gina, Phil and Blake. I think they are actually taking advice to heart and it shows. As for Sanjaya, I don't think he's even listening to the stylists-from this point on, if he remains (which he's certain to for a little while more)he is in uncharted territory-with everyone else from his planet! Fun blog as usual! http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Arts-Entertainment/Music/Blog~285149.aspx

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Annie Hundley

Woodland Hills , CALIFORNIA

Annie Hundley has posted 65 blog entries and 19 comments since joining on 7/24/2006. Annie Hundley's average blog rating is 4.87.

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