Live-blogging ‘American Idol’
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- May
- 15
I’m live-blogging tonight’s “American Idol” from the Mount Kisco newsroom while I await the results of three local school board elections and budget votes.
[8:00 p.m. EST] Serico in.
[8:06 p.m. EST] Thanks to a spotty satellite TV connection in the office, I was only able to catch about 30 seconds of Jordin Sparks’ first song, which Simon Cowell picked for her, but I did not recognize. What I heard sounded good, though, so good for her.
[8:08 p.m. EST] Oh, great. It’s my least favorite current TV commercial. If I ever talked that way to my parents as a kid, I wouldn’t even be allowed to SAY the word “phone,” let alone use one.
[8:10 p.m. EST] Paula Abdul asks Blake Lewis to bust out some “Roxanne,” by the Police. It’s a song by my favorite band and songwriter; turns out, Lewis is a fan of Sting, too. He does a solid job, without beatboxing. Simon’s not enamored, however.
[8:15 p.m. EST] Melinda Doolittle sings “I Believe in You and Me,” per Randy Jackson’s request. I have to say, while the technique is solid, the energy behind the performance is a little disappointing. Still, it’s the best vocal of the three.
[8:18 p.m. EST] The judges love it.
[8:24 p.m. EST] Sparks loves Hanson’s “MMMBop.” But she explains she’s only 17! That’s totally the first time I’ve heard that fact.
[8:27 p.m. EST] The judges love her rendition of “She Works Hard for the Money,” as evidenced by Abdul’s lame joke that played off the title. Cowell is amused (bemused?) by the joke, but digs Sparks’ vocal.
[8:29 p.m. EST] Doing his best Adam Levine impression (see: singing in his regular voice), Lewis offers his take on Maroon 5’s “This Love.”
[8:32 p.m. EST] The judges enjoy it; Cowell admits that it was “good” and prefers it over his rendition of “Roxanne.”
[8:35 p.m. EST] The “Idol” producers get to pick the last songs of the night. (What? What happened to songs picked by Clive “I pay to keep an Armonk section of Interstate 684 clean” Davis? I feel robbed.) For Doolittle, the producers pick a song called “Nutbush City Limits.” As ESPN’s Bill “Sports Guy” Simmons would say, “I don’t even have a joke here.”
[8:39 p.m. EST] Doolittle ROCKS OUT on it. Far better than “I Believe in You and Me.”
[8:43 p.m. EST] After a segment that shows Sparks signing a Walk of Fame-like star in a shopping mall where she grew up, she sings “I Who Have Nothing.”
[8:46 p.m. EST] Jackson and Abdul are all about it; Cowell said it was sung very well but didn’t appreciate that the 17-year-old (she’s 17?) was singing a 60-year-old song.
[8:48 p.m. EST] After getting props from fellow Washington state product and “Baby Got Back” crooner Sir Mix-A-Lot, Lewis sings Robin “Don’t Call Me Alan” Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone” and throws in a short-but-intricate vocal turntable riff at the end of the song.
[8:51 p.m. EST] Jackson thinks it’s “OK,” Abdul said the three songs together exemplify Lewis’ personality, and Cowell said he liked it and commended Lewis for the fun he was having on stage.
[8:54 p.m. EST] Doolittle sings a song about a “W-O-M-A-N” I’ve never heard before, but now really, really, really want to hear her sing again. Savvy move for the former back-up singer to stage it with the show’s back-up singers.
[8:57 p.m. EST] Judges eat it up. Cowell says she deserves a spot in the final if it were judged on being the show’s most consistent performer to deliver.
[8:59 p.m. EST] Recap montage. Regardless of who deserves to move on, I’ll predict that the final is Doolittle-Lewis, with the audience (read: producers) shocked—SHOCKED—at the results. That said, I genuinely like all three.
[9:00 p.m. EST] There you have it. Now, time for me to focus on trivial things, like local multimillion-dollar school budgets and elections.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 7:58 pm by Chris Serico.
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