American Idol Talk: Every Little Thing

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I came home from work very late tonight and in an extremely cranky, frustrated mood. We have a database that seems to be doing its best to explode and not being an IT type, I have no idea why or how to fix it. By 8pm tonight, I no longer cared. I just wanted to come home, see G. and the pups, eat something and watch me some Idol. So the contestants and you will have to forgive me if I seem overly grouchy.

Tonight's guest mentor was Gwen Stefani, which I thought was an interesting choice since Gwen doesn't sing so much as chant her way through most songs. I wasn't really sure how much she could contribute to the kids' vocal education and thankfully, she didn't really try. She limited her comments to "stay on the beat and sing the melody" which would be good advice coming from anyone. Hey, maybe I could be a mentor! She did look awfully cute though. Oh, and the theme this evening was songs by Gwen Stefani and the singers/bands that inspired her. Otherwise known as "sing anything you want" night.

LaKisha - "Last Dance" (Donna Summer) - The last couple of weeks I've been less than over the moon for LaKisha's vocal performances. There's nothing wrong with them per se, it just feels like she has fallen into the predictability rut. She's got a great voice, but so do lots of people (outside of this competition) and she's doing nothing we haven't heard before. In her defense however, she really worked the song and the audience responded well. Note to LaKisha: Way to rock the outfit. Killer sexy dress and boots. You go, girl!

Chris S. - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (The Police) - Something felt just a little not right about this and I couldn't put my finger on what it was until the judges started commenting. Oddly, they were exactly right. Chris was about 1/4 of a note behind the band for most of the song. It was just off enough to make the whole song sound slightly weird. The vocals though, were great. This song was just exactly in his register.

Gina - "I'll Stand By You" (The Pretenders) - Very impressive. Very. She had great control, a pretty tone, and lots of emotion in her voice tonight. Her best performance so far, and the best of the night. Note to Gina: Keep the funky boots, lose the shiny, horizontally striped mini-dress. It made you look squarer (is that a word? no?) than you are.

Sanjaya - "Bathwater" (No Doubt) - What in the hell was that? I'm not even sure the teeny-boppers can forgive the train wreck that was Sanjaya this week. The horrible song wasn't that bad compared to the hugely out of tune vocal, the forgotten words or OH. MY. GOD. 7 ponytailed faux-hawk. It had to be seen to be believed and really, I wish I hadn't.

Haley - "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper) - She was a little pitchy in spots, but overall, it was a nice performance. She played with the melody a little but not enough to screw up the song. It wasn't exciting, but it wasn't bad either.
Phil - "Every Breath You Take" (The Police) - Phil really sounded great tonight. It was a little bit copycat, but the original is great and there really isn't a need to mess with it. Strong vocals and a solid performance. Note to Phil: I'm not sure which is better, crazy hat or not. No advice. I just had to say it.

Melinda - "Heaven Knows" (Donna Summer) - Surprisingly, I wasn't wild about her tonight. I mean I know she out sang everyone except possibly Gina, but I thought this song was a really safe choice for her and I would have liked her to sing something unexpected. Something NOT R&B or disco. Note to Melinda: Yeah for the color! Boo for the cut of the blouse. But keep trying. You'll get there.

Blake - "I Will Always Love You" (The Cure) - I though this was a little boring too. Wow, I must be cranky tonight because I never think Blake is boring! The vocal was simple and kinda sweet, but blah. I'm not familiar with this choice, was it the song?

Jordin - "Hey Baby" (No Doubt) - When they announced this song, I thought it was going to be great. Fun and peppy and adorable, just like Jordin. But I thought it fell really flat. It sounded as if she slowed it down just so she could keep up. And the beginning of the song was too low for her voice. I love her, but this just didn't work. Note to Jordin: When I come to raid your closet, I will not be taking this outfit. I can't imagine those proportions looking right on anyone.

Chris R. - "Don't Speak" (No Doubt) - This one's so obvious I can't even bring myself to make the joke. Flat, as usual. Nasal, as usual. Blech, as usual.

Bottom three: Sanjaya, Chris R. and Haley
Going home: Sanjaya (oh please, oh please, oh please....)