Culling the Herd

So it was country night and while I know that Lady C and Mrs. C are probably still bleeding from the ears, I enjoyed last night/this morning. [Thank you, once again, TiVo for allowing me to view Idol in handy bite-sized pieces.]

Phil opened the show with WHERE THE BLACKTOP ENDS which I had never heard, but he sang with gusto and actually got praises from all the judges. I though he sounded great, but his affability is grating.

My first crying jag of the episode came from the nearly perfect Jordin singing BROKEN WING. I have vague knowledge of this song and I don't really know how the original sounds. But the Jordin version was beautiful. And she looked beautiful. And Simon told her that he could see her winning for the first time.

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT, indeed. Perhaps people will finally stop talking about Sanjaya. He was bland as milk toast - the most horribly bland food ever. If Simon would just come out and say, "Listen Sanjaya, you've been a great sport and you sing better than a lot of people, but it is your personality and your looks that have kept you in the contest but you just can't compare to the others here. Soon really talented people are going to be sent home before you and that is just wrong!" I would be happy.

Lakisha had me in tears with JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL because she is a shoe-in for the bottom three this week. The song sounded fine to me, but the judges found it pitchy and nobody wants to hear a big black woman sing about Jesus on Idol. I am fearing that she is going to be Mandisa'd tonight! She has a great voice, but she was the weakest girl by far tonight.

Chris sang MAYBERRY and the less said about him the better. Oh fine - if you insist... He is DEAD TO ME!!! The song was ridiculous - "things were better when things were slower and people weren't greedy and women knew their place and the races didn't mix and if your kids were sassy you could just slap them across the face..." There is huge difference to me in Phil's song which is also nostalgic for a simpler time without making huge stupid generalizations and Chris's which was just stupid. (And just to be clear, I LOVE Mayberry R.F.D. and Andy Griffith and Otis and the south and slow talking and friendliness. I just hate that song...) And then, if I may continue my rant - Chris's "the people at Virginia Tech are in my prayers" was completely misplaced. I absolutely feel for him, he is from the state and probably has friends there, but they should have had him say something at the beginning of the show or given all the Idols a chance to say something about it. I don't think it is the case, but there was a whiff of Phil's "I dedicate this song to those fighting terror"-ness that struck me as shilling for votes. And finally, "Nasally is a style of singing." is the funniest thing that I have heard all week. (Granted, it has been a slow week comedy -wise.) Perhaps on Planet Hillbilly, Christopher...

Finally we get to Melinda who made me so happy I may be in a good mood until lunchtime! She sang TROUBLE IS A WOMAN and she won my very heart. The song was fun and fast and she just sang it like she was born to sing it. And at the end Simon warned her that he was going to compliment her and that she should not lift her shoulders or scrunch up in any way and - my land, people - you could see her EXERTING EFFORT not to do it. I really think that her shyness is sincere. She had her face immobile with the strain of accepting the compliment. And then she let herself just smile and it was magical. (I admit I felt a tear well up...) In other news, the off-the-shoulder look worked great for her and her curved in hair gave her the illusion of a neck. Kudos to her stylist.

Blake sang a vaguely familiar song called WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE. In this song a woman dances in a wedding dress with wooden shoes. Is she Dutch? An accomplished woodworker? Miss Haversham? Who knows? The song was pretty and Blake sang fine. He has such a strange twist to his face when he is just singing regular. And he sounds very much like a late 80s English emo-precursor kind of singer. I imagine he does an excellent Morrisey impression.

I leave you with my predictions - bottom three should be Lakisha, Chris and Sanjaya. Going home should be Sanjaya. In reality Phil may just be gone.

Did I mention that I cried?

Brunie, OUT!