In the final round of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, David Archuleta reigned supreme as the preferred finalist of all time, just like he has done in the past.
After trouncing his peers in the runner-up competition four weeks ago, Arch once again demolishes the field here, earning 745 of the 820 votes cast, or 90%. The only other contender who finished with a respectable total was Carrie Underwood, who had 58 votes (7%).
The fact that six finalists failed to receive a single vote says a lot about the people who voted to get them into the finale round.
To all of you who have cast votes in the champion series rounds over the past few months, thank you very much for your efforts!
Carrie Underwood 58 (7%)
David Archuleta 745 (90%)
Melinda Doolittle 1 (0%)
Chris Daughtry 13 (1%)
Brooke White 2 (0%)
Kellie Pickler 0 (0%)
Jennifer Hudson 1 (0%)
Michael Johns 0 (0%)
Ramiele Malubay 0 (0%)
Chikezie Eze 0 (0%)
Alexis Grace 0 (0%)
David Hernandez 0 (0%)
Total votes: 820
Showing posts with label alexis grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alexis grace. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Poll of the week: Arch still favorite contestant in 'Idol' history
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Poll of the week: Alexis Grace emerges as favorite 11th-place finalist
It was Season 8's Alexis Grace's turn to shine in in IDOL LIVE's 2010 edition of the poll of the week champion series. This past week found readers voting for their favorite 10th-place finalists, and Alexis came out on top.
Pulling in nine votes, Alexis scored 56% of all 16 votes casted. No one else was able to come close, as Paige Miles of Season 9 and Amanda Overmyer of Season 7 tied for second with two votes (12%).
Alexis's win will send her through to the final round of the champion series, which we will revisit once all other placements are decided. In the next round, readers will be asked which 10th-place finalist is their favorite of all nine seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Charles Grigsby 0 (0%)
Matt Rogers 1 (6%)
Mikalah Gordon 0 (0%)
Kevin Covais 1 (6%)
Stephanie Edwards 1 (6%)
Amanda Overmyer 2 (12%)
Alexis Grace 9 (56%)
Paige Miles 2 (12%)
Total votes: 16
Friday, August 28, 2009
'Idol' odds 'n ends: Kris Allen sets a date - Nov. 17
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>After weeks of speculation about the exact release date of Kris Allen's debut album, it has finally been confirmed via the Season 8 champ himself that the yet-to-be titled album will hit stores and digital retailers on Tues., Nov. 17. Courtesy of Kris' official Twitter account:
KrisAllen4Real Hey guys! The album is set to release Nov 17th. about 16 hours ago from TwitterFonThe good news for Kris is that this date is ideal considering its proximity to Thanksgiving, and thus, "Black Friday," but the bad news is he will have plenty of competition unless some artists shift their album release schedules. Other albums set to drop on the date include Leona Lewis' Echo plus albums from John Mayer and Norah Jones and, although not nearly as much of a threat, Jason Castro's debut on Atlantic Records is due out that day.
>Taking a break from co-headlining a tour with the Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks joined Britney Spears' "Circus Tour" on Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. Watch her perform "Battlefield" below from the Tues., Aug. 25 show:
Jordin will re-join Britney's tour tomorrow in Boston, Mass., following a performance set with the JoBros at their Cleveland, Ohio stop yesterday.
>David Archuleta (or more likely, someone from Jive) blogged about his forthcoming Christmas release for the first time on his official music MySpace page, as he posted the following on Wednesday:
David's Christmas album 'Christmas From The Heart' is now available for pre-order only @ amazon.com. Click HERE to order yours today! The album will be released on October 13, 2009!
As stated above, the album can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $9.99 and will be out Tues., Oct. 13.
>Another runner-up, Blake Lewis, has been in the news for more than his album cover and track list this week. Brian Mansfield of USAToday.com's "Idol Chatter" blog reported the sixth season's runner-up is in tax trouble. Per the blog post:
The Detroit News' Tax Watchdog blog reports that the Internal Revenue Service filed a lien against Blake for nearly $125,000 in July.The post goes on to say a spokesman for Blake has denied he is in any hot water and that the taxes have been paid, but there is no evidence that a lien release has been filed. Sit back, this could get interesting.
>The first official auditions preview premiered on AmericanIdol.com, which is hosted by Season 8 11th-place finalist Alexis Grace via TV Guide Network. Watch the video below:
If this is the best Idol can do to start getting people excited for Season 9 (minus all the Paula press and celebrity guest judges), then things do not look too promising.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Poll of the week: Amanda tops Alexis in battle of the 11th placers
In the second installment of the second annual IDOL LIVE poll of the week champion series, Season 7 once again came out on top of Season 8 when Amanda Overmyer scored 30 (35%) votes over Alexis Grace's 20 votes (23%).
The results do come as somewhat of a surprise, as Alexis was considered to be one of the finalists that should have made it farther in the competition than she did. Although there was not much additional competition, Charles Grigsby of Season 2 garnered an impressive 15 votes, or 17% of the total take of 84 votes.
In the next installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week champion series, readers are asked which 10th-place finalist is their favorite of all eight seasons. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Charles Grigsby 15 (17%)
Matt Rogers 9 (10%)
Mikalah Gordon 3 (3%)
Kevin Covais 3 (3%)
Stephanie Edwards 4 (4%)
Amanda Overmyer 30 (35%)
Alexis Grace 20 (23%)
Total votes: 84
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Poll of the week: Kris ekes out a bonus win
Although it does not compare to his big win earlier tonight, Kris Allen was also victorious in the final installment of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week series for the eighth season of Idol. Kris scored 171 votes of the 328 total cast, good for 52% of the take. Adam was right behind him with 157 votes (47%).
Below are this week's results and the cumulative results for the entire season.
Adam 157 (47%)
Kris 171 (52%)
Total votes: 328
Total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Lil Rounds (5 votes)
10th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
09th - Michael Sarver (8 votes)
08th - Scott MacIntyre (17 votes)
07th - Megan Joy Corkrey (48 votes)
06th - Matt Giraud (51 votes)
05th - Anoop Desai (99 votes)
04th - Allison Iraheta (102 votes)
03rd - Danny Gokey (248 votes)
02nd - Kris Allen (691 votes)
01st - Adam Lambert (852 votes)
So there you have it. Adam actually beat out Kris for the poll of the week series, but then again this is just a silly poll. Still, Adam's fans should be commended for voting as much as they did over the course of the season, and the rest of the finalists' fans did a pretty good job overall with their voting.
In this week's poll of the week, we begin our IDOL LIVE poll of the week champion series edition in which readers are asked to vote for their favorite Top 12/13 finalist of all time. Voting will last exactly one week.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
IDOL LIVE Blog: Top 10 Results (3/26/09)
Tonight we blog during the Top 10 results show when one finalist becomes the latest casualty of the eighth season of Idol. Performers on tonight's show include a duet with Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone in addition to a performance by Ruben Studdard and a Motown medley from Stevie Wonder. The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last one hour.
Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Diana DeGarmo, Melinda Doolittle, Alexis Grace, Sundance Head and Taylor Hicks.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Alexis performs on 'Ellen'
Alexis Grace continued her post-Idol press tour today when she paid Ellen Degeneres a visit on her syndicated daytime talk show program Ellen. On the show, Alexis sat down with Ellen to discuss what might have gone wrong last week that was responsible for ending her journey.
Alexis said she is happier with her post-Idol look than the one she had when she auditioned, and even cracked a few jokes about her "dirtying up" task as handed down to her by the judges. She also performed "Never Loved a Man" for the studio audience, which will be posted here as soon as it is uploaded.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Analysis: Little Alexis faces big nerves in her exit performance
Last night's elimination episode was all about Carrie Underwood, which was probably a good thing because the results were really dull. Carrie's performance of her latest single "I Told You So" as a duet with the song's original owner, Randy Travis, was the highlight of the night. Despite the creepy feeling one gets when seeing a man twice Carrie's age sing a love song with her, the performance was one of the purest vocal showcases Carrie has ever done on the show. But obviously the Carrie of today dwarfs her 2005 counterpart before she was given the crown.
Aside from this, the night was empty of surprises, except for the fact that DialIdol was right about Alexis going home and Allison joining her in the Bottom 3. The Ford video was a little more exciting than usual, but Ryan's failed water balloon lob at Simon was unnecessary (if it even happened). Someone should find the unlucky audience member that was allegedly pegged by the errant throw. The new feature of showing the aftermath of eliminations was a nice addition but if that is what we were waiting for the "reality portions" of the show that were being hyped up, that's really sad.
Brad Paisley's performance was boring but he sounded good, while the lip-synched group performance was pointless. It will be interesting to see how Scott handles the tour considering all he seems to do is sit at the piano. If the tour is anything like it was last year, though, he should be all set because he won't have to participate in the usual group extravaganzas.
One of the only touching moments of last night's elimination round was Michael's teary story about his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter asking him why he doesn't want to live with them (Michael's family) anymore. That got the audience to put some effort into showing emotion, which is more than can be said about its reaction to Alexis' singing for her life.
Alexis is a sweet girl, but her nerves got the best of her during her performance last night (and understandably so). This whole judges' immunity thing is really weighing the suspense factor down, as we all knew Simon was merely toying with Alexis' hopes when he said they were considering using the save on her. While she was performing her heart out, the judges were probably plotting where they would go for dinner later on while in their huddle.
Still, Alexis had nothing but respect for the judges and their decision and, in keeping with her last name, was very gracious after hearing the news, saying "things happen for a reason." With Alexis gone, that leaves just three girls left in the competition, and by the looks of things, we could be down to just one female competitor by Top 6 or earlier. Season 3, anyone?
One of the more memorable moments of last night was when Simon told Ryan that he would not take back his "indulgent rubbish" critique, rather stating that Adam's performance was much worse than he originaly thought when he watched it back, which prompted the strongest response from the audience of the night.
As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, this week was another not so good one. For my original predictions I had Jasmine going home last night, and obviously she went home last week so that was just not going to happen anyway. That makes me 0-3 for my original predictions. As for my pre-results show predix, I had the right Bottom 3, but Alexis went home instead of her Bottom 2 mate, Michael. That makes me 0-3 in that bracket, but to be fair, we never really got a straight answer on who went in what order last week, so for all I know I could be 2-3. Oh well, until official word surfaces i will not give myself the benefit of the doubt.
Looking ahead to next Wednesday (Thanks a lot, President Obama), expect some predictable song choices and a whole lot of copycat performances. In other words, see Season 3's Top 10 night.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Poll of the week: Kris-crosses Danny for the week
In IDOL LIVE"s poll of the week series for the Top 11 we had a new champ. Kris was able to steal Danny's thunder, scoring 40 votes (22%) to Danny's 38 votes (21%). Danny is still ahead overall, but not by much.
Adam placed third for the second week in a row, only this time his 31 votes (17%) were way ahead of Megan's 11 votes (6%). As for Alexis, it is easy to see why she left based on the amount of fanfare she has been generating among IDOL LIVE readers. Alexis only scored four votes this week (2%), amounting to six votes in all.
In this week's poll of the week, readers are asked to vote for their Top 10 favorite finalist. You will have exactly eight days to vote.
Kris Allen 40 (22%)
Megan Corkrey 11 (6%)
Anoop Desai 21 (11%)
Matt Giraud 6 (3%)
Danny Gokey 38 (21%)
Alexis Grace 4 (2%)
Allison Iraheta 13 (7%)
Adam Lambert 31 (17%)
Scott MacIntyre 4 (2%)
Lil Rounds 4 (2%)
Michael Sarver 6 (3%)
Total votes: 178
Running total for Season 8:
13th - Jorge Nunez (1 vote)
12th - Jasmine Murray (4 votes)
11th - Alexis Grace (6 votes)
10th - Michael Sarver (7 vote)
09th - Lil Rounds (8 votes)
08th - Matt Giraud (10 votes)
06th - Scott MacIntyre (10 votes)
07th - Allison Iraheta (19 votes)
04th - Megan Corkrey (32 votes)
05th - Anoop Desai (41 votes)
03rd - Adam Lambert (52 votes)
02nd - Kris Allen (66 votes)
01st - Danny Gokey (75 votes)
IDOL LIVE predix: Top 11 Results
Grand Ole Opry night has come and gone, but the perforamnces first seen during the spectacle have left a lasting impression (not all of them good). Regardless of what happened onstage last night, tonight's elimination will be more about who does not have a shot at winning this whole thing and would be better served exiting now than it is about which finalist delivered the worst performance.
With that said, read my predictions for how tonight will go below:
Here is how tonight will go:
Bottom 3
>Allison, Alexis, Michael
Bottom 2
>Alexis, Michael
Eliminated
>Michael
Even though DialIdol has Michael in the clear (and above Scott), it will not be right this week. That does not mean Alexis will escape tonight unscathed, as her Idol hopes will be hanging by a thread. She will be granted one more shot at making an impression on America and will merely be a member of the bottom 2.
Allison will make an appearance as a wake up call of sorts to her fanbase, prompting it to vote even harder next week to ensure she sticks around a little bit longer. But Alexis being in the bottom 2 would be a little more believable than Allison in the tricky situation.
Michael is an easy option to send home this week. He gave a lackluster performance, received lukewarm comments and was left forgettable after an onslaught of generally more highly-praised performances. This will be a carbon copy of Season 3's Top 11 results show, when Matt Rogers was sent home. If Michael does not leave now, he will lag along until mid-season, knocking out a few front runners while he's at it.
Even though it may not matter in the end because there are only three "front runners" in total, the producers don't want to send any red flags this early in the season. And losing two girls in two weeks would leave the male/female ratio at 7/3 for the Top 10, which would be the reverse of Season 3, and we all know that cannot (and should not) happen again.
My original predictions for the 11th-place finisher was Jasmine, but we all know how that turned out. Still, Michael was my prediction to go home 12th, so him leaving 11th would not be that far off. Needless to say, the judges would never in a million years waste the immunity privilege on him.
About last night: Weird arrangements and nice surprises on GOO night
With such low expectations put in place for Grand Ole Opry night, it was hard for anything to come off seeming awful last night. That's not to say that there weren't a few near misses, though.
In what can only be described as a weird assortment of attempts at doing country music right, Matt, who took a major risk by singing a Carrie Underwood song (something no one on this show should ever do), led the 10 others with the best offering from the bunch. What helped Matt out was the stripping down of "So Small" so that it was just his soulful vocals, the piano and the song's inspirational lyrics that left an impression on the judges. Paula standing up, rocking to the song mid-performance was a head-scratcher, though (as was Simon's covering of Paula's mouth before Matt's pre-performance package was shown).
A note to Simon, though: Matt is nothing like Michael Buble. I can see the Justin Timberfake comparisons as well as the Jason Mraz ones, but I could never picture Matt singing the standards. It just wouldn't work. So no more "Matt Buble," please.
Following right behind Matt in terms of solid performances was Anoop. The positive feedback he received from the judges for his tackling of Willie Nelson's "You Were Always On My Mind" was definitely warranted and proved why he is still around after last week's disastrous performance. His smooth R&B vocals glided over the subtle string accompaniment, something that had not happened with the 'noop dawg until now.
There were again a few overrated performances, as Megan's hokey "Walkin' After Midnight" (in between coughs) was just barely listenable at best. Yes, it is true that Megan has the flu, as Paula pointed out so viciously, but that happens in real life. And this is supposed to be sort of like real life...so she might as well get used to it, suck it up and go on with the show. And Kara needs to stop with her lovefest over Megan. It's getting old really fast.
Michael and Scott were probably tied for weakest performance of the night, but Scott at least injected humor into his delivery ("we could always move the piano closer!") despite his snooze-a-thon on Martina McBride's "Wild Angels." Michael was just...there...and even though Garth Brooks was probably the perfect match for him this week, he just does not belong singing the genre.
Simon's spat with Paula during Scott's critiques was one of the highlights of last night, as Simon was 100% right about leaving Scott alone for using the piano two weeks in a row. Paula's "crutch" comment came off as being really low and tasteless, and made her look like a bigger buffoon than usual.
But the biggest WTF moment of last night was undoubtedly Adam's overtly-campy take on the Johnny Cash classic "Ring of Fire." The middle eastern citar-tastic arrangement mixed with his gross sultry/screechy vocals was something out of an 1930s eastern European freak show, and even Kara had trouble spitting out words to describe it. Simon was right on the mark when he called it "indulgent," and Randy needs to get his ears checked if he thinks that's what Trent Reznor would sound like doing country. Don't get me wrong, though, it was mesmerizing and was the biggest spectacle of the night. The showing continues to support the idea that Adam is without a doubt a great performer. He's just not Idol material.
Alexis and Allison were both forgettable last night, with the former's "Jolene" being a far cry from Brooke White's rendition last season and the latter's "Blame It On Your Heart" was a good vocal showcase but the performance itself was lackluster. Look for the two girls to be in the danger zone tonight.
Believe it or not, Danny was one of the more overrated finalists last night. His rendition of Carrie Underwood's untouchable "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was good to a point, but seemed a little disorganized. Even though Kara's comment about wishing he had done more of the second half than the boring first half was dimwitted, so was Paula's comment about Carrie wanting to rush out and buy his version of the song. Randy probably made the most sense with his critique for once.
If there's one thing Kris showed last night, it was the notion that consistency is key to lengthening your stay on this show. Even with his guitar taking the night off he was able to show that song choice can make or break how one fares, as he picked a perfect choice of "To Make You Feel My Love." If Kris can keep this up, he might just be the dark horse in the competition.
And then there was Lil, falling far from her high and mighty perch last week. By picking "Independence Day," Lil was thinking in the right direction despite Randy's suggestion that she should have gone for the predictable "I Will Always Love You" or "How Do I Live." So she scores points for trying something new. She loses them for failing to deliver a convincing effort.
After all the surprises and weirdness of last night, it would be hard to see anyone other than Michael, Scott or Alexis leaving tonight. Look for my predictions later on this morning. In the mean time, who do you think is on their way out tonight?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Final Four already picked?
Every year there's clammoring that Idol is "rigged," "predetermined," "fixed," "set-up," etc., and these complaints are usually a side effect of a fan favorite being sent packing. This season, it seems like the rumblings are coming early - try Top 11 week early - and the source? An alleged Idol staffer.
In today's New York Daily News, "Gatecrasher" columnists Laura Schreffler and Sean Evans wrote about some unnamed staffer that has been going around telling everyone that Danny, Adam, Alexis and Lil are this season's Top 4 contestants and the producers are already planning for the scenario. Schreffler and Evans wrote:
If it was just her prediction, she’d be spot-on with this week’s TV Guide, which also chose those exact four wanna-be crooners as its picks for stardom.
But the lass took it a step further, claiming that higher-ups at the hit Fox show were taking an issue with two of the top contenders.
“Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds are better singers and musicians than Gokey and Grace, but they’re too much like past winners and ‘A’ successes,” the woman said. “Adam’s too close in style and sound to Chris Daughtry, while Lil Rounds is a dead ringer for Fantasia. Even their background stories are similar!
“The producers really want it to be Danny or Alexis. They think they’re very commercially viable, have a good image and a great story.”
Whoa, Adam is just like Chris Daughtry!? I don't think so. And Lil is the spitting image of Fantasia? Maybe in the appearance department, but Lil's vocals are leagues different than Fanny's (and by "different" I mean "better").
Only time will tell if this unnamed staffer is on to something or if she is just pulling everyone's chain. But that is IDOL LIVE's original Top 4 predicition with the exception of Alexis (Anoop will be in there instead), so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to believe it.
Monday, March 9, 2009
IDOL LIVE predix: How the Top 13 will place (and who will win)
After correctly predicting eight out of 13 finalists from the Top 36 before any of them took the stage for America to make its judgments and predicting 10 of 13 for the finalists after each group of finalists performed, including Thursday's wild card.
Now it's time to get down to business, as the much trickier task of pegging how each finalist will finish in the Idol horse race must be performed. There are a few good possibilities to consider in making this forecast, but one wrong placing and the whole prediction could be derailed.
After giving the scenarios careful thought, you can read my predictions below.
The Top 13 of American Idol: Season 8 (ordered by predicted place of elimination)
13th-place finalist:
>Megan Corkrey
Megan (is her last name now Joy?) has all the makings of a Melissa McGhee run on Idol. She gets into the Top 13 by a hair on a less than stellar performance (at the hands of the judges, mind you) and she has a unique voice that is pretty polarizing. Couple these facts with handing Megan the tough task of tackling the music of Michael Jackson this week and we have a carbon copy of Melissa's elimination in Season 5.
12th-place finalist:
>Michael Sarver
Assuming this week is a double elimination to get the show back on schedule (unless they're gunning for a dreaful Top 3 finale this time around), this should be the last time we hear from Michael until the finale. Michael is one of those finalists that would not have made the Top 13 had he been placed in a more competitive group, or maybe if he had been just placed in one of the two later groups. He is unfortunately stuck in the finals now, and will be handed a heavy amount of criticism until he is sent packing. Michael's a nice oil rigger, but he's not right for this show. If this week does not see two contestants being given their plane tickets home, expect to see a departure next Wednesday.
11th-place finalist:
>Jasmine Murray
Another wild card pick that many could not explain, Jasmine will skate by the first week or two thanks to the fact that there are weaker competitors, but her time will run up quick because she just does not have the likability factor that many others have. Not to mention she's not nearly the best vocalist, and that fact will remain the same no matter how many times Kara uses the c-word (commercial) to describe her.
10th-place finalist
>Jorge Nunez
Thanks to a surprisingly strong performance Jorge was able to secure a spot in the Top 13 over more probable (and more deserving) contestants, which is a great testament to his ability to connect with audiences. That said, now that he has got the go-ahead to bring his accent back, Jorge's singing will be affected (whether or not this is a positive thing is up to the voting public). Not to mention Grand Ole Opry week is going to be a mess for him.
9th-place finalist:
>Kris Allen
Kris has a lot of things going for him. Ask the girls and they'll most likely say they like him for his looks (or they'll do a good job trying to deny that's the real reason they like him), he gave a great performance in the semifinals and has been able to overcome the tough task of impacting audiences after little to no air time before reaching the Top 36. The one thing going against him, however, is that he's on a battlefield with stronger performers, which will allow him to go only so far. It is entirely possible that Kris could be a dark horse and make it farther, but I wouldn't bet on it. Still, a ninth-place finish is nothing to sneeze at.
8th-place finalist:
>Alexis Grace
Alexis is caught between a rock and a hard place. She came out strong amid an extremely weak group of girls and made it through in the same way Michael did, whereas if she had been in any other group she probably would not have advanced. She has a nice soulful voice but lacks universal appeal, and could be described as very forgettable. Unless she can muster a showstopper that could elevate her stature for a few more weeks, she will exit the show in eighth place.
7th-place finalist:
>Matt Giraud
Despite Simon's comments about his outfit last Thursday, Matt appeals to the core demographic of this show. He has a style similar to Elliott Yamin's and proved that he can play a mean piano back in Hollywood when he sang "Georgia" by Ray Charles. This will only give him a leg up on other finalists, but it will not be enough to send him past seventh place. Matt will begin to be seen as bland and will suffer from lukewarm critiques from the judges with the exception of Simon, who will lay it on him the second he goes off key.
6th-place finalist:
>Scott MacIntyre
Scott is a really nice guy with an average voice. He is not winning material, and will cause a lot of controversy by making it further than some of the "stronger" vocalists (Kris, Matt). Although it is not fair to compare him to Season 3's John Stevens, Scott will see a similar run, eating up the granny vote and delivering a lot of slow ballads week after week. Still, Scott's ability to finally show off his piano skills onstage will bring a different weapon to his arsenal, which should be enough to propel him into the upper half of the Top 13.
5th-place finalist:
>Allison Iraheta
Allison is different. She's young. And she's got a lot of spunk. These three characteristics alone will be enough to launch her through the first half of the finals. Once things get down to business, though, her distinct vocals will begin to wear and tear after being subjected to "Olivia Newton John week" or "Reggaeton week" (not real themes, just wild guesses) and she will be seen as a two- to three-trick pony. It always helps to have Miley Cyrus' endorsement, but unless Miley sends MySpace bulletins to her fans reminding them to vote for Allison, it probably won't matter much past the Top 5. She will make a name for herself while on the show, but things will come to a close at this point.
4th-place finalist:
>Anoop Desai
Anoop is the one wild card pick that will stand the test of time, making it into the coveted Top 4 thanks to a combination of his soulful vocals and personality (and maybe just because it's fun to hear Ryan and the judges say his name, dog). Despite this, he is really not the stuff winners are made of, and so things will catch up with him when he's left standing next to three performers that are out of his league. Still, this is an excellent showing for a geeky guy from Chapel Hill, and he will take away a lot from his experience, whether or not he decides to pursue music as a career.
3rd-place finalist:
>Adam Lambert
One word that describes Adam quite well is "unique." That is usually a good trait to have when competing on this show, but in his case he is just too unique to win the whole shebang. Adam will deliver spectacles through his performances on a weekly basis, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, he will not win over enough of the voting public because of his counterculture status. He still should have a successful career on Broadway when all is said and done.
Runner-up:
>Lil Rounds
The much hyped, much talked about Lil would win this show if it were Season 3 or maybe even Season 6, but she can't win Season 8. As already stated by the judges and co., a guy will take the title this season. That rules Lil out, no matter how poised and how consistent she may be. It will still be an exciting finale with her in it, and the judges will love it because they love her. Besides, the finales are always a little more interesting when there are two members of the opposite sex competing against each other. The only thing that could ruin this finale, though, would be if a Top 3 finale was installed to make up for choosing a baker's dozen to represent the finalists, and in that case Lil would have even less of a chance to win it.
Winner:
>Danny Gokey
And then we're left with Danny Gokey. If he can weather the ridiculous "using his dead wife to advance" complaint that's being sloshed around the net at the moment, he will surely fit the bill of an Idol winner. Who can't picture Danny on the stage at the Kodak/Nokia singing an ultra cheesy power ballad with multicolored confetti showering down on a screaming audience? Things that will help Danny make it to this point are overpraise from judges, his knack for choosing the right song and great vocals. Not to mention all the other finalists seem to be saying great things about him as a person. If he does not win, it would not be the biggest surprise, but it really does seem like this is the year of the Gokey, whether we like it or not.
And there we have it. Each week I will compare my original predictions with how things turn out in reality in addition to making revised predictions depending on the circumstances each week. Hopefully things go better than my Top 12 and Top 36 predictions. (Photos courtesy of AmericanIdol.com).
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Analysis: Boring results show brings no surprises
And just like that, Group 1 of the Top 36 is no more. Kind of disappointing, isn't it? Unlike the past four seasons, this is the last we will see of most of the semifinalists that performed on Tuesday, save for the three that automatically advanced last night and of course whichever ones are lucky enough to be called back to perform as potential wildcard choices. With that in mind, is it safe to say that the Top 12 of Season 8 is off to a bang?
I think not.
Although Alexis Grace definitely was the strongest vocalist on Tuesday, she is lacking in star quality, which is something someone like Ann Marie Boskovich exuded. It's too bad that one performance pretty much dictates whether or not a contestant will advance the way this format is set up, whereas in years past all it took was for there to be two contestants that were worse than someone else for that person to stick around to try and improve their chances.
As for the way Ryan handled the reading of the results, it was very shoddy and disorganized. Really, Ryan, did anyone honestly think Danny didn't have the most votes of all 12 from that group? Did you not think it might be more exciting to announced Danny first, then announce Alexis and hold out on leaving it between Michael Sarver, Anoop Desai and Tatiana del Toro for the third ticket to the Top 12? Maybe it's just me, but I think that would have been much more watchable.
And people are complaining about Danny being insensitive to Tatiana right before the results were read. Honestly, what's he supposed to do, stand there and pretend to be nervous? Anyone who has been following this season from the beginning (or anyone with a computer) knew it was his for the taking, and so did he. On the contrary, however, the judges better yield on their incessant praise over him, because it could end up hurting him down the road (I mean you, Kara). At least Simon is there to hold down the fort.
On the positive side, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson sounded as good as always on their duet of "The Letter," even though I feel like I've seen that before. Hopefully there are more of those nice surprises than there are with the results, because if not, we're in for a long season.
As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, we're 2-3 in both the semifinals and the Top 12. Hopefully next week is more kind.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Poll of the week: Danny is top pick from Group 1
Danny Gokey has a lot to celebrate tonight. Not only did he make the Top 12 for the eighth season, but he was voted as IDOL LIVE's readers' favorite semifinalist from Group 1 of the Top 36.
He received 60 votes out of a total of 140, which was a whopping 42%. Anoop Desai was next, as he scored 27 votes (19%), and Ann Marie Boskovich was further behind with 17 votes (12%).
Tatiana del Toro was the only other semifinalist from the group to garner more than 10 votes, as she picked up 11 (7%).
In this week's poll of the week, IDOL LIVE readers are asked to choose their favorite semifinalist from Group 2. You will have exactly one week to vote.
Ann Marie Boskovich 17 (12%)
Ricky Braddy 5 (3%)
Casey Carlson 3 (2%)
Anoop Desai 27 (19%)
Stephen Fowler 0 (0%)
Danny Gokey 60 (42%)
Alexis Grace 4 (2%)
Brent Keith Smith 1 (0%)
Michael Sarver 5 (3%)
Jackie Tohn 5 (3%)
Tatiana del Toro 11 (7%)
Stevie Wright 2 (1%)
Total votes: 140
IDOL LIVE predix: Group 1 of Top 36
Only three will advance, and after last night's horrendous outing it could be argued that only one should be allowed to make the Top 12, with the other two being drawn from the latter two groups. But regardless of how things should work out in an ideal world, reality sets in and shows that there is really only one scenario that will play out tonight.
Read my predictions below.
The three lucky Top 12 members are:
>Danny Gokey
>Alexis Grace
>Anoop Desai
First of all, Danny is leaps and bounds ahead of his competition already, so singing last night was just a formality for him to get into the Top 12. He was not only the top male vote getter, he was the top vote getter period.
Alexis was the best of the worst among the girls last night, and that is the only reason she will make it in over an early favorite like Ann Marie Boskovich or Casey Carlson. They will try to make it interesting by placing Alexis and Tatiana del Toro side by side to make it more dramatic, but ultimately the spot belongs to Alexis.
As for the third spot out of Group 1, it has to be Anoop. Even though the judges gave him lukewarm praise last night, he has two things that do wonders for contestants on this show: 1) the likability factor and 2) a cool name. Michael Sarver is the only other semifinalist that could give him a run for his money, but I'm willing to bet he will be saved for the wildcard.
And there you have it, my predictions for tonight. They will probably be all wrong but at least I'm brave enough to take a stab at it and put my money where my mouth is.
About last night: Will the real Tatiana please stand up?
So there's no way to get around the fact that this was an extremely odd night. Not only was Group 1 supposed to be the best of the three groups, but it was supposed to be the best by a mile. There were so many promising semifinalists, and yet we were left with Tatiana being one of the best of the night. Yes, that Tatiana del Toro.
Jackie Tohn led off the night with a vocally rough but spunky performance of "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley, which showed she was more interested in appealing to voters than she was impressing the judges, but she still earned somewhat alright reviews. she might not make the Top 12, but at least she had fun.
Another "fun" performance came from Brent Keith, as his vocals were perfect for the kind of "hick" song he did (in spite of the intro package mishap), and he was able to smile some in an effort to make it believable. But most of the night was full of boring performances, as underwhelming performances from Stephen Fowler and Ann Marie Boskovich failed to excite anyone.
Anoop Desai's take on Monica's "Angel of Mine" was a pleasant surprise, even though Simon wasn't all that impressed. Besides the performance, Anoop showed he could carry himself as a class act when he handled Simon's rude questions without even raising a (bushy) eyebrow.
There were two main trainwrecks tonight, as Stevie Wright killed Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" relatively easily, while Casey Carlson's gender-swapping "Every Little Thing [S]he Does Is Magic" bombed faster than the audience could turn its heads away from her winking and facial expressions.
The night's lone showstopper was Danny Gokey, whose rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero" was an interesting choice and beckoned back to David Cook's take on the aforementioned's "Always Be My Baby." He dealt with the over-pimpage from the first three judges fairly well, but Simon was thankfully there to bring things down to earth. And what was up with the random shot of Jamar in the audience? Talk about the producers trying to play with the audience's emotions.
Alexis Grace and Tatiana (color me surprised) were also bright spots of the night, as Tatiana left her drama queen alter ego for the less exciting robot she brought tonight. And Michael Sarver wasn't good but he was better than most, and apparently the judges really are pulling for him despite his lackluster performance of "I Don't Wanna Be."
As for who will be advancing out of this group, it seems that Danny is the sure bet, while Tatiana will duke it out with Alexis for the top female vote-getter, and then either Michael or Anoop will take the next highest vote recipient. Look for official IDOL LIVE predictions later on today.
As for what to do now, we recommend looking ahead to next week as fast as possible. Like, start now.
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