A Star Is Booted.

On the second-to-last night of competition, one singer dazzled, one rejuvinated themselves, and one disappointed.If any episode confirmed it, this season is dastardly banal compared to last year's Top 3. Then again, last year contained the spectacle of Katharine McPhee's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", Elliott Yamin's crooning groove/swan song, and Taylor Hicks's all-around spastic splendor. How could anything compare? Well, one came close....

(Note: The first song is an individual judges' choice, specifically indicated for each in the second paragraph. The second is the prodcuers' pick. And the third is a personal selection, possibly previously sang.)

Jordin Sparks:
01a. "Wish Upon A Star" - B
01b. "She Works Hard For The Money" - C-
01c. "I Who Have Nothing" - A-
Blake Lewis:
02a. "Roxanne" - C
02b. "This Love" - A
02c. "When I Get You Alone" - B+
Melinda Doolittle:
03a. "I Believe In You And Me" - A+
03b. "Nutbush, City Limits" - A-
03c. "I'm A W.O.M.A.N." - B+


Jordin seemed to disappoint with her first song, at least in the eyes of Simon Cowell. Ironically, the cranky wanker chose it for her. I actually felt it was a fun, amiable effort, though I do agree with him that "the original version was fine the way it was". The same, however, can't be said for her second performance, a tawdry bore. How the judges enjoyed it I'll never understand. And even though I was annoyed she repeated an earlier performance for her personal choice, the third song was easily her best. Meanwhile, Blake had a rough start, thanks to the abysmal song selections of Paula Abdul. But he bounced back with his spectacular second performance, easily one of his overall best of the night. And for his personal choice, he delivered another solid rendition. But neither came close to the brilliance of Melinda, who had tonight in the palm of her hand. Given a WHITNEY HOUSTON SONG by Randy Jackson (hehe, Johnson), I was on edge from the moment she stepped on stage. She had the biggest challenge--and the best result. She nailed it 100% and made it the best performance of the night. She followed-up with a fun producers' choice (even though the redundant lyrics were hardly worth making a fuss over), which she also hit out of the park. And even though her third song was also a repeat cop-out, but still terrific, she solidified herself as the indubitable best of this entire season.


Shockingly thought, that didn't matter. I don't know whether I should blame complacency (regarding Melinda's assumed "frontrunner status" and people assuming everyone's already voting for her, so let's vote for the other person we want to see in the finale) or voter dementia (i.e. take a plunge off the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, a la Saturday Night Fever). Either way, this was her swan song. But hey, it's better to go out with a bang than a whimper, and she left like a nuclear explosion of godliness. What I love most about her though is how well she accepted her fate when Ryan Seacrest announced those dreaded words. Because I think we all know this won't be the real end of her journey. It's just beginning. This is the dugout. I do wish she had chosen from a number of more standout performances, or in the past-weeks brought more of an A-game to the stage. It would've been a knockout closing number, had she sang "Home, "I Got Rhythm", "Trouble Is A Woman", "My Funny Valentine", "Since You've Been Gone", or even "For Once In My Life", the audition song that landed her on the show in the first place. Or maybe this would've all worked out better, had Jordin been turned away at Seattle (in addition to Los Angeles) and the deserving Sabrina Sloan or even fucking alienoid Antonella Barba being the 6th girl (thus allowing the underappreciated Stephanie Edwards to be part of the Top 10 AI Tour). But alas, she's probably better off anyway without the shackles-of-restraint from the naziducers. She's going to go places, just wait. Perhaps she'll win an Oscar for acting (AND SINGING) as Tina Turner/Aretha Franklin and/or composing an original song. Or, of course, the more likely scenario would be her winning a Grammy with an enrapturing modern jazz number--who knows? Either way: LONG LIVE MINDY-DOO!