AI Twitter Scoreboard

Since this year the geniuses of "American Idol" have decided to give each of their contestants their own official Twitter account, it was interesting to see how many followers each of the remaining contestants have. The numbers are not surprising.

Jessica Sanchez - 213,660 (@jsanchezai11)
Phillip Phillips - 207,202 (@pphillipsai11)
Skylar Laine - 90,196 (@slaineai11)
Hollie Cavanagh - 69,196 (@cavanaghai11)
Joshua Ledet - 62,499 (@jledetai11)
Elise Testone - 62,024 (@etestoneai11)

See if this holds through the end of the competition but I see a Jessica-Phillip final, in spite of my rooting interest in Elise, who spent her teen years in New Jersey.

The Fix Is In

Season 6 runner up Blake Lewis on how Lee DeWyze's ascension to the finals was all but cemented by an over the top production number engineered by Simon Cowell.

It's Crystal Clear

With just two weeks to go before "American Idol" leaves the air for the season - not coincidentally coinciding with the last day of May Sweeps - it's all but on paper that Crystal Bowersox is your next American Idol. Crystal of late has begun evoking the early Jewel, right down to the less-than-perfect smile. She has worked very hard since her pre-teens to get to this performance level. She above all others is worthy of the crown.

Crystal really did good for herself in both her solo and duet performances on Tuesday, but somehow wound up in the bottom echelon of contestants Wednesday night. Tuesday, Crystal mined deeper meaning out of the goofy Kenny Loggins "I'm All Right" from "Caddyshack", and really shone in her face to face duet with Lee DeWyze, while the dizzying 360-degree camerawork of director Bruce Gowers seemed to favor neither contestant.

Last year we had Adam and Kris in the finals; year before that the two Davids. Last female in the finals was Jordin Sparks three years ago, who won. I'm hoping for Crystal and Lee in the finals. Lee has just been a house on fire the last few weeks and should be on the Nokia stage with Crystal on May 25.

Next week, we will have video packages of Lee, Crystal and Casey's return to their respective home cities, and two songs from each contestant. The following week I think the finalists do four songs each. It should be entertaining.

Last point: as long as we're talking winning "Idol" it does not necessarily mean that second place is the first loser. Look at Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert... all post-Idol successes who didn't win the big prize.

The Carnac of Idol

Maybe it's just because of the relatively weak pool of talent that was pushed through to the Hollywood round this year, but since the Top 12 shows began at the Idoldrome, I've become something of a genius in picking who is going home this week.

With the exception of the Michael Lynche "save" week (in which I picked Tim or Andrew to leave - I forget which), I've correctly predicted the departures of all of the contestants from the top 12 on down. And it's great for my pool at work, in which I picked Big Mike to win as a pre-emptive strike, given that the wonderful Crystal Bowersox has the top prize all but sewn up.

I just wish I had this foresight when I originally predicted who was going to be in the top 12 in the first place. Look at my crib sheet:

Boys: Aaron Kelly, Alex "Not Adam" Lambert, Tyler Grady, Todrick Hall, Lee DeWyze, Joe Munoz.

Girls: Katelyn Epperly, Ashley Rodriguez, Janell Wheeler, Lilly Scott, Siobhan Magnus, Didi Benami.

And I had Tyler Grady picked to win it all.

No Big Mike? No Mamasox? What was I thinking? Anyway, three of the top 12 I had picked are still alive. Next week, songs of inspiration.

"Idol" Needs Women!

What's with the ladies on "American Idol" this season?

With the exception of Crystal Bowersox (who is one of the most consistent performers this season) and maybe Siobhan Magnus (if she gets over her tendency to go for big notes), it's clearly not a strong female class this year as the first three eliminees (?) were all ladies - from left to right above, Paige Miles, last night's 10th place finisher Didi Benami, and Lacey Brown.

The last two American Idols have been male - David Cook and Kris Allen - and I'm starting to seriously think there's going to be a third, probably either in the person of Casey James or Michael Lynche.

AI Live 2009 Tour

As we did last year, we loaded up Tracy and the girls in the van and trekked down to Atlantic City for this year's version of the American Idols Live Tour. The 2009 edition featured winner Kris Allen and the nine runners up.

Loudest cheers (and female screaming) for runner-up Adam Lambert.

I was impressed with all the performances, we heard just enough of the lower-tier finalists - the Michael Sarver, Megan Joy type - to know why they couldn't go farther in the competition. But once we got to Lil Rounds, the performers started getting a little more face time with the audience. Lil was astounding. It's a shame the voting public was so done with her after about three weeks of the finals, because she was very impressive last night. The bottom six did a great first half closer of a lesser-known Frankie Valli song, "Beggin'".

Alison Iraheta, the night's youngest performer, blew me away. Belting out those songs at 17 isn't easy. She also came back out for a duet on Foghat's "Slow Ride" with Lambert.

I noticed a lot less fluff last year. Gone from this year's festivities was a presenting sponsor. No Pop-Tarts for you this year. There was also no halftime Guitar Hero competition. I missed neither.

The show promoters do need to make a longer reel to entertain audiences before the show. I must have seen the same Carrie Underwood, Daughtry and David Cook videos about half a dozen times each throughout the evening.

Can't say if I'll be back next year - all depends on the caliber of next year's field.

Now That "American Idol" Is Over

The finale last night was quizzical. There were a lot of things on there that didn't have to do with AI, such as that faux-1972 "audition" for Gladys Knight's Pips, featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. (looking very good for an ex-junkie). But we were most impressed with the musical performances. Really liked Michael Johns and Carly Smithson teaming up, and that shot at the end of the show with Carly snuggling up to David Cook was precious. We are looking forward to seeing them in performance when the AI tour comes our way in August. But so much of it seemed to be selling something - commerce trumping art. (And Fox, like I've said, the end of the May Sweeps is way to early to be flogging your Fall crap.)

Congrats to David Cook - the "word nerd" did it!

When Irish Eyes Are Voted Off By The Great Unwashed

The Los Angeles Times' Richard Rushfield on the unfortunate voting-off of Carly Smithson on "American Idol".

I had Carly to win. Really. The more I saw her, the more I liked of her performances and her feisty and fun Irish attitude. (If they ever decide to remake "The Commitments", here's your girl.)

UPDATE: The Idol Tour Dates have been announced. Carly and the gang will be rolling into Atlantic City on Saturday, August 2nd, with an on-sale date of Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m.

Maybe I'll Turn Off My TV Earlier Than This Summer

With Melinda Doolittle gone from "American Idol" - who I had picked from the start, and Cheryl Burke and that guy she was dancing with from "Dancing With The Stars" - who I had picked from the start - I better stay away from the races this summer.

It's Carrie

We breathed a collective sigh of relief. The country girl from the midwest bested the stars-n-bars Southern rocker, but we got a pretty good show in the process as all of the finalists were paired (or tripled) off with (we're told) their own idols to perform duets. Some rang pretty true: Bo's take on "Sweet Home Alabama" with Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Carrie joining up with Rascal Flatts. We're still pretty darn convinced that Vonzell Solomon would have been a great Idol after her duet with Billy Preston on "With You I'm Born Again".

We applaud the selection of Carrie Underwood because we're still smarting over last year's selection of Fantasia Barrino over Diana DeGarmo. It wasn't a very good year for the 2004-model Idols as neither made much of a dent on the music map. (I think William Hung got more work than either of them put together.) Compare that to past Idols like Kelly Clarkson and '03 runner up Clay Aiken (both of whom are coming to Toms River this summer - check this out), who are still on a lot of people's lips. But we're looking forward to a fresh voice on the country scene and hope to hear some great stuff from Carrie Underwood.

AI: Who Will Win?

Other bloggers have been chiming in on who they think is going to win "American Idol" tonight - we're still waiting for a prediction from fellow crossword constructor Stella Daily, who's been following the competition for some time (she's a singer herself). Up until last night, I really thought Bo Bice was going to take it. Now it seems to be a tossup.

Bo sang well, but his material was a little on the dreary side. While Carrie had some good songs (including a Martina McBride cover), her pitch was all over the place.

I had to keep in mind what I'd been telling my sixth-grade students the other day during their auditions for their positions in intermediate school band next year - you're going to be nervous during an audition. Some of the AI advisors (as I call Randy, Paula and Simon - they don't really sit in judgement and don't really have a sway over who ultimately gets in) had read the nerves on both contestants' faces, including the usually unflappable Bo.

If Vote For The Worst is to be believed, tonight's winner will be Carrie Underwood. And in some small measure, I agree. But neither of the two finalists are going to be poorer for the experience; both will get record deals in some way. And my favorite, Vonzell, already had a small album out; someone's gotta get that one bigger distribution, or at least a chance to record some new stuff now that she's been through the "Idol" finishing school.

Fox Cancels "Point Pleasant"

Thank goodness. I live a few miles from the actual Point Pleasant and that town isn't like that at all.

If we can blame any one person for "Point Pleasant"'s demise, it would be...



The guy who screwed up the phone numbers on "American Idol" the other night!