AI8 Redux Part Five: Let The Voting Begin!!!

By guest blogger “Idolholic”

"Idolholic"

It was exactly two years ago tonight that we finally arrived at my favorite stage in the American Idol process.  Beginning with this first of the four “Top 36” shows, the contestants’ fates would now rest primarily in the hands of the voting viewers.  Here’s how it worked:  For the first three weeks of this semifinals phase, 12 contestants would sing one of the “Hits from the Billboard Top 100” (a nice, broad category that covers just about every musical genre).  Of those 12, the top three would advance to the final rounds as part of  the “Top 13” (although at this point, we were still thinking the Top 36 would be whittled down to the Top 12).  Then, on the fourth and final night of the “Top 36”, the “Judges’ Wild Card” show would allow some contestants previously eliminated by viewers to have a second chance to sing, and the judges would which singers would move on to the finals.

On February 17, 2009, I began my weekly ritual of writing down the contestants’ song choice, rating them on a scale of 1 to 10, and then rank ordering them from best to worst.  (Now you can see why I’ve adopted the nickname “Idolholic”!)   Here’s how I ranked this first group of 12, with comments about some of their performances.  To see how my ranking jibes with viewers’ voting choices, I’ve put in bold print the names of the top three, as revealed on the results show on February 18, 2009.

1.  Alexis Grace “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You”

2.  Danny Gokey “Hero” [note:  The producers gave Danny the coveted “pimp spot,” and he got to sing last.  This position often seems to go to someone whom the producers are “pimping” to move on to the next level, the theory being that whoever sings last is freshest in viewers’ minds when the begin calling in their votes.  I would bet that the American Idol statisticians see a huge advantage with voters for the contestant who sings last each night.  But enough about conspiracy theories!]

3.  Ricky Braddy “A Song for You” (popping noise in the mic)

4.  Anoop Desai “Angel of Mine”

5.  Tatiana Del Toro “Saving All My Love for You” (Eyebrows.  Flat.)

6.  Ann Marie Boskovich “Natural Woman”

7.  Stephen Fowler “Rock With You” (voice cracked on the high notes)

8.  Michael Sarver “I Don’t Want to Be”

9.  Jackie Tohn “A Little Less Conversation”

10. Brent Keith “Hick Town”

11.  Stevie Wright “You Belong With Me” (pitchy)

12.  Casey Carlson “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” (pitchy)

In between the performances, Ryan Seacrest interviewed the contestants and their families in the Red Room.  I made a note on my ranking page that they should “Get Mom and Dad out of the Red Room!”   Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened, as the producers apparently agreed with me that Ryan’s interaction with nervous parents did not exactly make for scintillating TV viewing.

Here’s a link to Michael Slezak’s review of the first Top 36 show.

And here’s his recap of the results show.

Here’s my email to my little group of fellow Idolholics:

Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 7:12 AM
Subject: RE: Oh No, Not Anoop!

Hello Ladies,

Well, you won’t be surprised to know that I rated & ranked everyone last night!  I’ll spare you the details, though, because I agree 100% with H. [she heaped praise upon Alexis Grace as the best singer of the night.]

Here were my top 4:

1. Alexis
2. Danny
3. Ricky
4. Anoop

I had ranked Michael #8.  I just don’t get it with him.  Nice guy, but not the greatest singer.

I think Ricky is great but now his only chance is the Wild Card.  He simply did not have enough screen time earlier on to create a strong fan base.

Remember what Ryan said?  Anoop was only 20,000 votes behind Michael.  I think that means Anoop was in 4th place.  I hope that HE gets a wild card…he deserves one!

I know we will all say this dozens of times over the next several weeks, but why doesn’t someone help these poor people with their SONG CHOICE?????   Most of them are just completely clueless as to how to pick the song that will get them the most votes.

OK, hopefully we will never see Tatiana again, but I gotta say, she tackled a Whitney song and ALMOST nailed it!  I ranked her #5!!!!  She is a noxious person but she does have some awesome vocal chops.

Til Tuesday!

“Idolholic”

And finally, your reward for making it to the end of this blog post!  Since we didn’t get to see or hear Adam sing during the first semifinals show, here are a couple of clips from the American Idol website, which I believe were recorded around the time of this first semifinals round.

Click on this link and you’ll find six videos of Adam, in reverse chronological order.  The two to watch this week are the last one (#6),  “Introducing Adam Lambert”, and the next-to-last one (#5), “Adam Lambert and Stevie Wright”.  [note:  turn up the volume by clicking on the vertical blue bars near the bottom right corner of the video screen.] Enjoy!

To Be Continued…

The Idolholic American Idol Redux Series:

The First Time Ever We Saw His Face
Part Two: The Auditions Go On…and On…and On….
Part Three: Hooray for Hollywood Week!
Part Four:  And Then There Were 36
Part Five:  Let The Voting Begin!!!
Part Six:  Adam Gives Us “Satisfaction” and We Give Him Votes!
Part Seven: Lucky 13!
Part Eight: Adam and Those Twelve Other Finalists
Part Nine: Adam’s “Ring of Fire” Leaves Us “Confused…and Sort of Happy”
Part 10: Adam Gets a Standing O from Smokey Robinson!
Part 11: Adam Gets “Funky” !
Part 12: Adam’s “Mad World” Gets a Standing O from Simon!
Part 13: Adam Tells Us He Was “Born to be Wild”
Part 14: Adam Lambert Soulfully Sings “If I Can’t Have You”
Part 15:  Adam Lambert Has Us “Feeling Good”
Part 16:  Adam Lambert Gives Us Every Inch of His Love
Part 17:  Adam Lambert has us cryin’
Part 18: A Change is Gonna Come for Adam Lambert