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Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

TV Review: American Idol 6: Semi-Finals

Toni Dimayuga — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:02:34 EDT

Here we are folks, down to the Top Three. Yep, I can't believe it's almost over either.Like in previous seasons, the remaining contestants sang three songs. One was chosen by one of the judges, another by the producers (though in the past RCA head honcho Clive Davis had this role), and the third by the singers themselves. Also like past contestants, the Top Three briefly went to their respective hometowns for a day and received the royal treatment. Parades were thrown in their honor, they got to meet the mayor, etc. A street was named after Melinda, Jordin received a star in the mall where she used to work, and Blake beatboxed with Sir Mix-A-Lot.What really intrigued me about last night's episode was that for once there was hardly any BS filler. I was astonished when Ryan announced Jordin's performance immediately after introducing the judges. Also, there wasn't a 5-minute video recap of each person's homecoming footage. For the most part, it was just one performance after the other. I was pleasantly surprised.At this point it's really hard to grade the contestants. In my book, none of them get anything lower than a B. All deserve to be in the Top Three, and really it's now a matter of who has the most fans — or rather, whose fans vote the most.Judges' ChoiceYa know, I've always wondered how the judges decide on which contestant to offer which song choice. Do they draw straws? Rock paper scissors? Eeny meeny miney moe? Guess we'll never know. Anywho, the contestants received their song assignment via a fax sent to the mayor or governor of their hometown (whichever politician they met).B Paula chose the Police's "Roxanne" for Blake, which I thought was interesting since Blake's face always reminded me of Sting. Mercifully he played it straight and didn't beatbox, but I wasn't crazy about his vocals. Randy and Paula liked it, but Simon couldn't help but compare it to the Police, and naturally the original artists were better.B+Simon chose Jordin's song, which was "Wishing on a Star." I thought it was pretty good, but it didn't make me sit up and take notice. Randy thought it was a very good vocal and was Beyoncé-like, but ironically Simon didn't like it, particularly the jazz arrangement.Oddly enough, Randy chose Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me" for Melinda, breaking the cardinal, unwritten AI rule that no one should sing a Whitney song except for Whitney. Naturally, Randy had to remind everyone that he worked with Whitney in the studio. Seriously — can his head be any bigger? I had to laugh when the governor's (or is it mayor's?) wife called him "Randy Johnson." I thought it was pretty boring, but all three judges loved it. Simon awarded Round 1 to Melinda.Producers' ChoiceAs I mentioned, in the past these songs were chosen by Clive Davis. However, this year he left the task to the producers. I guess the old man preferred to stay in his sarcophagus and count his money. To be honest though, I feel that their song choices were better than the judges'.B+ Jordin sang Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money," which was better than the first performance but still wasn't that great. It's an upbeat song, but she didn't really move around much on stage. Randy enjoyed it, but once again Simon didn't care for the arrangement.A-I thought it was odd at first for the producers to choose a rock song for Melinda, until I found out later that it was a Tina Turner song. She sang "Nut Bush City Limits" and vocally was wonderful as usual. Simon said that he loved that side of her.A When Ryan announced that Blake was singing Maroon 5's "This Love," I knew immediately that it was the perfect song choice for him. It has his name written all over it. Not only was it infinitely better than the first performance, but he looked more comfortable on stage. Paula said, "This is a good night for you," while Simon said that it wasn't a copycat performance. In the end, Simon awarded Round 2 to Blake and Melinda.Singers' Choice The ladies chose songs that they previously sung in the show. I'm not sure what to think. On one hand, I feel it's a cop-out since they had sung them before and weren't challenging themselves. On the other hand, it's clever since they picked songs from their strongest performances that were sure to please the judges and the audience.AJordin sang "I, Who Have Nothing" and it was as terrific as the first time she performed this piece. Randy said it was her best song of the night, while Simon grumbled that it was a very old-fashioned song and performance.Blake sang Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone" and once again it was the right song choice for him. Not quite as good as "This Love," but it still suited him well. Like me, Randy preferred his earlier performance, but Simon said, "I actually really liked that."Melinda closed the show with "I'm a Woman," which she sang perfectly in the past and performed perfectly again last night. Randy was pleased that he's seeing different ranges of Melinda's vocal abilities and is convinced she can sing anything. Simon said that if he were to reward someone a place in the finals, it would be someone who has been consistently good throughout the competition, meaning Melinda.My thoughts: Unless all of Melinda's fans have developed carpal tunnel and can't use a phone, I think it's pretty safe to say that she's going to be in next week's finale. As for the other two, I'm hesitant to take a guess. On one hand, Jordin deserves to be in the Top Two, as she's vocally superior to Blake. However, I think that Blake has more fans and is the better entertainer. I would buy Jordin's CD, but I would watch Blake in concert. I really can't guess who is going home tonight, but I'm going to say Jordin because Blake may have the upper hand in terms of fans.Who will be going home: JordinWho should be going home: no one

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

TV Review: American Idol 6 - Bee Gees Week Results

Toni Dimayuga — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:51:11 EDT

Bleh, yet another snorefest results episode. Why the hell do they have to be an hour long with so few people left in the competition? Even Seacrest said something like, "We have an hour and have to fill it up somehow."So many of the fillers make no sense. Why do they keep having the worthless "man about town" segment where Ryan bothers pedestrians by asking them about the contestants. Dude, we really don't care what random strangers think. It's not funny, it's not cute, it's just boring.Oh look, we finally get the Pink performance that was promised to us like, three weeks ago, during Idol Gives Back. Apparently that bloated, waste of an episode ran out of time, so they had to scrap footage of her performance and stuff it in this week's results show. Hey, I've got an idea on how to prevent that from happening again: dump out some of the filler! Yeesh. I mean, they could have trimmed the Ben Stiller segment to fit her in. Oh yay, Fantastic Four 2 preview. Sure, the special effects look cool, but you know damn well that it's going to suck far worse than the disaster that was Spider-Man 3. I'll still watch it since I have no life, but I expect nothing of substance to come from it. I'm surprised though that the whole starring cast was in the AI audience though. How cute of Ryan to pretend that he's straight by hinting that he thinks Jessica Alba is hot. Come on now buddy, we know that your turn-ons are cranky, incredibly tanned, middle-aged British guys who wear tight black T-shirts.At least the group song wasn't bad this time. The smaller the group, the less cheesy, show choir-like the performance. I thought that the girls harmonized well in their Destiny's Child version of "Emotion." Yeah, like they sang the Bee Gees version.Speaking of the Bee Gees, Barry's performance of "To Love Somebody" was horrible. When he first started to sing, he seemed to get startled, as if he didn't expect the mic to be turned up so high. As he continued, I realized that it was just his style of singing. What the hell was that? Why was he singing in such a clipped manner? It was like he was speak-singing the words.As for the results. Ok so I was wrong, and Blake didn't go home. It seems that everyone, even LaKisha, knew that she was going home this week. Go figure *shrug*Anywho, let's think about how this affects the rest of the contestants. LaKisha's votes will now go to Melinda. Next week, Blake will most likely get knocked off. His votes will probably go to Jordin. I'm guessing that Blake and Jordin's combined votes will outweigh LaKisha and Melinda's combined votes, leaving Jordin as the winner. On the other hand, if by some twist of fate Jordin leaves next week, her votes may split. Some will go to Melinda, others will go to Blake. This means that Melinda will win.What do you guys think? Who is going to win?

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

TV Review: American Idol 6 - Bee Gees Week

Toni Dimayuga — Wed, 9 May 2007 09:13:13 EDT

With four more contestants left in the competition, the clock is ticking down until we crown our next! American! Idol!(cue theme music)First of all, apologies for not putting out posts last week. I had a lot of things on my plate. But I'm back this week, here to provide you all with my brilliant reviews. Okay, maybe they're not so brilliant. But they're at least somewhat witty at times.This week was Bee Gees Week, and Barry Gibb was the group's mentor. I had no idea that Barry's speaking voice sounds like Sean Connery's. Since he usually sings with a falsetto, I've always been curious as to what he really sounds like. Not surprisingly, Barry will be performing tonight - most likely promoting some new album or tour. Since there are only four singers left, each person got to perform twice. Hey, the producers have got to fill up that hour somehow, right?Let's get started.Most of the contestants crashed and burned during the first half of the show, some more than others. Let's take a look.Performance I CI like Blake. I really do. I think it's great that he often puts a spin on a song, making it his own. However, sometimes he overdoes it. Blake took "You Should Be Dancing" and beatboxed the living hell out of it. I thought he murdered Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" last week, and he did it again with this song. I wish that Blake would quit picking classic songs and drastically altering them beyond recognition. None of the judges liked it. Paula said that he was off pitch, while Simon said that it was horrible.B- How odd for LaKisha to take what's arguably the ultimate disco song and R & B-ify it. I applaud her for taking a risk, but this was a bit much. Indeed, contrary to what he normally says, Randy didn't like that she made it her own. Paula thought that taking the tempo down brought the audience's mood down.B Yes, even Melinda doesn't get a good grade this time. Vocally it was stellar as usual, but I thought that the performance was meh, and the song didn't really work for her. The judges pretty much said the same thing — great vocals, but weren't really wowed.A Out of the four first performances, only Jordin's really stood out. She sang "To Love Somebody," which I thought was excellent. The girl is on her way to the finale. All three judges said it had the best vocals and was the best performance so far.Performance II Thankfully, most of the contestants upped their game during the second half of the show. However, two were still relatively weak.B-Blake sang some obscure Bee Gees song called "This is Where I Came In." Even Barry was surprised that he picked this song and admitted that it was never a hit. You know things are bad when someone doesn't like his own song. Although it was better than the first performance, it still wasn't good enough. Randy said what I'm sure most people in the audience were thinking: Blake, you don't have to beatbox every song. I forsee Blake leaving tonight.Like Blake, LaKisha's second song was an improvement, but not a big one. She sang "Run to Me" and the first half actually wasn't bad. However, it got screechy midway through, and in fact she pretty much croaked out the last note. Yowch. Simon said that he feels she and Blake are the most vulnerable contestants this week, and I agree with him.B+Thank goodness that Melinda's second song was infinitely better than the first. She sang "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart." It was great, especially the second half of the song. In fact, Simon said that the second half may have put her in the finale. No, it's the fact that she's been consistently excellent during the whole competition that will put her in the finale.A-Jordin received a very high compliment from Barry when he heard her rehearse "Woman in Love." He said that he's heard about a hundred versions of the song (including Barbra Streisand's) but that Jordin's was the best ever. Wow. I thought she sounded great, but the judges weren't as impressed. Randy said it was pitchy and Paula said it wasn't her best. Simon said she sounded old-fashioned and the performance was "pageanty," right down to the ultra formal dress.My thoughts: I'm pretty damn sure that Blake is leaving tonight. He's had a good run and is definitely one of the most unique Idol contestants ever, but the beatboxing got old really fast. Even Randy got fed up with it.Who should be leaving: BlakeWho will be leaving: Blake

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

TV Review: American Idol 6 - "Idol Gives Back"

Toni Dimayuga — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 08:33:18 EDT

Last night was the insanely over-hyped American Idol charity show. For over two months Ryan has crowed on and on about how it's going to be a star-studded spectacular, how there are going to be so many awesome celebrities appearing on the show, and that there will be a lot of great performances.After watching the 2-hour snorefest, I have one word for Mr. Seacrest: Baloney.I feel sorry for the poor saps in the audience who thought they would see performers like Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and Annie Lennox live on stage, the joke was on them. Most of the "real" artists performed in the Walt Disney Music Hall (not where the judges and contestants were). Hell, Celine's "historical performance" with Elvis was one big joke. Oooooh, behold the magic of blue-screen technology! Please. Twenty years ago Paula Abdul danced with a cartoon cat. This was more or less the same thing.Not even the past Idol winners made an appearance in the same locale as the judges. Apparently still allergic to anything connected with the show, Kelly Clarkson stayed far away from the judges, performing instead at the Mouse's music house. Carrie Underwood wasn't even there, submitting instead a music video featuring her surrounded by starving African children.At least the folks in the AI theater got to see Tenacious D. Granted, it was just Jack Black on stage while Kyle Glass sat in the audience, pretending to be overwhelmed with awe as Jack sang "Kiss From a Rose." I admit that I was laughing heartily during that skit. Loved the Seal cameo. Who was the chick next to him? She didn't look like his wife.That being said, most of the performances were really good. The guys from Earth, Wind, and Fire must be 65 years old, but they move around like they're in their thirties. Kelly was wonderful, and it was very cool having the legendary Jeff Beck playing guitar for her. Annie Lennox has still got it after all these years. I enjoyed her soulful performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." She's starting to look like Dame Helen Mirren though. And oh my, Josh Groban puts Clay Aiken, Michael Buble, and especially Il Divo, to shame. He is so freaking awesome. Speaking of Il Divo, does that name translate to, "Creepy-looking guys" in English? Because it was like getting eye-boinked by four Constantines at once. Yurgh.It was fun seeing all the celebrity cameos. I thought their little "Stayin' Alive" montage was very cute. But again though, not one of them was actually there. Then again, I should have known better. There's no way in hell that people like Gwenyth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise, Forest Whitaker, and Madonna would ever set foot on that stage and mingle with the teeming masses. Hell, even Bono barely made an appearance, and he was supposedly the contestants' mentor this week.And is it just me, or did some folks who were supposed to show up cancel at the last minute? I recall Ryan mentioning weeks ago that "Borat", Pink, and Gwen Stefani were supposed to appear. None of the three were there, not even in a video.And now, for some random thoughts...• Oh, holy hell, Tom from MySpace was in the audience. You know who Tom is - he's your very first friend when you register for an account. God, he must be crazy rich now.• Who else caught that Rob Schneider introduced himself as "Adam Sandler"? Hee!• The Ben Stiller skit got old quickly.• At long last, we got to hear Simon sing! I don't care if it was a Simpsons version of him, that was hilarious!• Oh look, Madonna's planning on kidnapping more African children.• The stories of the woman who died of AIDS and the little boy who died from malaria were heart-wrenching.• Ellen DeGeneres said that she donated $100,000 to the charities. Like Ryan, I'd like to know how much Simon donated, as well as everyone else associated with the show.• It would have been nice to see just how exactly Bono mentored the contestants. Did he even, really? Or did he just lecture them on the importance of charity?Speaking of the contestants, this was still a results show, right? Yep, almost forgot about that. By the way, how terribly lame to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the results by revealing each contestant's fate every 20 minutes. Anywho, at the start of the show, Ryan announced that the show would feature "the most shocking results ever." Naturally, I feared for Melinda being kicked out. When I found out she was safe, I then wondered if it would be Blake. Nope, safe as well. Oh no, it can't be Jordin. That's impossible. When Ryan announced that Phil and LaKisha were safe, my fears about Jordin increased. I felt so bad for the poor girl after Ryan asked her and Chris to stand, then proclaiming that Chris was safe.It never occurred to me that "shocking results" meant one of two things: either someone spectacular was going home (e.g. Melinda), or that no one was going home. After reading several AI blogs, I realized that I was the only numbnut who didn't consider option number two.Yep, everyone was spared tonight, in the name of charity I guess. However, Ryan said that this week's votes will be added to next week's, and that TWO people will be leaving next week.Phil and Chris, that's your cue to pack your bags.

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

TV Review: American Idol 6 - Inspirational Week

Toni Dimayuga — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:14:14 EDT

Ah, the Top 6. It's getting down to the wire people. In a few weeks, one lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) girl or guy will be crowned your next! American! Idol!(cue Idol theme music)Tuesday night kicked off the much advertised "Idol Gives Back" charity show. As Ryan has been telling us for the past 2 months or so, this week is one big fund raiser for various needy groups - starving kids in Africa, illiterate children in America, etc. There was so much footage of these unfortunate children on the show that for a second I thought I was watching a March of Dimes telethon or something like that.Before I continue, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that Bono was supposed to appear last night because he was the contestants' mentor. I know he's showing up tonight, but was I mistaken in hearing Ryan say that he would appear on Tuesday?Anyhoo, keeping with the concept of charity, this week's theme is "Inspirational." The contestants picked a song that inspired them. And without further ado, here's my grading of the final 6.A Melinda chose Faith Hill's "There Will Come a Day," and in typical Melinda fashion, it was excellent and flawless. Paula said that she was magical. Simon laughed at Paula's choice of words, but agreed with her, saying that it wasn't a copycat performance and that it was a vocal master class.Jordin ended the evening with an oldie but a goodie, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." I love the musical Carousel, and every time I watch the ending where Shirley Jones is singing it to her daughter during graduation, I'm reduced to tears. Jordin did the song justice, performing it in a melancholy but powerful manner. Randy said that it was one of the best vocal performances this season, while Simon said that she could have a hit record with the song. I won't be surprised if she wins the competition.B+For the third time, LaKisha chose a song that was sung by a former AI contestant. I'm willing to bet that what "inspired" her to pick this song was the hope that in singing AI winners' songs, some of that magic or what have you may rub off on her. This time it's Fantasia's "I Believe", and personally I thought it was better than the original. Then again, I can't stand Fantasia. The judges, who adore Fantasia, didn't appreciate LaKisha singing her song. I forsee LaKisha taking her second trip to the Bottom 3 tonight.After revealing last week that country is really his thing, Phil does well again this week with Garth Brooks' "The Change." Although it was kind of slow, I rather enjoyed it. Paula said that it was fantastic and was his best. Simon said it was a good choice of song, but wished he sounded a little more "country". Guess it wasn't twangy enough for Simon.B- Once the judges' favorite, Blake's stock is slipping fast. He choose John Lennon's "Imagine," which is a really terrific choice, but like last week's performance, it felt unemotional and flat. Randy said it was just an okay performance, while Simon said that it felt sincere, but it didn't really go anywhere. I've got a bad feeling that Blake may wind up on the bottom this week.I don't know what the judges were thinking when they praised Chris' performance of Eric Clapton's "Change the World." It was nasally as usual (no Chris - "nasally" is NOT a form of singing!), not to mention that he just can't keep away from unnecessary runs. Randy said that for the first time, he felt that Chris was in it to win it. Simon said that it was a good vocal performance with a lot of soul in it.My thoughts: It's tough to predict who will be going home this week. I'd normally say Phil, but since he did so well last week and last night, I'm not sure. Besides, the Vote for the Worst clowns have made him their new whipping boy, since what's-his-name has left. Then again, I still think that Chris has more fans than Phil, no matter how much he sucks.Then there's LaKisha. At such a late stage in the competition, she hasn't really been improving, while Melinda just keeps turning in one awesome performance after the other. Since they're splitting the R&B votes, one will cancel out the other - and considering that LaKisha has already seen the Bottom 3 once, she may end up leaving sooner than she expected. Perhaps not tonight, but possibly next week.Who will go: PhilWho should go: Sanj - er I mean, Chris. Sorry, force of habit.

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

TV Review: American Idol - Was the Show Off Key on Tuesday Night?

Chancelucky — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:26:21 EDT

The Idol topic of the moment appears to be Simon Cowell’s eye roll after Chris Richardson said that he wanted to dedicate his performance Tuesday night to his many good friends at Virginia Tech. Richardson had just gotten beaten up by the judges for his performance of a song about wanting to be back with Opie, Andy, Barney, and Aunt Bea. It hardly seemed to be the sort of song one would dedicate to friends under such somber circumstances. Richardson also could possibly have said his bit before singing instead of after. Of course, it’s not clear if it was either possible to change his song to some more broken-hearted country dirge, say Patsy Cline, or if he could have said anything before his performance. In any case, Chris’s “dedication” had the unfortunate feel of being a vote-getting ploy because of the way he wound up doing it. Simon maybe shouldn’t have rolled his eyes (if that’s in fact what the eye roll was about), but I did too. My guess is that Chris didn’t intend it that way, it just sort of came off like that.The whole incident was one of those reminders about how tricky it can be when reality intrudes on reality TV. One of my first non-serious thoughts after hearing about the shootings was “Oh my God, what if the guy did it to protest Sanjaya Malakar’s staying on the show.”How’s that for taking some of the heat off of Simon and Chris here? I apologize to anyone I offended with that, but I’m sharing it to make a point. Do we have too many ways to “escape” in our culture or not enough of them, and what is the proper role of reality TV in our lives at times like this?As I went for my afternoon walk today, it did occur to me that there might have been better ways for the show to deal with the news. I did think Ryan’s pre-broadcast message was fine, but maybe a quick group sing of something like “Amazing Grace.” recorded by any number of country artists or even a moment of silence with pictures of the Blue Ridge mountains playing on the screen might have worked better. In exchange, they could easily have cut down on some of the banter or maybe edited some of the coaching bits. Idol consistently equates the show itself with "America" and what "America" wants and feels. So why not?Instead, there was this odd tension between “business as usual” on the show and the obvious fact that this show claims to be “ordinary people” singing their way to celebrity, and thus a bit more connected to the actual world than say a laugh-tracked episode of Two and a Half Men. In particular, I think the judges didn’t get the fact that the live audience kept giving the singers standing ovations not because they loved the music or the performances, but because they were trying to show a kind of solidarity about “keeping America entertained” on a night where a little diversion couldn’t hurt.The show’s producers are usually almost telepathic about complex cultural messages, but the irony is that they totally underestimated the social power of music this time. They had a chance to use the show to heal, yet I’m mostly left with the Simon-Chris eye roll controversy. It's sad, particularly given how religious some of the contestants appear to be this year. I'm not blaming them; it was really more the way the show missed the opportunity.It’s an eerie coincidence that “Idol Cares” just happens to be next week’s theme. My question right now is how well does Idol help us feel? Music isn’t just about making money or even making dreams come true. It’s also about healing and recharging the spirit. One reason I write about the show is that I love music because of the power it has in our lives. I'll confess that I sometimes use my reviews to discuss what's possible in music vs. what's on the show. It’s sad to me that the producers of Idol this Tuesday night missed how much music can matter and how it really can make a difference without resorting to corporate tie-ins for every vote on the show.

How Do You Spell Boring? American Idol

Robert T DeMarco — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:12:54 EDT

After a red hot show three weeks ago, American Idol could not have been more dull and boring the last two weeks. Even the fights between Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest have been, well, boring. Even Sanjaya failed to liven things up this week. He was, well, boring. By now I guess you get the picture; on to the contestants and predictions for this week.Sanjaya, you are safe. I have been with you all the way man, but after last night you could be getting close to the end of your roll. You better come up with something new and different over the next few weeks because the competition is toughening up. When will LaKisha live up to the expectations she created on the first real week of the show? Ever since that week she has steadily worsened. I predicted last week she would end up in the bottom three and I’ll stay with that prediction this week. When LaKisha goes before Sanjaya we will really have something to write about.If Melinda keeps up her present course, she will go the way of Constantine (did you see him in the audience last night?). It amazes me that these contestants never learn. If you sing a song we have never heard of, we won’t pick up the phone and vote no matter how good you are. I don’t care that she gave an excellent performance last night; I would be willing to bet that she has dropped out of first place for the first time in many weeks.This of course brings us to Jordin. She has improved dramatically since the first week of competition; Jordin is now the one to beat. The most important thing to remember about Jordin is that she gets it. If Sanjaya goes, she is the one most likely to benefit and that is a real wild card factor in the weeks ahead. Will Sanjaya instruct his loyal legions of fans on how they should vote? Stay tuned.I really like Chris Richardson and I have since the beginning. Oddly, his performance was so bad last week I predicted he would go. Like Melinda, this week he just doesn’t get it. He is going to get a chance to drink all the Cherry Coke he wants soon enough, but it won’t be this week. If this young man wants to pull off an upset next week he is going to need to sing a song we want to hear and not a song he wants to sing. He better do it with some pizzazz while he is at it.I like Phil, but its time to say "bye-bye." You can only get so far on a big smile, bald head, loving your wife, and blowing kisses to the fans. Enough already. Paula thinks you have a career in country. I have a nice bridge I would like to sell to her.Nice job Blake, you definitely pleased your fans. You do get it.So to recap, Phil is going home. The bottom three are: Phil, Chris and LaKisha. By the way if there is a surprise this week it will be LaKisha going home.

My name is Robert T DeMarco and I am a caregiver by choice. I am responsible for the well-being of my 90-year-old mother who has Alzheimer's. 41% of caregivers are male. I have a series of blogs including The Alzheimer's Reading Room Weblog , The CareGiver Weblog , and The Robert T DeMarco Weblog .

TV Review: American Idol 6 - Jennifer Lopez Week Results

Toni Dimayuga — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:31:02 EDT

Yay, another hour long results show last night. What's the point, really? There was so much useless filler that I wasn't even paying attention half the time. An extra hour meant the return of the group song. Man, I sure missed those. Or not. The contestants butcher their way through "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias. I cringe when Haley and Sanjaya do their little duet. So that's what it sounds like when you put together two people who can't sing. No one told either of them that a duet meant they were to sing in the same key. At least Blake and LaKisha did better with their duet, and Blake isn't really that strong a singer.Filler crap, Part One: Ryan interviews people on the street about what they thought about Tuesday's performances. Yawn.Filler crap, Part Two: performance by Akon. Again? Wasn't he on the show just two weeks ago?Of course we have the Ford ad. This week they rip off Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video. It was downright terrifying to watch Sanjaya morph into Melinda. Who knew that they looked so much alike?Filler crap, Part three: more advertising for the upcoming "Idol Cares" special. Ryan again begs for money from companies.Filler crap, Part four: dumb sketch with Tony Bennett "auditioning" in front of the judges (via the magic of clever editing!) and being rejected. A half hour later, we finally get to the results. Phil is in the Bottom 3. What a shock. I did not see that coming *snicker*. LaKisha and Jordin are safe. Looks like the Dialidol results were WRONG. Melinda and Blake are obviously safe, but Haley takes her usual trip to the Bottom 3.I then realize that she's wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. Perhaps it has something to do with Simon's comments to her about wearing as little as possible to distract the audience? Throughout this, Ryan tells Sanjaya to stand up and sit down twice. It was really stupid, annoying, and mean. I hate when Seacrest dicks around with the contestants like that. Finally, Chris is thrown in the bottom with Phil and Haley. But of course the show needs to kill some more time, which leads to...Filler crap, Part five: Jennifer Lopez performance. She sings some song off her new, all Spanish album and naturally promotes it afterwards. I didn't really care for the song, and her voice sounded like it was being dubbed with synthesizers. I don't believe for a moment that she and Marc Anthony watch the show regularly. Like she cares who's going to win. I wonder who's richer - her, or Simon? Argh, back to business. Chris is sent back to safety. Phil is grinning like a fool, while Haley wears her usual face of defeat. Ryan ends the torture and gives her the boot. No one is shocked. Hell, I can't believe that she made it this far. Haley sings her swan song, and near the end she approaches the other contestants. I laughed when Chris and Blake do some silly dance towards her. Next week is Country Week, with Martina McBride. I'm expecting a disaster, especially from super-stylized singers like Blake and Chris. LaKisha and Melinda may weasel their way out of singing country by picking a gospel-sounding, country song. I foresee Phil picking a tune to showcase his big voice, and I foresee Sanjaya wearing a stupid cowboy hat on stage and keeping the peach fuzz on his face. I think that Jordin may be the only one who emerges from this unscathed.

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!

American Idol - A Big Surprise Tonight

Robert T DeMarco — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:51:00 EDT

Let me start by saying this week’s show sucked! If you are going to do Latin you need some contestants that can carry it off. This crew, no way! This week’s show was really disappointing after the “hot” performances last week.I will say that Jennifer Lopez is really terrific. She looks great, has a wonderful positive attitude, and really seemed interested in promoting the contestants rather than herself. Kudos and props to Jennifer.Let’s get the important stuff out of the way - Sanjaya: you are safe and continue to be a force to be reckoned with even if people like pwinn don’t get it.LaKisha: it looks to me like you are now in the bottom three and losing momentum fast. Jordin: if you continue to improve each week, like you have so far this season, you are going to win in a barn burner against either Sanjaya or Melinda.Last week I took some “guff” because I incorrectly predicted that Phil was going home. I definitely underestimated the effect of him saying he was singing that love song “to his wife”. Nice touch man, very smart. I did have the bottom three correct in case you missed it.You won’t believe this but I think both Phil and Haley will make the cut this week. I did enjoy Simon Cowell’s comment about Haley’s skimpy clothing. Most of us have been thinking the same thing all season. Well, in order to survive Haley is going to need to consider wearing a “dental floss” bikini or she will be going home soon enough, but not this week. Please America, put her out of her misery soon!I am sad to say that I believe Chris Richardson is heading home. I’ll predict further that the bottom three are: Chris, LaKisha and Phil. If I am wrong on my prediction, bye bye Phil.

TV Review: American Idol 6 - Jennifer Lopez Week

Toni Dimayuga — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:08:22 EDT

As Ryan Seacrest would say, welcome to another week of American Idol. This week is officially "Latin Week," but I decided to call it "Jennifer Lopez Week" since most people Googling for related articles would refer to it as such. Search engine optimization, my friends!I'm amazed that once again the Idol Powers That Be have ensnared a celebrity mentor to whom the contestants and young audiences can actually relate. Still, I couldn't help but laugh when the contestants pretended to be enthralled by J. Lo. Seriously, Haley and Melinda - cut out the fake awe. It was weird that she sat on a stool while they sat on the floor in front of her, like she was telling them a story during nap time. Unlike the other mentors, J. Lo's advice tended to focus more on the performance itself, rather than the song. She taught some of the contestants how to properly pronounce Latin words and also helped them with some moves, which some people desperately needed (Melinda, I'm looking at you, girl).Here we go with the rating. Once again, it'll be by letter grade, but expanded. Interesting that most of the ladies sang Gloria Estefan songs, while most of the guys sang Santana songs. Why couldn't any of them sing a J. Lo song? Didn't American Idol pay for any? I guess not. Cheap bastards. B+Surprisingly, I didn't give anyone an A this week. I just wasn't that impressed by any of the performances, even Melinda's. In fact, she gets a B this week. One of the B+ grades goes to LaKisha, who performed "Conga," which was vocally strong, lively and fun. However, you can also see similar performances on any cruise ship. Paula and Simon said that it was a safe performance. The judges are totally grooming Blake to be the next American Idol. I don't see anything wrong with that since he is awesome, but my god do they kiss his ass. Blake chose Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know," and bravely sang it in front of J. Lo. It was a cool performance, though apparently not for Blake since his raised arms revealed pit stains. Yes, that was supposed to be a joke. I thought that he was singing it a half step too high since he seemed to struggle with the song. However, all the judges loved it. BI never thought I'd toss Melinda in the B category, but I just wasn't crazy about her performance this week. Oh sure, technically it was perfect as usual, but her performance of "Sway" was pretty boring. And yes, I agree with Simon in that it was old-fashioned, cabaret, and wooden. And who picked out that dress for her? It was too long for her squat body.The eternally peppy Jordin sang "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," which was not bad, but surprisingly boring, considering it's such an upbeat song. I just wasn't impressed, and neither was Simon, who said it was okay but not stunning.B-Yecchhh. Chris sang one of my favorite songs, "Smooth," by Rob Thomas and Santana. This song is awesome. It's seductive and sultry, the kind you want to have dirty, sweaty sex to with a hot guy you picked up at a club. But nooooo, Chris had to ruin my fantasy by Justin Timberfaking it as usual, with all the unnecessary runs. Screw you Randy, encouraging him to do these runs. You can't R & B-ify every damn song. C+Since it was Latin Week, you'd think that some of the contestants would be ballsy enough to actually try to sing something in Spanish. Just when I thought that all of them were gutless cowards, in came Sanjaya with "Besame Mucho." I still can't stand him and want him off the show, but I have to give him kudos for having the courage to sing a (mostly) Spanish song. It was boring, but it wasn't horrible, as Simon said. That poor excuse for a goatee has got to go though. And what was up with Shyamali's freaky but hot boyfriend?COh, yay. Haley is wearing short shorts again to distract the audience while she sang. Apparently, her spell has worn off of Simon, because he totally called her on it. Seriously girl, it can't be any more obvious, and it's just sad. Her performance of "Turn the Beat Around" was fun to watch, but again she's just not of the same caliber as the other three ladies. Randy said that it was "really karaoke," while Simon said the vocals felt rushed in the end. C-Finally, we have Phil at the bottom. Good lord, he looked creepier than usual. When did his skin turn gray? Did he trade beauty secrets with Marc Anthony, like only drinking the blood of babies and virgins? What gives? Nos-Phil-atu sang, "Maria, Maria," and unsurprisingly he couldn't handle the low notes at the beginning of the song. He tried to make up for it in the middle and near the end, but his voice gave out and he actually squeaked. Man, it was bad. Paula said it was a good vocal, until the end, while Simon said that it was lifeless (heh!) and had no originality. Frankly, after the surprises from the last two weeks, I couldn't really tell who would be going home tonight. Haley, Phil, and especially Sanjaya are indestructible, like freaking cockroaches surviving a nuclear attack. But here goes my prediction:Who will go home: Phil or HaleyWho should go home: Sanjaya, Phil, and Haley

Toni is an Assistant Gaming Editor at Blogcritics Magazine. She's proud to be a gamer chick and a movie buff!