It didn't work, and Randy, Paula and Simon agreed that it didn't work. One step forward, two steps back for Carrie.
Bo, along with his imaginary friend, Mike the Mic Stand, was up next with "It's A Great Day to be Alive." And, under all the circumstances, you have to get a kick out of the lyrics to this song:
I got rice cooking in the microwave
Got a three day beard I don't plan to shave
And it's a goofy thing but I just gotta say
Hey, I'm doing alright [ai-ite?]
Yeah, I think I'll make me some homemade soup
Feelin' pretty good and that's the truth
It's neither drink nor drug-induced
No, I'm just doin' alright
Yep, he's doing alright and he did have at least a three-day beard. Looking very handsome indeed in a heartfelt tribute to mom and dad, Bo did a phoned-in rendition of this Travis Tritt tune. His attempts at singing introspectively came off as lame, which is a shame because he seems like a guy who, you know, does have feelings.
While we kind of started having feelings on his broad-voiced "great day to be alive" hook, overall it was an uninspired performance. Or, as Simon said after I'd already made my notes, "lazy and uninspired."
I imagine it's not easy to sing about microwaving and stuff, but still.
The only thing that released the snoozebar on this performance was the Granny sighting in the audience, where the little ole lady from Helena, Alabama looked like she was ready to Bust Some Serious Butt if she needed to. If you missed it, just think Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies in a major high snit.
All was not lost for Bo, however. He came out next with "For the Love of Money" and he took this O'Jay standard, including a raucously smooth uptempo change, to growl-ly, groovin' heights. To be sure, it was impossible to understand Bo's lyrics also, but, in this case, it didn't matter. Sorry, Carrie, life is not fair.
This stream of baritone-friendly pop music, mixed in with some Barry White done with a rock gloss, this is where Bo needs to drop his line. The house absolutely roared and roared again when Bo reached the finish. About all the judges could do was nod in amazed agreement.
Article comments
1 - -E
Oh I thought V was good tonight.
2 - TylerNewton
It's so obvious Vonzell is going home tomorrow it's not even funny. She's been here two weeks too long, and with Bo, Carrie, and Anthony fans mortified at the thought that Vonzell could sneak her way into the finals, those fan bases will rally and VONZELL IS FINALLY GOING HOME.
3 - -E
Vonzell is good. She's much better than Anthony. Though to be fair towards him, he has stepped it up a bit the past couple of weeks (I thought he should have been gone long ago).
4 - Cassy
Its hard telling what will happen? I was personally bored by the theme tonight so didn't watch the show but I did watch the last ten minutes and thought Anthony is doing better. I couldn't even begin to guess who is getting the boot next with that votefortheworst site.
5 - Leslie
Before tonight's episode I would have said that the audience's reaction to a contestant's performance wasn't like having a psychometric glimpse into who's actually garnering the popular votes. Now there's only 4 left {until tomorrow!} and I think how the audience reacts IS very telling at this point. Bo will win.
6 - Sticker
Bo definitely got the applause-o-meter vote.
And Anthony, who usually gets little reaction from the crowd, elicited a fair number of screams tonight. So maybe he will be safe for another week after all.
7 - Eric Olsen
great job as always Sticker, thanks! Whoa, Paula was so obviously trying to be "tough" and was so subdued as to suggest medication. Bo's "For the Love of Money" rocked
8 - Sticker
Paula didn't say one coherent thing all night, except when she repeated what Randy had just said. It was painful to watch. It did look like meds talking. Also it was poor judgment to ask Vonzell to explain "how she was doing" when obviously she was not doing well.
9 - Rose
In keeping with lame themes on Idol how about:
Funeral songs from the Middle Ages during the Black Plague or
Songs from Yiddish Theatre or
Gregorian Chants or
Songs from any of the Muppet movies.
10 - Sticker
rose-
I seriously like the songs from the Muppet movies thing!
11 - Eric Olsen
I do too - can totally hear Anthony doing "Rainbow Connection"
12 - SphinxMontreal
There is only one thing worse than country music - amateurs singing country music.
The judges were full of shit last night with their comments. This thing is fixed.
13 - Steve
I think they could use a night of songs written for Tibetan Singing Bowls, but what do I know?
14 - Sticker
or maybe renditions of the national anthems of third world countries
15 - Paul Roy
Great review. You summed up the episode perfectly. Jesus, was Paula spaced out last night or what? Can't imagine why. I agree that Vonzell or Anthony will probably go tonight, but I'm beginning to wish Carrie would. She just gets worse each weak, while Anthony keeps getting better. Bo is the only one I could even imagine listening to an album by.
16 - Sticker
paul roy--
thanks for the kind words.
I so agree with you on Carrie. The only thing that keeps me content with the fact that she's got a 50% chance to become the next AI is that, IMHO, most of her deficiencies are correctable.
She can be taught how to enunciate and how to inflect. She can learn, through experience, how to perform.
She's enough of a diamond-in-the-rough that I'm okay with it.
Paula was a basket case last night. It was painful to watch.
Maybe she had a disturbing voicemail from her lawyer right before showtime.
17 - Keefer
Paula was a wreck last night. Maybe it was Seacrest's opening joke... Pretty dismal material...
18 - Sticker
what was Ryan's opening joke?
I missed it.
It's always lame.