BuzzSugar

"American Idol" Elimination: Time's Up for Chris and Phil

BuzzSugar — Thu, 03 May 2007 09:30:36 PDT

Blah blah, charity, blah blah - niceness has never been American Idols strong suit, so it was good to see the show return to its ruthless roots on Wednesday with not one but two eliminations. And as I'd predicted, Phil and Chris went down in that proverbial blaze of glory. They've both been on the verge of going home for a while now, so I can't say I'm surprised. They were two of the least versatile performers this season (Timberfake was all nasal all the time; Phil was stiff and dull, except for his all-too-brief forays into country rock), and I think that hurt them in the end.

Three of the remaiing four - Melinda, LaKisha and Blake - seemed like sure bets for the top four the second the performance rounds started. All three made a splash right away, and despite some iffy outings from LaKisha recently, all three have been consistently good. Jordin is the only surprise, a dark horse contestant who came on strong in the finals. I still believe she can win "Idol," but she'll have to be a lot better than she was this week.

Amazingly, the combined vote total for the two weeks was 135 million - which means that almost as many came in this week (65 million) as last week (70 million). Considering that the totals had been hovering around 30 million per week for the season so far, that's quite a leap. For more revelations from Wednesday's show,

Oh, Seacrest, sometimes you are remarkably self-aware: "Once again, we'll be stretching this show into a full hour. And I promise, no filler."
Simon bobbing Paula's head around by tugging on the back of her hair? Weird! Then there was some crazy Simon/Seacrest banter about puppets and Simon's girlfriend, and I think Paula said it best when she said: "EW! What are we talking about?"
Blake got props twice from the judges: Simon said Blake got top marks for rock night because he took a risk, and Paula seemed to be speaking directly to him when she said some contestants had "career-defining" performances. We also got a little infomercial from Blake about how he creates his arrangements, and it's cool to know that he really does the work himself.
The results came in two groups of three. In group one, Melinda and LaKisha were safe and Phil was out. In group two, Jordin and Blake were safe and Chris was out. Blake and Chris are so cute together, by the way. Right at the end, after Chris sang, someone said something into the microphone that made everyone crack up, but I didn't catch it - anyone know what it was?
Quote of the Night: "I'd do it again." - LaKisha, on kissing Simon.

I'm not the biggest Bon Jovi fan, but I enjoyed the performance on Wednesday, though I wish they'd gone for a more uptempo song and not a ballad.
When Ryan promised that the three "Idol" winners who didn't show up on "Idol Gives Back" would be on Wednesday's show, I really thought they'd be performing. Instead, Reuben, Fantasia and Taylor showed up in video plugs for the charity.
About "Idol Gives Back" - I know they still want people to donate, but ... that show was two hours long already, so I really don't think Wednesday's several-minute recap was necessary. I could be wrong, though, considering that Seacrest pointed out that "Idol Gives Back" videos occupy the top three spots on iTunes.
Robin Thicke is going to grow up to look just like his dad. If you think he's hot now, you better enjoy it while you can.
The Pimpomercial was set to "Paint it Black," against the backdrop of an old-school circus; the scenes with Melinda as a contortionist were seriously bizarre.
Want to prevent another "Inside Your Heaven" debacle? The top 20 "Idol" songwriting entries are awaiting your votes.
Next week: "boogie sounds" with Barry Gibb.

Fox

"American Idol" Elimination: Goodbye, Gina

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 09:23:16 PDT

Aww, our resident rocker is gone! Gina got voted off "American Idol" on Wednesday - and a few weeks too soon, in my opinion. She probably wouldn't have made it to the end, but she should have outlasted Haley and Phil at least (and, if this weren't bizarro-world, Sanjaya). I must say, though, that she didn't go terribly gracefully: Did anyone else think it was a little petulant the way she threw aside her lucky stuffed pickle?

The other big news of the night: Because Tony Bennett was ill, Michael Buble filled in with a last-minute performance. Good to know he had nothing better to do.

For more on Wednesday's results show,

The pimpomercial was a car wash set in a jungle - because the car was a hybrid, get it? - with weird stuff like soap coming out of flowers. Nice cameo by Kermit the Frog, though.
Seacrest pulled his whole "divide the contestants into three groups" thing before the elimination. For the record, Haley, Gina and Phil were the bottom three; Jordin, Melinda and LaKisha were the top three; and Blake, Chris R. and Sanjaya were the middle three.
I didn't notice it with all the gel on Tuesday, but Sanjaya's cut his hair. Can the KFC bowl cut be far behind?
The "Idol" challenge questions just keep getting dumber. As if we called Bucky Covington "chicken little." Come on, give us a hard one.
Buble made an Antonella Barba joke. Dude, you're about three weeks late.
The ratings weren't their best this week, but the vote total was the highest so far: 33 million.
When Seacrest announced Gina was leaving, were the boos louder than they've been for the other contestants? I can't say I'd really noticed them before, but they were obvious on Wednesday.
I was surprised that Jordin seemed the most broken up about Gina's ouster; I wouldn't have pegged them as friends, for some reason. But Gina let her pitch in on her farewell song, which was pretty sweet.
The results shows become an hour long as of next Wednesday, which means we'll get 58 minutes of filler instead of 28. Also, more group sings.
One note on the subject of Haley's legs: Her skirt (which she wore over nothing, except hopefully undies) was inches shorter than the one Gina wore over jeans. See?

Photos courtesy of Fox

"American Idol" Elimination: It's Curtains for Chris S.

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:22:27 PDT

Our 'fro-headed wisecracker is gone! Chris Sligh was voted off "American Idol" on Wednesday after he failed to really nail a performance in the finals. As much as I hate to agree with Seacrest, his assessment of Chris as one of the most clever "Idol" contestants was dead-on, and I'm sorry he won't be around to lighten the mood during performance shows anymore. I'm also sorry my DVR cut out before he told Phil that Phil owed him fifty bucks.

Phil and Haley joined Chris in the bottom three, and I was actually surprised to see Phil there. I'm really not a fan of his, but I can think of a lot of times he deserved to be in the bottom three, and this wasn't one of them. Haley, meanwhile, has to know her number's up soon; she just looks terrified all the time now, poor thing.

And yes, that means Sanjaya wasn't even in any danger. Dear America: What are you smoking? For more thoughts on Wednesday's elimination show,

Maybe I should have seen it coming, but Seacrest coming out in the Sanjaya ponyhawk wig was pretty amazing.
We got a Wild West pimpomercial - I'm sorry, "music video" - featuring Chris Richardson as an outlaw and Jordin as the sheriff trying to put him in his place.
"So that means either Chris or Gina will be joining Phil and Stacey in the bottom three," quoth Seacrest. Wow, I guess when Simon said he didn't know Haley's name, he wasn't alone.
The "Idol" challenge was about which finalist had been nicknamed "the velvet teddy bear," and Bo Bice was an option. I think he's one of the least teddy bear-ish contestants in Idol's history, actually.

Gwen's performance was so much better than what we usually see on "Idol" (read: washed-up stars in wildly inappropriate outfits attempting songs their voices gave up on years ago). So refreshing.
Was Paula trying to dress like Gwen? Both were wearing white button-down shirts, neckties and bib tops. Gwen, of course, looked awesome, while Paula looked ... well, kind of like a pirate. I think it was the fluttery sleeves.
Simon on who was going home: "I think it's bye-bye, Curly." I think he meant Chris, but Haley's hair was curly too.
If my coin had only come up tails on Tuesday, I'd be three-for-three in predicting eliminations
I'm glad Chris got a singout. I wish I could have just heard him crack jokes for two minutes, but I'll take the singout.

Photos courtesy of Fox