Frack-Attack!

Idolites -

Jessica Fracker has taken control of the pool with three straight weeks (and 30 points) of correct picks. She put 5 points between she and her mom, Kathy Hunter who now sits in second place. Isabel DeVera, another Southern Californian is tied for second with Kathy. With most people having Michael out even sooner than tonight, his departure served to stop the bleeding.

As for my mini-predictions, I was 2 for 3 on the bottom three tonight (kinda proud of the Matt prediction). Scott snuck in there instead of Megan., which wasn't too shocking. That makes me 6 for 10 on the season. I was able to finally pick the eliminated contestant, making me 1 for 4 on the season on that front.

Looks like the poll picked correctly on Michael as well.

A few nuggets on the show:

• What's the deal with the pre-recorded Motown medly? It's not cheesy enough already?
• The Ford commercials sure have come a long way from Season One. They're actually kind of cool this year.
• Ruben Studdard won American Idol. Who knew? Man was he sweaty after singing that song tonight.
• Did anyone else see how mad Matt looked when Simon said to he and Michael, "The reason you two are there is because the public doesn't like you very much." Oh snap! Michael thought it was pretty funny.
• The Stevie Wonder medly was much better than the Idols. Looks like he and Ruben have been hanging out.

Well Michael is gone, and so goes the 3-finger mic tap. Jessica will have to get her picture with him holding up her winning pool during the next Idols tour for next season's blog.

Until next week...

On Top Of Old Smokey

Idolites -

Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Tonight, Motown delivered some of the best (including THE best) performances of the season. There were also a few train wrecks as the field was separated.

My two cents:

• So they're really going to stick with the judges intros? Next stop, laser lights and smoke machines.
• MATT: So you all know that I'm not a huge fan of his. This was exactly why. First of all, he's been on piano for 3 weeks in a row now and Paula hasn't said jack to him about using it as a crutch. I mean Scott needs it a bit more, yes? Oh yeah, Matt. Could his jeans be any tighter? Let's Get It On? Bold choice. Didn't really pull it off. It was pretty cheesy from my vantage. I completely disagree with the judges on this one. After now having watched the whole show, he looks vulnerable this week. Especially going first on a 2-hour show. After Adam and Allison had sung, I totally forgot about this performance.
• KRIS: Again, not the biggest fan of his style. I don't get why he uses the guitar. You can't hear it at all. C'mon Paula, why pick on Scott when these other jokers really do use their instruments as a crutch. That being said, I thought his James Taylor meets John Mayer version of that song was done well. His fans will like it...and though I don't enjoy his musical style, I appreciate that he has one, and it's definable.
• SCOTT: Who put him in pink pants? So mean. Who would have thought that going into the Top 10, we'd have a mini-fued between Paula and the blind guy. I love the fact that he has no shame (as he shouldn't) in stating his desire to be a pianist and singer/songwriter. That being said, he truly sucked tonight. Even the backup singers looked perplexed. What's up with him singing all the female artist songs? That had nothing to do with how bad the choice was however. Note to Scott: stick with the inspirational ballads until they vote you off. That's your moneymaker. Could be in trouble tonight.
• MEGAN: Sigh! I really want to hear her sing a song that fits her. I don't know if I'll get the chance. The only things she has going for her chances this week: Scott, Michael and Matt. Why does she pick these songs? Kara actually made a good point...she should have sung My Guy...or Baby Love might have sounded nice with her voice. She's also way too made up. Her outfit was OK, but they are putting WAY too much makeup on her. She doesn't need it!! If there were more than 3 girls left in the competition, I would have her out tonight for sure. I think she may hang on one more week, though.
• ANOOP: Again, he went with the ZZZZZZZZZZ song. He was also dressed like he was in a scene from High School Musical (they need to do something better with his look). That being said, he sang the song really well. I didn't realize he had such nice falsettos. He'll sneak through.
• MICHAEL: Well, I didn't have high hopes, so I wasn't surprised. That was very loungy...I wrote that down and Paula said it right out of the gate. I felt like I may be off my game, but then realized that a) I wasn't agreeing with a fashion statement she just made and b) Paula makes a good point from time to time. After being in the bottom 2 last week, that performance can't help. This may be his time.
• Who else is excited to see Glee?
  
• LIL: I was so jacked when I saw Lil at the start of the show. She finally looked great..it was Motown night...the theme was in her wheelhouse and she was ready to redeem. She will surely move on, especially given the horrific performances delivered by her predecessors. However, I think she has permanently damaged her standing in this competition. I can confidently say at this stage of the compeition: Lil will not win American Idol. She continues to come off not looking relevant in today's music industry. She can sing, but not always that well. I like her. She'll probably be in the Top 5 (the judges would definitely use their save on her), but I just can't see her winning it all. She isn't even the best female...out of just 3.
• Did Paula really just tell Lil she could run for president? President of Looney Paulaville perhaps.
• ADAM: WOW! One of the best...of the night? Kara, you sure know how to build 'em up. That performance, for me, was one of the Top 5 I have seen on Idol...EVER!! He has it going on. Everything about that was great. He looked great, he sounded great, he was original and was completely different from what he has done so far. While his fan base was reduced after last week's nutty Ring Of Fire, he just opened it up wide tonight. His look was more accessible and the vocals were spot on. He is easily the best in the competition right now. For some reason, I get the feeling he's gonna get knocked out unexpectedly once the Top 5 hits, but that's not because I don't think he should and probably will win it all.
• DANNY: Tough to follow Adam, but he did a great job. He definitely connects more with the audience than just about anyone in the competition. That wasn't the best he's done, but it was a solid effort. He has no worries about being in the top 3 at worst and is the clear #2 behind Adam.
• ALLISON: OK, so she still hasn't figured out the look...but when you can sing like that, you could wear Dolphin shorts, a tube top and flip-flops and still sail on. I think it's actually good that she hasn't put her look totally together yet. Remember Kelly Clarkson as she made her way through the Top 10. It wasn't until the later rounds that she had found her look and had the total package. The fact that Allison was in the bottom 3 last week really perplexes me and gives me concern. However, tonight she established herself as the best female remaining...and is still, in my opinion, a dark horse to win it all. Man can she sing!

BESTS

Look: Adam (His look helped evolve him almost as much as his performance...very cool)
Honorable Mention: Lil (Nice to see her here after two straight weeks as worst look)

Performance: Adam
Honorable Mention: Allison, Danny

WORSTS

Look: Allison (Just a bit too much going on...lace leggings? Really?)
Honorable Mention: Matt, Michael, Anoop

Performance: Scott
Honorable Mention: Michael, Megan, Lil

BOTTOM 3

Should Be: Michael, Scott, Megan

Will Be: Michael, Megan, Matt

OUT

Should Be: Michael

Will Be: Michael (2nd time a charm?)


Be sure to vote for who you think will be out tonight!

Standings update tomorrow.

Pool Boy out.

Pool Fun Facts!

Idolites -

Thanks to President Obama, I was given an extra day to deal with my cold, thus I can deliver this year's pool statistics. For the true stat geeks, you will find all the raw data on the 'Pool Consensus' tab on the weekly standings update spreadsheet.

After much pouring over all the e-mails and pool entry submissions, we ended up with 105 total entries. That's up 28 entries from last year...+36%!! Who says we're in a recession?

Our current pool leader, Jessica Fracker, is in the picture above (on right) with Idol 7 Winner David Cook. Nice job on both fronts, Jessica! Check out her other photo on the right sidebar with Idol 6 Winner, Jordin Sparks. I think Jessica should run this pool. She has way more Idol cred than I do!

I looked at how we all picked as a pool. Here were some of the interesting (if you're a stat geek like I am) findings:

• 9 of the 13 finalists were picked to be American Idol.
  
• Danny Gokey received the most picks for Idol at 30. Lil was next with 24, Adam 18, Allison 10, Alexis 9, Scott 7, Kris 5, Megan and Matt were each picked just once.
• No one picked Anoop, Michael, Jasmine or Jorge to win it.
• The overall pool favorite, however, goes to Lil Rounds. Why you ask? Well, Lil had the lowest average predicted finish of 2.78. The rest of the group finished out as follows: 2. Danny (3.41) 3. Adam (4.06) 4. Allison (4.91) 5. Alexis (5.63) 6. Scott (7.20) 7. Anoop 8.25 8. Jorge (8.34) 9t. Matt (8.62) 9t. Megan (8.62) 11. Kris (9.18) 12. Jasmine (9.49) 13. Michael (10.16)
• Each contestant was picked to finish 13th at least once except Lil. Her lowest pick was to finish 8th.
  
• Each contestant was picked to finish by at least as high as 2nd, except Michael Sarver. The best someone could muster was 3rd (3 times!).
• Vegas went with Adam Lambert. Bodoglife.com posted their odds to win and Adam was the favorite at 2/1. The rest stacked up like so: 2. Danny (5/2) 3. Lil (5/1) 4. Allison (15/2) 5. Scott (10/1) 6t. Alexis (12/1) 6t. Matt (12/1) 8t. Anoop (15/1) 8t. Megan (15/1) 10. Jorge (25/1) 11t. Kris (30/1) 11t. Jasmine (30/1) 13. Michael (50/1)
• Again, just check the Pool Consensus tab on the weekly standings and you can see all of this dribble in neat, organized rows and columns. I also keep track of how we do as a pool versus the actual results. Currently, the pool consensus has a total of 13 points, which would be a tie for 35th place.
  

OK, that's enough. Enjoy the show tomorrow. If Michael was in the bottom 2 during country week, does he stand a shot on Motown night? We shall see.

I'm looking forward to it!