Pulling into the station

April 08, 2004

The theme for week four was the songs of Sir Elton John. And as a special treat, Sir Elton paid the remaining nine a visit during rehersals. The star-struck Idols-to-be got some one-on-one time with him, earning praise and getting pointers from the writer and singer.

Fantasia led off with "The Way You Look Tonight." It was a little slower and more mellow that I would have liked it, but it was still pretty good. She won't be the best of the night, but she won't be the worst, either.

JPL, slipping further and futher out of my good graces, sang "Rocket Man." He can do well - as long as he's not dancing or moving around. This song wasn't good for him, range wise, he just can't hit the higher notes.

Jasmine... I'm torn on Jasmine right now. She did "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." She starts off strong but almost always gets sour at the end. When she's strong, she's good, but when she gets weak...

John, John, John. "Crocodile Rock." You know, there are no words to express how awful it was, so I'm just going to say that I agree 110% with Simon about John. It's time to go home already. Well, one good thing. He did the "La La La" parts pretty good.

Fifth of the night was Camile, singing "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." She has a nice, low, sexy voice that would be good on certain songs. This is not one of them. She sang way too low - even for her - and so when she tried for the high notes in the song, she blew them. And I'm still not seeing any real interest in singing from her. Her expression is blank - like she's either on drugs or is half dead.

With the shakier contestants out of the way, George saved the night with a little known song, "Take Me To The Pilot." How does he make it look so easy? I can't say I know this song, so I couldn't tell you if he missed any words or screwed up the notes. My guess is that he nailed it. It was great, so I wouldn't care if he did or not anyways!

Diana sang "I'm Still Standing." I'm not understanding where their minds are right now. Why did she go out and walk through the audience? When she did that, it made her voice waver too much and she sounded out of breath. And this song needed more oomph, more passion to it than what she gave.

LaToya whipped out another little known, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." She also wavered a couple of times, but really was in the top three or four performances of the night.

And finally, Jennifer with "Circle of Life." No one else was right for that song and no other song was right for her. It was the most perfect, exact match of the night. The song needs power and power she has. She pulled it off so well, I wondered if it wasn't her on the Broadway cast recording of "The Lion King"...

In the audience tonight were Amy Adams and Kate Thornton from the UK version, Pop Idol. If I had to guess who the bottom three would be based on their performances tonight? Camile, John, and Diana.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Wednesday night's show was a full hour. This was the most exciting elimination show yet. In the audience, Ryan found Julia DeMato from season 2. Julia has a single coming out soon, which means an album isn't too far behind.

The group performance was next, with the girls leading off with "Benny and the Jets." Let's take a moment to look at some fashion no-no's. Primarily, Camile. What in the world was she wearing? At first I thought she had a ponytail on the side of her head - a'la 80's fame - but it turned out to be a ponytail in the back and half of the hair on her crown was combed to one side. It was awful. Then I noticed the red pants and flats. It reminded me of when I used to wear leggings and flats back in the 80's. The red, yellow, and green... Nuh-uh, it's not workin' for you, honey, so just stop, okay? Jasmine had on this red-and-white striped babydoll top. Remember those? Oh I was the queen of babydoll tops. The girls stepped back to let the boys grace us with "Daniel's Song." Guys, you're dressed like normal humans, thank you. And now, everybody together for the big finish! "Saturday Night's Alright." Too bad it's Wednesday.

But wait! We're not done with the musical numbers! Miss Tamyra Gray from season 1 is back for a special performance. She sang a song she wrote for her new album (which drops in June). With the hair style and make-up, did anyone else see Whitley from "Different World?" (Jasmine Guy.) No? Maybe it's just me... You can see Tamyra next Friday, April 16th, on FOX's "Tru Calling."

After the commercial break, we're getting down to business. This week, everyone was brought from their seats to the stage. Ryan tells us that tonight there will be three catagories, three groups of three. One group would have the three who had the most votes. One group would have the three with the least votes. And the third group would have the three in between. Group A included Jasmine, Diana, and Camile. Group B included John, JPL, and Fantasia. Group C included Jennifer, LaToya, and George. Group C... Safe. Three very relieved singers practically run back to their seats. As if they could possibly have doubted their safety! Group B... Joined group C on the couches. Three nervous girls remain on stage. Ryan sends one back to the couches, Diana. After the commercial break...

Both Jasmine and Camile sing for us just one more time. (Like it will make a difference.) Camile still sucked.

So long, Camile!

AI3 - Finals - Week 4 stopped here at 11:27 a.m.

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