Boys & Girls

Last night the lyrics of a song ripped through my head, although for the life of me I'm not sure why. BLUR sang... Girls who are boys Who like boys to be girls Who do boys like they're girls Who do girls like they're boys Always should be someone you really love I think perhaps that song started playing in my head because of Randy who right off the bat said it was for "the boys to loose" and then, after the girls sang changed his tune, only to change it again after the boys sang. Geez, it's just all so confusing for the simple boy to figure out. Sorta like that BLUR song. Who likes who? Who's good? Who's gonna take it all. Guess it comes down to "who do you really love!" Honestly, I only recall a few names from the top 24. Most of them did NOT stand out. And so, I will choose to ignore them in my wrap up of the last two nights. There are more boys who stand out than girls, although, right up until the end last night I thought the four girls I did like would easily over-shadow the guys. Now...well, I'm not so sure. My list of guys is a little bit longer...in fact, for a brief moment I agreed with Paula...maybe more that six boys should be in the top 12. Of course, then I realized that I was sober and Paula was obviously not (really ya'll...what the hell was she on last night...gawd!!!). So...without further ado...here's who I liked and would like to see hang around for a while... Girls Mandisa The girl's got some pipes, can take Simon's jabs (and forgive him...whoa!), has some serious stage presence AND a stage that can hold her! As Simon indicated, look for her in the finals. Paris Bennett As I mentioned in an earlier post, this girl is liked because she shares the name of the little boy in my house. After the girls sang, he voted for Mandisa, then yesterday morning, he came in very bleary eyed and asked if it was ok for us to call American Idol and let them know he had changed his mind and wanted his vote to go for Paris. Luckily for us, I had already made a vote for this little hottie who, for me, has the whole package! I honestly hope we crown PARIS our new American Idol! Lisa Tucker While I think the judges were just a little too effervesant in their praise of this little 16 year old, I do think she can sing. I hope she stays around for a while! Katherine McPhee Mandisa and Katherine book-ended the show spectacularly! I like Katherine a lot...she's cute, controlled, has a great voice and an all around nice personality. I'll be honest...she was one of the three votes cast from my house! Boys Bucky Covington This guy intrigues me. Plain and simple but with a voice that promises, with a little coaching, to do things that we didn't see from Bo Bice last year. While I wouldn't call him "amazing", he's a "person of interest"...keep your eye on this guy. Will Makar Ok...here's what this boy has going for him. He sang a song that Paris liked (and did it all right). Plus...he's got the pre-teen girl vote locked up. He'll be around for a while. When Paris went to bed last night, he instructed me to call over to the producers of AI and tell them that he wanted #4. I did as instructed! I have a feeling a lot of 7-13 year olds did the same! Kevin Covais aka Squishy The little girls love this little odd-looking duck. Plus, he can sing with the sincerity of an angel. He really doesn't have the best voice...but dang, we just want to love him...maybe pinch his cheeks a little bit. I have a feeling that some grannys sent their little charges to bed last night then grabbed phone and did some speeding dialing. I look for him to hang around a little bit longer than his talent should allow. David Radford Seriously...did you see the dimples?! Plus he's a crooner! He may be a little bit one-diminsional, but I like him, a heck of a lot better than John Stevens (the other crooner)! Elliot Yamin You know...this guy has a funny looking face (I'm sorry...but you know what I mean...it's not what is considered "classical" beauty), but man, when he starts to sing...WOW! I remember being impressed with him in Hollywood and I'm elated to find him in our top 12. Hopefully, there will be some smart ones out there (as opposed to squealing pre-teen girls) who will vote for this guy because he can sing...as opposed to cute little boys with lessor talents. Ace Young "....and a pretty face..." I have NO idea why this kid was nervous last night, but dang, I think he was the MOST nervous of the guys. Yes, he's got the "X" factor as Simon pointed out. What Simon really meant to say when explaining his comments was that every girl (and a hell of lot of boys) would like to sleep with him and since "sex" sells...he'll go far. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's got a pretty darn good voice to back up those "be still my beating heart" looks! Taylor Hicks He's got twitches and ticks and is really just a little odd...but when he sings, the love of music comes out. Honestly ya'll, I'm getting goose-bumps just writing about his performance last night. I didn't think I'd like him. I wasn't really sure he should be in the top 12. Maybe I didn't want to like him because he looks old for his age. But, like Simon, I'm using reverse gear! He deserves to be in the top 12 and maybe even the finales! As you can tell, I've already got 7 guys I want in the final 12 and there is at least one I left out (Chris Daughtry) who I kind of think outta be there as well. What to do? Well, perhaps the final 12 should be my list. Sure it's a little top heavy with guys. Then again, the four girls in question would put up a heck of a fight...you know it, I know it...and I'm betting that America knows it. Look for four people we could care less about to leave the show tonight...and not soon enough! I'm most interested to see who the Professor and ~foxy coxy~ picked after the performances from the past couple of nights...clue us in ya'll! j.

'ey Yo White Girls: Be afraid

I tell you one thing right now,

I ain't pickin Pickler...

The night does not belong to lover...

I don't know who that girl is, but she sucks...

Deep in Stevie Scott's darkness lurks a loser...

The beginning of the end for whatsername...

and as for whatserothername...well, Meh...

The lights went out, not down...DARKNESS for whateverthehellhernameis...

BUT YO, let's here it for the five superpower girls for bringing that a-game from jump street!

Wow!

Mandisa-singing Heart. Wow. Flawless. Abolutely flawless.

Paris Bennet. OMFG. She's 17 years old and rolled her eyes and "woo-woo"'-ed, and rocked that hair flip like she was Gladys Night. We replayed it the most, and that's the sign of a winner.

I don't care what the judges say, Kinnik's older sultry performance wasn't cabaret, it was on the money. Lisa Tucker's "Changing" was outstanding. And Katharine put it down and set the bar for the boys, whom we shall get into in just a second.

My choices for the finals:
Lisa Tucker (looks like Irene Cara crossed with Rae Dawn Chong)
Paris Bennet (Too perky at times, shows her age but on stage she's a Star)
Kinnik Sky (Perhaps too old to win the competition, but the power behind her voice is undeniable)
Mandisa (Wow)
Katharine McPhee (Token white girl, but chick can blow)

Now for the boys:

Chris Daughtrey (Bald guy. Woof. Oh and he can sing his ass off)

Ace Young (Smoldering looks are starting to piss me off. If he's not careful he could turn into that schmuck Constantine. EW.)

Taylor Hicks (Joe Cocker. Love him)

Eliot Yamin (Kinda dorky, Simon said he had the best voice of the guys in all 5 seasons. Love him too)

Kevin Covais (Super dorky, but his Mom balling in the audience made me like him. He's not gonna win, but I can dig it to the finals).

Now I know, it's only 5 and 5 and I should have one more guy and one more girl picked out. I honestly don't like anybody else, so I'm saving those wild card spots for someone to "Wow" me. It's always great when the song choice isn't up to the contestant because it forces them to expand their range (sometimes painfully) and it's those golden moments in Idol that make the show what it is. Watching someone you can't freakin' stand that only sings skinny-little-white girl waif songs being forced to sing some soul ballad from the 60's and nail it...they always look more shocked than everybody else, like "I did that???"

The best part of the show so far isn't the contestants, it's Ryan and the judges. Namely, "Drunk Paula". Three quick points and I'm out:

1) On Tuesday's show, Ryan completely told Simon off asking him for contructive criticism or to at least shut the hell up. He was actually mad. Play it back, you'll see. I had visions of the Grinch who stole XMas when his heart grew 3 times bigger, except it was Ryan growing a sack. Good for him. He actually shut Simon up for a second.

2) Speaking of Simon, absolutely, positively adore him. His barbs are anemic true, but he's the only one who is right a good 90% of the time. He missed the mark with Kinnik and a couple others, but I like his reality check when he shuts down Randy (enough with "DUDE", it's dumb!) and *drumroll* DRUNK PAULA.

3) I'm so glad that Jonathan pointed it out too, because Lamar and I thought we were the only ones to notice it. Paula's WASTED by the end of the show. She starts out fairly coherant, but then her pill kicks in and by halfway through the show her eyes are at half-mast and she's slurring her words. Even drinking Red Wine along with the show, it was hard to keep up with her. About an hour in, some poor stage hand's job of refilling her coke cup with Rum from her special flask shaped like Emilio Esteves' penis is finally over and she's officially unveiled in the second hour as "Drunk Paula". She just yammers now, arms flailing to express a point she's long forgot. She's gone from merely annoying to downright oddity. A curiosity you'll find in the "I love the 00's" VH1 special when D-list celebs recall their fondest memories of drunk Paula. New drinking rule: Every time Paula does "Touchdown" everybody drinks! You have to, it's a rule.

The popularity of the show has started to carve out a niche for the recurring characters. With no disrespect intended, Ryan Seacrest is well on his way to becoming this generations answer to Dick Clark. This is the first season I actually, honestly really like him. Now if he would just come out of the damn closet already. The judges remind me of the gong show times a million. At least they didn't hide the fact that they were trashed. Can't Bacardi pick up some of Coke's slack and co-sponsor Paula's section of the Judges' table? You hear me Mr. Lythgoe? Revenue dollars!

Prof.