Category: Pop (Page 197 of 216)

Last night’s “American Idol” results show was painfully a full hour long, before the climax of sending home Elliott Yamin. And in the end the thing that surprised us all was that the voting was so close. Mere percentage points separated Elliott from the second-place vote-getter…in fact, each contestant garnered 33 % of the vote but then the last per cent determined the outcome. Wow. Elliott really brought his A-game the last few weeks and made a serious run at becoming the next Idol, but was beaten out by the hugely popular Taylor Hicks and girl-next-door Katharine McPhee.

The show started with Ryan Seacrest telling us that on Tuesday night, 50 million people voted, another record. As annoying as Seacrest is, that number really is astounding and proof of just how popular this show has become. Then there was a recap of Tuesday’s performances, followed by footage of each contestant going back to their hometown last week to mingle with fans, meet with Governors, and be interviewed on radio and TV. Elliott even got to throw out the first pitch at a Richmond Braves game, and dude threw a strike!

After the footage, each contestant got to perform the song they recorded for the upcoming “American Idol 5” CD. Taylor did the Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It To The Streets,” Katharine sang Aretha Franklin’s “Think” and Elliott did “Blue is the Mood For Love.” After watching them all perform, I concluded that Katharine’s version of “Think” was her best performance yet, even better than “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from Tuesday night. Mrs. Marley even agreed, while muttering under her breath that Chris Daughtry still should be in the finals. Anyway, maybe it’s because there was no pressure, but holy shit…..Katharine can belt it out and in many ways really does deserve to be in the finals.

Then Clive Davis came out and accepted an award for his role in making the show what it is. When you look back, and realize that Kelly Clarkson alone has sold 10 million records and won two Grammys, and then at the success of Clay Aiken, Fantasia, and Carrie Underwood…..it’s clear that “American Idol” has had quite an impact on pop music since its inception in 2002. Fox Network, please make that check out to “Spike M-A-R-L-E-Y.” But anyway…..

Seacrest showed the results a little differently this week….he put up on a big screen the final percentages of the votes: 33.68, 33.26, and 33.06. Then said “Let’s put a name to the lowest percentage,” and it was Elliott. That wasn’t a surprise, but the closeness of the voting sure was.

So next week, the gray-haired wonder slugs it out with the California girl for the right to be named the next American Idol. I’m still banking on Taylor, but then again, I thought Bo Bice should have won last season. Hang on, it’s sure to be an exciting (read: painfully long) two episodes next week.
Till then,

Marley, OUT.

Three contestants left, only four episodes remaining of one of the most popular reality TV shows, and thankfully, only one more week of Ryan Seacrest….that is, until he pops up somewhere else. I’m guessing the folks at “Wheel of Fortune” are waiting for Pat Sajak to retire already so they can stick someone like Seacrest in his place.

Anyway, last night the final three performed, and each did three songs chosen by different people. Legendary music industry executive Clive Davis was on hand and chose the first song for each of them. Then each judge chose one song for one designated Idol. Finally, they each were able to choose their own song. So how did it shake out? Let’s go to the Marley Videotape……

Elliott Yamin

I’ve been writing this blog for four months and I still don’t know for sure if Elliott’s name has one “t” or two. Do I care? No. If I did, I’d probably be wearing a suit and telling people what to write in this blog instead of writing it myself. But anyway…

Elliott started out with Journey’s “Open Arms,” the Clive Davis choice….it was a pretty good selection but Elliott seemed to try a little too hard. Simon even suggested that Elliott needs to loosen up a bit. Paula Abdul got to pick Elliott’s second song, which was Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love”…and what I thought was the perfect song for Elliott. Randy said it was sharp in spots, but Simon declared it as “really good.” His last selection was “I Believe in My Soul,” the old Ray Charles song that was re-cut by one of Elliott’s heroes, Donny Hathaway. Randy said it wasn’t perfect but that there is not doubt Elliott can sing well. Simon said it was good but predicted that this would be the end of the competition for Elliott.

Katharine McPhee

Katharine started out with Clive Davis’ choice, R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly.” For some reason it seemed a bit disjointed but we all know Katharine can sing her ass off. Randy even said it wasn’t quite right and Simon made mention that he’s still waiting for Katharine to create a special moment on the show. Paula Abdul was once again drunk. Katharine’s second song was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which Simon Cowell chose for her. Simon wanted his moment, and Katharine delivered it. Holy crap, was that awesome. Randy and Simon both said it was the best vocal so far of the entire competition….that’s a stretch, but it was damn good. Katharine finished with Ella Fitzgerald’s “I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues” and while it was a bit of a reach, she pulled it off okay. Look for Katharine to make it to the final based solely on her second performance last night.

Taylor Hicks

Taylor started out with Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and you could almost see the expression on his face toward Clive Davis, saying “Come on, old man, that’s the best you could do?” Instead he did the right think and respectfully thanked him, then went out and did the song and Davis proud. He had a lot of fun, as always, and even dragged Paula up to dance ala Springsteen and Courtney Cox in the video. Did I mention Paula was drunk? Randy Jackson chose Taylor’s second song, Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” and it was the perfect song for him. Simon said it was his best performance yet. He closed with “Try a Little Tenderness”…..which Paula said was incredible and to which Simon declared, “See you next week.”

So there you have it….it appears, at least on paper, that Elliott Yamin will finally be exiting “American Idol” after hanging in there for so long. But we’ve all been wrong before, so you really never know. Let’s remember that we all thought Chris Daughtry would surely be in the finals and got booted off last week. Mrs. Marley kept reminding me of that during the show, just in case I had forgotten.

I still think Taylor Hicks is going to be the next American Idol, but if he doesn’t stop that “Soul Patrol” thing, I’m going to drive Buffybot to the river to drown those kittens. Dude, is someone pulling a string every time you finish a song? “Soul Patrol, Soul Patrol, Soul Patrol!” Okay, we GET it.

See you all tomorrow, and till then,

Marley, OUT.

I don’t think any of us saw this coming. Not me, not Mrs. Marley, and not any of the judges on “American Idol.” Chris Daughtry, the resident rocker on the show, was sent home last night after two really good performances on Tuesday night.

It just goes to show a few things…..America is in love with Taylor Hicks and he’s still the favorite to win…..Katharine’s hotness saved her because her singing sure didn’t…..and Elliott came to bat twice on Tuesday night and twice hit the ball way out of the park. (Did Barry Bonds loan Elliott some of “the clear” this week?)

Seriously though, I think everyone was sure it would be Elliott before Tuesday, then everyone had to shift that thinking to Katharine, because she just didn’t bring it on Tuesday.

Before they got to the results, they had to, as usual, fill up like 25 minutes. So they showed more of the Idols at Graceland with Priscilla and with Lisa Marie. Yesterday I commented on the grape-by-way-of-raisin face on Priscilla…but yesterday noticed the outfit and her bulging belly coming through it. What was that exactly? Beer? A baby? Or is she hiding Elvis in there? Either way, it was a little disturbing.

Then the top two were announced, Taylor and Elliott…..and Katharine and Chris were the bottom two.
But for some reason, you had to believe it would be Katharine, and it was a bit shocking when Ryan Seacrest sent Chris home. I think even Chris was in shock, and he should be……he had to know he blew Katharine off the stage on Tuesday. But oh well….the bottom line is that some label is going to sign Chris anyway, probably in the next 10 days if they are able to.

So your remaining 3 are Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee…….wow, it’s hard to believe that Mandisa and Chris didn’t make it this far, but great voices aren’t everything….sometimes it’s looks, and sometimes it’s how you perform on any given night or nights.

We’re almost there folks…..from thousands of hopefuls down to just three. And one of them will be crowned the fifth American Idol in a couple of weeks. Who will it be? The way things are going, you just never know….so see you all next week.

Marley, OUT