Ah, Steph--I am SO sorry! I look forward to your recaps and read them right after I watch the show.
It was a great show this week! I think the singers finally got their acts together. The two famous helpers were Peter Noone for the boys and Lulu for the girls.
Haley Scarnato was up first. Lulu's advice to her was to help her avoid sounding "sweet", which she still did. This was probably her best performance, which the judges all agreed, although Simon said that her singing was not what people would remember.
Chris R. was up next. When Peter Noone described what he thought about him, it was interesting. How often do the celebrity helpers
really talk honest? He sang to an accompaniment of acoustic guitar and apparentlyl had been practicing how to ogle the cameras all the week. This, too, was his best performance, because he basically just sang it. Simon warned him to be careful not to get too nasally.
Stephanie Edwards. Lulu said that when Stephanie came in, she nailed the song, singing it directly to her. She didn't quite nail it tonight and ranks somewhere in the middle.
Blake sang "Time of the Season". Peter loved him, the judges were happy with his performance. It's a difficult song to sing and in the part w/Peter, it seemed like Blake was straining a bit to hit the high notes, but he wound up doing a more than respectable job with it.
Lakisha was torn between two songs. After working with Lulu, Lulu decided that song #2 would work better for her and ran out to tell her. Lakisha did "Diamonds Are Forever" (song #1) which Paula loved for her, but Simon rightly told her it was a view of Lakisha 30-50 years from now. Later, talking to Ryan, Lakisha said that if she looks that good 30-50 years from now, she'd be a very happy woman. Simon got a kick out of that.
Phil sang "Tobacco Road", which Peter told him was better than even the original. I apologize to Phil fans, but no matter how well he sings & performs, there is something about him that I don't like.
Gina sang "Painted Black" and Lulu urged her to power voice it in places. It was not Gina's best number and the judges let her know it. It grew fairly torturous watching her stand there with Ryan when it looked like she was doing all she could not to cry. (She succeeded, but you just felt bad for her.) She stood through a really stupid interchange between Simon and Paula about it maybe being "Painted Purple" instead.
Sanjaya... Well, he changed styles tonight and came out loud and strong. If you weren't watching all the previous weeks, you'd say, "Who the heck is this guy and why is he still on?" Oh, wait.. you still will probably say that. They kept showing this young girl in the audience who had tears pouring down her face. Simon said that her face said his comment better than he ever could and Ryan pointed out that the girl really liked Sanjaya. Ryan then sent Sanjaya over to hug the girl, who was so happy and estatic, that she cried some more. (She could grow up to replace Paula at this rate...
)
Jordin sang "I Who Have Nothing". Paula and Randy were really wowed by it... as was Simon, but he said that he was a really gloomy song when you thought about it. Jordin said that the hardest thing about singing that song was that everyone was so cheery before she went on and she realized she suddenly had to get serious.
Chris S. started out in the audience and worked his way shaking hands, etc. He picked up the mic stand near the judges and apparently Simon feigned fear at getting hit, so Chris mock-jabbed him a few times. Randy said the beginning was rough because he got a bit ahead of the song, but then worked it out. Chris admitted to having to concentrate on how to get through the crowd and follow the camera while not stumbling and while singing... I think Paula was being sarcastic saying that the only advice she had was for Chris to work the crowd better. Simon said that he thought Chris did well w/that, but Chris agreed w/Paula, saying that he had to stay serious with the message of his song, but that he understood.
(*looking quickly to see if I left anyone out...*) Melinda was last. She said that this was the first song in the competition where she really felt out of her comfort zone. She did marvelous, tho, earning praise from all three judges. Simon asked if she were really as nice as she seemed and her response was that what you see all she is and she sometimes wishes that she was more.
The only surprise in tonight's rankings is that the guys stepped up their game quite a bit. My rankings are the same as usual:
Top: Melinda, Lakisha, Jordin
Top Middle: Chris S. ,Blake L.
Middle: Stephanie, Chris R., Gina
Bottom: Sanjaya, Haley, Phil
