I just thought I'd get this thread ready for tonight's show. Each contestant will be singing three songs--one personal choice, one judges choice, and one random song (not sure about how that works).

This should be good!

Did you see Oprah today? All the top 10 and judges and Ryan were on. They performed "What the World Needs Now is love" AGAIN. They do it well, though (except for Julia's cheesy "one" note at the end.)

45 minutes to go! I WILL be voting like crazy tonight (for Clay). I don't want tally to be devastated!

Here’s the rundown:

Kim Locke
Band of Gold (random pick) Good, but not like the first time she performed this with Frenchie.
Anyone Who had a Heart (judges) I thought she started off horrible, but it got better towards the end. Still not great, IMO.
Inseperable (personal choice) I think she did a good job.

Ruben
Signed, Sealed, Delivered (random) I liked this. Very fun and he seemed to enjoy himself.
Smile (judges) Uh, no. I can’t believe they gave him this song.
If Ever You're In My Arms Again (personal choice) Didn’t do it for me.
He sounded rough tonight.


Clay
Vincent (random) Randy says he doesn’t care for the song. Well, what was Clay supposed to do about it? BTW, I love this song. I don’t understand some of the bashing this song is getting on some other boards. He forgot some words. Oops. Judges didn’t like it. Poor Clay.
Mack the Knife (judges) Wow, I thought this was great. He looked sharp. Smile on my face the entire time!
Unchained Melody (personal choice) Yay, Clay! He really pulled this off.

Lots of famous people in the house … Quentin Tarantino, Gabrielle Union, Brooke Burke. Plus Vanessa Olivarez!

Also, Paula lost her mind again. Where does she come up with these comments? “You’re like Sarah Hughes in the winter Olympics” WTF?!!! That one had me laughing for a while.

Okay, I came to post while waiting for the phones to die down. *goes off to vote her life away*

Interesting choices for Clay. Apart from Vincent (one of my all time favourite songs btw), both the other two were sung by Gareth, who, I'm sure you know was our runner up,and was Simon's favourite from Day 1.
Way to go Jess. Get that redial humming. Many thanks.

Is every person in America voting?! It was an hour and a half of busy signals. I got through 15 times. Ah well, I did my best. (and I got to read my newest Entertainment Weekly)

Originally posted by Tally
Never saw your post and i started to write mine! Felt very spooked when i looked at yours and realised you'd written almost exactly what i had!!

It is strange though, about the Gareth - Clay thing aint it????

LOL it's funny how all these reality TV shows we watch, all the covers songs keep cropping up in each of them...... in fact most songs before my time I'd only recognise coz it had been on Pop Idol/Popstars The Rubbish/Fame Academy/American Idol

and for what it's worth I hope Ruben goes tonight...... I wouldn't mind seeing either Clay or Kimberley winning, but I think Clay deserves to as he's *technically* a better singer

Last night was another mixed bag. Three songs each to listen to and none of them totally blew me away. I voted for Clay (or tried to anyway) but the lines were solid busy. I think I got through about five times in 45 minutes. It will be interesting to see how many votes were cast last night when Ryan tells us tonight. 30 million???

I just have to say that Oprah was showing her true bias yesterday by totally promoting Ruben during her show. I really think this is turning into a black/white thing, which is sad. Ruben was not the best singer last night, but I still think he'll stay in the competition. Simon told people that the competition wouldn't be the same without Ruben in the finals, but he didn't say that about either of the other two. He's really pushing for his pick, and I hope it ends up being Clay. Clay hasn't gone into the bottom two yet, so I hope tonight is no different!

To be honest, I didn't even know Clay had forgotten a few words of the song "Vincent" until Paula pointed it out. That song was shite, and I'd never heard it before. What an unlucky random pick. I agree with NoDoubtJess's reviews of the songs, except that I don't think Clay did as well as he could have on all of his songs. There were definite moments at the end of his last two songs where you said "wow", but that's because he can hold notes like no one else in the competition. Both Mack the Knife and Unchained Melody were a bit choppy for me until the end.

Well, at least we get to find out the results tonight. I swear, I won't even watch the final if Clay gets booted tonight.

oops, duplicate post

The interesting thing is that the song choices throughout the show have mirrored a lot of the choices made during UK Pop Idol. I don't think this is Simon Cowell, more like Simon Fuller and Nigel Lithgoe, who know exactly what a 'crowd pleaser' song is, and who to give them to (i.e. not Josh or Kim).

I love Vincent - it's a lovely song. I think it's incredible that they've managed to learn 3 songs, do a home visit (which must have taken at least 2-3 days off their ordinary schedule) and learn whatever medleys they have to do tonight.

The scene is now set for a Clay v Ruben final. Ruben has been so heavily promoted as the inner already (just as Gareth was in the UK), that I'm completely confident that Clay will win. The best bits in Pop Idol were (a) the TRULY fantastic look of shock on Will's face when he'd won and, (b) Simon Cowell trying to cover up how p***ed off he was that his prodigy hadn't got it. I think it took all of 25 minutes after the show finished for Simon to confirm he'd offered Gareth a record contract!!

So true!!!!!

I don't get it either. Could this be a general UK/US divide with the Uk producers not getting the pulse of America in terms of this song? I would have thought it would be a well known song but No-one seems to have heard of it. And obviously I haven't seen it yet, and I love Clay, but I don't think it's entirely fair to blame the song if it's not his best. This is a gorgeous song and it can really shine for the right singer (ie Malachi on fame Academy.)

Ah well I'm looking forward to Mack the Knife. I swore i was going to stay unspoiled...ha ha.

Yeah,ladies. What great taste we've got. We all think alike! I am so hoping Clay will "do a Will" and thwack Simon's bias into oblivion. dizzie, you are so right about the final of Pop Idol. That moment will stay in my memory for a long time.Fortunately the bill for all the calls I made for Will, is now a long settled argument between hubs and me!!


Well Ben, what do you think of all the "oldie" songs? We knew how to pick a good tune in my day didn't we?

Except for "Unchained Melody". Lordy, how that song has been done to death. At least 4 times top of the pops. I'd chain it up and throw away the key!

Its going to be a nervy night tonight, although I reckon that poor Kim will leave.

I agree. Could she have fawned over Ruben any more?


I can't wait to find out how many votes were cast. Judging from the other boards we weren't the only ones facing busy signals the entire time.

tally, i too feel Kim will be leaving tonight. I hope to God that it's not Clay! Watching the show just won't be the same without him.

saw UM on Americanidol2.com - what the hell was that Clay??? I preferred Gareth's version - REALLY!!

:yawn: Phew. I'm a wreck. What on earth is NEXT week going to be like? This sounds spookily like the close result we had. Were Trenyce and Justin as bad as the boards made out, or is it typical AI hysteria that the posters whip up?
[SIZE=4]COME ON CLAY[/SIZE]

I used the fast forward button through both Tamyra and Justin.

Yay for my 15 votes! Clay Clay Clay!!!!! I have a feeling he is gonna win this thing.

Last night was another one-hour show. They had two of last season's contestants on the show to perform because they both have albums coming out in June or July. You will not believe which frickin' songs they had them sing!!!!!!!! Over the Rainbow and Unchained Melody! What the f*ck? This show keeps rehashing the same damn songs over and over and over again! I just sat there in complete disbelief and said, "You have got to be kidding me."

First we had Tamyra Gray sing an acoustic, slow version of Over the Rainbow, which she was half belting out and half barely audible. Then we had Justin come on and they said his FIRST SINGLE was going to be Unchained Melody. Why??? Kelly, the winner of last season, is singing all new material, so why would they have Justin sing a cover song? He's getting some bad career advice. It absolutely sounded stupid having him sing that song when Clay just sang it the night before.

The best parts of the show were the group of three performing a melody at the beginning of the show and the Ford skit. That Ford skit was funny! It showed Ruben and Clay getting all dressed up and competing with each other to take Kimberly out for a night on the town. Clay walked into Ruben's bedroom while he was ironing his shirt, and they had Clay put his head down on the ironing board so Ruben could iron his spikey hair. Hilarious! Both of the guys were all dressed up and waiting for Kimberly at a nice location, and then she drove up in her Ford Mustang convertible. When she got out, she walked right past both of them and into Ryan's arms. It was too funny!

At least Kimberly went home this week. Now I think they said the final will be held at Universal Ampitheatre in LA in front of 5,000 people next week. For those of you that don't know, Universal Ampitheatre is actually just down the freeway from Universal Studios Hollywood. It's a nice outdoor concert place. Ruben and Clay! I can't wait to hear what the new single will be for the winner. Last year it was "A Moment Like This", which was written just for the winner. Kelly's voice sounded right on the song, so it makes me wonder if they are going to pick a song that sounds good on both guys or just one of them. I'm sure Simon will try to pick a song that suits Ruben the best, just to make Clay look bad.

May the best man win next week!

Does anyone think that an OUTDOOR venue isn't the best idea for the final of a live show? Generally, the sound problems are multiplied in a venue like that, which performers compensate by wearing 'in-ear' pieces. These are great - if you know how to use them - so I'm very worried about both guys (but especially Clay cos I want him to do so well).

Also, how's the weather in LA this time of year?!!!

Oh how like our own dear Pop Idol this sounds.

And jms, the reason why Justin is singing covers and the same old songs are rehashed time and time again, is because I reckon Simon has a stake in the ownership of them!! Also, just like Gareth, he's willing to be a puppet.

On the down side, I watched Clay's performances last night. His "Vincent" was dire. And "Unchained Melody" is crap anyway.He nailed Mack The Knife though.
Ah well, we'll get to see it on TV tomorrow.

According to the weather channel, next week in LA should be partly cloudy and in the 70's. Sounds good to me. They take the sound for the TV part directly from the microphones, so we won't hear that "live" sound sitting at home.

I don't want to see anymore guest appearances on this show next week. I want all Ruben and Clay!

Here is a BBC site to post your views on American Idol (i hope i am allowed to do this?)

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/enter...ws/2891687.stm

Oh yes, and as for Carmen...... first of all I don't think she is quite up to par with the others, and secondly, she is NOT American. How can Ms. Carmen be an American Idol if she is a Canadian citizen. She is originally from Edmonton Canada, not Utah. She was born there as well.

I wonder if being an American citizen is a requirement. I doubt it.

Well I've plodded through this programme from the start, great entertainment it ain't.

The only person that has kept me watching is Clay, what a great voice and as Simon rightly said once he started to lose the broadway mannerisms he became even better to watch.

Kimberley has come on leaps and bounds and has got a career ahead of her.

Ruben just doesn't do it for me, maybe if he lost some weight he would be able to give those notes more power, his notes just fade away as he can't hold them just my opinion I hasten to add.