The film “explores the effect of the Fox network singing competition on Christian music.”  I think that is an interesting topic because I have thought about it myself over the years.  There are times, actually, when I’ve thought that Idol had a greater impact on Gospel and Country music than within the Pop genre.

Several familiar faces have participated in the film – Mandisa, Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, Melinda Doolittle and Maria Santiago, the sister-in-law of this year’s finalist, Danny Gokey.

The documentary will air right before the telecast of the Gospel Music Association’s 40th annual Dove Awards.  

image © 2009 FOX BROADCASTING CR: FOX

Post from: Idol Stalker

Of the song, Chris said: "He had the idea, ‘What if we treated goodbye like a person?’  We sat down and took it from there, painted this whole picture. I remembering sitting after we finished it and thinking, ‘This song is going to make a lot of women cry.’"

I’m really looking forward to hearing it.  What woman doesn’t enjoy crying (okay, you know what I mean!)? 

Chris, who was driving when he got the call telling him that the popular country group would be recording his song, said he “just about drove off the road."

The song will be available on the radio January 20, 2009.

image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: Idol Stalker

I liked Chris Sligh. In fact, I’m not even sure that I don’t still like him. I’m just confused. While he was still competing, I began to get a little annoyed by his refusal to take responsibility for his rhythm issues. His singing and the band’s playing were rarely unified. Rather than take the criticism and work to change it, he made excuses. Ugh. But I forgave him because something about his curly hair and pudgy frame made me want to root for him.

The alarm bells went off again when I read a post-Idol interview. When he got voted off, I was taken aback by the things he said. He said that he was glad he got kicked out of his Christian college because he wanted to leave and didn’t know how (I suggested transferring to another school, but I digress) and then he said it was cool that he got voted off American Idol because winning wasn’t actually his goal. HUH???

His post-Idol behavior is even stranger…

Chris Sligh versus Rickey??? Versus Ricky?

The first rumblings I heard was when I was over at Rickey.org and read his coverage of what I will call Chris Sligh’s “Blogger Scandal.” Anyone who reads Rickey’s blog knows he is a lovable, dedicated blogger who wouldn’t hurt a fly (that’s him with Sanjaya). When I heard that there was beef between him and Chris Sligh, I was more than a little intrigued. It turns out that after being voted off, Chris waged war on Ricky, a different blogger from idolforums who is known for having accurate spoilers on Top 24 finalists. Ricky (not Rickey) revealed that his source for some of the info was Chris Sligh. Chris, naturally, publicly denied this but mispelled Ricky’s name (adding an e to it) and Rickey got dragged in to the drama.

Chris Sligh Bashing Sanjaya and Other Accusations

On his blog, Chris said that he thought that Sanjaya was annoying and, in reference to Sanj making the top 24, Chris said that 23 other people had better voices and went on one of his long-winded little rants. He took it down but he wrote a long post explaining his other, “misinterpreted” long post. Whatever.

Chris spends a disproportionate amount of time refuted rumors about his bad behavior that he has read on sites like TMZ.com and Rickey.org (poor Rickey just can’t shake him). It’s amazing because there are many Idol cast-offs who have little scandals, but nothing like this. How many people could possibly be lying about him? There comes a point when you have to ask yourself if any of it is true. His April 15th post accuses Entertainment Weekly of misinterpreting everything as well. Apparently he had some negative things to say about the show and his “explanation” post actually makes it all look worse. It’s like 4000 words long so if you’re gonna read it, grab a snack.

Obsessions, Name Dropping and his “Celebrity” Status

If I were a former contestant on American Idol, I would definitely talk about it but there is a point where it gets ridiculous. Not only does he give a run-down of who he’s “best friends forever” (I’m not even joking) with from the show, he feels the need to give his opinion about everything Idol related.

He even goes into a long, detailed story about how and where the picture of Sanjaya’s mom with the bong got taken because someone reported that he actually turned it over to the tabloids. Okay. That’s interesting since he acknowledges that he wasn’t even there because he wasn’t invited (he claims this is because the other contestants knew he would not approve of the party’s activities). He then drops the names of Lynn and Alex from the Amazing Race as being guests at the party (saying that they had dropped by Adam Corolla’s show) and encourages people to email them so that they can tell the world that Chris wasn’t at the party. WHO CARES?!?!? Do you think Lynn and Alex really want to deal with that? Puh-leeze!

He has been writing about the Idol Tour recently and I cannot fault him there. I would write about it too. The problem is that the first time he talked about it, he gave some reasons why the tour would be cool and actually dropped Blake and Chris’ names in there as incentives (maybe to gain love from their fans???). In today’s entry he asks “If you’re a Chris Sligh fan, who else will you be supporting on the tour (sure you support everyone, right? But who will you cheer for the most besides me?)” Uh, why?

He’s also had to turn his comments off, several times, and now moderates every single one. Apparently, people were as curious as I am about some of the things he says. His May 6th entry actually is just one long freak out where he talks about people talking about him talking about people (yeah, figure that out). He brings more attention to himself by complaining about the gossip people spread about him gossiping. Wow.

My absolute favorite part of his blog is when he gives instructions on “How to Deal with Celebrities” because he apparently gets “mobbed” all the time. He has come up with a list of things you should not do when you run into a celebrity, like himself. Again, it’s a million words long so proceed with caution.

So that’s it. I’m done. I got it out of my system. I don’t know what to make of his behavior. I do think it’s a teeny bit weird and more than a little attention seeking but I just haven’t made my decision. Well, in the end, if this post comes off sounding like I hate Chris Sligh, I could always follow his example and say I’ve been “misunderstood” and “misinterpreted.” If it works for him, it should work for me, right? At the very least, he can thank me for traffic to his blog: http://frommymindtoyoureyes.blogspot.com/

Post from: Idol Stalker

I’m looking forward to the live performance tonight from Gwen Stefani. Can’t wait to see what she’s wearing and what she’s singing.

I think the ones to worry about tonight are going to be Chris Sligh and Chris Richardson. Hopefully Sanjaya will be the one to go home this week, but if he makes it through again. One of the two Chris contestants are probably the ones to be a little anxious on the votes.

The Ford commercial this week shows off the Mustang, so we’ve got a little bit of a western theme in the commercial. Okay, well not a little bit, completely western theme.

• Blake Lewis – safe (no surprise there!)
• LaKisha Jones – safe (no surprise again)
• Phil Stacey – bottom three (little surprised there actually)
• Melinda Doolittle – safe (absolutely no surprise)
• Chris Richardson – safe (a bit surprised)
• Sanjaya Malakar – safe (what the crap!)
• Haley Scarnato – bottom three (not a big surprise, but wish it wasn’t true)
• Jordin Sparks – safe (good job girl!)
• Chris Sligh – bottom three (not surprised given my previous comments)
• Gina Glocksen – safe (she did a good job again)

If you haven’t voted yet, here’s the Idol Challenge this week. Who’s the “Velvet Teddy Bear”, Bo, Ruben or Taylor. Ummm, let’s go with Ruben Studdard. Go vote now.

Gwen Stefani performs “Sweet Escape”, which she also performed recently on the Ellen Degeneres tour.

Bottom three is confirmed: Chris Sligh, Haley Scarnato and Phil Stacey.

Phil just gets sent back, he’s safe again for another week. Simon says it’s “bye-bye curly” and that’s a vote for Chris going home.

Chris goes home. There’s lots to be said about rhythm coming through. It’s probably one of the most noticeable things the average viewer can really pick up on and catch when it’s not quite right. Chris is a good guy, and I’ll absolutely miss his comedic personality and outlook with everything. You could always count on him bringing a smile to your face for something.

Next week we’ll be enjoying the songs of Tony Bennett.

Post from: Idol Stalker

LaKisha Jones
She’s doing some Donna Summer song this evening. Not sure what it is about LaKisha, but she’s just not wowing me anymore with her performances. She can still sing, but for me it’s just not there anymore. This is a tough point in the competition to be hitting this type of wall too. Maybe it’s just me though, she’s still been doing well with votes it appears.

• Randy: good to see her up tempo song, true fly diva right there, it was hot
• Paula: Donna Summer’s not an easy artist to start out with, and she did her proud
• Simon: 30 years younger this week and agree with Randy, nice to see an up tempo song. Great vocal, putting her mark back on the competition

Chris Sligh
Viewer question from Barbara, “How much down time do you have and how do you spend it”. Not a lot, but he likes spending it knitting and crocheting as well as paying bongos in his boxer shorts. No, for his real answer he says sleep as much as possible to stay healthy. Singing some Police, “Everything She Does is Magic”. Gwen’s advice to Chris is watch the tempo and stay with the music. He’s had problems with that in a variety of songs. Sounds like tonight though they’ve upped the reverb in his mic and it makes it sound like he’s echoing, which will only make staying on beat even harder. Hopefully he can fight through it because this is a great song. It’s not quite there, but not too bad either.

• Randy: good song choice, rhythm and tempo not balancing out
• Paula: biggest amount of criticism is “staying in the pocket” with the rhythm. vocally was good, good tone
• Simon: thought it was all a mess, bad timing in this stage of the competition. Didn’t represent him well

Gina Glocksen
Gina is a big fan of Gwen’s so, she was very emotional in the whole process of working with Gwen during the week. This song was a good choice for Gina, “I’ll Stand By You”. Fits her style and range very nicely. Timing seemed a bit off though. We’ll see what the judges think.

• Randy: boot night, another fly pair of boots. One of her best performances ever. She’s got the big voice, just believe and choose wise songs
• Paula: improving each week and coming into her own. Great song that she picked and allowed her to soar with her vocals
• Simon: wasn’t one of her best, it WAS her BEST! This was all about knowing who you are and choosing the right song. The transformation from a few weeks ago was significant. Best performance of the night so far.

Sanjaya Malakar
Singing “Bathwater”, hopefully that’s fitting because we’ll throw him out with the bathwater tomorrow night finally. Gwen said he forgot the words during rehearsal and it as a hard song, but he picked it. Best of luck to him, but it didn’t sound like she’d be too torn up if this was his swan song as well.

What the heck did he do to his hair? It’s a faux-hawk. That’s just weird. If he makes it through this week with just forgetting the words, hair like that and his normal sub-par singing skills, we may have to hire some hackers to go after some people at VFTW. It’s just sad, sad, sad, sad.

• Randy: speechless every time, the hair is weird. He can sing, just put it out there
• Paula: if he had the ability to just go for it and do it, leaves a lot to be desired
• Simon: presume there was no mirror in his dressing room. He doesn’t think it matters anymore what the judges say. He is in his own universe and if people like him good luck.

Haley Scarnato
Singing “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper. Gwen didn’t like the extended flourishing that Haley added to the end of the song. Do they contestants here that stuff before they perform? Hopefully they do, Haley doesn’t need to try any risks on her performances and see if she can outlast Sanjaya. You’d think that should go without saying, but not so from what we’ve seen. She seems to be staying with the main, known version of the song. Ending was kind of weird, but nothing too off the wall.

• Randy: started rough, got better towards the end. Just kind of all right. Didn’t really grab him
• Paula: beautiful song that requires nothing other than just singing the song, less contemporary
• Simon: sweet, but forgetable. Nothing to remember really

Join us for part two of tonight’s performances

Post from: Idol Stalker

Jordin Sparks – “I Who Have Nothing”
LuLu says she’s only 17 and is amazing. Jordin is one of the contestants in this season’s group who’s style seems to have completely changed. Her appearance style, not necessarily her vocal style. Her vocals have continued to become stronger and stronger in my opinion. She has absolutely amazing power for such a young performance. She’s belting out these notes and not wavering at all on these notes. TOTALLY ROCKED THAT PERFORMANCE! She may have just displaced LaKisha as tied for the top for me.

• Randy: very tall order, very controlled, great, great performance, one of the best we’ll see tonight
• Paula: each week we learn just how great your range is becoming, good singer and a wonderful performer
• Simon: she sang it beautiful, but he wants to jump off a bridge. A bit depressing, but she sang it beautifully

Run to the bathroom, it’s break time. And we’re going to get a wild side of Sanjaya and I predict a Rolling Stones song.

Peter Noone says that it’s not a singing competition, it’s a voting competition. They’ve all proven they can sing (EXCEPT FOR THE NEXT ONE!), it’s about winning the audience.

Sanjaya Malakar – “You Really Got Me Going”
Sanjaya admits that he’s not the best singer in the competition. Durh! You think? Peter says he just doesn’t have enough experience to sell what he’s got. There’s a little girl in the audience that’s absolutely balling her eyes out because of how bad he sings. At least that’s why I’d be crying like that if I were in the audience.  He’s kind of got the hair of Mick Jagger.

• Randy: shocked him tonight, he came out of his shell tonight, best performance to date
• Paula: that’s what we’ve been waiting for, a lot of fun to see him like this
• Simon: I think the little girl’s face says it all

Gina Glocksen – “Paint It Black”
Gina answers a viewer question, “Do you think being on American Idol has made you stronger?”. Absolutely, every week there’s so much you have to be your best and fight through it. She mentioned some blogs, I wonder if an Idol has ever read this blog, if so, I’D LOVE TO GET A COMMENT FROM YOU! Sounded like a really rough start to me, but cranking it up a notch more and more as she goes. She’s made it into her style, but for me this song may have too much keeping it clinging to it’s original arrangement and performer to change it effectively. I’m curious as to what the judges will say.

• Randy: resident rocker, not his favorite vocal, just alright, a little pitchy in spots
• Paula: miles better than last week, (what did she sing? I can’t remember), let more loose and have more fun
• Simon: there were moments of complete torture, so off melody, it was just horrible

Chris Sligh – “She’s Not There”
They were scaring me, I thought he was actually going to sing “I’m Henry the VIII I Am”. Luckily he didn’t. Let’s see how he does. He starts off singing in the middle of the audience, probably a good way to connect with the audience initially. Really cool song for him to sing. He’s adding some nice tags in a falsetto. This song really starts to rock in the middle and Chris is flowing with it nicely. Hmm, we’ll see what the judges think.

• Randy: everybody’s performing tonight, it’s like a concert in here, wound up good, ended it really strong
• Paula: dressing much nicer, like the fact that he worked the audience, vocals were really good
• Simon: good choice, showed personality, did a lot better than last.

What may be funnier though was that someone in the audience had a sign that said “Fro Patro” for Chris.

Melinda Doolittle – “As Long As He Needs Me”
Melinda says that this week has probably been the biggest challenge for her in a song and out of her comfort zone. LuLu feels she found the perfect song for her. She’s really slowing it down with this performance tonight. Her vocals are always dead on, but I think this performance is one of her most forgettable. A strong ending as always though.

• Randy: save the best vocal for last, another stunning performance, great relative pitch, you are a pro up there
• Paula: you are in your own league, tell a story with her song, just beautifuly
• Simon: are you really as nice as you seem, you made the second part of the song absolutely sensational with an impeccable vocal

Post from: Idol Stalker

Probably the most entertaining performer to watch from the guys, but his performance didn’t do much for me at all Tuesday night.

Forgetting the words didn’t help at all, but Brandon’s performance as a whole left much to be desired. Only proved by the point that he was actually voted out by viewers before Sanjaya.

I used to put Chris in the same category with Blake Lewis, but now it seems he’s shifted to more of a country, nasal singer. Too squeaky for me. Probably not a bad separation though, always comparing him to Blake wouldn’t be good for his career either.

Chris Sligh pulled a Clay Aiken on us and ditched the glasses for hopefully contact lenses. Don’t know that for sure, but he wasn’t stumbling around the stage. Too much of a switch for me, the glasses were part of his personality. It was just as freaky as the sudden hair change for Sanjaya.

Although somewhat shocking, Phil’s bald head is just who he is now. I think he had one of his best performances Tuesday night, but showing up in the bottom three says America didn’t agree.

Last is Sanjaya. What is he still doing here? I’d like to remind the audience that this IS a singing competition. Yes, looks and personality and style all are factors, but whether or not someone can sing should be at minimum 85% of the vote and this guy just doesn’t come close!

All photos and more available at The Official American Idol website.

Post from: Idol Stalker

Jared Cotter
Before the break we hear that some Stevie Wonder is coming out with Jared Cotter’s performance tonight. Jared played Division II college basketball. When he realized he wasn’t going to make it in the NBA, he gave it up and began pursuing music. He’s got some weird facial expressions when he sings, kind of reminds me of how it looks like Michael Bolton is going to give himself an aneurysm.

• Randy: solid performance, was worried about doing Stevie, but it was good
• Paula: thinks he needs to work on coloring up the way he sings, feels like he shouts the entire song through sometimes
• Simon: actually agrees with Paula, but it wasn’t very original. Not hearing the “wow factor” tonight.

— Commercial Break —

Brandon Rogers
Is a classical piano player and has been playing since he was 9years old starting out playing by ear and then learned how to read music. He’s singing “Celebrate”. I just don’t think he belongs in the group much longer. I haven’t really seen the potential peaking through for Brandon. I’ve seen it with Sundance, and that’s why I’m putting him ahead of Sanjaya.

• Randy: good song choice, gave him a little rock edge, solid performance
• Paula: thinks it was phenomenal, proving why he belongs on the stage
• Simon: doesn’t think he’s represented himself well. He believes he’s one of the best singers in the competition, but the song may not do him any favors this week.

Phil Stacey
He actually does have hair, or did, but shaved it off in college and ended up liking the look and has stayed with it. Phil is singing a LeAnn Rimes and I don’t think it’s good at all. He goes from some really odd low-powered  notes to screaming some notes. This may SERIOUSLY damage his chances for going much further in this competition.

• Randy: high notes are great, but the lower register was off. It was alright.
• Paula: didn’t like the low-end either, but his big notes came out. Odd choice of song, not his best performance
• Simon: didn’t get it at all, odd hats, the whole “thing” just appeared odd and a strange choice of song

— Commercial Break —

Chris Sligh
Had actually shaved his head and looked like Phil Stacey at one point, then let his hair grow out to see the other end of the spectrum and his coiffure is all natural. He’s really rocking out on this song “We All Wanna Be Loved”. His stage presence is flowing well with his vocals and showing off his range, really great little falsetto highlights. Nails the end with a big note finale.

• Randy: not his favorite song choice, but he gets the vocal prize tonight from all the guys so far
• Paula: not her favorite performance either, he’s gotta keep rising above. Stretch and take more risks
• Simon: beginning of song was good but then shouted in the middle. Not one of his strongest.

And that will do it for this week’s performances of the guys. Blake is safe, Sanjaya improved a bit in my opinion, but the judges didn’t like it. Sundance may be at risk along with Phil Stacey this week. It will be interesting to see how the vote totals come across from the phone lines.

Post from: Idol Stalker

Phil Stacey: 29 from Jacksonville, FL
Phil Stacey sings “I Ain’t Missing You At All” by John Waite. I still think this guy is one of the top voices in the contest, still not sure about how far he’ll go, but I’d say he’s got at least 2 or 3 weeks left. He’s really doing a great performance of this song. He’s definitely got it together tonight, but he wasn’t too bad last week in my opinion.

• Randy – that was hot, showing everyond his power
• Paula – likes his tone and says she can hear him right now on the radio
• Simon – very popular, but completely “unoriginal” voice. He’s really looking for something unique, not a “very good karoake singer”

— Commercial Break — 

Interviewing in the “red” room, Sundance says his friends told him to be less “crappy”. I agree, he really needs to turn it on and show us what he did in the original auditions.

Jared Cotter: 25 from Long Island, NY
Singing a little Marvin Gaye and coming out strong with “Let’s Get It On”. I can’t hear this song without immediately thinking of an episode of “The King of Queens”. If you watch it, you’ll know what I mean. Jared’s taking a step up this week. It’s good to see the guys starting off stronger than last week. Not sure if Simon’s going to like it though, and he said to be a littler riskier from last week. He’s doing a good job though.

• Randy – little pitchy, but liked the face move
• Paula – good looking guy, Paula is losing it, too much innuendo
• Simon – appreciates the attempt, but reminded him of the “Love Boat”, as a cabaret singer (Jared follows it up with “That would have been a great love boat man”)

A.J. Tabaldo: 22 from Santa Maria, CA
Dedicating his song to his mom and dad and singing Michael Buble’s version of “Feeling Good”. I like Buble, and A.J. isn’t doing too badly of a version, but is cracking on a few areas moving across his range. We’ll see

• Randy - so much better than last week, proves he’s got skills
• Paula – real, real, real, real good voice. Like’s seeing the change
• Simon – actually “nearly, very good”. Tuning problems. Made himself different and stand-out with some personality

— Commercial Break —

Sanjaya Malakar: 17 from Seattle, WA
He’s dedicating his performance to his grandfather who died when he was five and wears his wedding ring on stage. Singing “Steppin’ Out” with a little jazz, swing kick. Not sure he’s doing enough. Still can’t believe he was won of the top guys in votes last week. Not sure what he’s going on. He’s not bad, just not in the same league with the majority of the other guys in the group this year. Strong voice, but Simon will say he’s “forgettable”.

• Randy – nice kid, really weird, bad high school talent show. Really didn’t work for him.
• Paula – sang on pitch, sounded good, old soul, but needs to pick songs that celebrate his youth
• Simon – some ghastly lunch where the parents asked the children to sing. Very weak. A little weird and absolutely no impact.  

He picked the song to dedicate it to his grandfather, just may not have been the best decision.

— Commercial Break —

Chris Sligh: 28 from Greenville, SC
Dedicates it to his wife who has supported him through all the times he’s wanted to give-up and quit. Singing “Trouble”, and I’m not sure who sings it (Lindsey Buckingham, remade by Coldplay?). He’s doing a great job. I just love his personality and attitude. We’ll see what the judges say though.

• Randy – even better than last week, big voice, he’s got skills, good song choice
• Paula – watch your pitch, getting ahead of the music
• Simon – tonight he was a “very good singer” which is why they put him through

Ryan reminded me that Taylor Hicks did that song last season. Definitely a song that would fit Taylor’s Soul Patrol style.

Post from: Idol Stalker

Here are the Colts fans:

• Chris Sligh
• Jordin Sparks

I knew I liked both of them for a good reason.

Does Jordin Sparks remind anyone else besides me of Kimberley Locke?

Post from: Idol Stalker