Tonight, Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks will compete to become the next American Idol. Who will prevail? What will they sing? What will they wear? Come back tonight to go through the journey together!

Let the Live-blogging begin! Please excuse the typos, .

Ryan asks if Paula’s nose is alright (she broke it during an effort to avoid stepping on her dog, Tulip) and after Paula said that her dog was fine, Ryan said “so the bitch is okay.” Wow.

Both Blake and Jordin auditioned in Seattle, the city that Simon said was the worst they had ever seen in terms of potential contestants. They show Blake’s audition, the judges’ commentary and a quick word from Blake about how much he realized he wanted to win as soon as he stepped on to the stage (unlike Chris Sligh, I guess). They then talk about Jordin’s journey to the top 2. So, I guess if both of them came out of Seattle, Simon could not have been right about it being the worst audition city in history.

—commercial break—

Ryan shows a coin-toss that determined who would sing first. It’s Blake lewis. He offered the opportunity to Jordin who said no, so Blake said he would go first.

Blake sings Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.” He sounds great and his intro actually went better than it did last time. He got the timing down right. He’s beatboxing like a man on a mission. He’s working the stage but he loses a bit of contact with the mouth so his voice cuts out for a second but IT’s BETTER THAN THE FIRST TIME!!! Randy said the beatboxing was hot but the singing was just okay. Paula gives him a 10. Simon says that he’s the most entertaining and, although his singing got a little flat in the middle, it doesn’t matter because he was great. Randy looks like he’s wearing an outfit from the Michael Jackson collection.

Jordin sings Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter.” It sounds good but she’s got to stop the yodelling at the start of every sentence. She’s definitely trying her best. I did not like some of the notes towards the end of the song but the crowd seemed to love it. I guess I’m hearing a different person. Randy said it wasn’t that entertaining but that her voice was stellar. Paula echoed the sentiment. Simon says it was younger choice for her but that she sounded shreiky and that he thought Blake won round 1. Paula said it was a tie. Randy said he performance part went to Blake but that the singing went to Jordin. I did not like it.

—commercial break—

Blake says that he asked for drums every Christmas of his childhood and never got them. He heard someone beatboxing and thought he could do it and when he tried it out his father thought it was a drumset!

Blake sings Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” and it is iffy. He is trying and it is good that he is trying to show his versatility but this song requires strong vocals and I’m not sure he is pulling it off. He is, however, showing his falsetto abillities. Randy liked it and said he likes it when Blake sings naturally. Paula liked it. Simon said it was good but that he wouldn’t have chosen that song for the final because it doesn’t make much of an impact. Blake says that he has never seen an Idol finale but that he is having fun and that the fans are amazing.

—commercial break—

Jordin talks about how she is doing her dream and that she first started competing when she was 12 years old.

Jordin sings Martina McBride’s “Broken Wing” as her second song. I never like the beginning of this song because her lower register singing is sketchy sometimes. She finishes the song better than it began which has worked all season to make people forget how it started. She did control her vibrato a lot better than normal which made it sound a lot better! Randy said it was great, Paula said it was soaring and Simon said it was good. She seemed happy and I’m happy for her.

—commercial break—

The winners of the songwriters competition. They are from Seattle and it is called “This is My Now.” Blake sings it first. It is a slow song which is not really his strong point but he is doing a good job. These songs are always cheesy, so this performance is cheesy. It’s okay, though. He looked adorable. Randy said it was alright even though it wasn’t his genre. Paula said she thought it was good. Simon thought it was odd because he seemed uncomfortable. He said that we have to judge him based on his first two performances. He did say that there was talent in Seattle.

That song does put him at a major disadvantage. It is clearly more suited to Jordin’s voice than it is to Blake’s.

—commercial break—

Jordin sings “This is My Now” and it starts shaky in my opinion. She is getting better but enough of the yodelling, please! She looks very, very comfortable singing this song. She does a better job singing it than Blake and because of this (and the fact that she is now practically crying) the judges will not mention the bum notes. Randy said that Jordin was the best singer tonight. Paula says that she is an angel and that she has a lot to be proud of. Simon told her that last week, he didn’t think she was good enough to make the finals but is now able to say she was wrong and that she wiped the floor with Blake after that song. The crowd is chanting Jordin over and over and she’s crying.

Ouch. You gotta feel bad for Blake. I don’t know if the runner-up, which he probably will be, should be subjected to public humiliation. I am wondering if the song should be more appropriate to the contestant. How would Jordin sound beat boxing? Ugh, this is why I get frustrated with this show!

Chris Daughtry performs “Home.”

VOTING BEGINS

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Post from: Idol Stalker

I won’t spend too much time talking about their homecomings. Got get a drink from the fridge, have a bio-break. I’ll wait for you.

…..waiting…..

…..waiting…..

Okay, you back?

Taylor is singing “Taking It To The Streets” by the Doobie Brothers and doing an excellent job. As I’ve said in previous posts, Taylor just seems to be nailing every performance opportunity he gets.

Katharine is singing “Think” by Aretha Franklin. This is the type of song that fits Kat’s personality. Not a blockbuster performance again, but she’s doing much better. It’s because she’s not trying to oversing it. She needs to remember that if she wants to go further, but I’m pretty sure this is the end of the road for her tonight.

Elliott is singing “I’m In the Mood for Love”, which is on the American Idol Encore CD that’s now available. One thing I absolutely love about Elliott is his humility. What a great guy! Watching his experience going back home to Richmond and celebrating everything with his mom. He just seems to be so appreciative and thankful, and not that the other two aren’t, Elliott just seems to be oozing with the emotions of gratefulness.

Results are next….after these messages…..

• 33.68%
• 33.26%
• 33.06%

Those are the percentage of votes for each Idol contestant. SHOCKED AGAIN! The lowest votes were for Elliott! You people are killing me here! Taylor and Katharine are in the final at the Kodak Theater next week. A friend of mine stated today that she thought it would be Katharine and Taylor in the final so it would be a boy/girl finale!

Post from: Idol Stalker

Clive has picked “Open Arms” by Journey for Elliott to sing as his first act. He did a pretty good job at, I think the genre fits well with him. He did an okay job in my opinion, but nothing inspiring for me on this one. It’s good, just nothing “memorable” as Simon would say. Randy and Paula both liked Elliott. Simon said he needed to loosen up and have more confidence in himself and know that he can make it to the finals if he just works it out.

For Katharine, Clive has chosen “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly. Katharine just doesn’t sound on at all! I’m not sure what’s happened to her, but I think she may just be worn out from all of this. Sounds like another performance from last week, but I don’t think she’ll have the same results this week in the votes if she doesn’t step it up for her next two songs. Simon actually liked the performance overall, but did note there were a couple of bum notes at the end. I’d say more than a couple.

Taylor is rocking the house! Clive picked a Bruce Springsteen song for Taylor to sing. This is pretty impressive as Bruce Springsteen has never released his songs to be used on American Idol. This just goes to show that when Clive Davis calls you, and you’re in the industry, you pretty much do what he asks. He’s like the Music Godfather or something. Taylor is absolutely nailing this song. He’s singing it perfectly and having a blast doing it! He’s the one to beat so far. He pulls Paula up and begins dancing with her in the performance, she’s eating it up. I’m wondering about her meds again though, she looks completely out of it.

Post from: Idol Stalker

He’s starting off great, definitely a blues song. He’s really throwing down the gauntlet on this song. This is starting off to be a great performance. He’s working this song and is really showing that he can do more than the great crooning his been seemingly relying on a little bit lately. Which is not a weakness by any means, but this just broadens his appeal I think, which will help him tonight woo some fans from some of the other eliminated contestants.

Let’s see what the judges say:

Randy: (Paula is out of her seat) Best performance ever! Good to hear for Elliott, since I think he was risking going home tonight.

Paula: Changed her mind, THIS was his best performance ever.

Simon: Elliott’s come out fighting and showing personality and deserves to make it through to next round.

Ryan alludes to Paula doing a little striptease type dance. Simon trys to reign Ryan in and remind him it’s a family show. Yet another reason I seem to regularly agree with Simon.

Post from: Idol Stalker

Elliott doesn’t have the words memorized yet for the song. It amazes me that they can’t memorize songs better than that.

Elliott’s doing very well on the song and really nailing some of the emotional tags and other items. (Stupid sound fades back in sharp after each performanc)

Randy: “You laid it out!” He loved it

Paula: Says it’s the best vocal performance of the season. Not sure if I agree with that.

Simon: Says he came in the underdog and was the best performance so far.

He did do well, and vocally, I’d say yes. Best one so far tonight. Katharine’s up next to wrap up the first round of songs for everyone.

Off to commercial…

Post from: Idol Stalker

Taylor Hicks will be leading off tonight and and is totally rocking on “Jailhouse Rock”. Randy says he’s in the zone, Paula said Taylor was phenomenal. Simon says it was all a bad impression and the dancing was hideous. Interesting, Simon tells Paula to “shut-up”. Of course if you’ve ready my previous comments you know I’m tired of everyone not giving Simon the respect to be quiet and let him share his opinion. I think Taylor did great! Let’s see how the rest of the Idols fare.

To commercial…

Post from: Idol Stalker