Missed Both Days, But No Surprises Here

So, baseball kept me away the last two days and I missed Idol completely. My mother called about nine this evening, and even though she doesn't watch the program, she told me the "blond-haired girl is singing at the end of the show by herself and she is crying. So, I guess that told me everything.

I am curious as to how the Neil Diamond evening went last night. I'm not sure about these mentor nights.

Actually, I think the mentor thing is a good idea. But the method of it is not a good one. I don't know if we need to choose different (better) mentors, or, and this is my thought, that perhaps we need to use different mentors and change the format of the show. For example: is it crucial that we choose mentors and then require the contestants to sing only their songs? Really? Couldn't the pop idol, and keeping in mind the point of the show is to make it relevant to today's pop industry - couldn't the pop idol mentor them on how to attack the songs of today?

Like Simon says, "If you can sing, you can sing anything." That doesn't mean we have to hear them sing anything. Let Neil Diamond coach the kids on how to knock out a song on the radio today, or at least in the last five years. If Neil Diamond can coach, he can coach anything.

The biggest problem I have, you see, is that we force these kids to sing ALL of the mentor's songs. That really narrows our field of mentors down first of all, but I don't necessarily like the mentor coaching on how to sing his/her song. I would like to keep the song selection varied, and a song list where the song choices actually reflect the personality and talent of the contestant. Then, after that song is chosen by a particular contestant, let the mentor coach them on how to sing THAT song.

Why did we think when we brought in the mentors, that the contestants should be allowed to sing only the mentors' songs? Perhaps a contestant would choose the mentor's song, but because it was the right song and the right fit and it just so happened the person who made it famous was the mentor that night.

Is anyone with me on this?

Carly's out

So, tonight was the last night for Carly. Good call. The next contestants can go in any random order now: Jason, Sayesha and Brooke After last night, I think that should be the order, although I doubt it will be. However, when the finale comes, that is how it will play out.

PACMAN IS GONE! Yippee. Now we can get back to football. If he couldn't stay straight in Nashville, Tennessee, what possible chance does he have in Dallas, Texas? Such a shame...such a waste of great gifts that God has bestowed on him. That is the worst kind of extravagance.

Rough day for my backside. This has been a big step backwards this week. But, I am sure it's just a phase.

We are into the last couple of weeks for baseball. Baseball is such a joy, and it has been a big part of our adult lives. I hope we have left the game better than we found it.

Wrap up

Final thoughts. I didn't think David Cook was a good as the judges seemed to. Wrong song choice sang badly, but that's just me.

I think Jason should be the one going home, but I think it will be Brooke. I still say the two Davids in the finale.

They should have opened the show with that one

Rough in a couple of places for Carly, but terrific! Is she pregnant? She looks pregnant in that dress.

Unbelievable

David turned Think of Me into a pop song. He was amazing. Simon is usually right, but he got it wrong on this. Simon has his own musical limitations, and he showed them on this. Sometimes, he will say he has never heard of a song that a contestant sings. Every time I have heard him say that, it was about a song that was important in its day. Perhaps it is because he is not from America that he has those particular limitations, and I think that is a really key shortcoming in his role as a judge on Idol. Anyway, he missed the mark on this one. I'm not a David groupie, but I have to admit, that was strong.

Couple of things

Real quickly before David comes out to sing.

1. Andrew Lloyd Webber is kicking their bottoms. Good for him.

2. One of the worst things in television in the last 10 years: the people they have in the front of the American Idol audience swaying with their arms above their heads. Won't SOMEONE please make them go away? That is so stupid.

More Idol

I disagree with Paula. Brooke did exactly the right thing stopping and starting again. If you forget the lyric, what else can you do? The judges were kinder than I expected. Brooke is a class act.