Makes you wonder what went on in the mind of Paula Abdul...Just feel that thick, awkward atmosphere.

I loved it when Funn brought out that David "Awwwwwchuleta" quote from an article she read. What an apt name for the teenager from Utah who always has that awwww-shucks look whenever the judges praise him for a stunning performance.

Unlike past American Idol competitions, I actually do have a favourite since early in the competition, and that is David Archuleta.

I'd be devastated if he doesn't at least get into the finals. Nevermind if he doesn't eventually become the American Idol cos I heard the deals for the champion aren't so great. But at least be the runner-up.

Beautiful, beautiful rendition of Angels for the Idols Give Back show.



Here's the original version from Robbie Williams:


Though I'm ashamed that I never knew that Robbie Williams was the original singer! The first time I heard this beautiful song was actually the Italian version by Patrizio Buanne and I instantly fell in love with it:

If you were wondering just what on earth those two Geordie lads were singing in that American Idol audition in a previous post...

It is actually "Opposites Attract" by AI judge Paula Abdul! Which was why Paula had that "awwww..." sigh when Dec (the one who came in first) told her the title of the song they would be singing.



In the AI audition, Ant & Dec started with the rap from the beginning, then immediately started "singing" the second verse of the song (if you even consider that singing!).

On a sidenote, it's just sooo fun to see how Simon's face changed from skeptical, to disdain, to confused, to suspecting, to realization and finally to hysterical!

Actually, it's quite an odd video with Paula playing sexy with an animated cat. But must have been another technical breakthrough like Who Framed Roger Rabbit was. Just that a sexy lass and a hip animated cat? Hmmm...

And goodness! That hair and make-up!!

But really, very catchy song!

Is that Simon Cowell?????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld-a7DYz-cs

Do visit Funn's Point2e website for more video clips about highlights of the season, including key performances at the finals.


Blake's version of the final song - This Is My Now. Which really isn't too bad but he did look very uneasy with it.

Wait till you here this one...


Jordin's version of This Is My Now. Clear-cut difference, clearly the winner if based on this song alone.

And finally, the results...


The final announcement...

Jordin Sparks won! Is it really a surprise?

Nope, expected it.

But the final results didn't really matter to me this year. Jordin will make a great pop star (which is the whole idea of American Idol, isn't it?), but Blake will make a fabulous musician.

And they wouldn't even have to change their names!

Goodness, Blake really looks small when standing beside Jordin! How tall are the both of them?

Anyway, congrats to both Jordin and Blake for making it this far into the competition! And of course, I hope good things will come for Melinda as well!


Blake Lewis' audition.


Blake Lewis' version of 'You Give Love a Bad Name'. A darn good rendition.


Jordin Sparks' audition.


Jordin Sparks' rendition of 'Broken Wings'. Beautiful song.

And Melinda's audition is something I have never forgotten. Glad she got so far. She had that humble quality to her which was sorely lacking in many other candidates. You rock gal!

The competition started out shakey this year, with a variety of singers with different levels of singing competency, and when it seemed almost too easy to decide who would be the next one to go out. However, when the competition came down to the final 4, the heat truly went up. By the time it came down to 2, I didn't have a clear favourite. Well, it is true that unlike the last seaso, these 2 are seriously good looking people! I mean, Jordin is on the big-side but hey, she has beautiful features, a winning smile and youthful confidence. Nevertheless, with their diverse styles in music, how can you compare oranges to apples???

Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks were the 2 contestants left to battle it out today (well, at least it's shown today in Asia).

Vocal-wise, Jordin definitely stole the show. At age 17 she manages to tackle old and new songs with amazing ease. And of course, her powerhouse vocals have shown incredible range, depth and versitility.

Performance-wise, I'd say Blake takes the title. A definite crowd-pleaser. I love that song from last week "This Love" and I loved the way he beatbox-ed it, nevertheless.

But really, vocal-wise, as the media has mentioned time and time again, Blake is still the weakest. Actually, Blake can sing. Just that he doesn't have that powerhouse vocal to stand out from the competition. Both of them sang 3 songs today. Blake chose, of course, "You Give Love a Bad Name" which was one of the defining moments in his Idol journey. A flawless performance, in my opinion, and it still doesn't cease to get me high even after hearing his version for a 2nd time. Blake then sang "She Will Be Loved", a Maroon 5 song which again, I do like a lot and actually was hoping that he could pick this song to sing in one of the rounds. Ordinary vocals, but competent for the song. Reminded me of the original, actually, and as Simon correctly pointed out, the song just isn't something you would pick for the finals for it's almost monotone quality to it which thrives on the music arrangement rather the vocals. Then again, Blake probably knew that which was precisely why he picked the song.

Jordin sang her first song "Fighter" with zest though despite the judges' complements, I felt it fell flat on me. Not too memorable. But Jordin picked it up with the 2nd song "Broken Wings". It's basically a beautiful song in its essence, and Jordin did a wonderful rendition with it. This song, to me, was also Jordin's defining Idol moment.

But really, the difference between the apple and the orange really showed with the 3rd and final song, an original song to be sung by both Blake and Jordin and would be the winner's debut single. Blake started first and it sounded like... well... a boyband which to me means just-ok and competent vocals but with little character But when it was Jordin's turn to sing, she basically just floored Blake. And I'm sure that tearful end to the song would win some more votes for her sincere performance.

Randy and Simon commented that Blake clearly wasn't comfortable with that style of singing, and Blake himself did not contest to that. Simon even said that the audience would just have to judge of his first 2 performances. Yet to me, that 3rd song amplified the fact that while Jordin is versitile enough to perform in most genres of songs, Blake may probably be limited only to rock and beatboxing. Though I think Blake may want to consider venturing into music arrangements later.

So who do I think will win? I'd say Jordin, for her cheerful, youthful and girly personality with those powerhouse and versitile vocals. Still wish for some good things for Blake though.

But really, ultimately, if I were given the choice I'd still rather have Merlinda Doolittle against Jordin. As shown by the choice of the original song, AI and America is not ready for Blake. And I still think that Merlinda should be the winner this season.

By the way, gotta add this - this year's orginal song really is quite nice, unlike last year's.

Looking forward to the results tomorrow! Tension!

I just watched the re-telecast of the American Idol finals. And I just wanna say...


VOTE FOR TAYLOR HICKS! VOTE FOR TAYLOR HICKS!

TAYLOR HICKS!! SOUL PATROL!!!! SOUL PATROL!!!!

Man! That last song really nailed it down! Taylor Hicks should win! Taylor Hicks deserves to win!!! Yeah baby!

Despite it going on for 5 years already, this is actually the first time I'm following the competition, albiet not at all religiously. Thanks to the time when I stumbled upon Constantine's jazz performance last year in one of the rounds (read all about it here), I began to sit up and notice the contest. The auditions are still a pain to watch, and so I haven't started by watching the auditions. I started when the real competition began.

Missed the girl's contest last night and only caught the men's one tonight. Chris Daughtry is still my favourite, and I think that he has been delivering consistantly powerful performances each night. Hope he goes far in this competition. Frankly I can't really remember how the others fared cos I was having dinner while it was being shown on StarWorld. However, memorable ones included Taylor Hicks who impressed me with tonight's performance, and Kevin Covais who still made me cringe. I thought he absolutely butchered that beautiful song 'Starry Starry night'. I mean, that pseduo-opera-like voice is just sooooo out of place with that song, and it seriously doesn't help that, as I've said before, he makes singing sound like a chore. And I can't believe that Paula and Randy were all praises for him....

Which brings me to my comments on the judges. Of course, even if I've never followed a single episode of AI for the past 4 years, the reputations of Randy, Paula and Simon Cowell have reached farther than the show itself. I've heard a lot about how Simon is so mean and how Randy and Paula were the more compassionate ones. Now that I've seen it for myself, I think that it is true that Simon is mean. But you know what? I actually find myself agreeing with him most of the time. Some of his comments may come across as being quite uncalled for, but most of the time he makes real sense. In fact, it is Paula's and Randy's comments that I find the most unbelievable and at times so favourable that it is to the point of exasperation.

But one thing I do note about this competition is that unlike us Asian who always think about 'losing face', these people seem to be able to take criticism in their stride and almost always manage to say something in response that do not come across as pretentious (again, unlike some of the reality shows in Singapore. Urgh)and defensive but show a sense of fair competition. I like that feeling. Ok, maybe the the groups round which I never watched wasn't at all like this, I dunno. Whatever it is, that's one of my favourite things about AI so far.

I don't follow American Idol since it became a craze with Singaporeans. But this time, AI 4, I am aware of the competition and the contestants and their abilities - all because I spotted one of them singing on stage while channel surfing some weeks ago. And that was Constantine.

Man, those mesmerizing eyes, that polished and seductive voice, that incredibe stage presence, and that so-called X-factor that really draws you to his performance... He sang a jazz song and he was so oozing with personality. From then on, I wished him well in every round of the competition. I thought the overall standard of the competition was high as well, though I can't compare with previous seasons cos I never followed them. But this time, watching Constantine singing on stage made me sit up and listen and watch. I still dun follow AI (I dun even bother to find out what time it's being shown), but I do keep an eye on the results, and I wished that he could at least make it into the final 2 cos even after watching all the performances, I still liked the way he manages to sway the audience to his beat and style.

But this week, the results were shocking. Absolutely absolutely shocking. And sad... I came from from school (had 2 grueling exam papers today), turned on the TV and realised that the result for this week is out and *gasp* Constantine is OUT!!!!! WHY????????? I thought he was popular among the voters. I thought he wowed the judges everytime he performed on stage. And he's OUT???

Oh man, I'm still in a state of shock. This is disappointing. That's the end of my AI journey. Dun think I have the motivation to follow the results anymore.

Life is unpredictable.