Final Standings

And here's Jennie Lane's reaction as she realized that she won't finish 2nd after all beecause Blake is a loser!!!!

It's Jordin's Now

After an amazing finale that lasted well beyond the 2 hours it was scheduled to take (and thereby messing up all sorts of peoples' DVRs), the American voting public decided Jordin Sparks was their next American Idol!

There are a lot of people who were happy to see Jordin win, including some key people in the pool's top 5, but I think it's safe to say nobody was happier to see the show come to an end than this American Idol production staff member (Don't click on that if you're at all scandalized by strange craigslist postings). Here's hoping you found what it was you were looking for "Working at idol"!!!


Now, depending on what you read, American Idol is either losing it's steam or is still the behemoth it's always been. True - ratings were down 20% compared to last year's finale. However, check this out - The day after the finale, 11 of the top 16 google searches had to do with the American Idol finale. Here they are:

1. american idol winner
2. who won american ido...
3. american idol finale...
4. working class hero l...
5. smokey robinson
6. lost season finale
7. phillippi sparks
8. jordin sparks
9. bette midler
10. gladys knight
11. jimmy conway
12. tony bennett
13. rosie perez
14. wind beneath my wing...
15. lost message board
16. joe perry

Maybe the producers' season-long explanation that the ratings were down because of excessive DVR recordings held water after all. By the way, why were there more searches for Jordin's dad than for her?



Now, I'm sure by this point you've all read all sorts of commentary about the American Idol Finale, so we won't bore you with ours. However, we will bore you with Carolina Panters' Offensive Lineman Jordan Gross' thoughts. Click on his videos. It's filled with plenty of great insight.

If you ask us, the fact that the Charlotte station sent an NFL player to Hollywood to cover American Idol is just further proof that the show has permeated every level of America possible.


Did you know Jordin Sparks should have lost because she's overweight and when you look at her you see diabetes, heart disease, and high colesterol? Anyone see this clip? Anyone want to punch this woman in the face?



Who else fell asleep during Clive Davis' speech praising Carrie Underwood? At the NYC Idol Viewing party, it was reported that 1/2 the attendees thought Clive Davis was Rudy Giuliani - which is a little strange because the TV that the NYC people were watching the broadcast on was about as big as Simon's ego. I mean, Lisa Wagner certainly picked out every sparkle and bedazzle on both Blake and Jordin's outfits....yes, Blake was wearing sparkles on his argyle sweater. Just ask Lisa.

But, to get back to Clive Davis, he totally snubbed Kelly Clarkson during the long winded speech, and:

SONY/BMG execs were apologizing to members of Clarkson's camp for their label head's rude behavior.

What's more:

The 75-year-old owlish music mogul was tasked with speaking to the huge TV audience about the health of the "A.I" franchise and appeared to go out of his way to avoid mentioning Kelly's new single "Never Again" (which reached the Top 10 for heaven's sake!) or her forthcoming CD, "My December." Yet he somehow managed to find time to plug both Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee's new singles!

I guess her standing up to him over her new album's content rubbed him the wrong way.


Anyway, let's skip the rest of the incredible content that you witnessed on Wednesday night - the Sgt. Pepper's medley, Bette Midler, "Midnight Train to Georgia" and Gladys Night's hair malfunction, Smokey Robinson and his incredible bugged out eyes, Rueben and Jordin's take on Marvin and Tammi's "You're All I Need to Get By", Blake and Doug E. Fresh's beat boxing (Serico has a great take on it here), Blake and Jordin's version of "I Saw Her Standing There" (which, by the way, is a song about a seventeen-year-old. I know it's famous, and I know it fits the mold because Jordin is seventeen, but that song leads you to one place - statutory rape. That's right. I said it.), and Sanjaya and Joe Perry's version of "You Really Got Me" complete with crying girl (again?!?! I mean, she wasn't ridiculed at school the first time? She returned to the show and had the hysterics again?) - let's skip all that and get right to what's most important -


HOW THE AMERICAN IDOL POOL PARTICIPANTS WATCHED THE FINALE (a photo essay).

First off, here are some people who sent in pictures from New York. In attendance were Original Pool Member Lisa Wagner and fiance (and soon to be fellow Idol Pool participant) Denis Somar, Original Pool Member Brooke Stafford and boyfriend Jean Claude Brizzard, First Year Participant Darby Rice and boyfriend Dave Mingey, First Year Participant Chris Fitzgerald (who, by the way, reportedly had trouble identifying Melinda Doolittle and Blake Lewis on the TV) and girlfriend Kendra Coppey, American Idol fan Francesca Tedesco, and American Idol Pool Co-Founder Will Beekman.

Here's a shot of Brooke celebrating the fact that she didn't finish last this season with Jean Claude:


And here are Lisa and Francesca mugging for the camera while Denis can't believe that the girls are coming out to sing with Gladys in all white outfits BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY:



Meanwhile, in Chicago, co-founders Matty Lane and Brian Soucek threw an American Idol Finale viewing party where JoJo Conroy made an appearance!!!!!

Always shy around a camera, JoJo needed some persuading have his picture taken, but Matty and Brian got a good shot of the rarely photographed JoJo Conroy here:


Ethan from Lost (Tom Cruise's cousin) was also present:



Here are some action shots while the show was in progress:

Chris Serico got as close to Kelly Clarkson as physically possible at the Westchester County Vieweing Party:


While JoJo and Ethan from Lost got a great shot of Matty's reaction to Bette's "Wind Beneath My Wings":



But, when it came down to the time to announce the winner, everyone was extremely nervous:


When Jordin was announced, Amy Larsen at the Cambridge Viewing Party started celebrating:


So much so that she freaked out the dog:


But there was one person who was the most excited when Jordin was announced as this season's American Idol.....There was only one who was able to navigate his way through 51 entries this season and win it all. It took guts. It took moxy. Sometimes, when things were looking grim, this person had to reach down deep inside and think about what he was really worth, and then he came up with that little bit of extra strength to carry him forward. Bit by bit, baby step by baby step, he inched closer to his ultimate goal - winning the American Idol Pool 2007. Of course we are talking about the great, the brilliant, the sexy, the really cool, the valiant, the adorable -- Will Beekman.

And here he is as his life's pursuit of winning the American Idol Pool has been fulfilled as Jordin is being announced as the winner:




Finishing second this year is Marybeth Heyd, and it couldn't come to a more deserving person. Remember, Marybeth is the American Idol Pool's Neil Armstrong. She was the first person in the pool to attend a taping of American Idol (on historical girl-freaking-out-for-Sanjaya night) and she wrote the in-depth review what it's like to be there for the blog!

Congratulations to MB! It's nice to see someone who contributed to this season's pool do well!!!


Finishing third this year is Paul Peters. Paul had seemingly been left for dead very early on this season, but he was able to creep up week in and week out primarily by riding the coattails of Blake. The highest ranked person with Blake winning it all, Paul gave MB and Will a scare all the way until the end of the season when Jordin was announced as the winner.


Finish fourth this year is Kristin McCormick. Is Kristin the new Julie Rollauer? Just like Julie did for Pool 1 & Pool 2, Kristin has now finished in the money two years in a row! Last year she was the runner-up, and this year she finishes fourth. In two seasons that had 51 total participants each year, that is quite the accomplishment. Congrats to Kristin McCormick for finishing in the money two years in a row!


Finally, rounding out the winner's pool is Jennie Lane in 5th place. Jennie, like Paul Peters, had Blake winning it all, so she was able to move up and up the longer Blake stayed in it. In the end, when Blake didn't win, Jennie's run ended - but she had a very nice stretch at the end of the season. Congrats to Jennie!


As we mentioned earlier, since no one picked Jordin to win it all, the pool for the person/people to pick the American Idol correctly will be donated to Idol Gives Back.



One last thing - Will, MB, Paul, Kristin, and Jennie - you know the drill.....We need to see the pix of you accepting your winnings from someone ASAP so that they can be emailed out for everyone to enjoy!


On a final note, I'd love to hear from all of you regarding the pool and the site this year - Did you enjoy it? Did you read the content? Did you read it some of the time? Did you like the blog better or worse than the mass emails? What could be improved? Let us know here at Idol HQ - we're always looking for ways to encourage more participation and greater enjoyment in the pool.


We'll send the standings out tomorrow night, and we'll get you the pix of the winners' accepting their big winnings, but for the most part, that about does it here at AI HQ! For Debbie, JoJo, and the rest of the American Idol HQ staff, I'd like to thank everyone for their participation in the pool this year! Here's looking forward to the American Idol Pool 2008!

The Master

Some People Wait a Lifetime for a Moment Like This

It all comes down to this....it's Jordin (who no one has winning it all) and Blake (who two people have winning it all).

This should be a wakeup call to everybody for next season....Last year, one person (Missy) had Taylor Hicks winning it all. That means in two seasons, at best 3 out of the 102 entries we've had over the last two years will have called the American Idol correctly.



We have to start with the most important story of the day!!!!

You know what we're going to see tomorrow? Paula Abdul with a broken nose!!!!

Maybe the trailer for her reality show is spot on after all:


I mean, nothing puts a cherry on top of this season like Paula with a busted grill. And God knows what kind of meds she's going to be on. This should be classic.



Want to know what else you're going to be watching on Tuesday night? This article has all the info you need. Here are the key points:

1. Simon can't call it for Jordin or Blake.

Despite having watched every one of Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis' performances prior to the two becoming American Idol's sixth season Top 2 finalists, judge Simon Cowell said the competition is just too close to call.

"I can't call it at this stage because I think they've both got different strengths. One is a better entertainer, and one is a better singer, so it will be down to what they do [during Tuesday night's final performance episode]"

2. Each contestant will sing 3 songs:

the one chosen by viewers via American Idol's sixth season songwriting contest; a second song of their own personal choosing; and a third one that they previously performed during Idol 6.

3. The song that's won the songwriting contest seems to be better suited for Jordin:

Cowell said he's heard the song chosen via the songwriting contest, and described it as being "alright" before offering some insight into how it might have an affect on the competition. "I think it's going to be harder for Blake to sing because it's more of a ballad," said Cowell.

There you go - Simon can't call it....and he thinks the songwriter's song is "alright" and since it's ballady, it's better for Jordin. That's not really a surprise, though, as every American Idol final song has been a ballad, right?




And how does this affect the pool?

If Blake wins, the top 5 will look like this:

#1. Paul P. - 257 points
#2. Jennie - 252 points
#3. Will - 251 points
#4. MB - 250 points
#5. Kristin - 242 points

And, since Paul P., and Jennie Lane are the only people who have Blake winning it all, they will also split the $110 winner's pool.

If Jordin wins, the top 5 will look like this:

#1 - Will - 251 points
#2 - MB - 250 points
#3 - Paul P. - 245 points
#4 - Kristin - 242 points
#5 - Jennie - 240 points

Since no one has Jordin winning the whole thing, it has been decided by American Idol Pool leadership that the winner's pool would go to Idol Gives Back should Jordin be the next American Idol.


So, Jordin fans are Will, Marybeth, and Kristin. Blake fans are Paul and Jennie.

Everyone else in the pool are stuck where they were last week no matter what, with the lone exception of Grant Gosselin. Grant will finish 12th by himself if Jordin wins. He will finish tied for 12th if Blake wins.


Also, as a new rule this year, the people who have the most to lose if Jordin wins must do this should she actually win(this means you Paul Peters and Jennie Lane):



That is all.

Enjoy the finale!

The Master

PS - thanks to anonymous last week for filling us in the Seacrest really didn't know Melinda was out 1/2 way through the show last week. This article agrees from

Melinda's point of view:
Idol fans have been wondering since Wednesday night's results show if Seacrest used a double entendre during the live broadcast and prematurely revealed it was Doolittle who was about to be eliminated. Fox aired Sparks' hometown visit first during the broadcast, followed by Lewis'. Doolittle's was to air following a commercial break, and Seacrest said, "After the break, Melinda's going home."

"I think maybe either I didn't notice or [thought] he was just talking about the [video] package they were going to show about me going home to Nashville because I knew I was the next person for them to show," Doolittle explained. "So I just assumed that's what he was talking about. I've heard a lot of speculation about that, but I don't think it was that at all. I think he was kind of getting us ready for the next package they were going to show... The only thing to me he could have been talking about was the package. I don't think it was even a slip, I just think that was what he was talking about. I was completely fine with it. It didn't phase me at all last night."

Melinda Goes Home After the Break

One of last year's pool members, Corona Benson, called AI HQ immediately after Seacrest uttered those words. Did anyone else catch it? He said "Melinda goes home after the break" (or something to that effect) in the middle of the show, then the camera cut over extremely briefly to a shocked Melinda.

What could that be about? Was it a cruel joke? Did Seacrest royally screw up? Corona wanted to know if what she heard was correct, and we were guessing if Seacrest made a huge mistake or not all the way until the show came back on.

Well, it turned out it was just poor phrasing, since what he meant to say was we were going to see the video of Melinda going to her hometown after the break. Still, it turned out to be freakishly prophetic. Although, I'm not sure prophetic is the word since Seacrest actually knows the results ahead of time. I think the word might be "true".

Still, we're all shocked here at HQ, although she definitely had the smallest crowd support in her hometown......


Anyway, what happened to Clive Davis? Instead of him, we got somebody named "producers" picking songs for the contestants, and here at AI HQ, we think they did a shaky job. Jordin got a clunker in "She Works Hard for the Money". It's not her fault the song's boring to sing. "Nutbush City Limits" was sung well by Melinda, but just not a very interesting song. Blake's "This Love" was perfect for him - it's an easy song to sing that's extremely hooky, and it allowed him to move around the stage and perform to camera - and he does that better than anyone else. So, two poor picks and one excellent one by "producers" on our scorecard.

Sorry we just started off talking about the 2nd round. The first round of songs were the judges' choices. Paula picked "Roxanne" for Blake, and it wasn't that good. Randy picked Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me", and I don't care what you've read on the internet, she did not sound really good in her high register at the end of that song. We thought Jordin's rendition of "Wishing on a Star" was really solid (except for her run at the end), and we don't know where Simon got off a) ripping her performance up and b) giving the first round to Melinda.

Simon then proceeded to trash Jordin throughout the rest of the show, and she wasn't that bad. To us, this meant one of two things:

1. His choice was Melinda, and he was scared that Jordin could beat her head to head in the finals, so he was trying to get rid of her this week by trashing her.

2. He wants Jordin to win the whole thing, so he was using some reverse psychology. By trashing Jordin, he's encouraging America to go out and vote for her by proving him wrong.


Here at AI HQ, we have to believe that the show has studied the voting data and knows what kind of response they'll get when Simon comes down hard on somebody - especially now at extreme crunch time. To us, it was obviously premeditated because Jordin wasn't nearly as bad as Simon thought she was.

All in all, though, it was a pretty mediocre and uninspiring Top 3 Week. There was no "Dancing in Dark" or "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in there. That's for sure. Even Blake's rendition of "When I Get You Alone" wasn't earth shattering. Maybe it was because of his toenail recovery situation.

But Melinda did not deserve to get the boot. I guess the country just tired of her (note to Idol Pool participants - being the frontrunner is a bad thing....the whole pool has now been burned by Chris Daughtry and Melinda Doolittle in back-to-back years). And it means the 35 people who had Melinda #1 (and to a lesser extent, all of us, felt like this girl:


Farewell to Melinda. Easily one of the best voices in the show's 6 seasons, and definitely the strongest performer this season week in and week out. She's really talented.

Of course, that doesn't mean anything in American Idol. Although, if I were the "producers", I might be a little (to quote Tony Soprano) relieved? Was Melinda really going to sell a lot of albums? I'd think Jordin could be a big success - she's young, so her voice could still be popified a bit more.....PS - has anyone heard her demo?

Blake might not end up being a good live performer, but I bet with some time in the studio, he could release some good rocky-poppy songs.

It's definitely weird - Melinda was clearly the most talented, but was she the most marketable?


So, the loss of Melinda changes the pool thusly - almost everyone is now frozen and maxed out.

Since no one has Jordin winning, and only two people have Blake winning, there are only two people that can move up next week, and there were only a small amount of people who moved up this week (those that had either of the finalists #1 or #2).

Currently, the top 5 looks like this:

#1 - Will (still!) - 251 points
#2 - MB - 250 points
#3 - Paul Peters - 245 points - with Blake #1!
#4 - Kristin - 242 points
#5 - Jennie - 240 points - with Blake #1!

So, if Jordin wins, no one goes anywhere, and this will be the top 5! Good news for Will, MB, and Kristin. But Paul and Jennie want more.....

If Blake wins, the top 5 will look like this:

#1. Paul P. - 257 points
#2. Jennie - 252 points
#3. Will - 251 points
#4. MB - 250 points
#5. Kristin - 242 points

It's the same 5 people just in a different order.

Congrats to Jennie, Kristin, MB, Paul P., and Will - you guys are the top 5 this year no matter what! It all just comes down to the order at this point...

If you look at the standings, you'll see some people are tied with the same score, and some people aren't. That's because we've applied the tiebreaker to the standings this week.

There's only one tie that could be broken next week - the three-way tie for 12th among Grant, Adele, and Mike. Should Blake win, the three of them will tie for 12th. If Jordin wins, then Grant will break the tie (by calling Blake out correctly at #2) and will finish 12th by himself. Mike and Adele will finish tied for 13th. So, Grant is a Jordin fan this week because he wants to finish 12th by himself.

And guess what?! With Melinda's exit, the love birds Don and Karen Lane will finish tied together in 32nd. Amazing. How do those two do it?


Who is attending an American Idol Finale Viewing Party next week?! We need pictures of participants partying their pants off!


Go Jordin!
The Master


PS, Paula is crazy.

Standings after Melinda went home

It's Clive Davis Time

For those of you wondering what Clive Davis has ever done, check this out:

In June 1967, at the urging of his friend and business associate Lou Adler Davis attended the Monterey Pop Festival and was inspired by what he saw as the future of music. He immediately signed Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Columbia went on to sign Laura Nyro, Jimmie Spheeris, Electric Flag, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Pink Floyd.[1] The company, which had previously avoided rock music, doubled its market share in three years. In 1972, Davis also signed the group Earth, Wind & Fire to CBS Records.

After being fired from CBS Records, Columbia Pictures hired Clive Davis to be a consultant for the company’s record and music operations. After taking time out to write his memoirs, he was offered the presidency of the division in late 1977. Davis subsequntly merged the various labels -- Colpix Records, Colgems Records and Bell Records -- into a new entity named Arista Records, ultimately buying a percentage of the company from Columbia Pictures. The label was named Arista after New York City's secondary school honor society (of which Davis was a member).

This label has one of the most diverse lineups in the record industry. It has been home to Grammy Award winning pop superstar and the best-selling artist on label Whitney Houston, singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Monica, Gary Glitter, Exposé, Angie Aparo, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, saxophonist Kenny G, rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Sean "Puffy" Combs, Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Air Supply, Ace of Base, The Alpha Band, The Grateful Dead, TLC, Willie Nile, Bay City Rollers, Nona Hendryx, American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, and Patti Smith among others.

Pretty impressive (and crazily diverse)!!!


Not many links, pictures, or videos in this week's viewing guide. Just our thoughts:

Here at AI HQ, Top 3 Week might be our favorite week on Idol. As you may or may not recall, this is the week that Clive Davis picks a song for each contestant, each judge picks a song for one contestant, and the contestants each pick a song for themselves.

This is the week when we saw Katharine sing "Over the Rainbow", Bo Bice sing "In a Dream" a cappella, Fantasia sing "Chain of Fools", Clay sing "Unchained Melody", and Taylor sing "Dancing in the Dark". Everyone brings their "A" game, and there are usually very strong peformances from top to bottom.

And, while I believe the general consensus last week was that LaKisha was done, this week the case could be made that anyone could go.

At this point last year, everyone knew it was going to come down to Taylor and Katharine even though Elliot was a sentimental favorite. Two years ago, it was given that it was going to be Bo and Carrie......Vonzell didn't have a chance. And season 2 ---- it was Clay and Reuben from start to finish (even though we liked Kimberly Locke).

But this year? Who knows!

The last two years have produced one guy and one girl in the finals. The year before that had 2 girls, but there were 3 girls in the top 3, so it was inevitable. And Reuben and Clay were Reuben and Clay - two unstoppable behemoths.

So, does Blake being the lone guy help him? Will the girls split votes?

Or will America vote based on what they hear regardless of gender?



Right now, it seems like conventional wisdom says Melinda is the favorite and Blake is most likely to go home, but I honestly believe all three have the chance to go all the way.

The fact that Jordin's not picking her songs is certainly in her favor as she's made some poor choices (Bon Jovi week anyone?).

And you know with 3 songs to sing that Blake is going to beatbox on (at least) one, and the judges' responses to his beatz will be crucial to his advancing.

And favorite Melinda - are people growing tired of her? Does the fact that last week Jordin was sent back to the "safe" couch first mean anything?



It's going to be really exciting to watch tomorrow, and Wednesday night will make for a tense hour! Maybe Maroon 5 and Elliot Yamin's performances will ease the tension a bit.



Last year at this point, we ran the spreadsheet (thank you Alieda again!) and let you know who would win finish where based on who went home when. With only 3 contestants remaining, it's pretty easy.

We're not going to do that this year - we don't want to ruin any tension in the pool, and everything should be worked out by Wednesday night anyway.

Regardless, in really basic terms, we can tell you that if you are one of the bazillion people who have Melinda #1 or #2, you want Melinda safe. If you're one of the handful of people who have Blake #1 or #2 you want Blake. And if you have neither of them #1 or #2, you want Jordin (and probably Blake) so that everyone with Melinda won't pass you by. Rocket Science!!!!


Enjoy top 3 night on Tuesday! It's going to be great!!!

The Master

Farewell Kiki!

To sum up Tuesday's "Songs of Barry Gibb" episode on American Idol, we can't help but think of Dr. Alan Pearl's reflective lyric in the song "Nothing Ever Happens on Mars":

Boring...Boring...Boring...Boring
Boring...Boring...Boring...Boring

Note #1 to Barry Gibb - don't sing along with the finalists. It looks creepy. Or maybe you're just creepy in general. Work on that.

Note #2 to Barry Gibb - when you wrote 95% of the songs for men, it's going to be natural for women to sing songs that were written for men. You don't need to keep talking about it.

Note #1 to the producers - when Melinda is singing the group song, make sure her mike is on.


Of course, just because Bee Gees night is boring doesn't mean everyone's not watching. In fact, The MSR Group, a market research company, says that they have problems getting people to answer the phone when their telemarketers call on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (the article's a little old):

According to statistics gathered by the company, over the past two weeks Americans have been less likely to answer their phones on nights the popular television singing competition airs, particularly during the recent "Idol Gives Back" episode.

"Over the past two weeks, we have seen our interviewers' production levels go down significantly on American Idol nights. The rates have gone from 3.2 completed surveys per hour to about 2.5, a 22 percent decrease. The biggest drop occurred last week during the 'Idol Gives Back' episode where we saw a 41 percent decrease," said Dick Worick, President and CEO of The MSR Group. "Production rates have remained normal on all other days of the week and even for other times of the day."

The reduction in response levels has led the company to change its staffing patterns on "Idol" nights, ensuring its staff isn't left idle.

How can these telemarketers work if you won't pick up your phone during Idol?! Help them please!!! Talk to them while Idol is on....They'd really appreciate it.




For those of you who sat through another unbearably long Wednesday night show (Ryan and the judges RUSH through Tuesday night to get the show in, yet they all joke about how they have to stretch out the show on Wednesday night), you saw Pink perform "Who Knew", a performance that was bumped off of the "Idol Gives Back" episode. That's right - that performance was NOT live on Wednesday night.

However, word is that Pink was originally supposed to do her current single, "U + Ur Hand", but the producers told her to switch it up because they didn't like that song's content.

So, for the record - songs performed by top 16 finalists this year like "Let's Get It On", "Every Breath You Take", and "Mack the Knife" - which are songs about murder, stalking, and getting it on with someone else.....those are OK. But songs that mention getting it on without anyone else are out of bounds.


Back to Tuesday night's show -
We saw that many people agreed that Tuesday's show was just not good and they felt the need to email Debbie about it:

Paul Peters wrote this:

LaKisha is hot, but her rendition of "Run to Me" was not.

Mark Noferi said:

Could they put more echo, echo, echo on Blake for "You Should Be Dancing"? And what was that second song? I've never heard that song before in my life.

Go Yanks.

Jennie Lane wrote us to say:

This is what I have to say to Blake - hey Blake - You should be dancing....all the way home because you sucked big time on Tuesday night loser. Your hair is horrible.

Grant Gosselin said:

I have it on good authority that Melinda Doolittle smells like rotten garbage. And her performance on Tuesday night was garbage, too. Smelly, smelly garbage.

And Missy Minock wrote:

Dear American Idol Pool Master, Jordin's rendition of "To Love Somebody" was alright.

TTYL!

Love, Missy

Turns out no one above was more accurate than Paul Peters.

When Wednesday rolled around and Seacrest said Jordin was safe, it meant good news for only three people - Chris F., Peter B., and Marybeth. Marybeth and Peter B. both have Jordin #3. Chris F. has her #2. Very good calls all of you!

And it was no shocker that Melinda was safe, and almost everyone in the pool breathed a sigh of relief.

So, when it came down to Blake and LaKisha, you would think that Blake would be the safe one as he was the only boy remaining.....and he was. Kiki's voyage ends here.

Congrats to Dave, Jane, Jennie, Matty, and Paul P. - you all called LaKisha out 4th.

And LaKisha's departure means bad things for Chris F., Christy, Darby, Dina, Karen, Lisa W., Mark, Marsha, Will. All those people had Kiki winning the whole thing, so no winner's pool for you!

But no one was hurt more than the people whose only remaining "alive" finalist (meaning only contestant left was in their top 2) was LaKisha. Those people have now maxed out and can't get any more points for the rest of the competition. They are Lisa W., Mark (both had Kiki #1), Jennifer (had Kiki #2), and Brooke (had Kiki #3).

Mark's max out at 170 means he could finish as low as 49th - which is great news for the Fioretti family!!!! That's right Paul, Jaime, and Suzanne - if Melinda wins the whole thing, you three won't finish 49th, 50th, and 51st.....although Jaime and Suzanne, I regret to inform you that you two are finishing 50th and 51st no matter what.....all hope for the Fioretti family now rests in Paul (and I guess Melinda's) hands.


Also, LaKisha getting the boot also means that NO ONE is 3 for 3, and there are only a handful of people who can go 2 for 2 next week. They are:

Paul P. - has Blake 1 and Melinda 2 - Paul P. is the highest current participant who can go 2 for 2 and he needs Jordin gone to do it. If that happens, and Blake wins, Paul P. will max out at 268 points, which is a very good number.
Jennie - has Blake 1 and Melinda 2 - which means that no matter what, she's going to finish behind Paul P. - The most she can get is 263 points
Chris S. - has Melinda 1 and Blake 2 - Can max out at 253 points
Grant - has Melinda 1 and Blake 2 - Can max out at 245 points

So, let's look at the top 5 real quick. OK -

In First Place remains WILL BEEKMAN! We don't know how he does it, folks. He just stays on top of the standings and refuses to let go even though he lost his #1 pick tonight. In fact, if Jordin wins the whole thing, we think Will might be able to hold on and win this thing. He currently has 251 points but can only max out at 262. He's done after next week no matter what.

In Second Place sits Marybeth Heyd. MB is a force and is seemingly in the driver's seat. If Melinda wins the whole thing, Marybeth will win the pool. She has 250 points, but can max out at 273 with Melinda as her #1.

In Third Place is Kristin. Kristin has 242 points and can max out at 265, but since she has Melinda winning the whole thing, too, the best she can do is 2nd place. Still Kristin is a BIG Melinda fan.....

In Fourth is Missy Minock. Missy only has Melinda remaining at #1. Currently, she has 238 points, but can max out at 261. Which means, if it's a Melinda/Jordin finale and Melinda wins, Missy will finish fourth. I think that's the best she can do.

The Dark Horse is sitting in 5th place - Paul Peters has his #1 and #2 alive in Blake and Melinda. If Jordin goes next week, and Blake and Melinda are the top 2, and Blake wins it all, then Paul Peters will win the whole thing.

In fact, if Melinda goes out next week, and the finale is Blake and Jordin, and Blake wins it all, Paul will win the whole thing that way, too.

So, to recap our top 5. This is the best (WE THINK) they can do -

1. Will - will win if Jordin wins
2. MB - will win if Melinda wins
3. Kristin - will finish 2nd if Melinda wins
4. Missy - will finish 4th if Melinda wins
5. Paul P. - will win if Blake wins

There you go. We looked at the standings really quickly, but we think that's right.

Want to see the top 10 max points at this point?

1. Marybeth - currently 2nd - 273 points
2. Paul P. - currently 5th - 268 points
3. Kristin - currently 3rd - 265 points
4. Jennie - currently 7th - 263 points
5. Will - currently 1st - 262 points
6. Missy - currently 4th - 261 points
7. Crystal - currently 6th - 254 points
8. Chris S. - currently 16th - 253 points
9. Team Zach & Sarah - currently 8th - 249 points
10. Damian - currently 9th - 246 points

Lastly, cutest situation in the standings? Check out how adorable Don & Karen Lane are. Here we are 9 weeks into the competition, and somehow, someway, these two lovebirds have found each other. They both have 201 points and currently sit in a virtual tie in 32nd and 33rd. If someone other than Melinda wins, they'll end up virtually tied, too. Awwwwwwww.


Down to the final 3! Final 3 week is always one of our favorites - it's usually when Clive Davis shows up and picks a song for the contestants to sing and the judges each pick a song for the contestants, too.....We really hope nothing changes next week!!!

The Master


PS, Will Phil Stacey be deployed to Iraq? This article really doesn't have a clear answer, but I'm pretty sure the gist of the thing is "probably not".

Nitty Gritty Time Standings!!!!!

Talkin' It Up - It's Barry Gibb on American Idol

We have big news tonight!!!

Yes, it's bigger than the pictures of Lindsay Lohan using recreational drugs AFTER rehab along with the post by her friend.

Yes, it's bigger than the video of David Hasselhoff drunk.

Yes, it's bigger than the report that Bon Jovi hated Blake's "You Give Love A Bad Name".

Yes, it's even bigger than the clip of Bush forgetting when America's bicentennial was, the news that Clemens is coming to the Yanks, and the rumor that Sanjaya might be a contestant on "I Love NY" combined!

Want to know what it is?

The dates for the summer American Idol tour have been announced!!!!!

Going through the list, I see they are coming to various locations in FL, CA, IL, GA, CT, MA, NJ, NY, WA, and NC, so I expect to be reading reports from all of your trips to the shows over the summer.....

Tampa tickets go on sale on 5/19. I'm looking at you Paul, Dina, Crystal, and Missy.




This week is Bee Gees week on American Idol with Barry Gibb. Ugh. We can only hope we get some of this:


I can only hope Barry Gibb talks about chest hair and crazy cool medallions.

Although, here at AI HQ, we might have to check ourselves. After all, we were down on J. Lo and Latin week, and we were pleasantly surprised. Then we were down on country week, and we were pleasantly surprised. And then we were down on Inspirational Week, and we were very pleased........we were never down on Bon Jovi. He's awesome.

Want to know how awesome? After he performed last week, Adele wrote us and said this:

Dear Idol Pool Master,
Bon Jovi is like Leo and John Mayer and horses and Beni Hana all wrapped into one. I love him so much.

Love,
Adele

Anyway, back to Bee Gees.....we're guessing it's not just Bee Gees, but music that the Bee Gees wrote, because the rumor was that Phil was going to sing "Islands in the Stream" this week if he was still around. Although, truth be told, we have no idea what other songs the Bee Gees wrote that they didn't perform.

We do know one thing, though....Idol contestants better not do any songs that the Bee Gees performed but didn't write.

I'm talking about this:


Or anything else from this:


No No NO NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Of course, if we get too much disco on Tuesday, there's always this option for the American Idol studio audience.



OK, let's look at the standings really quickly.

Enjoying his one (and probably only) week in first place is AI Pool Founding Member Will Beekman. Will was 4 for 4 last week, but his 4 are in this order - LaKisha, Melinda, Blake, Jordin.....that just seems like the wrong order at this point, so we're not sure how long Will is going to last in #1.

In 2nd place sits Marybeth Heyd. MB can go 3 for 3 if Blake goes home - her top 3 is Melinda, LaKisha, and Jordin. So, if it's Blake's week to go home on Wednesday, MB will leapfrog Will into 1st.

In 3rd place is Missy Minock. Missy has Melinda & LaKisha 1 and 2 and her #3 is out, so she really needs Blake or Jordin to go home.

Kirstin is lurking very dangerously in 4th place. She was also 4 for 4 this week and her top 4 read thusly - Melinda, LaKisha, Blake, Jordin. So, like Will, Kirstin will be in great shape if Jordin goes home.

Team Zach & Sarah is still hanging around the top 5. They can go 2 for 3 if Jordin or Blake goes home.

One person who doesn't want Blake going home is Paul Peters, currently in 6th. Paul has Blake #1 overall, so the further he goes, the higher Paul will climb.

However, there are lots of people out there who can go 3 for 3, and we should mention them all here:

#1. Will if Jordin goes
#2. MB if Blake goes
#4. Kristin if Jordin goes
#9. Crystal if Jordin goes
#23. Yvonne if Jordin goes
#24. Jon if Jordin goes
#26. Cindy if Jordin goes
#30. Grant if Jordin goes
#33. Dina if Jordin goes
#39. Don if Jordin goes
#44. Darby if Jordin goes
#46. Peter B. if Blake goes

So, there are lots of Jordin haters out there this week. She was one of our favorites two weeks ago, but she really fell apart on Bon Jovi night. However, we're betting she's going to pick a good song this week and regroup.

If we were betters, we'd say LaKisha is going home this week. The word is that she was having trouble picking a song this week, and that seemed to spell near disaster last week.

And if LaKisha goes, it'll mess up a good number of remaining entries. She is, after all, the 2nd most popular pick for this year's winner in the pool.

Enjoy Tuesday night!
The Master

When 6 become 4.......

Too bad one of these bosom buddies had to go home. Maybe they'll go drink the sadness away.



We all knew Bon Jovi week was going to be incredible, and it was.

Phil started things out with an excellent version of "Blaze of Glory". Remember, that song was from "Young Guns 2", which is the one where Billy the Kid is shot (or is he?) in the back by Patrick Floyd Garrett and starred Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater, and a young Viggo Mortensen. But the juiciest role was left for Jon Bon Jovi as the uncredited role of "Pit Inmate Shot Back into Pit".

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Phil went home first on Wednesday, and for our pool, that means he went home last week. It's a shame because he clearly had one of, if not the, best performances on Tuesday, but it wasn't enough for the total vote tally from the two weeks.

Congratulations to Matty Lane. He was the only person who called Phil out at #6.

Side note - where are all the jokers who think that votefortheworst works now? Votefortheworst picked Phil after Sanjaya went out. Boy, their support for these people really pays off!

In honor of Phil, who certainly won us over during the course of the season, here's the video for "Blaze of Glory":


Awesome, right?

But as awesome as this recent performance? Phil definitely beats out Chris Sligh!


Or this one? Phil definitely beats out Scarlett Johansson, although she really wasn't given a lot to work with:



Back to the show on Tuesday - LaKisha was great and got a smooch. Melinda was her usual rock solid self. Blake hid his mediocre voice behind some fun beatboxing and a repetitive refrain that the whole crowd could sing along to.

The low points of the evening were definitely Chris' "Dead or Alive", which, while not horrible, was also not one of the stronger performances, and Jordin's "Living on a Prayer".

Here are our thoughts about Jordin - she's great and she has a great voice, but we have no idea what happened to her on Tuesday. Maybe our critique of her "You'll Never Walk Alone" got to her.....Whatever the reason, her performance was what we feared a Bon Jovi night could become - terrible karaoke.

But, it turned out that Chris' didn't have enough support over the two weeks to carry on......Could it have had something to do with his lighting on Tuesday night.....Here are our notes for the AI producers when Chris sings on the tour- don't ever ever EVER light him from above in harsh white light while he's staring into the camera with his head down......Why?

Here's Chris from last night.




















And here's Vincent D'Onofrio as Pvt. Pyle in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket".



I don't know what the produers' major malfunction is, but I'm pretty certain after getting the boot on Wednesday, Chris went right to the bathroom and blew his face open with a rifle.

Congrats to Adele, Serico, Crystal, Jon, Mike, and Yvonne. They all correctly called Chris Richardson out at #5.



Clearing out some links we've been sent (and while we're on the subject of Chris Richardson) - special thanks goes to Paul Peters for alerting us to this story about the show two weeks ago. Turns out Justin Timberlake was supposed to be with Antonio Banderas two weeks ago to promote "Shrek the Third", but he balked and that's why we got Jeffrey Katzenberg instead:

The folks at Paramount (which will distribute Shrek) also made a big ad buy on the show, of course, but the real lure was that Katzenberg was supposed to deliver Justin Timberlake, who plays a young prince in the new movie. Having the newly redeemed Timberlake appear as mentor to the aspiring Idols makes a lot of sense, no matter how unwilling one might be to listen to boy-band covers.

But Timberlake balked. Katzenberg's camp says the problem was that Timberlake's touring schedule changed, making the appearance impossible. A well-placed Timberlake source says the young man opted to spend the week in Scotland with his parents.

Anyway, let's get to the scoring!!!!!!!!!!

The scoring system has taken two weeks off, and a lot of things have changed. Up is down. Black is white. Dogs love cats. It's crazy.

With Phil going home last week and Chris going home this week, do you want to guess who has now moved into first place overall? You'll never believe it.....

WILL BEEKMAN!! Will is the only contestant who is 4 for 4 and he is now #1 overall!!!! Will's combination of 4 for 5 for last week and 4 for 4 this week vaulted him to 231 points, and since he still has the top 4 all still alive, he can max out at the unsurmountable amount of 295 points.

(Side note - It's actually going to be tough for him to win out as he has LaKisha winning the whole thing. - end side note)

No one can take his Week 9 accomplishment away from him. He is tops this week, and tops in our book.


Then, there are a bunch of other people at 2 through 5. Do you want to know who they are?

Ok, fine. I'll tell you.

At #2 and almost certainly out of reach of Will is Marybeth Heyd. She has 230 points, which is one GIANT point behind Will and can only max out at 294. Loser.

At #3 is Missy, and she better just consider packing up her bags right now and calling it a season. She has the laughable amount of 228 points and can only max out at 282. I mean, it's not even close.

At #4 sits Kristin. Remember when I said Will was the only person who went 4 for 4? Yeah, I lied, Kristin is also 4 for 4, but she's not in first place, so who really cares.

Kristin did write in to us tonight with these comments:

Whoopdy Doo!!! My name is Kristin and I'm 4 for 4 with Melinda Doolittle winning the whole thing. Make sure you write about how awesome I am....

Whatever Kristin. People who write about how awesome they are just because they are 4 for 4 should be belittled, not celebrated.

Then at #5 is Team Zach & Sarah. Team Zach & Sarah just continuously hangs around the top 5-7 of the pool. Unfortunately, they only have two of their top 4 still alive, so this could be the highest they're going to get for the rest of the season. Currently, Team Zach & Sarah have 216 points, and they can only max out at 270.

Want to know who the top 10 are now in max points? Here you go:

1. Will - currently 1st - 295 points
2. Marybeth - currently 2nd - 294 points
3. Kristin - currently 4th - 286 points
4. Missy - currently 3rd - 282 points
5. Crystal - currentl 9th - 275 points
6. Zach & Sarah - currently 5th - 270 points
T7. Paul P. - currently 6th - 268 points - Paul has made a big run up from the bottom of the pack!
T7. Kendra - currently 16th - 268 points
9. Julie - currently 12th - 264 points
10. Jennie - currently 14th - 263 points

Two final thoughts:

1. Let's all give a big American Idol Pool hand to Lisa Wagner! Lisa stayed on top of the standings for 9 weeks, which is an amazing run. In fact, I think we should name some sort of award for Lisa and hand it out each season to the person who stays on top of the pool the longest.

Unfortunately, Lisa fell back into 11th place this week. She only has 2 of her top 4 still alive and can max out at 253. There's a chance for her to finish in the top 10 still.....

1a. We should also acknowledge the nice run Matty Lane had at the top of the pool as well. Matty was giving Lisa a run for her money every week for the last month. Unfortunately, like Lisa, Matty just ran out of gas and can max out at 231 points. Still, he made some very nice calls this season (like Phil out at #6, and Sabrina out of the top 12 altogether).


2. Everyone needs to look at the bottom 3 in the pool this week. For those of you who don't know, Paul F., Jaime, and Suzanne are all family. Jaime's parents are Paul F. and Suzanne - and currently they're in a race to the death to see who will finish dead last! I guess picking American Idol picks is a hereditary trait.....


That's it! Bee Gees next week!
The Master


PS-Who knew that jokes about Simon's girlfriend would give him uncontrollable fits of laughter? Is he really 11 years old?

Standings for Week 9 - Here!!!!!