Freak to Freak - Sanjaya decides it's a good idea to dance with Paula

Over to the right here is Frank Sinatra.



This other person is obviously Phil Stacey. On Tuesday night's show, Paula said that Phil reminded her of a young Frank Sinatra.

Obviously, she's drunk, deaf, stupid and blind!!!




We here at AI HQ have a great appreciation for the American standards, so we have some pretty strong thoughts about Tuesday's night episode.

More than anything, we think, Tuesday night's show just proves how weak about half the remaining voices really are. Both Chris and Sanjaya didn't have the low ranges to sing their songs effectively early on in their performances. Sanjaya's chosen key was especially curious since "Cheek to Cheek" doesn't have a lot of range. But yet, he was obviously bottoming out throughout the whole song.

Blake had all sorts of pitch problems throughout "Mack the Knife", and even though we're sure he's going far because of his performance-ability, his voice is very weak on the wrong song, and he really needs to concentrate to sing a song well. He's been iffy all season. The reason that song went over well was because the arrangement was energetic in the way it escalated in swingyness and also raised a half step every time through the chorus - it certainly wasn't a hit because of Blake's voice. Simon's criticism was spot on.


Our personal gripe with the judges this week was that in their effort to try to find something positive to say about Sanjaya, Randy and Paula pointed to his ability to perform a song in a way that appeals to a youthful audience. And yet, they criticize Jordin for not being able to do the same thing.

In our opinion, Jordin's performance had much more life to it, and she sounded about a bazillion times better than Sanjaya. Is it just the fact that Sanjaya danced with Paula that made it youthful? We don't get it because he looked like a doofus while doing it. And he sucks.

PS, congrats to Sanjaya for personally defeating the hunger striker! That's right. The girl who's been on a hunger strike until Sanjaya leaves the show finally gave it up!

Here's the thing about Sanjaya, this retro-cool thing of now being over him so much to the point that you're rooting for him ---- yeah, that's not cool Zach Braff
(just watch the clip). It's not funny to watch him advance further unless you want to see the American Idol empire crumble. And if that's the case, what are you doing in this pool?

This is our feeling every week Sanjaya advances. We suggest you feel the same.
It's also how we felt when we saw his white suit outfit, how we felt when we saw him dance with Paula, and how we feel everytime he sings into a microphone.



We might be especially bitter about the show right now, but we're going to piggyback on something Damian has mentioned - who else is sick of Melinda Gnu's aw-shucks routine (the gnu thing is also a Damian shoutout - someone in her family was obviously part Gnu)?

She's been told the same thing about 5 weeks in a row now (that she's incredible), and yet she reacts as though she's hearing it for the first time every single time. The first two weeks it was endearing. Now it's starting to come over a bit like an act. I'm starting to get really tired of seeing the same "Oh my God! I can't believe you said that!" face.


The reason we're especially bitter is because once again 33 million votes were unable to weed out the weak links from a Tuesday performance. Gina, who we thought was going to have problems picking out a standard that worked for her, picked a great song and sang it really well. There is no way she deserved to go home last night based on her voice. It was obviously a personality vote.

So, contrary to past seasons when there were 1, maybe 2, weak links still alive, there are clearly at least 3 still alive this season in Sanjaya, Haley, and Phil (some people would throw Chris R. in here too).....Sabrina would have sang circles around all these people!

Does this mean that the next 3 weeks will see the inevitable paring down of the field and weeding out of the weakest links? Stay tuned.....


On to the pool!
Gina's exit was brilliantly called this week by Damian, Jaime, Lisa Bags, Liz Borge, Missy, and team Zach & Sarah. Congrats to all of you!!!

On the other hand, Meredith's picks took a nasty hit as she had Gina winning the whole thing! Other people hurt by Gina's exit include Chris P. and Jen who had her finishing 3rd.



Looking at the leaderboard:
Lisa Wagner keeps her grasp on 1st place, but it's becoming harder and harder to maintain. After losing her #2 in Chris Sligh last week, Lisa lost her #4 this week in Gina. Thanks to everyone else's picks being so bad, she's still atop the board with 30 points for the week, 110 for the season, and a max score of 298.

Sitting still in 2nd place is Matty Lane. Matty lost his #1 last week in Chris Sligh and his #5 this week in Gina, and he's still right on top of the board....this just goes to show everyone else how bad the rest of the entries are that the top 2 have been hurt so badly the last two weeks and yet still are holding onto their top rankings. Matty also had 30 for the week and has 110 for the season but can max out at 250 (hence the #2 standing).

At #3 is senorita Brooke Stafford. Brooke had 25 points for the week, 105 for the season, and can max out at 215 (she's earned 1/2 of her maximum total points and we're not 1/2 way through the season just yet.....).

Kendra continues to lurk just out of the top 3 with a very strong entry. She had 25 for the week, has 101 for the season and can max out at 298 (like Lisa W.).

Finally, in 5th sits Team Zach & Sarah. They lost their #2 last week, but still have their #1, 3, 4, 5, & 6 still around so they can still do some damage. They have 101 for the season and can max out at 279.

FYI - These are the top 10 Max Points Earners along with where they currently stand:

1. Marybeth 303 max points - currently 9th
2. Missy 301 max points - currently 13th
3. Lisa W. 298 max points - currently 1st
3. Kendra 298 max points - currently 4th
3. Chris S. 298 max points - currently 8th and flying up the standings
6. Will 295 max points - currently 10th
7. Kristin 286 max points - currently 30th
8. Julie 283 max points - currently 14th and always dangerous
9. Jennie Lane 282 max points - currently 24th
10. Team Zach & Sarah 279 max points - currently 5th

Finally, regarding the standings - congrats to Darby Rice for climbing out of 51st place (hopefully for good)!!!

J.Lo next week! I feel the comments forming in my head already.

The Master

PS - Haley's legs are perhaps the best thing to happen to this show in years. They are incredible.