May 14 Standings

1. Ryan – 279 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

2. Stephen - 276 points (288 max) – no change

3. Lisa B. - 275 points (287 max) - up from 6th

4. Dave L. - 275 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 3rd

5. Amy Y. - 273 points (285 max) – up from 9th

6. Jennie L. - 272 points (284 max) – down from 4th

7. Suzy M. - 266 points (278 max) – down from 5th

8. Meredith - 264 points (276 max) - down from 7th

9. Julie H. - 263 points (MAXED OUT) - down from 8th

T-10. Jan W. - 257 points (269 max) – no change
T-10. Jane – 257 points (269 max) – up from 11th

12. Jaime - 256 points (268 max) – no change

13. Katie K. - 254 points (266 max) – up from 13th

T-14. Don - 254 points (MAXED OUT) – down from T-13th
T-14. Michelle - 254 points (MAXED OUT) - up from T-13th

16. Mike L. - 253 points (265 max) – no change

17. Liz - 253 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

18. Amy L-P. - 251 points (263 max) – no change

19. Denis - 250 points (262 max) – no change

T-20. Aneesha - 249 points (261 max) – no change
T-20. Marcia - 249 points (261 max) – no change
T-20. Stephanie - 249 points (261 max) – no change

23. Kara - 247 points (259 max) – up from 24th

24. Damian - 246 points (258 max) – up from 25th

25. Cathleen - 244 points (256 max) – up from 26th

T-26. Alieda - 242 points (254 max) - up from 28th
T-26. Matt - 242 points (254 max) – up from 40th

28. Corona - 239 points (251 max) – up from 29th

29. Karen - 238 points (250 max) – up from 30th

30. Julie R. - 238 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 23rd

31. Jenny M. - 237 points (249 max) – no change

32. Suzanne - 236 points (248 max) – up from 33rd

33. Cindy - 236 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 32nd

34. Scott - 235 points (247 max) – no change

35. Jean Claude - 235 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

T-36. Brian - 233 points (245 max) – no change
T-36. Jon - 211 points (245 max) – up from 52nd
T-36. Rich – 233 points (245 max) – no change
T-36. Will B. - 233 points (245 max) – no change

40. Kristin - 233 points (MAXED OUT) - down from 39th

41. Lisa S. - 232 points (MAXED OUT) - down from 27th

42. Anh - 231 points (243 max) – down from 41st

43. Marybeth & Lucy - 230 points (242 max) – down from 42nd

T-44. Brooke - 226 points (238 max) – down from T-43rd
T-44. Jan M. - 226 points (238 max) - down from T-43rd

46. Stacie - 226 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 45th

T-47. Jen S. - 225 points (237 max) – no change
T-47. Melissa - 225 points (237 max) – no change

49. Matty - 224 points (236 max) – no change

50. Yvonne - 223 points (235 max) – no change

51. Team O'Brien - 222 points (234 max) – up from 53rd

52. Mandy - 221 points (233 max) – up from 54th

53. Dina - 216 points (MAXED OUT) – up from 55th

54. Team 'Tini - 215 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 46th

55. Paul F. - 214 points (MAXED OUT) – up from 56th

56. Team Ringey - 212 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 51st

57. Kathryn - 211 points (223 max) – no change

58. Michael W. - 210 points (222 max) – no change

59. Andy - 209 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

60. Sean - 207 points (219 max) – no change

61. Emily - 206 points (218 max) – no change

62. Missy - 206 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

63. Peter - 204 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

64. Katy L. - 202 points (214 max) – no change

T-65. Cristina - 200 points (212 max) – no change
T-65. Lance - 200 points (212 max) – up from 66th

67. Paul P. - 199 points (211 max) – no change

68. Julie W. - 194 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

69. Judy - 192 points (204 max) – no change

70. Dave S. - 191 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

71. Jill - 190 points (202 max) – no change

72. Mike & Suzy - 188 points (MAXED OUT) – up from 73rd

73. Kendra - 187 points (MAXED OUT) – up from 74th

74. Julie K. - 182 points (MAXED OUT) – up from 75th

75. Will A. – 179 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 72nd

76. Chris F. – 167 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

77. Mark - 126 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

78. Neisha - 119 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

American Idol Viewer's Guide - Top 3

First of all, this week's Viewer's Guide needs to dedicate a large chunk of space to our favorite Danny Bonaduce lookalike, Jeff Archuleta. For those of you who have been hiding under a rock this week, Jeff (who is David's father), is a terrible stage dad and American Idol has had enough. The producers banned Jeff from all rehersals or backstage activities starting this week.

As I mentioned earlier this season, rumors have been flying around all season that the guy is just a nightmare. Well, I guess the straw that finally broke the camel's back was that Jeff "urged" David to include lyrics from Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" during his performance of "Stand By Me" last week. Little did we all know that when a performer sings the lyrics from a 2nd song into a 1st one, the publisher of the 2nd song is due some sort of compensation. That is obviously great news to Sean Kingston's publishers. Even less well known....American Idol is so strapped for cash that this is a big deal.

Of course the Archuleta camp is now calling this completely unfair and that Jeff just "happens" to be there because David is a minor and needs a guardian to be with him. I mean, if he repeatedly blurts out to his son that the lyrics to "Stand By Me" need to be changed, he can't help it.

The reason this stupid argument is completely unfounded is because Entertainment Weekly ran a piece about what it was like behind-the-scenes for the song selection and arrangement process for Neil Diamond week, and they specifically mentioned Jeff's meddling in the process. For example, and I quote:

There's been a lot of speculation over whether 17-year-old David Archuleta's father Jeff is an overinvolved stage dad. This Thursday morning, Papa isn't doing much to dispel the rumors as his son rehearses the Neil Diamond anthem ''America.'' ''There's too many 'Todays,''' he tells associate musical director Michael Orland of the climactic, repeated lyric, while pacing around the room. The comments continue throughout the rehearsal: ''Neil Diamond's voice is a fifth lower than his'' and ''The edit to do is 8 to 10 seconds before 'My country 'tis of thee''' and ''The beginning needs to have a U2 vibe.''

That doesn't sound like someone who's getting a bad rap because he just happens to be there. It does sound like someone who doesn't know the most awesome part of "America" is screaming "Today!".

Speaking of that EW piece and the comments about David A., I found this interesting:

He (David Archuleta) then methodically went through the Diamond song catalog...before eventually settling on ''America'' and ''Sweet Caroline.'' ''I don't want to be singing about partying all night with a woman, and a lot of his lyrics were talking about that kind of stuff,''

Two thoughts -
1. Does this mean that we won't hear "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" Tuesday night?
2. Is he implying that he'd much rather sing about partying all night with a man? Because that's what I'm taking away from this.


This week we're going to see each contestant sing 3 songs - a song of their choice, a son of the judges' choice, and a song of the producers' choice. We're also going to see what kind of events happened when all went to their hometowns for a few days. Fortunately, youtube is going to give us some hints.

For example, David Archuleta sang the National Anthem at a Utah Jazz game. He also cried like a girl:


And Syesha sang the National Album at a Tampa Bay (don't call them the Devil) Rays game:


And David Cook sang the National Anthem at a Kansas City.....oh wait. Turns out that David Cook was asked to sing the National Anthem at a Royals game, but there were a bunch of snot nosed kids already scheduled to sing it. Partly because of that, and partly because he couldn't find a pseudo-emo version of the song, a sharpee for his palm, and a pick to throw into the crowd, he decided to poorly sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" instead. Plus he forgot how many strikes there are before you're out at the old ball game. Way to drop a lyric:


I'm sure we'll see all sorts of other clips from their visits home. I'm willing to bet they all get keys to their respective cities. I'm also willing to bet they all made an appearance on their hometown Fox affiliate morning show. I hope to God Syesha spent her time home in FLA in a bikini on the beach.


Final thought before I leave you for the week - do you all know whose album just dropped? No, I'm not talking about Chris Sligh's. I'm talking about Clay Aiken!!!! Check out a little video about that here and listen to the title track here.

The 6 Possibilities for the Top 3

If the top 3 finish:
1. David A (no one wins the pool for guessing David A correctly since there are more than 10 people who did so)
2. David C
3. Syesha

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Stephen - 288
2. Lisa B. - 287
3. Amy Y. - 285
4. Ryan - 279
5. Meredith - 276
6. Dave L - 275
7. Jennie L - 272
8. Jan W. (wins tiebreaker vs. Jane with Amanda 11th. Jane didn't have anyone guessed correctly) - 269

Just off the mark - Jane (who'll lose the tiebreaker), Jaime Fioretti - 268, Suzy McNamara - 266


If the top 3 finish:
1. David A
2. Syesha
3. David C

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Stephen - 288
2. Jan W. - 280
3. Ryan - 279
4. Meredith (has Amanda 11th) - 276
5. Lisa B. (loses tiebreaker) - 276
6. Amy Y. - 274
7. Jane - 269
8. Jaime - 268

Just off the mark - Don, Michelle, and Mike LeBlanc will all finish with 265


If the top 3 finish:
1. David C (Anh, Cathleen, Jennie L, Jen S., Katie K., Suzanne, Suzy M. split Winner's Pool)
2. David A
3. Syesha

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Jennie L - 284
2. Ryan - 279
3. Suzy M - 278
4. Stephen - 276
5. Dave L (wins tiebreaker with Chikezie 10th) - 275
6. Lisa B (loses tiebreaker) - 275
7. Amy Y - 273
8. Katie K - 266

Just off of 8th - Meredith - 264, Julie H - 263


If the Top 3 finish:
1. David C.
2. Syesha
3. David A.

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Jennie L - 284
2. Suzy M - 278
3. Dave L - 275
4. Ryan - 268
5. Katie K - 266
6. Stephen - 265
7. Lisa B. - 264
8. Amy Y - 262

Just off the mark - Jan W - 257, Cathleen - 256


If the Top 3 finish:
1. Syesha (Cindy, Dina, Dona, Michelle, & Mike & Suzy split Winner's Pool)
2. David A.
3. David C.

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Ryan - 279
2. Tie between Don and Michelle (they would both have Syesha 1, David A 2, and then nothing right after that) - 277
4. Stephen - 276
5. Jan - 268
6. Meredith (has David C. 3rd) - 264
7. Tie between Dave L. & Lisa B. (no tiebreaker correct) - 264

Just off the mark - Julie H. - 263, Amy Y. 262


If the Top 3 finish:
1. Syesha
2. David C.
3. David A.

Then the Top 8 for 2008 will be:

1. Dave L - 275
2. Jennie L - 272
3. Ryan - 268
4. Tie between Don and Michelle (they'd both have Syesha right and nothing after that) - 266
6. Suzy M (loses tiebreaker to those two) - 266
7. Stephen - 265
8. Lisa B - 264

Just off the mark - Amy Y. - 262, Jan W. - 257