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