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

May 7 Standings

1. Ryan – 268 points (279 max) – no change

2. Stephen - 265 points (288 max) – no change

3. Dave L. - 264 points (275 max) – no change

4. Jennie L. - 261 points (284 max) – no change

5. Suzy M. - 255 points (278 max) – up from T-6th

6. Lisa B. - 253 points (287 max) - up from 8th

7. Meredith - 253 points (276 max) - up from 9th

8. Julie H. - 252 points (263 max) - up from 10th

9. Amy Y. - 251 points (281 max) – up from 11th

10. Jan W. - 246 points (280 max) – up from 16th

11. Jane – 246 points (269 max) – down from 5th

12. Jaime - 245 points (268 max) – down from T-6th

T-13. Don - 243 points (277 max) – up from T-19th
T-13. Michelle - 243 points (277 max) - up from T-19th

15. Katie K. - 243 points (266 max) – up from 21st

16. Mike L. - 242 points (265 max) – up from 22nd

17. Liz - 242 points (253 max) – up from 23rd

18. Amy L-P. - 240 points (263 max) – down from 12th

19. Denis - 239 points (262 max) – up from 26th

T-20. Aneesha - 238 points (261 max) – down from T-13th
T-20. Marcia - 238 points (261 max) - up from 27th
T-20. Stephanie - 238 points (261 max) – down from T-13th

23. Julie R. - 238 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 15th

24. Kara - 236 points (259 max) – down from 17th

25. Damian - 235 points (258 max) – down from 18th

26. Cathleen - 233 points (256 max) – up from 32nd

27. Lisa S. - 232 points (MAXED OUT) - down from 24th

28. Alieda - 231 points (254 max) - down from 25th

29. Corona - 228 points (251 max) – down from 28th

30. Karen - 227 points (250 max) – down from 29th

31. Jenny M. - 226 points (249 max) – up from 38th

32. Cindy - 225 points (259 max) – up from 39th

33. Suzanne - 225 points (248 max) – down from 30th

34. Scott - 224 points (247 max) – down from 31st

35. Jean Claude - 224 points (235 max) - up from 44th

T-36. Brian - 222 points (245 max) – down from T-33rd
T-36. Rich – 222 points (245 max) – down from T-33rd
T-36. Will B. - 222 points (245 max) – down from T-33rd

39. Kristin - 222 points (233 max) - down from 36th

40. Matt - 220 points (254 max) – up from 49th

41. Anh - 220 points (243 max) – up from 50th

42. Marybeth & Lucy - 219 points (242 max) – down from 37th

T-43. Brooke - 215 points (238 max) - up from 52nd
T-43. Jan M. - 215 points (238 max) - down from 40th

45. Stacie - 215 points (226 max) - up from 53rd

46. Team 'Tini - 215 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 41st

T-47. Jen S. - 214 points (237 max) – down from T-42nd
T-47. Melissa - 214 points (237 max) – down from T-42nd

49. Matty - 213 points (236 max) - down from 45th

50. Yvonne - 212 points (235 max) – down from 46th

51. Team Ringey - 212 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 47th

52. Jon - 211 points (245 max) – up from 55th

53. Team O'Brien - 211 points (234 max) - down from 48th

54. Mandy - 210 points (233 max) – down from 51st

55. Dina - 205 points (239 max) – up from 59th

56. Paul F. - 203 points (214 max) – down from 54th

57. Kathryn - 200 points (223 max) – down from 56th

58. Michael W. - 199 points (222 max) – down from 57th

59. Andy - 198 points (209 max) – down from 58th

60. Sean - 196 points (219 max) – up from 65th

61. Emily - 195 points (218 max) – down from 60th

62. Missy - 195 points (206 max) – down from 61st

63. Peter - 193 points (204 max) – down from 62nd

64. Katy L. - 191 points (214 max) – up from 67th

65. Cristina - 189 points (223 max) – up from 70th

66. Lance - 189 points (212 max) – down from 63rd

67. Paul P. - 188 points (211 max) - down from 64th

68. Julie W. - 183 points (194 max) – down from 66th

69. Judy - 181 points (204 max) – down from 68th

70. Dave S. - 180 points (191 max) – down from 69th

71. Jill - 179 points (202 max) – no change

72. Will A. – 179 points (MAXED OUT) – no change

73. Mike & Suzy - 177 points (211 max) – up from 75th

74. Kendra - 176 points (187 max) – down from 73rd

75. Julie K. - 171 points (182 max) - down from 74th

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

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

78. Neisha - 119 points (MAXED OUT) – down from 76th

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

The staff here at Idol Pool Headquarters would be remiss if we did not begin this week’s post by addressing Paula’s behavior in last week’s show.



Not only did she look confused and somewhat drugged, but she stirred up all kinds of controversy about whether or not the judges watch contestant performances during rehearsals, and whether or not that even matters. In the end, Paula admitted to watching the rehearsal and that she had been reading from those notes during the show, which was pretty much her only option because the other explanation would have had to be massive amounts of narcotics. Never pretty.

Okay, so we have an explanation – at least for now – for Paula’s bizarre behavior last week. But how do you explain Jason Castro?


In order to help us all out as we try to interpret the behavior of this strange creature, Idol Pool Headquarters has consulted psychiatrist to the stars, Dr. A.J. Whitherstein. Dr. Whitherstein attended medical school at Stanford, is an attending psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital and has published numerous works including “The Stress-Diathesis Model of Cyclical Borderline Features in 12-14 year old Females”. Dr. Whitherstein is not a routine viewer of Idol, so we have shown him a series of videos of Jason Castro and asked him to tell us what his behavior might mean. Here’s a sample of our interview with Dr. Whitherstein:

Idol Pool Headquarters: Hello, Dr. Witherstein! We are so excited to have you as a guest on our blog. We so deeply respect your work and we know you will help us understand Jason better, and perhaps help us to understand why he appeals so much to the audience. We’re sure he’s probably a good person, we’re just baffled by his strange, creepy smile and odd demeanor. Please, tell us what you think.

Dr. Whitherstein: (Vacant look in his eyes.) There’s something wrong with that kid.

IPH: Yes, well, we figured that. Can you elaborate?

Dr. W: Well, geez. I’m kind of at a loss. I mean, he smiles at the strangest times and there’s something in his eyes…some kind of look. I can’t put my finger on it…it’s an odd sort of gaze…

IPH: Yeah, he’s strange for sure. But with all your expertise in this field, you must be able to offer some kind of diagnosis. Some kind of understa-

Dr. W: Crazy!! That’s the look in his eyes…Crazy! That kid is crazy.

Okay, viewers – there you have it, straight from the doctor’s mouth. “That kid is crazy.”

The theme for this week is “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, which allegedly means that the contestants must choose a song from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of “Top 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". Now, we can probably imagine that Idol can’t get the rights to all those songs, but even with that in mind, this is a list of a lot of really awesome songs to choose from. The real question for this week is whether or not there is a song in existence that could save Syesha from elimination. What is she good at? Ummm…sexy legs? No, that’s not a type of song. She’s pretty good at Broadway-ish stuff. Maybe she should sing something by Aretha and really do it up. Or perhaps something more up-tempto like this. To be honest, though, she could probably sing the national anthem wearing an American Flag, standing next to a choir of disabled veterans and still get kicked off this week.

Jason Castro should absolutely do "Uncle John’s Band" by The Grateful Dead. For effect, he should also just throw caution to the wind and smoke a bong right on stage – you know, really get into it.

According to Idol Pool sources, this week’s guest performers for the results show will be Bo Bice and Maroon 5, which makes this week officially the closest any of those guys will get to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Congratulations, boys!

Whatever happens this week, you can probably expect a very subdued Paula. And, we at the Idol Pool Headquarters think it’s important to point out that while we tease her, Ryan Seacrest said it best last week when he said “she’s part of our family and we love her”.