Adios Haley Scarnato

Is there a master class curse? First, Tony Bennett gets the flu, and now rumors are circulating that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are separating.

While on the topic of Jennifer Lopez, we here at AI HQ have to eat a little crow for all the bad things we said about her running this week's master class. She was impressive. In fact, I'd say she came over as more helpful than Gwen Stefani. And, she was strong both in her performance and her brief Q&A afterwards on Wednesday night, too. Agree?

Unfortunately, Jennifer Lopez's advice didn't translate on the small screen. Tuesday night's show was just not good as it had terrible all around performances (Haley, Phil), disappointing performances by solid contestants who we usually think of as strong (LaKisha, Melinda?), and creepy performances by losers (Sanjaya). Yo no te quiero.

In fact, the only person who exceeded expectations at Idol HQ was Blake, and that was probably he's been so disappointing recently. But you see, give him a song that doesn't test his range, and his solid voice mixed with his performance-ability can make him a very strong contestant.

Maybe the contestants should have spent more time paying attention to J. Lo while they surrounded her on the floor and looked up at her like she was teaching them kindergarten.


Here's my Sanjaya bit for the week:
Who was that loser that needs to show the world that he owns Sanjaya's sister? I mean, you really need to wrap your arm around her to show the world she belongs to you? That family attracts creeps. I wish there was some way to show that guy that Sanjaya's sister is not that his possession.....but how?


Anywhoo, to no one's surprise, Haley got the boot this week. She had one of the worst performances of the week AND she wasn't very strong to begin with, so it really didn't shock anyone, did it?

Poor Brooke Stafford...She gets this week's booby prize for having Haley the highest out of anyone in the pool (she had her 5th). The loss of Haley knocked her down from 3rd to 7th.

Since everyone almost had Haley out already, not much happened this week in the standings. Lisa Wagner still remains atop of the heap with 140 points (298 max). She is one of a few people who is now 5 for 7.

Right on her heels remains Matty Lane who also has 140 points but with a max of 250. With such a low max score, Matty's going to need some bazookas to shoot down the competition ahead of him.

Kendra picks up the slack left by Brooke and moves up a spot to 3rd overall. Kendra, like a lot of people, is also 5 for 7, but can go 5 for 6 next week! She has 131 points and can max out at 298.

Team Zach & Sarah are still hanging around, too. Like Kendra, they have the chance to go 5 for 6 next week. Currently, they have 131 points and can max out at 279. Right now, they're in 4th.

In 5th sits Jane LeBlanc. Jane also has 131 points and can max out at a very respectable 272. Although, really, finishing in 5th place isn't a lot of fun. Bags full of cash is what you want, and that's what you'll get if you finish in 1st or 2nd.

Finally, Chris Serico has shot up the standings and is now sitting in 6th place. How has he been able to do it? Sanjaya. Serico has Sanjaya higher than anyone else in the standings, and he's been riding his coattails as far as that creepy twerp will take him.....Fortunately, Chris has Sanjaya going home next week. We all hope you're right, Chris. Serico is in excellent shape now with 129 total points and a max score of 298.

Wondering who the top 10 are in max points? Here they are (looks a lot like last week):

1. Marybeth - currently 8th - 303 points
2. Missy - currently 12th - 301 points
3. Lisa W. - currently 1st - 298 points
3. Kendra - currently 3rd - 298 points
3. Chris S. - currently 6th - 298 points
6. Will - currently 9th - 295 points
7. Kristin - currently 22nd - 286 points
8. Julie - currently 13th - 283 points
9. Jennie - currently 20th - 282 points
10. Team Zach & Sarah - currently 4th - 279 points
10. Amy Y. - currently 10th - 279 points

Everyone psyched for country week next week? I'm not. I think I'll just sit at home and eat my homemade fritatas.

The Master

Not much moving around....Here are the standings!

Will Latin Week be out of sight?

Halo! I mean Hola!

Say what you will about J. Lo, excuse me (I forgot), Jennifer Lopez's "voice" and her "musical talent" and her "movie choices" (lest we forget "Monster-In-Law" and "Shall We Dance" and "Jersey Girl" AND "Gigli"), this woman will always have a welcome home at AI HQ because she played Karen Sisco in Steven Soderbergh's masterpiece "Out of Sight". Sodebergh is perhaps the only director to draw a genuine performance out of her, and that should earn him praise alone.

For all of you movie fans who have never seen "Out of Sight", I suggest you bump it
up to the top of your Netflix list. Not only does it successfully blend crime, drama, and comedic genres into one (with a great ensemble cast that it seems like only someone like Sodebergh can handle), it also is the signature Soderbergh film from camera work all the way to the editing techniques used. This is the movie where you first see him use audio from one scene to play against the visual of another, the first where you see freeze frame photography, the first where he playfully jumped around in the narative, and the first that looked absolutely incredible (as evidenced in the picture above).

But back to the singing.....Jennifer Lopez? Really? She's the role model for SINGING? She's horrible!

Wikipedia tells us that this week's theme is Latin week (which sounds reasonable for Jennifer Lopez week), and we understand that Latin music is a mucho commercial genre of music, but we also find it hard to believe that every finalist will have no problem picking a Latin themed song out this week.

Which really leads us to believe that Latin themed week might get stretched beyond the realm of absurd. While we're sure we'll hear a ton of Gloria Estefan, I really wonder what other artists are out there that a) count as Latin music, b) the finalists are remotely aware of and c) the viewing public would find a connection with. These factors make us think that Latin Week will be a liberally used label. Yvonne, can you help us out here? Larsen?

Wikipedia is also telling us next week is country week y'all and the week after is God, I mean God, I mean inspiration week. Now, I don't know about you people, but Latin week, Country week, and Inspirational week sound like 3 clunkers to me. It might as well be gregorian chant week, songs about suicide week, and.....um.....country week. I mean, when are we going to get Indie Rock week, Lesbian folk week, and movie musicals from the 2000's that end in -girls and start with dream- week? That's why we watch, right?

And, if the country agrees and starts to tune out a bit, could it mean a little trouble for the show?

Not only are the ratings down this season compared to last, but every episode has been viewed by fewer people that the one before it. Now, some want to blame the poor quality of contestants (coughcoughSanjayacoughcoughHaley'svoicebutnotherlegscoughcough), but the producer's have another theory:

If you ask "Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe what is causing the problem, he'll blame daylight saving time, which started three weeks earlier this year. Ratings tend to dip every year whenever the time change kicks in. "Even if we lost 50 percent of our audience, we'd still be in the top three shows in the country," Lythgoe said at a press conference on Monday.

Oh, to be Nigel Lythgoe....when asked about a potential problem, first brag about how powerful you are and then come up with a crazy excuse to explain it all away!

Daylight Savings Time? The reason less and less people are tuning in is because they are making sure they are outside at 8PM on Tuesdays every week? And every week they grab a few more of their friends to make sure they're outside too? That's the best you got?

Or is it just that people forgot to move their clocks three weeks ago, and not only do people continue to check in on Fox an hour after the show every week, but they also forget to check in at the right time the next week, AND every single week even more people decide they need to set their clocks BACK to where they were 4 weeks ago so that they'll absent mindidly check in at the wrong time, too. That must be it.



Getting back on subject, Latin week is going to suck this week. I mean, can anyone left decently sing a good Latino song? I have two theories about this week and next (country week). Want to hear them? Tough, you're reading this whether you like it or not.

Theory 1 - Everyone sucks because they don't know anything about Latin and (to a lesser extent) Country music, so the suckiest person will go home (ie - Haley probably this week, and I hope to God Sanjaya next week. What country song could he possible sing?).

Theory 2 - Upsets, Upsets, Upsets. Someone is singing a song so out of their comfort range that they completely bomb. Could LaKisha or, dare we say, even Melinda be vulnerable on Latin week or country week? It's possible.

Let's not forget that last year, Ace Young went out around this time last year, the year before that, Nadia Turner and Anwar Robinson went out right around this time (followed closely by Constantine), and of course, 3 years ago next week was when Jennifer Hudson went home (by the way, did anyone catch the Jennifer Hudson joke in "The Office" last week?).

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but right around this time is when people who are considered the favorites coming out of the top 12 have a tendency to go belly up unexpectedly. Could it be a theme just doesn't fit them (Nadia) or America just tires of them (Anwar & Ace) or America gets over being taken to bed by them (Constantine) or the country decides to go loco for the night (Hudson)?

I don't know, but these next two weeks are generally when it happens, if it does happen....craziness!


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

Senorita Lisa Wagner says Sanjaya will say adios this week, and I think I speak for all of America and this pool when I say, "Lisa Wagner, gracias!". I sincerely hope you're right. Lisa will go 5 for 7 if he goes, but she'll also be OK if Haley or Phil goes, too.

In fact, that goes for almost all of you - almost everyone will be OK if Sanjaya, Phil, or Haley goes.

In 2nd place is Matty Lane. Matty has Jordin gone this week, which would be just a little bit of an upset. But I can tell you now that more people would be hurt by Jordin leaving than by her staying, so Matty's picks would be one of the few that would really benefit by her leaving ASAP.

Now, if you're one of those people who are a little bit lower in standings (not like Matty) and have someone who now seems like kind of a favorite going home (like Jordin), I recommend you visit a voodoo doctor ASAP, because that voodoo curse would be like a blessing from God for your picks if it comes true.

Brooke is in third and had Gina leaving this week, so Brooke falls into the "Sanjaya or Phil" category - but not Haley! Brookes still has Legs McGee around.



On a personal note, if Sanjaya doesn't leave soon, we're going to switch shows and next year do a "Happy Boy" pool. Deal?


Buenos Noches!

The Master

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.