Praising Jordin

Inspired by our TV critic Verne Gay’s startling 'A love song to Sanjaya' (has he gone soft?!), here’s my own ode to Idol's other 17-year-old--Jordin Sparks.

I've been on the Jordin bandwagon from the get-go, writing of her initial audition: "She has it, from the second you see her you know--the brightness and energy that plays well in any setting. Big voice and good poise."

There was just something about her that's very likeable, beyond the great voice. It makes me laugh when she plays off Ryan's height-insecurities by scrunching way down when they’re next to each other; and it's neat how she soaks up the audience’s applause and the judges' praise, without an ounce of arrogance or insincerity.

She reminds me a bit of my all-time favorite contestant, Paris—-both had tons of natural talent, and seemed to be having the time of their lives on the show, doing what they love to do and sharing it with us (in a goofy way).

So I was happy when Simon officially declared last week that Jordin's joined the big two of LaKisha and Melinda as contenders for the crown.

She doesn't quite have the voice of her more experienced contestants, at this stage. But precisely because she's younger and has more to learn, it's more fun watching her grow and get better from week to week.

There's even, of course, a New York connection, since her dad, Phillippi Sparks, used to play corner for the Giants.

So until Sanjaya finds his form and overcomes his nerves, I'm rooting for Jordin to win.

To me, this is what Idol's really all about: discovering someone young and promising, who's fun to watch and lacks the hard shell of a professional singer.

Back to the background for Brandon

It's just dawning on me now that tonight is just a half-hour show. Thank goodness - it gets so tedious watching the results shows when they're more than half filler.

Anyway, they're back to the cuts now.

Sanjaya Malakar is the last person in the bottom three and as expected, they're all guys.

So, Phil Stacey is off the hook - he is safe for another week.

So it's down to Brandon rogers and Sanjaya Malakar. To be fair, based on singing alone, it should be Sanjaya, but unfortunately, so many other things come into play - personality and likability are the main two, I think. And taking those things into consideration, I really believe that Brandon will go tonight.

And he does...

Diana Ross performs

So Diana Ross comes out like she's headlining a Las Vegas show - in this red gown and frilly shawl thing that keeps getting in her way - plus her shoes look like foot-high platforms. She performs "More Today Than Yesterday," from her new album, "I Love You."

Is it really mean that I think she sounded worse than some of the "Idol" contestants? She kept going in and out of tune - it wasn't a great performance, I don't think, but I guess with legends like her, you have to be a little more forgiving than with regular people.

She speaks a bit after her performance about how inspirational she thinks "American Idol" is. She says she is happy to be there and when Ryan asks her who's going home, she answers, "I have no... you know, me." I chuckled.

Two at the bottom

The group song tonight is a tribute to Diana Ross, with a medley of her songs. It was cute and I'm sure that fans of Ross probably really enjoyed it.

The group's first Ford commercial was on tonight, set to "Float On," by Modest Mouse. I think the contestants seemed more excited to see themselves in the commercial than America will probably be about the ocmmercial itself. It was OK - nothing spectacular.

Well, they're getting to the bottom three right away.

Ryan calls up LaKisha Jones first and she is.... safe.
Gina Glocksen is.... safe.
Brandon Rogers is.... in the bottom three.
Jordin Sparks is.... safe.
Chris Richardson is.... safe.
Melinda Doolittle is.... safe.
Phil Stacey is.... in the bottom three.
Chris Sligh is.... safe.
Stephanie Edwards is.... safe.
Blake Lewis is.... safe.

They're leaving Sanjaya and haley until later, I guess...

Should Sanjaya thank Stern?

The struggles of Sanjaya this season have been well documented. There is no question that he is one of the worst singers left in the group, so it begs the question. What’s up?

Maybe the answer lies within the Howard Stern whack pack. On his Sirius show today Stern was back on the Sanjaya bandwagon. The shock jock told his audience that he wanted Sanjaya to win, saying that he was tired of all these good singers winning. A Sanjaya victory would be the end of the show he alleged.

Stern went on to poke fun at the way Sanjaya looks, at one point saying he could be dressed up to be best looking girl on the show.

If Sanjay makes it through tonight, which he probably will (despite my pick below) he may owe it all to the King of All Media.

Don't count Jordin out

Jordin Sparks plans to show her softer side this week by singing "If We Hold On Together." Diana Ross says Jordin is absolutely gorgeous, but that you have to be able to project a song and look at the audience and really believe and own the words of a song. She tells Jordin to tell the story, to talk to the audience through the song.

Diana says Jordin has star quality, because of her smile, and the glitter, the shine in her eyes. She says Jordin has an inner light, which is very important.

Again, Jordin looks beautiful - I liked her hair better last week, with the soft curls, but still, she's just so pretty - her dress looks great, she just looks terrific.

And she kills it tonight - not a note out of tune. She doesn't have the chops of LaKisha or Melinda, but tonight, you'd never tell. She's so young - you can only imagine what she'll sound like in another 10 years. I think tonight was her best performance - she was just incredible, and I think she's still got a shot to win it all.

Randy tells her how impressed with her he is and that with tonight's performance, she just made it a three-girl race. Paula agrees and Simon says that it was a little bit gooey, but that it was a very, very good vocal.


So, while based on vocals alone, I think Sanjaya should go home tomorrow, I don't think he will because he's so lovable. My pick for tomorrow is Brandon Rogers.

Just not good enough

I am so bored by Stephanie Edwards, I am actually feeling resentful right now that I have to write about her. Diana Ross tells her that she needs to sing her song with a little bit of sexiness, and says that she thinks Stephanie has star quality. I could not disagree any more than I do. I mean, Stephanie is not on the bottom of my list just yet, but that's only because those spots are already filled - she's in the middle right now - just kind of blah.

She sings "Love Hangover" and oh my goodness, what is she wearing??? I didn't hear the first 30 seconds of the song because I was so struck by the hideous dress she's wearing, but now I'm listening again and it's OK - pretty good for her, better than last week, but again, she's competing against women like LaKisha and Melinda and she just doesn't cut it - there's nothing she can do - she just doesn't come close.

Randy says she forgot the words - did anyone catch that? It went over my head - and says that it was a good vocal, but not her best. Paula tells her to strive for better and Simon says the arrangement was strange because she teased everyone with the good part and then failed to deliver, so basically, what she sang was the intro. He tells her that she was completely outsung by LaKisha and Melinda and that she chose the wrong song.

Ugh... another sleeper. Chris Richardson is up next and he endears himself to me just a little by talking about how as he's singing, he's wondering if she likes it or if he's butchering her song right to her face. It was cute and it made me laugh, so maybe I dislike him a little bit less.

Diana tells him that the song he chose, "The Boss," is a work-the-audience kind of song and says that he needs to find the hook in the song and sell it.

Oh, I just can't like it - I heard some more of that Justin Timberlake sound in his voice, which disturbed me because JT should never be copied, but it just wasn't great - at least not great enough to win. And I think that's what we need to be looking for - are these performances, performers good enough to win? And with Chris, it's just a big fat NO every single week.

Randy says he overdid it... Paula says he nailed the blend of bringing contemporary and classic together and Simon says that if you took Chris out of the equation, with his charm and personality, the vocals were dreadful.

Blake and his ego get put in their place

LaKisha Jones plans to sing "God Bless the Child," a Billie Holiday song that Diana Ross sang in one of her movies, and I'm planning to be blown away.

I'm a little confused about why Diana Ross is telling LaKisha what to wear - maybe she had nothing to critique in her voice.

Well, LaKisha took her advice and wore something long and simple and she looks stunning. Her voice is perfection, as always. I think this performance may be better than her "Dreamgirls" number. It wasn't over the top, it was just right on the money - simply sensational.

Randy tells her that he loves the song choice, loves her outfit and her vocals. Tells her it was unbelievable and actually uses a word I just typed not even a minute ago - sensational!! Paula tells her that her heart comes through when she sings and Simon tells her that she's got "it" and that she and Melinda are like in another league all together from the rest of the contestants. As if that wasn't already obvious...

So, last week after Sundance got voted off, he told Ryan Seacrest in an interview that there was a guy still on the show who felt that he had the competition in the bag. TMZ.com had a poll up about it, asking the public who they thought Sundance was talking about and the last time I checked it, like 52% of the people who voted thought he was talking about Blake Lewis.

I completely disagreed - until tonight. How arrogant to add different beats to someone's song to make it your own? You should be able to make a song your own simply by the way you sing it. But, I still love Blake, arrogance and all. He picks a great song, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and Diana Ross actually likes that he's changed the song and made it fresh. Now, I happen to love Kim Wilde's 1987 version - that's fresh enough for me - but I'm willing to hear what Blake has done with it, too.

I don't like it... it's too slow and just boring overall. It's trying to be all modern and funky, and it would have succeeded if he had sped up the tempo. But you know, let's get to the core of this whole change-up. Is it possible that he went to all the trouble of changing up the beats and calling attention to it so that the viewers would be so focused on hearing the new arrangement that they wouldn't bother to listen to his voice? I think his voice is great, but not really tonight. It had no depth, which is odd because he's sounded so great in past weeks. I wonder if the judges were able to focus on his voice...

Randy caught it! Thank Goodness - he tells Blake that he needs to just watch the vocal - that he can sing better than he did tonight, that he shouldn't worry so much about Blake-izing everything he does. Paula says nothing of importance and Simon tells him that he didn't get it at all, that the arrangement wasn't great and that he didn't sound as good as he's sounded before.

Phil Stacey's arrived

Diana Ross says that Haley Scarnato has a recording studio voice as compared to a live audience projection, that her voice is too much inside.

So, Haley sings "Missing You," which Diana says was recorded after Marvin Gaye's death. It really is a beautiful song, but Haley starts it off rough - her first four words are all over the place - not in tune at all. But she recovers and it gets better. I'm not crazy about the breathy thing she has going in the verses, but the chorus is pretty good.

Ooh. Just got a good look at her dress - really, really awful.

I don't know. I think she may be in trouble, but next week.... I still think Sanjaya and Brandon were way worse than her.

Randy tells her that she started off rough, that she forgot the words - I didn't catch that - and that he's surprised because he thinks she's better than that. Paula tells her she looks lovely, which is a lie because that dress is really ugly, and again repeats how she forgot the words. Simon tells her he doesn't think it was that bad and Haley starts crying. He gives her credit - and remembers her name - and tells her she has a real presence up there.

Phil Stacey asks Diana for advice on getting into the right mindset before going out to sing and she tells him to look at the audience, that they're real people with feelings.

Phil sings "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and it's a little strange - I feel like he's singing a little too low. But it's still pretty good and by the time he gets to the chorus, it's better than good - it's almost great. I'd say, so far, he's the best guy to sing tonight - even better than Chris Sligh, whom I usually love.

Randy gives him the voice award of the night, but tells him the performance itself was a little boring. Paula agrees and Simon says it was OK, better than last week.

I didn't think Sanjaya could get any worse...

Gina Glocksen picks a great song. She's singing "Love Child" and tells Diana Ross about how her parents taped her singing the song when she was like 4 years old. I think it's cute and I hope she can sing it well. Diana Ross tells her to be careful with the pronunciation of the words. She says that because there are so many words, Gina needs to pronunciate everything and project.

Gina seems to have taken Diana's advice to heart because I can hear every word so far. She goes in and out of tune a bit, but nothing as bad as Brandon forgetting the words. Overall, I'd say it was OK.

Randy says it wasn't his favorite performance from her - mentions the pitchy spots, and tells her that he didn't feel the excitement. Paula says she was shouting at times. Simon says it was OK - that it was one of those performances that you can't really say much about - it wasn't terrible or fantastic.


Sanjaya Malakar and his afro are up next. I just have to say a few things about Sanjaya. First off, I think he's adorable - he's lovable and I just want to hug him and squeeze him. However, he needs some serious help with the singing, not to mention his style. He tried the straightened hair thing and that didn't work - now he's trying this fluffy, curly thing that just looks awful. I'm not really sure what he's trying to do. But I can say this much - he's not in the top 12 because of his singing - I think it's because he's so easy to like. Or maybe because he's so easy to laugh at. I don't know.

Jamshid mentioned this in his last post, but I feel it's worth repeating - it's OK to not like Sanjaya - I think his voice is terrible and he should go this week. But let's keep the contestants' ethnicities out of the equation - it really has no bearing on their talent.

Moving on, Diana Ross says that Sanjaya, to her, is love. She tells him he needs to get his soul into his performance, that he needs to move. She then goes on to say that there's something in his spirit that is the winning ingredient.... and that it wasn't his hair. No big shocker there.

He sings "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," Diana's first U.S. No. 1 album as a solo artist. And again, I'm left feeling like his voice is just too thin - no depth to it. It's really just not good. Plus, I can't stop staring at his disastrous hair - what's wrong with his regular hair? I think it's cute when he leaves it alone.

Ugh... ending was rough.... Randy is completely speechless - he's stumbling over himself and finally tells him, "Dude, it wasn't very good." Tell hims it was almost umlistenable, but tells him he actually looks forward to his ever-changing hair. How funny is that? Paula tells him his smile warms people's hearts...blah blah blah... Simon tells him that Diana Ross is going to freak when she hears his performance, that the only similarity between them is the hairstyle.

Awestruck and then not so much

Melinda Doolittle's up next. She's just so down-to-earth, how do you not love her? Ryan asks her what has been the hardest part of the competition and she tells him that it's been the high heels and the dresses - she says she likes her tennis shoes and sweatpants.

OUCH!!!! Major hidden messages in the joking between Ryan and Simon. Ryan asks Simon, "Simon, any advice on the high heels?' Simon responds, "You should know, Ryan." Ryan then answers, "Stay out of my closet." And here it is... best line ever!!! Simon responds with "Come out!" And then, Ryan says, "This is about the top 12, OK? Not your wishes." Simon just laughs, Ryan says, "We're friends" and it's over... I so want to be a fly on the wall when they discuss that little exchange later...

Anyway, back to Melinda... Diana Ross actually tells Melinda that she's heard so much about her - how cool is that? And then tells her that she got goosebumps listening to her sing. An then adds that whether Melinda wins or not, she will continue to persevere.

Melinda sings "Home" from "The Wiz" and what is left to say about her, really? She's flawless - I'm just in awe of her. I found myself just staring at the TV, just watching her, completely mesmerized. She's amazing.

Randy tells her it wasn't her best performance, but it was still strong. Paula's crying and tells her that she was one big goosebump watching Melinda sing and that this is it for her. So Melinda starts crying, too, says she's never heard praise like that before. Simon tells her she made a very boring song fantastic and tells her that she reminds him of a young Gladys Knight. WOW!!! Does it get any better?

Chris Sligh is just an odd duck. Upon meeting Diana Ross, he decides to tell her that they have very similar hair. Why would you choose that to be the first thing you say to someone as famous as her? She took it in stride, though.

So, Diana dishes out a bit of constructive criticism - tells Chris to listen more to the melody of the song and find the hook, because that's what will sell the song and him.

He sings "Endless Love" and before I comment on the singing, I need to say something about his lack of glasses - I don't like it. His face looks naked without them. Not sure what I think of the performance - I love Chris and his voice, but not sure I liked the choice of song for him - it was too slow and a little bit dull.

Randy tells him he didn't like the arrangement, that it sounded too much like Coldplay - that he just needs to sing his heart out and not worry so much about the style. Paula tells him that she thinks he trying too hard to be ultra hip and cool and that he needs to just let the melody play. Simon tells him he murdered the arrangement - that he turned a beautiful song into a complete and utter drone. Yay!! He also tells him to keep his glasses on, because that look is him. I hope he listens.

Brandon drops the ball big time

So, Diana Ross joins the group tonight and how sad is it that even as I watch the little montage they put together of her career, all I can think is "Oh, good Lord, Sanjaya, what have you done to your hair this time?" I mean, really.

Maybe it's his tribute to Diana Ross - who knows?

Speaking of Diana Ross, this week's mentor, she looks awesome. I almost can't believe it. For once, her hair doesn't look shorted-out and her face looks younger somehow - maybe it's Botox. But who cares? She looks beautiful.

She talks about not wanting to be a critic, but rather a supporting voice and wanting the contestants to have successful careers in the future, beyond this show. She seems like a real nice lady.

So, Brandon Rogers is up first and I don't know why I just don't like him anymore. I loved him in the auditions - in fact, I think I said he seemed sincere. But I feel like nothing could be further from the truth. He comes off so arrogant, so completely full of himself, I just can't stomach him anymore - especially since he hasn't really delivered yet.

Well, he's singing "Can't Hurry Love" and I'm bummed because I would have loved to hear anybody but him sing that song - it's one of my favorites. But whatever. Diana Ross says she likes Brandon - yuck - and tells him to get back to his center or some nonsense like that. But, interestingly enough, aside from giving him the generic, "that was real good," she doesn't say much else. I think she's a smart lady - she knows he's not as good as he thinks he is...

Well, I'm enjoying the song, but I'm pretty sure it's just the song. I don't think Brandon is doing anything special with it - making it his own, as they say. It's actually a little bit dull. Plus... did anyone hear it??? It made me so happy - it was just a split second, but his voice cracked and it sounded awful. I hope the judges notice it.

And it only gets better - he screws up the words and then pauses for like 5 seconds before finding his place again. I love it...

Randy tells him that he came out like he had reverted back to being a background singer - that it was boring and uninteresting. And he brings up how he forgot the words. Paula tries to think of something nice to say, but can only come up with how nervous he must be... Simon tells him it was letdown, that it was a predictable arrangement, the dancing was terrible, and says he sounded like he was a background singer for a background singer. He adds that there was no star quality, no originality. Not a good start tonight at all...