Melinda Doolittle Fans

Tuesday night, the final eight turned on the heat with their choice of Latin songs. But now the fun is over and once again, it is time to reveal who will be going home. As all the contestants stood up on stage as Ryan talked, at the end, Ryan questions, who will be going home tonight; he took one (fake) serious look at Sanyaja and looks back at the camera again while Sanjaya smile back. The program were extended to one program, since there were many things to be covered at the short time such as Tony Bennett, “bad” audition and his rendition of ‘Do You Know the Way to San Francisco’ while the judges “hated it”. And together the top eight performs the song, ‘”Let the Rhythm Take You” while a few sang individually and others sang it together.

After the performance, a clip were shown of Ryan visiting a farmers’ market in L.A, on the streets getting the opinions of different people who watched the show, some gave Chris, Ryan, Jordin and Blake a nod of putting on a good show last night, while one little girl choose only one contestant as her favorite except Lakisha. Hmm, not even Melinda? Well at the end of Ryan’s short interview, he jokingly asked a woman he questioned earlier on in the clip for a kiss, which she first hesitate to do but does anyway.

Next is a nice performance already recorded, R&B singer Akon, singing his hit, ‘Don’t Matter’, while a guy on turntables in the background sports a killer Mohawk. Next, we get into commercial break and right after sees the A.I video, ‘Happy Together’ where’d the contestants drives a Ford SUV happily singing and also morphing to one contestant to the next, which remind me of Michael Jackson’s 1991 music video, ‘Black and White’.

Later on, Ryan update us on ‘Idol gives Back’ charity where the show pledged the amount of five million dollars; Simon is showed in Africa surrounded by children , showing them classroom materials that will be enough to give more than a hundred of children. The kids around him drew picture of Simon, as one girl drew the female breast on Simon’s chest, which proves that, Simon certainly has man boobs. Ryan laughed and said, ‘even in Africa the kids think Simon needs a bra’.

Before the serious part of the show began, Tuesnight’s mentor, Jennifer Lopez performs her hit song ‘Que Hiciste,”in Spanish. After providing the audience with good entertainment, Lopez were impressed with all the contestants and knows it must be tough getting on stage week after week to sing their best. Anyhow the results finally begun to find who will get the ax, Sanjaya will be the obvious first choice but at the end, it will be revealed who next gets the boot.

Melinda makes a small comment on Simon’s feedback on her Tuesday performance and says she respect and love Simon and just happy to hear what he said. Melinda took Simon’s criticism with pride and class and no worries at the end for her, as she made it in the final seven! Sanjaya, on the other hand had to wait it out as others got the message that they’d were safe or in the bottom three. At the end, he was saved from another cut. Honestly it comes to no surprise that he survives another week, as Randy said he is very smart and somehow knows what to do to get the votes. Well Phil, Haley and Chris are the least favorites (another bottom three spot for Phil and Chris) but Haley is cut from the competition. Relying on skimpy outfits must seem to wear off on the male voters or something because her singing ability was lacking immensely throughout the show. But Haley got to fully perform the song ‘Turn the Beat Around’, while trying to make the best of her performance the last time on stage. While another Idol finalist gone, we’re coming closer each week to find out who will be the next American Idol.

The eight Idol contestants were ready to spice things up Tuesday night as the theme choice is ‘Latin Music’. This week’s new coach is pop superstar Jennifer Lopez who gave one on one tips for each finalist on how to sing the song of their choice, and give an incredible performance. The first contestant that was ready to perform is Melinda and she’d picked the Latin song, ‘Sway’. And as she sang the song to Lopez, the singer wanted her to make it sexy and have the look to go along with it. But Melinda seems a bit uncertain about that as she doesn’t think of herself as sexy or be able to pull of that kind of appeal in her performance.

Melinda comes on the stage looking classy as ever, wearing a sexy black dress and black pumps and rocking a nice curly hairdo. She sang beautifully and sultry, giving a warm smile to her audience. And at the end, her performance spoke for itself and earned her a stamp of approval from the crowd as they’d give her a standing ovation. Randy tells Melinda it is a solid performance but wasn’t her best and Paula loves it as usual and called the performance smooth. However Simon finally got a chance to give a bad comment to Melinda (he’d even mention last week he doesn’t think any of the judges can say anything bad about her). Now his time has come and he supposedly let Melinda “have it”, saying she sounded like a cabaret singer, there was no personality, no wow factor, doesn’t sing sexy, just seem lazy on stage… blah, blah, blah, blah… Whatever Simon.

The woman sounded absolutely perfect and uses her singing ability to the fullest to get her votes but of course there should be no worries. Melinda will just use Simon criticism/rant as a way to do twice as good as she done this week; but it can be much worse, she could be hanging on thin ice like a couple of other contestants who really haven’t shown much improvement.

Simon believes Blake did the best job singing tonight with Sanjaya coming close second as believes he did not sound horrible! I will be the first to admit, the song did fit his voice and he was not that bad, but Sanjaya over Melinda? That really speaks volumes and can be a slight problem since there are Idol voters out there that will vote based on the judges opinions and entirely not their own. I really don’t think Melinda is in any danger at all but as always Melinda fans, VOTE!

The Idol contestants made the best of their performances Tuesday night but unfortunately, more person will make another exit tonight. Ryan gave us another quick recap of everyone’s performances and the judge’s comments.

We also get to see another Ford commercial of all the finalists singing “One Love” which seems as if they are singing in the jungle somewhere, happily cleaning a dirty Jeep, making bubbles and pretending to shoot at one another with a gun made from green leaves. They all come out of a car wash proudly after a job well done cleaning a Hybrid vehicle with Kermit the frog sitting in the passenger seat, as he happily tells us that he loves being green while putting a green tree-shaped car deodorizer on the rear view mirror.

After the commercial, is the results round and each contestant is placed in a group of threes. First group is Blake, Chris and Sanjaya. The second group is Haley, Phil and Gina. And the last and final one is Jordin, Melinda and Lakisha which quickly reminded me of third season’s show when the most talented bunch were grouped together the same way, and shockingly ended up in the bottom three with Jennifer Hudson going home. But of course that won’t happen tonight and definitely anytime sooner. Anyway, Ryan sends one group back to their seats and obviously it happens to be Melinda, Jordin and LaKisha who all are safe! Thank God of another week for Melinda being the strongest contestant in the show. The next lucky group is Blake, Chris and Sanjaya; yes Sanjaya dodging the bullet again. I guess his suaveness and smoothness in yesterdays performances proved to be worthy of another week on Idol. By this time, we all know who has the lowest numbers, Haley, Gina and Phil. All three have to find out who will make the cut until the next ten to fifteen minutes of the show.

While the three contestants have to wait out and hear their results, Ryan informed the viewers of Tony Bennett coming down with the flu and would not be able to perform on tonight’s stage. Ryan then introduced us to guest performer to big-band singer Michael Buble who’d be singing ‘Call Me Irresponsible’ which he bring a nice jazzy sound to his voice. After his performance he asked Ryan is he still wasting his votes on ex-Idol Antonella Barbara, but Ryan whispers to him that she’s not around anymore.

Now we are back to the results and Ryan tells us Phil is safe. After being relieved, Phil hi-fives the rest of the contestants while Haley Gina is the two that remain standing. Randy says it is not a surprise to see them on stage, then changes his mind and mentioned it is surprising to see the girls being the worst that is left. Paula is not certain and Simon is not shocked at the outcome. In a matter of a few seconds Haley sticks around, and sadly Gina goes home. A fellow Midwestern singer is out the competition and the sad part is that she not that bad of a singer. Gina who is now in full of tears, looks back on her journey on Idol, and makes a graceful exit by thanking her fans and let them know they will see her on tour soon. Gina performs on the stage one last time and breaks down for a moment as the rest gathers around her to say their goodbyes. Another decent performer is sent home, and I have one burning question to ask, how much can we endured with some of the other less talented folks week after week?

The nine remaining Idol finalists got ready to get into character for this week’s, ‘American Classics’ theme night. Tuesday’s night show was a tribute to legendary Grammy-winning artist, Tony Bennett. Ryan started out the show showing clips of Bennett in his younger days, also mentioning the number of hits singles and albums Bennett created over the span of his fifty-year music career. Bennett also worked with many performers including soul artist, Stevie Wonder, Barbara Streisand, and today’s young artists such as Christina Aguilera.

Before the show went on, Ryan briefly talks about the “Idol Charity” to help those living in poor conditions in the U.S and Africa. Celebrities such as Gwen Stefani (a guest celebrity on last week’s show), Forest Whitaker and Rowan Atkinson, to name a few, will take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer.

Getting back to the show, the contestants did the best they could to impress the judges and take notes of the comments that Bennett gave them during their rehearsal. However, Melinda check-listed them all and the some, as she were the third contestant that picked many of the songs from the swing era, singing the classic, ‘I Got Rhythm’. During practice, Bennett described Melinda as a good singer with a big sound who is a great and believes in herself and in return, Melinda was glad that someone really believes in her.

Melinda started off the song with a slow tempo and within seconds later smoothly went into a fun and upbeat rhythm of the song, simply enjoying herself on stage showing the viewers her outstanding vocal skills.

The judges was wowed by her performance as Randy stated that she interpret each lyric and portrays what she sings in a song. Paula calls Melinda a master class with a flawless performance and already see a great future for her musically in every way. Simon said he didn’t like the first half of the song, but the second half, Melinda showed great personality. But Simon also had to get one thing off his chest to Melinda that he’d think that none of the judges will ever get to criticize her and that is a problem. Ryan on the other hand asked why Simon find it a problem, but Simon put it plainly that, ‘we like being mean to people’!

Well it’s hard to really pinpoint what Melinda weakness is on the show because single every week she is ready to do any song, even if it is a type of song that is a challenge to most. She is already a star in the making and proves to be hard to beat, and with a solid fan base behind her, she will reach to the final top.

There were some moments on Idol last night that left me puzzled, such as Simon comments on Melinda’s outfit or Sanjaya standing out from the crowd with a Mohawk hairstyle that made him look like a rooster. But neither really matters because tonight the votes were in for the next Idol contestant to be eliminated.

Ryan recapped Tuesday show which featured singer Gwen Stefani and the contestant’s performances. Afterwards we get to see another Ford commercial in a Western setting with the guys and girls wearing cowboy outfits singing, ‘I Fought the Law” with poor Chris R. in the end waxing a car. In the matter of seconds, Ryan gets straight to the results with each nervous finalist standing up one by one. The first two is Blake and Lakisha, both who is safe and Phil, who unfortunately winds up in the bottom three. The second bunch is Melinda, Chris R., Sanjaya and Jordin. All four is safe (Go Melinda!) but Haley is the second person in the bottom three. Surprisingly Sanjaya once again easily make into next week’s show. Maybe he is getting the votes because he took risk in that failed attempt to make a Mohawk or whatnot, but it amazes me each time to know he has some type of staying power.

It is between Gina and Chris S., one safe the other is not, but the two has to await their fate on the show until the break and Gwen Stefani performance is over. I can just imagine all the nerves they must have on that stage at that moment all the while putting on a ‘smile’.

Now we tune in after the commercial break and back on with the show with Stefani singing her hit song “The Sweet Escape” featuring singer and producer Akon. While Gwen does her thing on stage, in the background we see Japanese dancers with 1950s vintage-like dresses as the male singers dance around wearing a suit. At the end of Stefani’s performance, the singer announce the planning of her tour in late April along with Akon and her involvement with the Idol charity event in which she will be one of the entertainers.

Next we get back to the results and find out who have the lowest numbers of votes. Gina? Chris? Well it is Chris S. who ends up in the bottom three for his cover of the song “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’. Phil, Haley and Chris S. stands side by side waiting for the news as to who goes home; Ryan tell the news to Phil that he is safe and sends him back to his seat. Left standing is Haley and Chris S., which one of them in particular I knew was going home in a split second. Ryan announces Chris, who is bringing chubby back is departing the show as Haley stays. For the third week in a row, a good singer is axed yet we are left with some who should remain nameless have another go in the competition.

Well at least Chris gets to sing his song one more time, while he walks over to each finalist to say his goodbyes and tells Phil during the middle of his song that he owes him fifty bucks, but Phil laughs it off. I wondered what that is all about. But anyway, Chris who was one of the best will be missed but the show must go on as everyone prepares for next week’s theme to give it their all.

Tuesday night, the ten Idol hopefuls took on another challenge, with this week ‘Songs That Inspired Gwen Stefani.’ Pop superstar Gwen Stefani were a surprise treat to all the finalists, but as any other guest coach, Gwen gave feedback to all the contestants on their vocal ability and song choice. But the moment when Stefani heard Melinda, she was blown away by her lovely voice, calling it spectacular and could not wait when to see her performance. At the end, Stefani told Melinda good luck even though she might not need it.

A couple of Idol contestants decide to tackle with ‘No Doubt’ songs, Jordin Sparks singing ‘Hey Baby’ and Chris Richardson ‘Don’t Speak’. Melinda went disco singing Donna Summer’s ‘Heaven Knows’. Now there has been a lot of talk amongst viewers about Melinda singing slow ballads almost every week and that it may hurt her chances in the near future as some may believe she is becoming boring and stuck in her comfort zone.

But those folks should not count Melinda out at all because she’d switched gears choosing a fast tempo for this week and gave a unbelievable performance with every note sung perfectly, simply just showing off her superb voice. Melinda was having fun with the song and I definitely felt her energy and the song itself.

In my opinion I thought the outfit was cute, but Simon shouldn’t be talking since he wears the same tight black, grey or white baby tees every week on the show. So he shouldn’t be talking.

Before I start to get on a different subject, back to Melinda. As always the girl was amazing and Gwen Stefani was right- Melinda doesn’t need much luck because her performance and voice speaks for itself. But her staying power lays in the voters hands but there is no doubt she will receive the lowest. No way at all.

Tuesday night, the eleven remaining contestants did their best to perform British songs of the 60s with clips of singers Herman’s Hermits’ Peter Noone coaching the guys and Lulu coaching the girls with the song of their choice. But unfortunately someone fate is sealed tonight when an unlucky contestant in the second week of the competition goes home. But before the elimination round, Peter Noone kicks off his hit song on stage “There’s a Kind of Hush”, as everyone dance on their feet. After Noone’s performance, Idol viewers gets to see another weekly Ford commercial made by the finalists themselves as they sing “Another Saturday Night” in a laundromat where’d we get to see a lot of hair swinging, which got me into thinking, is this some promotion for a Pantene hair shampoo?

Anyway, Ryan says the words every Idol contestant dreads to hear, now the results. Ryan quickly announces the top four “voters choice”, Blake, Phil and our favorite, Melinda to stay once again for another round. Next is Lakisha, Jordin and Chris S. earned a spot for next week’s show. And last for the “best” remaining is Gloria, Haley and Sanjaya, who by the staying as he surprise us all and got on the “wild side” which is unusual for his already very mediocre past performances. The two remaing contestant’s left– much of a surprise to me is Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson ended up in the bottom two. Richardson gave a great performance the previous night and with his lowest number of votes remains a mystery to me. Edwards on the other hand, is undeniably talent but to some people, lacks the stage presence to keep the audience wanting more but of course, she might have another chance to stay, and in coming can weeks grow as a overall performer and have that edginess the judges is begging her to have, right?

Maybe or maybe not but we don’t get to hear the final results until Lulu sing one of her popular songs “To Sir With Love” and Ryan announce again the Idol’s upcoming Charity event. Afterwards, Ryan gives us the definite answer as to who stays and who is leaving. Chris sticks around and Stephanie Idol experience ends. Though it will be sad to see the tearful Edwards goes, I can’t help but still feel the happiness of Melinda making it once again in the competition and also looking forward to the song she will next week Idol theme night.

On Tuesday, Idol theme night was “British Invasion”, with British singers Peter Noone and Lulu as guest vocal coaches for the Idol contestants. Noone coached the guys to see which song fitted their vocal range while Lulu did the same for the girls.

While everyone tried their best to make their performances as great as possible, some prefer to show a little extra based on their song such as Lakisha Jones, showing off what Paula Abdul describe as “million dollar diamonds” on her wrist as she sang “Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey and Gina Glocksen trying to come off as a “rocker chick” of this season donning all black attire and two-toned streaked hair, as she sung, the Rolling Stones, “Paint It Black.” But Melinda Doolittle truly showed us her vocal ability by pulling off a song that she’d believed were out of her comfort zone. As Lulu praised her for “finding herself in the song” and said she was shining big time, I couldn’t wait to hear Doolittle as she were the last contestant which were save the best for last.

As Ryan introduces Melinda, she was seen sitting on the first step on the stage, looking into the camera singing a rendition of the ballad, from the Oliver! musical, “As Long as He Needs Me”. Ms.Doolittle proved once again to be an outstanding performer who connects with the audience with her warm smile, perfect pitch, and flawless voice. After her performance and even got Simon’s vote and in his own words stated, “what started as a boring song, but you made the second part of the song absolutely sensational with an impeccable vocal“. I was simply in awe as Doolittle brings emotions to “As Long As He Needs Me” as if she was singing her heart out to her significant other.

It is also possible she made Ashley, the infamous little girl who was part of the audience cried once again–the first time earlier was with Idol singer Sanjanya Malakar. While little Ashley had the obvious tears of joy, Melinda knows how to work her audience well, bringing a smile to everyone faces with her top notch singing. “As Long As He Needs Me” goes down as another outstanding performance by Doolittle which shows she has a deserving spot on Idol for another week.