Episode Recap: American Idol - Season 6, Episode 15

Episode 15 Original Air Date: February 28, 2007 After several weeks of auditions, numerous performances, contestants being eliminated, it comes down to one very important question - is Antonella Barba an Internet slut? Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to watch TV the past couple of days has heard about the illicit pictures circulating around the web, some of them fakes, some of them real. Will Antonella address this tonight? Will America be able to stay awake through tonight's episode otherwise? The Women Gina Glocksen - Sings "Alone" and does OK. Randy thinks she was pitchy in the beginning, but "got it together in the middle". Paula loves it. Simon says she's confused about who she is. Alaina Alexander - She does alright. Randy didn't like it at all, saying she was pitchy. Paula and Simon weren't impressed but agree that Randy was a little harsh. Simon tells Alaina her performance was like "Randy running the 100 meter race - three quarters of the way you ran out of steam". LaKisha Jones - I've noticed for the first time that LaKisha's name is spelled with a capital "K". Maybe her name is derived from "La Kisha", which is Spanish for "The Kisha". She does a really good job with "Midnight Train to Georgia", but not as good as some of her earlier performances. She's still one of the best singers in the contest, if not the best. Simon points this out, and says she needs to start believing that she's going to be a big star. Oh, and he doesn't like her outfit either. He and Ryan argue about whether her tight blouse is orange or salmon. I'm not sure which color it is. What is the color called that traffic cones come in? Melinda Doolittle - Knocks it out of the park. Randy calls her performance "unbelievable", and says she's "the one to beat". Paula said it was "outstanding". Simon gets in on the love, too, and calls it "incredible". He says it was the "best vocal performance in this competition so far". Antonella Barba - There's one question on the minds of anyone who cares - "What's up with those pictures?" Unfortunately, that's never addressed tonight. Instead, we're treated to a tepid performance of "Because You Loved Me". She does such a poor job, we're left wondering what the heck is she doing in this contest. Oh yeah, she's smoking hot! I almost forgot. Randy doesn't like her performance. Paula says she's progressed "leaps and bounds" since last week. Simon says she's done even worse. Antonella says she'll take Paula's criticism, since Simon was wrong about Jennifer Hudson. Jordan Sparks - Is it just me, or does Jordan look like America Ferrera, that girl on Ugly Betty? Jordan dedicates her song to her brother, and feels it so much that she is bawling at the end. Randy says it wasn't the best that she's done, but it was "still really good". Paula says she's a "brilliant, talented" girl. Simon agrees with Randy that it wasn't her best, but it was still a lot better than a lot of other people. Stephanie Edwards - Does a fantastic job with "Dangerously In Love". Randy tells her it was really good, but she sounded like she was copying Beyonce. Paula loves her performance, and doesn't think she was copying Beyonce. Simon agrees with Paula. Leslie Hunt - Performs "Feeling Good" and owns it. Randy says it was "a little pitchy". Paula loved it. Simon says she's getting lost in the contest, since there's three or four contestants who are really great. Paula points out that people like different flavors of ice cream, and Leslie is just a different flavor. I have to agree with Paula on this one. Leslie has a really unique vocal style and is probably an acquired taste. Haley Scarnato - Performs "Queen of the Night", but can't really give the song the power it deserves. Randy says "it wasn't great" for him. But he agrees with Paula that it was a lot better than her performance last week. Simon gives her "an 'A' for effort", but says her performance was "a little manic, bordering on insane". Sabrina Sloan - Does pretty well singing "All the Man That I Need". Randy and Paula gives her some guarded praise. Simon thinks she's a great singer, but wasn't that impressed with this performance. Bottom line - there are three or four girls who are in a totally different league than any of the other contestants, including the men. If American truly votes according to talent instead of popularity this season, the final rounds will be pretty lopsided gender-wise. Personally, I can't wait for LaKisha and Melinda to come out with their first albums.

Episode Recap: American Idol - Season 6, Episode 14

Episode 14 Original Air Date: February 27, 2007 Yes, I know I'm late. It turns out I have a real job in addition to writing for this site. I don't know what my boss' reaction would be if I said, "Sorry I couldn't update our database by the deadline. I have to blog about American Idol. Surely the client will understand." The Men Phil Stacey - Sings "I Ain't Missing You". Does an OK job. Randy really likes it, says he was 'showing his power'. Paula says she can imagine hearing him on the radio. Simon says Phil's performance didn't make him jump out of his seat, Phil's voice wasn't original, and that he's still just a "good karaoke singer". Jared Cotter - Chooses "Let's Get It On". He delivers the second mediocre performance of the night. Randy likes it. Paula tries to tell him that's a song where he doesn't have to "push it", but can't stop giggling at her own accidental pun. Simon takes over and says it sounded like an episode of Love Boat. Jared rebuts, "That would have been a great Love Boat, man." A. J. Tabaldo - Does a pretty good job. Randy and Paula both love it. Even Simon says it was "really nearly very good". Sanjaya Malakar - He comes out wearing a black rimmed hat, long-sleeve button-down red shirt, and grey dress pants. He's probably trying to match his choice of music, but he ends up looking like the last-place contestant in a Michael Jackson look-a-like contest. His performance of "Steppin' Out With My Baby" is really weak. Randy tells him it was like a real bad High School talent show performance, and that he looks like he borrowed his dad's hat. Paula thought the song was too old for him. Simon says it was like a really bad lunch, where afterward the parents ask their kids to dress up and sing. Chris Sligh - Chris dedicates his performance of "Troubled" to his wife, who is actually kind of hot (which proves a guy doesn't have to be good-looking as long as he's funny). At one points he even sings directly to her as she's sitting in the first row. He does a really good job. Randy loves it. Paula thinks he's "pretty awesome". Simon says he's a "really good singer". Nick Pedro - He sings "Fever", and does pretty well, but not great. Randy and Paula like it, Simon says he has a "charisma problem" and needs better style. "What do you suggest, Simon?" Ryan asks, "Maybe a black shirt, kind of snug, shows off the chest?" Oh snap! Oh no he didn't! Blake Lewis - Does a great job performing "Virtual Insanity", and even manages not only to work in some beat boxing, but also some scatting and falsetto. Randy loves it. Paula says he makes "really smart choices". Simon says Blake was copycatting Jamiroquai during the first part of the song, was original during the middle part, but had "tuning problems" during the last part. I didn't hear the "tuning problems", and neither did the two professional singers on the judging panel, who say so. Paula and Randy also point out that Blake did the song completely differently from Jamiroquai. Brandon Rogers - Brandon dedicates his performance to his dead grandmother. Unfortunately for grandma, he does a really bad job of "Time After Time". Randy says it was boring. Paula was "really feeling" it. Simon points out this is a singing contest, "all of this 'feeling it' business" is "rubbish". Chris Richardson - Another song dedicated to Grandma, but this one is still alive. Chris sings a song called "The Geek In the Pink" and does pretty well. Randy says Chris' performance of that song was "hotter than the original". Paula loves it. Simon says it was "the best tonight by a mile". Sundance Head - Sundance dedicates his song to his two-month-old son. Dead grandparents, babies, why don't these guys dedicate their songs to someone who can actually appreciate it? Sundance gives a powerful performance of "Mustang Sally", and redeems himself from his earlier crappy performances. Even Simon liked it. They throw up on the screen a big picture of Sundance's little boy, but someone has Photoshopped a goatee on to the poor kid's face. Sundance later admits to putting hairspray into his own goatee. Fascinating. All in all, there were a few pretty good performances, but none of these guys sound like they belong in the same competition as some of the women.