i know what you’re thinking… you’re thinking that it’s April and i haven’t told you what to buy me for my birthday this year… well, behold, the annual edition of Ye Olde Birthday Liste (of course, if you don’t have my address, you’ll have to buy it from the wishlist…

okay, now that that’s squared away… let’s move on.. so, i’ve been busy trying to keep myself from going crazy and from focusing too much on, well, the wrong things… sometimes it’s just not easy to be optimistic, you know?… it’s all a matter of perspective… which i’ll get back to in about 2 weeks…

right now, i suppose i should dive into the final seven show of American Idol, then i have a few things to take care of before i’ll return with some non-idol news and items… off we go…

SEVEN LITTLE MONKEYS SINGING ON A STAGE

now playing: Spotlight (Twilight Mix) – Mute Math

Songs of the cinema… with guest appearance from Quinten Tarantino… you know, i remember the last time he was a guest judge and i loved it because he was the only guest judge who actually acted like a critic… anyway, i’m not sure what i think of movie songs, but i bet someone sings I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing… someone always does… so, aw, Q is in the audience… and only 2 judges chatter per contestant…

Allison “Red”… HA! that didn’t take long, did it? singing the song I chose… the problem with this performance, besides the number of flat notes i just heard… the problem is that she doesn’t know how to carry the emotions of the song, the scene, the words, anything into something palpable… that song can bring tears to your eyes if it’s sung right and that’s not happening here… Paula says that she has some special sauce and then of course, reminds us that she’s only 16… Simon says we need you obi-red, your the girl’s only hope… i really didn’t think it was special at all…

Anoop-a-noop oh no, it sounds like Anoop is singing Everything I Do by Bryan Adams… the only song on the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Soundtrack that i skip EVERY TIME… GREAT!… Q is awesome… and now, here’s the song… see, Anoop has a pretty decent voice and he’s following the advice that he got… he’s changed the arrangement up a bit and it’s really not that bad… he’s really pulled it off… but i’d still skip it if it were on the CD… Randy said that it was a really good job… Kara says that he’s found his place in this world…

“Wicked” Adam Adam is going to sing Born to Be Wild… and the lights are going crazy, the girls are screaming and he’s working the stage… now he’s working the hair metal scream… now he’s working the band and the backup singers… i like it, but it’s kind of a frenetic performance… part of that is the song… i’ve never been a big fan of the song, actually, but of course, he worked it and killed it and Paula is jumping around like a groupie… she tries to compose herself, but needs more time… she says something about dancing in the mouth/path/something of greatness… Simon says it was polarizing again…

now playing: Everyone’s a Hero – Nathan Fillon

Matt Giraud 5 Great, another Bryan Adams song… oh, he’s wearing a vest and a tie again… nice… and he’s behind the piano… i actually don’t mind this song too much – the original, that is – and it’s toned down enough that he hasn’t broken off any lousy notes yet… oh, okay, there we go… you know, he makes me think that my television speakers are broken… just another so-so performance, from what i’ve come to realize is a so-so singer… Randy says it was interesting and that he fell down more than he ran with that song… Kara makes a play on Paula’s big hit, Two Steps Forward and tells him that this was three steps back…

“Gokey Dokey” singing Endless Love from the Adam Sandler cult classic Billy Madison… or the movie with the same name, whatever… he’s lost his glasses and he’s pulling off the Miami Vice era Don Johnson look… and he sang it pretty well… i don’t know that i would say it was very emotional but it was alright… certainly not his best… Paula says grab, wow, slay… Simon says that he was disappointed by the harp and the traditional arrangement because it was boring…

Kris “With a K” singing Falling Slowly from the movie Once… i have no idea what that is… so he decided not to play his guitar… i have to really really apologize for ever confusing Kris with Giraud5, because this vocal alone proves that they are miles apart… that was actually a very quick song and it was tender and quiet and really good… Randy said that it never caught on… Kara says that it was one of his best moments ever… Ryan speedtalks the numbers because even though they cut down the feedback, they’re still running late…

Lil Rounds oh, whitney maybe? always love you? nope… something about a rose… it’s a nice song… quiet… that’s kind of been the tone tonight… other than Adam of course… she’s doing well with this straight up section and now she’s diving headlong into the Gospel section, and she’s shouting a bit and she’s a bit flat… and she’s in the bottom three… it just didn’t work nearly as well as it seemed it could’ve… Paula points out the lyrics which means she didn’t like it but she didn’t want to criticize her… Simon says that it was completely wrong… and… (my DVR cut-off)… you know what they could do, is just start running the advertisements on the screens behind the contestants as they sing, then you don’t have to cut away to commercial as much…

now playing: Home Sweet Home – Carrie Underwood

MY PICKS

Bottom Three: Matt, Lil, Gokey

Going Home Sweet Home: Matt

peace… love… bdg…