well, it’s the girls turn and the big question is whether or not Krystal Bowersox will be able to compete… chances are if she does, they give her the pimp spot out of pity… and here’s the lineup, BoSAWX is at the end and she says that she’s good to go… the judges… Ellen is in the middle again… it’s a good idea for her not to be the first one to comment… and they address the issue of Kara morphing into Paula and cozying up to Simon this year… she has a huge hair tail today… totally a throwback to Paula’s cheerleading days… on we go…

TEN (OR MAYBE NINE) LEFT STANDING…

now playing: Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson

Crystal BoSAWX… oh, she’s going first, and she has a twin brother… singing a gospelled up version of CCR’s Long As I Can See the Light… apparently “gospel” means taking the slow train… she’s screaching a little… and i really, really don’t like that lip thing… so distracting… it’s an alright arrangement i suppose, and she does an alright job… i don’t know how much i’ll remember it though… kind of drab over all… Randy says she is the truth, and the girl that she wants to be, and that girl is HOT!… Ellen says that she’s amazing and she needs to say healthy… Kara takes her head off of Simon’s shoulder long enough to say that she’s recovered from last week – even to the point of hitting a new level… Simon likes that she is probably a really serious artist, along the lines of Kelly Clarkson…

Haley “Smiles Too Much”… last week you butchered a Beatles song, this week, you’re taking on a Miley Cyrus song (which is supposed to sound horrible)… good freaking call… actually, this should fit her a lot better… with “The Climb”… oh, it’s a slow song… which means that the vocal is exponentially more important…and unfortunately, though she does have some good moments, they are brief moments and she quickly finds her way to off side of the pitch… she just doesn’t have a strong voice and i can hardly believe that she managed to pick a good artist, but a horrible song… that was a nightmare… Randy says that it was really, really bad… Ellen says that she didn’t seem to connect with the song at all, but she needs to keep smiling… Kara says that people probably like her, but, honey needs at least a year of vocal training… Simon says it was a complete and utter mess…

Lacey “The Token Red-haired Gal” Brown… every season has one girl with unnaturally red hair… this year is Lacey’s turn… and her personality reminds me of Leigh Nash… oh, and she’s singing Sixpence’s Kiss Me… oh my gosh… she sounds like Leigh, too… except when she gets happy enough to smile, that takes her out of the groove… it’s pretty good… i guess my biggest qualm with it is that she kind of alternates between copycatting Leigh’s vocal and just talking through the lyrics… she also seems a little disconnected from it… especially for “loving this song”… Randy says that it felt like karaoke… Ellen says that it was, and she is, adorable… Kara says that it brought back her vocal stylings, but she needs to step it up even more… Simon says that it was marginally better than last week, but it wasn’t artistic or memorable…

now playing: Twistin’ the Night Away – Sam Cooke

Katie Stevens… so, clearly SHE should be singing Kiss Me… instead of… Corrine Bailey Rae… okay, here’s what i really don’t get… THIS IS SO NOT A YOUNGER SONG… i get that CBR is a newer artist and this is a hip choice, but it’s the same style… she does sound a lot better, but it’s still skewing rather old to me… she needs to dive into something like Miley or maybe Duffy… it really opened up nicely though, certainly enough to get her through… and a lot better than last week… Randy said that he thought she can take on something more challenging melodically… Ellen says that it’s still not exactly right for her age… Kara is frustrated and says that Katie needs to be more consistent from the beginning… Simon says she doesn’t seem to know who she wants to be as an artist yet…

DiDi Benami… she looks a lot like that piano playing hippie from a couple years ago… Brooke White… and she’s got the whole jazzy, raspy thing to her voice… let’s see how that translates to Lean on Me… she’s just chillin’ on that stool here, giving the verses a rather sunny disposition… far poppier than the original… lacking in soul… her vocal sounds a bit tinny and maybe even frail… but it’s not too, too bad… i kind of liked the arrangement actually… and she did alright with the performance… Randy says it heightened her imperfections… bad song choice… Ellen says great voice, great presence, wrong song… Kara says it really wasn’t good… karaoke, inconsistent, bad interpretation… but Kara’s still a fan… Simon says something about a cat… it was screechy and genaric… a wasted opportunity… she’s about to explode into tears…

Michelle Delamor… she’s the corporate singer… whatever that means… she teaches kids how to sing and this will be interesting, she’s singing Creed’s With Arms Wide Open… Scott Stapp will be proud, if he’s sober… (sorry, i think he has changed his ways)… i don’t like those gloves… and i really don’t like this arrangement… somehow, with all the dramatic touches and the big runs, it loses all the emotion of the original song… i’m not ashamed to admit that the original gives me goosebumps… vocal is a little off tonight too, that last note really didn’t hit… Randy says it fell flat, but she looks hot… Ellen says she looks fabulous and she almost forgot that it was a rock song and it almost worked, but not quite… Kara waxes on and waxes off (danielson) and says it was her favorite Michelle performance… Simon kind of agrees with Kara… she took a risk and tried to make it her own…

Lilly “Tinkerbell” Scott… she’ll be playing a twelve-string and singing Sam Cooke’s masterpiece, A Change Is Gonna Come… okay, somebody stop her, i’m already done… we’ve heard enough… no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO… sorry, my fingers just got stuck there for a second… that’s just a bad, bad arrangement of a truly great song… Randy says she’s unique and she worked it out and it was his favorite from the night… Ellen says she’s got “it”… again, the best performance of the night… Kara says she had a rivoting moment… she’s gonna change the game… Simon says it was good, but he wasn’t crazy about it like the others…

now playing: Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin

Katelyn Epperly… playing the piano and singing Coldplay’s The Scientist… (GREAT song)… she really has a great voice… and she’s tweaked the arrangement a bit, throwing in some extra pauses and breaths here and there… but i kind of like it… i liked the way she dropped down on “this hard”, but i don’t like the huge breath before the last note, which fell a little flat… she’ll learn from that though… Randy says that he liked it even though it was really slow… Ellen pulls a Paula and calls a piano a guitar, then mentions that it was too, too slow… sleepy slow… Kara says she kind of loves her… she needs to figure out who she is to make the most of it… Simon says it was a smart choice, but she can border on being corny when she performs…

Paige Miles… she likes to color… and she’s singing Kelly Clarkson’s Walk Away… Simon is tying his shows or something… it’s so weird to hear people perform such energetic songs with absolutely zero energy… how do you do that?… okay, her vocals just aren’t doing it… she’s probably oversinging, but whatever it is, it’s really grinding on the ears… the song really doesn’t let her open up the vocals though, so maybe that’s part of the problem, she’s overcompensating for the quick pace of the verses… i don’t know… didn’t really work out for me… Randy says he liked it, but it wasn’t the best song choice… Ellen says she loved everything about it… Kara, who wrote this song, says it’s not a song you smile about, but she liked it anyway… Simon says it was the wrong song and she got lost in it, just like last week…

Siobhan MAGNUS VER MAGNUSON… closing out the show with a big old Aretha Franklin song, Think… (wonder how much thought went into that)… this is kind of like a mouse trying to roar loud enough to scare a lion… yeah, it’s definitely like that… she’s got a really strong voice actually, like strong man competition strong, but this is totally the wrong song for her… she’s not got the soul… i loved that high note… but the follow-up was not where it needed to do… i’m really torn on that… great chops, but no real rhythm, great highs, but lots of lows as well… Randy says she slayed it… Ellen calls her a Snuggie… Kara can’t get over that note… Simon says she’s such a strange person… and that it was really good and really bad at the same time…

AND NOW IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE…

now playing: Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash

well, the girls are definitely better than the guys… there’s not much argument there… now, who’s going home… well, it’s between Haley, Didi, Paige, and Lacey… and despite how i really feel… it seems to me that Didi and Paige are going to find the hot seat this week… what’s your call, people?

peace… love… bdg…

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okay, so i think this one will be shorter than the last few, but here’s my live, play-by-play for this week’s episode of LOST… i was expecting this to be about Sun and Jin, but it seems that it will be about Sayid… i don’t have too much time to breathe, and it’s starting, so off we go…

now watching: Sundown Lost Season 6 Episode 6

previously… it’s all about Sayid… shot by Roger, drowned, revived, tortured, infected… now, this is interesting… Sayid leaves a cab rings a doorbell and it’s his girl, Nadia… he found her! um… Uncle Sayid?… is that Sayid’s brother? translating oil contracts… Omar… has opened a new store… so, there’s something going on behind the scenes here… they still have a thing for each other… and now it’s out in the open… awkward…

okay, Sayid confronts Dogen… he wants answers… okay… so this is the first deviance from order of character studies from season one… Dogen explains that Sayid tipped the scale towards the dark side… “You think you know me, but you don’t”… Sayid explains that he’s a good man, but now everybody is king-fu fighting… Dogen is fast as lightning… baseball reminds Dogen of his son?… after besting Sayid, he tells him to leave the temple for good… that baseball bounced kind of oddly… Dogen has homeless gloves on…

Claire and smokeLocke stand at the edge of the ash circle… smokeLocke is sending her on a mission to the temple… he will hurt the ones who won’t listen… she’s warning them?

L-O-S-T

Sayid sleeping on the couch… Omar approaches and almost catches a bad one… he’s in trouble… loan shark trouble… he wants Sayid to “convince” them to leave him alone… “I know what kind of man you are”… “I’m not that man anymore”…

back at the temple… Sayid is packing his back… Miles asks what’s up… Sayid says that he’s been banished for being evil… Miles reveals that Sayid was dead for two hours… whatever brought you back, wasn’t them… Claire shows up… “he wants to see you (Dogen)”… they’re arguing over home field advantage… Dogen puts Claire in a pit, wants to see Jack and Hurley… Sayid will have to do… “Things have changed”

Sayid and Dogen converse… smokeLocke is evil incarnate… he was trapped, but now that Jacob is gone, he’s free… Dogen asks Sayid to kill smokeLocke… if there is good in your soul still, prove it…

Uncle Sayid with the kids… he takes them to the bus and tells them that he’s going to Toronto soon… Nadia comes rushing out… Omar is at the hospital… punctured lung from a mugging… Sayid gets ready to get some revenge… Nadia begs him not to…

Sayid is in the jungle and runs into Kate, who’s returning to the temple… she says, what’s up? he says, “ask Miles” and she is back… Miles tells her that Claire is back… oooooooh… pit fight in the making…

Sayid is searching for smokeLocke… drinking water… he’s not supposed to let smokeLocke speak… wind storm… polar bear growl? black smoke.. “Hello Sayid”… STABBED!! didn’t work… “why’d you go and do that?” dun dun duuuunnnnnn!

smokeLocke gives him the dagger back… “what are you?”… Sayid looks really confused… smokeLocke tries to convince Sayid that Dogen is tricking him… Sayid sees that smokeLocke is tricking him… “what if i told you that you can have anything you want?”… “she died in my arms”… i can work with that… FAUST!

Sayid is trying to fix a broken vase… he’s been babysitting, but Nadia is back from the hospital… Sayid wants to pay off the loan… Nadia says that Omar needs to handle it… Omar IS Sayid’s brother… Sayid carries much guilt around with him…

back in the hungle, Sayid returns to the temple, which really freaks Dogen out… he tells everyone smokeLocke’s message – that none of the Others have to stay there anymore and can leave the island with smokeLocke… if they stay past sundown, they’ll all die…

Lennon doesn’t like that Kate is back… Kate wants to see Claire… Lennon gives her two minutes… Claire is singing “Save it for a Rainy Day”… Kate wants to know why Claire is in the pit… Kate confesses to having taken Aaron… Claire is turning as green as her eyes… (like the Hulk)… Kate says that she came to rescue Claire, who says she’s not the one who needs to be rescued…

courtyard… the others are panicking… Sayid says he simply delivered a message… the others all want to leave… Miles asks what on earth is going on… he says that he needs to return that dagger… uh oh…

Sayid comes out of Nadia’s house and is confronted by the loan shark (familiar face)? they threaten the kids and take him to a kitchen… probably the one that Miles went to for his test… Keemey is the cook… Keemey is the loan shark who makes great eggs… Keemey and Sayid have a standoff… this is a good tension… Sayid manages to take out both henchmen and have a gun on Keemey… suddenly the debt is forgiven… Keamey takes one to the chest anyway… someone else is there… it’s… Jin!… no English… so Keemey was the one Jin delivered the watch to? speaking of Jin, where is he on the island? and where did Sawyer get to?… smokeLocke seems to recruit folks and then make them vanish…

temple… Dogen is sitting in front of the pool… Sayid drops the dagger… notes that it’s now two times that Dogen has tried to have Sayid killed… Dogen tells a story of his past… he got a promotion, got drunk and then managed to kill his son in a car accident… hence the baseball… then in the hospital, a man came to him and told him to come to the island and he’ll save the boy, but Dogen could never see him again… Dogen says that it was Jacob… Jacob drives a hard bargain… drawing people to the island… smokeLocke drives a hard bargain… drawing people away from the island… Dogen asks Sayid if he wants to stay or go… Stay! then he drowns Dogen… Lennon freaks out… “You just let it in!”… stabbed! “I know”…

courtyard… smoke monster is tearing up the temple… complete havoc… Kate goes to save Claire… Miles is hiding… Ilana shows up with Frank, Ben and the gang… Kate tries to save Claire who says that the pit is safer… smoke does a flyover… it is safer…

pool… Ben comes to bring Sayid out… there’s still time, not for me… weird smile…

where’s your husband, Jin’s alive? last i saw…

Ilana finds a secret passage… escapes the smoke monster…

Sayid surveys the wreakage… Claire and Kate emerge from the temple to join him… Kate grabs a gun, because she’s not under the spell… they meet up with smokeLocke, the pied piper of the island… who disapproves of Kate’s presence… Kate doesn’t like what she sees, but follows anyway?

L-O-S-T.

woah! a whole lot to ponder… and now i need to go ice my fingers… Tuesday nights are rough…

peace… love… bdg…

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So the guys are back tonight – well, ten of them anyway… due to BoSAWX being in the hospital… and the judges are playing musical chairs… Ellen is getting a little bit closer to Simon and, after a little bit of banter with the judges, we’re ready to start going…

TWELVE LORDS A LEAPING…

now playing: The Payback – James Brown

BIG MIKE… getting to know Big Mike a little better… nothing is negative, it’s all good… singing James Brown WATCH ME!… and immediately he’s a hundred times better than last week… it’s a serious song (“This Is a Man’s World”) and the tone actually fits his vocal a lot better than Maroon 5… it’s actually really solid right now… way better than anything from last week… could use a little more interaction with the crowd… there he goes working the stage a bit… wow… that was a hot one… Randy gives him the first standing ovation of the season… Ellen stands up for women’s rights and says that it’s the one to beat… Kara says she didn’t get it until tonight… he owned it… Simon says it was the transformation between a pussy cat and a lion… by far the best performance for Big Mike…

John Park… i’m gonna need to come up with a nick name for John… singing Gravity by John Mayer… sadly? i don’t know too many John Mayer songs… but perhaps this will be alright… i wanna run through… no wrong song… well, jeepers, he already sounds a lot better, too… just sitting there on a bar stool… a little shaky vocals on the bridge there and the chorus… and when he is on, it’s almost because he’s copying the vocal… not exactly his own identity this week either… much better fit for him though… Randy says it wasn’t anything special and a little bit pitchy… Ellen says it was better than last week, but still a little lacking in the soul department… Kara says – better than last week, but he needs to let loose and take some risks… Simon says Purple Haze is gonna get their lead singer back… it’s a case of the “so whats”…

Casey “Sawyer” James… so Casey has never had a television and never watched Idol… no wonder he’s so perfect… anyway, he’s gonna be singing I Don’t Wanna Be by Gavin DeGraw… i like this song, but it’s done a lot… we’ll see… um… Guitar Hero much… that was actually some good licks there… unfortunately it’s fallen off a cliff since that… it seems as though he’s really struggling to remember (READ???) the lyrics… he’s definitely overthinking the performance… the vocal is really kind of flat and at times awful… the guitar distracts from that, but not nearly enough… i’ll give him a 10 for the guitar, but like a 3, 3 1/2 for the vocal… Randy says this is what he could record and sell and the guitar was hot… Ellen says that everything is there on paper, but he needs to perform better… Kara says that the cougar is still a fan, but he took two steps backwards… Simon jokes that Casey must’ve not called her back… then he agrees that he was simply trying to be a rockstar, but didn’t have the real grit…

now playing: The Banana Boat Song – Harry Belafonte

THE MULLET… this is the guy i think will show the most improvement over the season… i think that he’ll get better from week to week, though that’s so very risky, that i’ll be concerned that he doesn’t make it each week… he’s singing John Legend and playing the guitar… gotta get over these nerves, son… he has such a great tone to his vocal and he’s totally aware of his range, shifting down gears when he needs to… this is still a very tempered performance… clearly still a bit nervous, but overall that’s great… the last note is not too great though… Randy says that he like him and he was way legit… Ellen calls him a banana again… big improvement… Kara says people would die to have his tone of voice and he doesn’t even know how to use it… Simon says it was a million times better than last week, but he needs to turn on the killer instinct…

Toderick “NUTCRACKER”… i think that i was one of five people who liked his version of Kelly’s song last week… but i don’t get this song choice… Tina Turner? we’ll see what happens… i know the song… it’s slower than the original… oh, duh… What’s Love Got to Do With It?… it’s a terribly mellowdramatic arrangement… not sure i’m feeling that… now the mic’s off the stand and in his hand… and it’s picked up a bit… i don’t know… his vocal’s a little fuzzy for me and i wasn’t really feeling the overall performance… Randy says just pick a nice song and sing it… Ellen says sing AND move… DANCE for me little man!… Kara says he’s likeable, but he was way too stiff… Simon says this isn’t working out at all… corny, theme park performance that’s utterly wrong for the show…

Jermaine “ONESEY”… yeah, let’s not be rocking the onesey on national television… singing Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On… and i don’t think that he should’ve made it through last week… his vocal is so strident… i mean he’s got some pipes… but he’s still doing trying to do way too much… and it almost seems like he’s still a bit disconnected from the song… like he’s just out there trying to sing his entire resume with each performance… Randy says it was so close and still too far away… Ellen says she likes his style, but he still pushed it too much… Kara says that he doesn’t have to try to show off every trick in the bag… Simon says that he’ll go to church with him, but that wasn’t even church singing… Jermaine asks what song he should sing next week because he knows that he’ll be here because Jesus is his homeboy, yeah-ee-yea-eee… please… don’t act a fool, homie…

Andrew Garcia… he’s a breakdancer… nice… he’s going to be singing James Morrison – You Give Me Something… i’m completely unfamiliar with it, but he’s pretty much safe regardless of what he sings… sitting on the stool… he’s got a nice mellow vibe going on… and the verse is pretty solid but he’s really forcing the vocal on the chorus and to some extent powering through it, but i’m not sure that’s working out… now he’s all over the chart on these notes… it’s falling apart… hold it together, man… hold it together… Randy says it was the wrong song choice and it was pitchy throughout the whole thing… Ellen says that she disagrees, but he pretty much peaked with his “Straight Up” performance… Kara agrees and says that he needs to do something that makes him stand out… Simon says that he’s been found wanting… disappointing yet again because he can’t find the right song…

now playing: Get Down Tonight – KC and the Sunshine Band

Aaron Kelly… so this dude is Simon star-struck… singing My Girl by the Temptations… what was that show, White Shadow? this was the theme song for it… i think of it every time i hear this song… okay, well, not so much tonight… could someone please teach this boy about soul… this is kind of a strange, terrifying mix between R&B and Country… i’m not feeling it at all… not one bit… he was all over the place… clean up on aisle six… there’s a real mess sitting up on stage there… Randy says that it was good, but got strange, but alright… Ellen says that it wasn’t a good song choice, but he’s got a great voice… Kara liked it, no, really liked it… Simon verifies his age… he didn’t like the song, it was all over the place and a step backwards… Kara interrupts and argues Aaron’s case… i’m ready for him to go home now…

Tim Urban… and we’re back… seems like there’s plenty of time to kill… Tim got crushed last week (rightfully so)… and he’s gonna try to prove himself… i didn’t quite catch the song title… oh, Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson… it’s a nicer fit for his voice that’s for sure… he’s still a bit on the weak side though… i’m not sure if it’s confidence or what, but the vocal just isn’t quite there… very long way to go for this guy… he just doesn’t have it… you know, “it”… it’s not there… there is some potential, but he’s going to need to bat his eyes to make it though… Randy says it was karaoke… Ellen plugs Glee – perhaps her first negative remarks… Kara says it was a good song choice, but it’s not all there yet… Simon says that it was a marked improvement from last week…

Lee “Da Wise Guy”… in the pimp spot… he’s kind of like an Elliott Yamin without the incredible vocal… it’s LEE DEWYZE… he was terribly pitchy last week and, because somebody on the producer panel like him, he’s got a chance to shine… singing Lips of an Angel… and slowly making his way to the front of the stage… how very dramatic… he’s pitchy again this week and you just have to wonder who ever told him he could sing… he growls and shouts and sounds HORRIBLE… he’s a paint salesman and listening to him sing is like watching paint dry, chip, and fall on the floor… Randy says it was rough, but he liked it… Ellen says she really likes him… Kara says he can really open up his vocal and do well… Simon says that he’s head and shoulders ahead of all the other guys… i say that they’ll never make up for missing the mark with Daughtry… it didn’t work with Cook and it won’t work here…

AND NOW IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE…

now playing: Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash

alrighty… all in all it was a much better night for the guys than last week… however, there was still plenty of awfulness to go around… it’s gonna be tough to pick who’s going home once again… i can see John, Toderick, Jermaine, Tim, Lee, or Aaron going, but – trying to factor in who will vote and why… i’ve gotta go with.. Jermaine and Tim going home… what do you all think?

peace… love… bdg…

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