The Original Musings

SPOILER!

If you haven’t seen the finale yet, do NOT read this post!

I’m just so tickled. I honestly did not care which of them won, I liked both of them and would have been thrilled for either to win. This was actually a good season — I was worried with all the changes that we weren’t going to like the show anymore, but I guess I needn’t have wasted the time because it was a good season.

I’m posting the result — of more than 122 million votes! — under the fold … seriously, do NOT click if you haven’t watched the show on your DVR yet!  :-)

And the winner is …  Continue reading

Tomorrow night, the winner is chosen …

And I honestly have no idea which one will win.  Furthermore, I don’t care which one wins, because I like them both.

I’m going to guess Scotty, but that’s simply a guess. LOL — Guess we’ll see tomorrow night!

Can I call it, or can I call it?

As I hoped and predicted, the top two are: Scotty and Lauren.

Right now, I’m putting my money on Scotty, but honestly, I don’t care which of them wins because I like them both and they’re both good kids with brilliant futures in front of them regardless.

Top three … who will be the top two?

Wow, what a night.  It’s late, so I’m not going to bother with a recap …

I’m going to predict that Scotty is definitely safe.

Lauren and Haley … I think it will be Lauren who is safe, but it’s really too close to call. They both did really well.

Whichever girl it is that’s safe, she’s going to be up against Scotty, though.

Top Three!

Last night I said I really hoped James would be the one going home, but I expected it would be Haley. Well, I got what I hoped for! Apparently VFTW did their jobs last night and James finished in fourth place. Finally, we get to say goodbye to his screaming-little-bitch-Adam-Lambert-imitating self.

The top three, who get to take the promotional trip home and be treated like the stars they’re on the cusp of becoming, are: Haley, Lauren, and Scotty.

If past years hold true to form, none of the top ten eleven are going to have any problems getting recording contracts. And of course the top ten eleven are going on the tour too, so they’ll be plenty busy.

I’d really like to see Scotty win, but I suspect it’s going to be Lauren. People like her, she’s a nice person. She’s a good girl who doesn’t come off like a goody two-shoes. She’s like a country version of Jordin Sparks.

Next week: Haley needs to go.

Top 4 … with Lady Gaga as their mentor …

The top four began tonight’s show by choosing an inspirational song for their first number.

James Durbin started off the night by painfully ruining “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Of course the Judges went apeshit for him, and he worked in several screams along with exhorting the audience to get up on their feet. After the station break, we got to listen to him spazzing backstage about how much he loves leading the show. Swell. Go home now.

Haley Reinhart was up next, she chose to slaughter Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” … Oh. My. God. It was horrible. Horribly painful. Jennifer wasn’t even able to pull off much more than a nicely worded “good God, don’t do that again” … Randy then tried to tell her that she’d blown it, he didn’t like it and Haley argued with him … Steven came back and told her don’t listen to them and that they were wrong. I need some of Steven’s drugs apparently. Backstage we got to listen to her whine some more.

Then we got to watch Scotty McCreery do “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?” (Alan Jackson).  Talk about inspirational songs! He did it justice, even when he switched it up a little toward the end. He gave me goosebumps and he believed every single word he sang. Randy told him he’s ready for “superstardom” and Steven told him it was beautiful. Jennifer said he’s meant to do this and she was glad to be here to witness it. I think it was one of his best performances ever. He deserves to be here next week. He deserves to be in the final two. Honestly, I think he deserves to win. His backstage commentary was about the song and how it touched him, rather than about himself. I love this kid.

The final of the inspirational songs was Lauren Alaina’s cover of Martina McBride’s “Do It Anyway.” She started off a bit bumpy but by the middle and end of the song, she was singing her heart out and it was a thing of beauty. I really enjoyed it. She definitely deserves to be here next week as well. The Judges told her the same thing — she did a great job and there really wasn’t anything she needed to change.

Lady Gaga was around for the second song choices and we got to see a little of what she was saying to each of them about their performances. It was really neat to hear her — much of what she was saying was spot on.

In round two, Haley did a much better job, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough to keep her around. Honestly, though, she didn’t do badly the second time around. The Judges let up on her a little bit.

Scotty survived his time with Gaga and came out with a fun performance for the second number. Not sure it was one of his best performances, but it showed us a whole new side of him, and it showed us that he knows how to have a good time. The Judges all enjoyed it too.

Lauren was next and the clip of her and Gaga was great — she went totally out of her comfort zone and wow, did she sing her ass off! It was almost like watching a different singer. Shades of what Haley is supposed to be — she did a really good job. Jennifer even said she did a double-take and thought wait, “who was that?!”

James finished the second round of songs with a craptastic rendition of Love Potion Number 9 … I really just want him to leave and take his screeching with him. He’s *not* Adam Lambert and he’ll never be Adam Lambert. Once again, however, the crowd and the Judges went apeshit and once again I really would like to know what the hell is in the studio water or whatever. I’m sorry, I’m not a fan.

My *hope* is that James is going home tomorrow night. My expectation, however, is that it will be Haley who goes home, despite VFTW pimping her.

Top 4 …

They did the old two on this side (Haley and James) of the stage, two on that side (Jacob and Lauren) and poor Scotty got stuck with “choose the side” (which he refused to do).

Then Ryan revealed that Scotty has never been in the bottom two, despite the way he was held up till the last moment last week.

The bottom two wound up being Lauren and Jacob. I thought Lauren was going to have heart failure while they were waiting to hear which of them was going home — and it wound up being Jacob.

So, the top four are …

We followed up watching AI with the second episode of The Voice. I really like this show’s concept.

About to become the top four …

Three weeks out from the finale, and each of the contestants sang twice. I decided to give them points tonight, just to mix things up a little bit. One to ten — ten best, one worst. Combine both of their songs and let’s see how close I am to whatever America decides to do.

James was up first and, as they typically do, the Judges went apeshit over him and talked about how he’s “in it to win it” — like the others are just there to kill some time?  I’d give him a 6 on the 10 scale. I really want him gone, I’m sick of him and his squinting and sniffing and I’m really, really long past tired of the “bad boy rocker” shtick.

Jacob went second and he chose to sing No Air, which is a freaking duet for crissakes.  To add insult to injury, he tried to sing both parts. Someone forgot to tell him that being a black male does not mean he can even think about dancing like Chris Brown. He didn’t even impress the Judges — in fact, Randy didn’t like it at all. He earned himself a spot in the bottom three for sure with this 1 on the 10 scale performance.

The third performer of the night was Lauren, and I’d give her a solid 7 for her cover of Carrie Underwood’s Flat on the Floor. Seriously, she did a nice job with it and I think she’ll stay out of the bottom three. If she’s in the bottom, she should be the first one sent back to safety.

Scotty was next, doing Montgomery Gentry’s Gone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have as much fun with a performance as he did with this one. The Judges loved it too. He should be safe with no issues, and I’d give his performance 8 out of 10 — maybe even a 9.

Haley ended the first round of songs with an unreleased Gaga song that Lady Gaga gave her permission to sing. I wasn’t overly impressed. Haley should not be singing Gaga, period, and the Judges agreed with me although Steven did tell her she was one perfect song pick away from being the next American Idol. I’ll give her a 5 for having the balls to try it and a 3 for the performance itself, so let’s call it a 4.  She should have sealed herself a spot in the bottom three right along with The Diva, Jacob.

The second half of the show followed the same order as the first.

James decided to show us his sensitive side again. Guess he needed to work up some tears to prove he can do something besides scream (although he couldn’t resist working one in at the end). The Judges basically told him he stank but because he got emotional they forgave him for it. Not me. He’s got no business trying to cover Nilsson. I’ll give him 3 for this one, and a grand total of 9 for the night.

Jacob decided to listen to Jimmy Iovine and did Love Hurts. It was probably a good choice for him, and it brought his average for the night up considerably. Add the 6 for this one to his earlier 1 and I’ll give him 7 for the night. He’ll still be in the bottom three, but he might stand a very small chance of not being the one going home.

Lauren came back with one of my favorite songs of all time, Unchained Melody and I don’t have to forgive her for it, because she did a damned fine job. (And for what it’s worth, her dress was gorgeous.) I’ll give her a 7 on top of her earlier 7 and a total of 14 for the night. She should be safe but because America has this bizarre love affair with James she might be in the bottom three.  Even if she is, she won’t be the one going home.

Scotty did You Were Always On My Mind and made us fall in love with his voice all over again. The cool thing was, I believed him. His song came across as very sincere and heartfelt. He’s grown up a lot over the course of the show and I can’t wait to start buying his records. I’d give him another 8 for this one for a grand total of either 16 or 17.

Haley finished up the show with The House of the Rising Sun. I was skeptical, but damned if the girl didn’t pull it off. I’ll give her a solid 7 for this one, coupled with her earlier 4 that gives her 12 for the night.

So, to summarize …

• Haley – 12
• Scotty – 16.5
• Lauren – 14
• Jacob – 7
• James – 9

The bottom three *should* be Jacob, James and Haley. Jacob should be the one leaving. We’ll see what happens when America’s done screwing things up!

THANK YOU America!

Once again, America has gotten it right and voted Casey out. This time, however, there were no Judges’ saves left to pull his butt out of the fire. And we didn’t have to watch any histrionics and near-seizures on stage.

Best of all, now that the hobbit is gone, VFTW has set their sights on a new candidate: Jacob Lusk (aka The Diva).

Here’s the top five: