Yes, it is the season finale. And we have had some disappointments to have finally arrived at this stage where we witness the showdown of the Davids. The second finale to have two males, the only one with both finalists sharing the same first name, and yes, the race seems to be pretty tight. And looking back at the

season, it seems like these two are the only ones who have consistently tried to better every performance and in a way were actually in here to win unlike the others. So enough said, it’s the NOKIA theatre. How many times have to listen that from Randy? I miss the Kodak. Ryan is in make up. Check out his glowing skin and yeah, he plucked his eyebrows. And he welcomes the 7000 members of the crowd, the three judges, and the final Two- Archuleta and Cook. What was so lame about the finale today was the Boxing Metaphor. Oh, that was so much in bad taste, but then, it wouldn’t be Idol otherwise.

So here we go. Round one: Clive Davis: CEO, Sony BMG chooses.
David Cook begins: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” - U2
Very good song choice. Loved his performance and he seemed quite confident on this one. Now this is what I’m talking about. Cook is much better of a performer , may be Archuleta is the better singer. But then, I can already say Cook is ready to sell records. He is what actually Idol is all about. And yes he winds up with “rock out” stretching vocals. Yeah!!!.

Archuleta goes in next: “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” - Elton John
Umm hmm. Sir Elton is a brilliant vocalist. To sing this song live is really something. And Archuleta does it. Very smooth and very very Archie. Bravo Clive Davis for the song choice. To me, Cook takes round 1, but then, I knew that Randy is going to love this one more. Paula remains the diplomatic one that she is. And Simon calls this one the best of Archuleta, and also declares round 1 to him. WTF! Read the rest of this post »

The Top 5 have been revealed. And am I happy with it? There has been one major setback/upset which I shall be talking about at length in a while. But first, the Top 5. It comprises of the frontrunners- The Davids -Cook and Archuleta, and the rest- Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro and Brooke White. For one, I do believe that Jason and Brooke just don’t have it in them to be winners and even eventually go ahead and sell records.Firstly Jason, who is just banking on his “blue eyes” and the cute guy smile to woo all those American teen chicks to vote for him. He is just a very repetitive singer, and throughout the competition his performances have all been acoustic.Nothing wrong about that. He even gave some good ones - Hallelujah and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. But the rest of them are just as repetitive. Brooke on the other hand looks like a very weak performer.She messed up onstage twice, has a very vulnerable quality to her vocals, which means her vocals break down too often and they have gone off-pitch at many instances. Add to that I can’t remember a single performance of hers which was remarkable. So I just do not bother if she leaves the competition next week, or even if Jason left. I’d also not be yupset if it was Syesha to leave next week, unless she belts out a killer Neil Diamond song. Read the rest of this post »

There are ways you can avoid wasting your Thursday Nights in India from watching American Idol Results night. There are reasons why you shouldn’t be watching them. For starters, it isn’t live and of course no matter how much you want your favorite to stick around, unfortunately you can’t do anything about it. So it is much better to just go to rickey.org or TVSquad.com for the Results update and switch on to your other favorite shows on Thursday night.Coming back to the topic- The American Idol Season 7 Top 9 has been revealed and Chikezie has been eliminated. His wrong song choice on last night’s show (Luther Vandross - If Only for One Night) showed him the exit door. What was surprising was the Bottom 3. The Bottom 3 consisted of Randy’s fav - Syesha Mercado. C’mon after that stellar performance of “If I were Your Woman” she manages to go into that damned Bottom 3. Personally I felt, Carly and Ramiele should have been in the bottom 3. The girls in this season haven’t been as strong as the boys. Ramiele’s song was as rightly put by Simon, too big for her and Carly, even though I love her tatoo, her run in the end was on the verge of shouting. On the other hand, Jason Castro was the weakest one among the boys. Chikezie’s one bad night made him to go. Read the rest of this post »

Let me begin with OMFG. The Top 12 are finally performing in front of a huge stage, an enthusiastic mosh pit, the three judges - Simon, Paula and Randy, and of course not only America, but viewers from across the world - thanks to syndicated Television. And what can be bigger than that, it’s Beatles special tonite. The Idol Top 12 performed to the tunes of McCartney and Lennon one after another and blew me away. Some of them not quite there, some of them I hated, but I loved most of them. At this point of them, I am still quite confused to pick my favorite. Talk about last season - I had none. LOL. So, after Ryan Seacrest unveils the Top 12, we get to see a montage on the works of Paul and John, and yes, I love it.The performances:- Syesha goes in first with “Got to Get You into my Life“. What an entry and what an intro to the Top 12 of this season. I am already feeling that this Top 12 rocks more than any previous season. She deserves all the praise she got from the judges and she definitely is one of the strongest voices. Next in-Chikezie with “She’s a Woman”. He nailed it. Randy loved the intro with the Southern groove and what he did with the rock arrangement. “Chikezie smashed it”. Yeah! Ramiele didn’t go very strong with her performance of “In My Life”. Simon and Randy thought it was boring and so did I. C’mon we are talking about Top 12 where you gotta go out there and sing your heart out and bring the house down. Following Chikezie was a mess, especially with that song choice. She might be in danger tomorrow. Read the rest of this post »

My site has been down due to database problems. Techkeyla hasn’t come up yet and I am a bit upset about it. Nevertheless, in the meanwhile, I got to watch the final two episodes of Prison Break’s cut short Season 3. And the plot was racing through my head. Michael Scoffield’s genius keeps my jaw dropping every season and sometimes in every plan that he executes. This time, it was indeed yummy. Episode 11- Under and Out had left off when rain had forced Michael and the team to get the escape time ahead of the schedule. The escape team had actually become too crowded with Bellick and McGrady joining in. But Michael had other plans.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Episode 12- begins with Lincoln bashing off the power supply tower with a bus. The power went off and off go Lechero, Bellick and T-Bag into No Man’s Land. What they didn’t know of was Scoffield’s plan. The generator backup wasn’t supposed to come up before 30 seconds which actually did. But there was no turning back. Lechero runs even when the searchlights are on him, and he gets shot. T-Bag and Bellick are caught. The trucks come up, and No Man’s Land is crowded now. And Michael escapes NOW with Mahone, Whistler and McGrady. Read the rest of this post »

Yeah, so my prediction of the Top 6 guys did seem quite accurate, except for it’s Luke Menard who is leaving in place of David Hernandez. Meh! It’s ok. All the other 5 did fit in the Top 6. As for the ladies, I hardly got the time to predict, before the Top 12 results are out. Thanks to the 12 hour delay in broadcast ( I watch American Idol in India, after 12 hours of the original broadcast in the US, and thanks to Rickey, I get all the results as and when it happens).

No surprises with the ladies Top 6 though. All my favorites are very much here. Brooke White, Syesha, pinoy Ramiele Malubay (she’s such a short hottie), Carly Smithson, Amanda Overmyer, Kristy Lee Cook are in. The one’s who were out were quite predictable from Simon’s comments on their performances. Kady Malloy did a very uninspiring version of Queen’s anthemic “Who wants to live forever?”. I can still remember Katherine McPhee perform thatin Season 5 in the Queen special. This wasn’t even close. On the other hand, Asia’h Epperson’s song choice was way too big for her. Whitney Houston- “I wanna dance with Somebody”; the song showed you the exit.

Looking at the Top 12 however, I definitely think, that it’s the gyus who are here to stay, and definitely a guy who is becoming the Idol. I have my bets on David Cook, David Archuleta, and  Jason Castro out of which Archuleta seems to be the favorite of the crowd as well as the judges. But Cook is definitely cooking it up with his rock spices and it sure sounds yummy. Can’t wait to watch the Top 12 perform in front of a larger audience and a huge stage. Woohooo.

Pic courtesy: Rickey.org 

Yeah. Since I was on a hiatus, I managed to miss the Hollywood rounds and two episodes after the Top 24. But this week’s Top 16 with 8 guys competing to make a place in the final 12 (only 6 seats for the Guys) just blew me. I have to say, season 7 looks much better than the dead Season 6 with Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks in the finals ugh! And oh the uproar about Sanjaya Malakar. Sanjaya did sing good in his audition (Stevie Wander-Signed Sealed Delivered) but that was actually his best. Coming back to this season, the guys this year really have some REAL thing going on. And this is not based on just one episode. I have seen some of the recap performances online and here’s my bet on who will finally make it to the Top 6 guys.

Michael Johns: The Aussie from LA , actually brings in the thunder from down under. Look at his playlist till now. Light my Fire -Doors, Go Your Own way -Fleetwood Mac, Don’t You (Forget About Me)-Simple Mind. This guy plays it cool and definitely is Idol Material. He is at ease on the stage, loves to PERFORM, ain’t shy and of course, sings his heart out.

Read the rest of this post »

And so, here we are. Season 7. Another Season filled with weirdos auditioning, the Idol Blue Censor flag shining over the swearing mouths and the essential Beeper, the Simon haters, the Simon Lovers, the Paula Stalkers, and the absolutely unthinkable. Yeah, no one follows Randy. Of course, there are the brilliant singers as well, who manage to shine even in a crowd of a hundred thousand people auditioning. American Idol Season 7 premiered this Jan 15^th, to almost a clean prime time slot, with almost no competition from rival networks, thanks to the Writers Strike. And with the two episodes a week, 2 hr long audition round episodes, it is pretty much clear; here we go for the roller coaster ride of American Weirdos and Dorks-one weirder and geekier than the other, and yeah! worse in singing. Read the rest of this post »