Idol Me Blog

As far as I can tell this person was the last contestant voted off……..

Idol fans residing in “Oz” were greatly disappointed last evening when Munchkin favorite, Amanda Obermeyer, had a house dropped on her by the Collective Wicked Witches of America.

But keep faith Little People, Midgets, and Dwarfs, one of your own seems destined for relative Quasi Stardom.

Yes, the vertically challenged “Curious George” look alike, Davy Archuleta will win it all this season because America likes cute Little Dancing monkeys.

FRANCIS L.

So the next victim of America’s poor voting is David Hernandez! Hernandez has a great voice so what’s the real reason why he was voted off? Let’s take a look at this, last week America voted off Danny Noriega and many people felt like it was because he was gay. So what happened this week?

The same! Is America gunning for the flamboiant idols and leaving the holler-than-thou to become the next Idol winner? If we learned anything from the days of Taylor-I-can’t-sing-Hicks is America loves to back the straight and narrow *church* vote. Why else did Taylor win he shouldn’t even made the top 12.

If you really want to succeed on American Idol then join a church and talk about it during the entire process. America will back you like no other. Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with going to church and whatnot, I am saying if you are too flamboiant you won’t be getting the votes you need to win Idol.

It’s very similar to politics, actually it is politics, to the remaining 11 contestants get out your crosses and be sure to tell the person interviewing you how much you “thank god for the opportunity” to be on American Idol 7.

American Idol season 7 is down to the top 12 (11 after tonight) and two of them are young mormon (LDS) singers Brooke White and David Archuleta.

White, a 24-year-old nanny from Mesa, Ariz., didn’t say outright that she was Mormon, but during her first audition in front of the three-judge panel she made her standards clear.

“I’ve never seen a rated ‘R’ movie,” White said.

She also said she chose to never smoke or drink alcohol. After her audition, judge Randy Jackson said there was “something sort of pure” about her. Simon Cowell, another judge, threatened to bring her “to the dark side,” to which she said, “I dare you.”

Not a lot has been said on idol about White and Archuleta’s religion, which may be the reason for some fans’ opinions that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will have little influence on the show and its fans. I disagree and I think White has been getting the “church” vote since the voting started a few weeks ago.

Rosie O’Donnell posted a blog on her site asking Danny to join her R Family cruise next week.

“I don’t know if you have to sit around the ‘American Idol’ studio and, like, look sad for the next few weeks,” says Rosie in the video, “but a week from tomorrow, an R Family Cruise is leaving from San Diego for Cabo San Lucas. So, Danny Noriega, you’ve got a free cruise. You and a friend.”

“I want you to sing ‘Tainted Love,’ and I think you’re fantastic. I think you’re a bold and brave and beautiful young man. I admire you, Danny Noriega, and you have an amazing voice,” Rosie says.

So what’s up Danny Boy… you going with Rosie?

Son of Simon has a great take on this years top 12 American Idol contestants and I wanted to share some of it with the blogging community. You can find more of Son of Simon’s post in our forum.

I’m only focusing on why American *won’t* vote for each contestant. (yep… fun I know)

No. 1 Jason Castro
Why America won’t vote for him: Despite him having “enough” of everything, the challenge from here on will be to dig for adrenalin performances. Jason’s not a “thrill ride” type performer, the way Chris Daughtry or Blake Lewis are regarded- he’s even keel- and what will make that difficult in the later rounds will be things like Country week, or similar themes to take Castro way out of his comfort zone. An interesting ride ahead.

No. 2 David Archuleta
Why America won’t vote for him:- If my knock on Castro shed any light- consider last year’s winner Jordin Sparks, and her comparison with Archuleta- they have virtually the same demographics. Sure everyone loves this type of performer, but Archuleta loses out to Castro in terms of youth appeal- he’s better off selling records to the 35+ crowd. In order to seal the deal- David will have to prove to us he can actually be…17 years old on stage.

No. 3 Ramiele Mulaby
Why America won’t vote for her: In a word- psychology. Ramiele’s success is taking on cerebral strategies, and she is well aware of the 30+ million viewers trying to figure out what to “do” with her. That can lead to second-judgements and poor decisions, it can lead to trying to fit what she feels her audience wants- a similar situation with the emergence of our first Idol, Kelly Clarkson, but with less edge. And that edge is a critical factor for Ramiele- in order to survive she’ll have to take the risk, scream and move, and drop the control game for a bit.

No. 4 Karly Smithson
Why America won’t vote for her: The main reason why I don’t see her so much as an “Idol” is because if she won I see a niche market, and a predetermined fan-base, and an artist that will struggle with a more generic American pop machine like Idol. Unlike the three contestants listed before her- Karly is already “grown” up on stage, and so I’d expect her to finish top 3 or 4 in a similar light as Melinda Doolittle.

No. 5 Michael Johns
Why America won’t vote for him: Essentially, see Carly’s problem above. Grown up, developed, and professional entertainers can only suffer in the later rounds when we’re starting to see artists in the making (contestants like Brooke White and David Cook can really start to climb as they emerge as artists, often taking vote-shares aware from the more seasoned performers). Let’s not also forget- vocally Johns is adult and entertaining, but he has been awful shy if polished about avoiding those big notes. Sooner or later it’s gonna catch up.

No. 6 David Cook
Why America won’t vote for him: As a developing artist David is gathering steam, but the natural obstacles will be portraying that in an often rigid and corny Idol theme. While Cook is one of those I’d say I’m able to envision as an Idol- I just don’t feel in the end the masses of America would rather see our guitar hero versus the universal appeal of a Castro, Archuleta, or even Mulabay.

No. 7 Brooke White
Why America won’t vote for her: Artistic measures aside, Brooke faces some more serious challenges when we consider what it means to be an American Idol. Brooke has shown some youth, some charm, and definitely has entertainment value, but I do feel her vocals have some limitations, and can’t help but wonder if she can really deliver on a Pop music scale. For Brooke to go all the way- she’ll end up having to destroy a lot of what we love about her right now, and I don’t see how that can be done while still gaining momentum in the voting.

No. 8 Syesha Mercado
Why America won’t vote for her: My one major concern with Syesha will be how she will continue to gain “market share” with what appears to be a fairly stagnant progression for her. Now- I could be totally wrong and Syesha could just decide to slay us in the coming weeks, in which case her ratings here will skyrocket…and maybe Ramiele will falter, I just don’t see her overcoming the resident professional Smithson.

No. 9 Kristy Lee Cook
Why America won’t vote for her: Because she’s horribly outclassed in this grouping…and…well…forgettable. From the top 12 to the top 6- personality is what people want. We’re now invested in our Idol contestants, so now more than ever is a reason to stand out, become an artist, or show some growth. The person who made it here by flying under the radar is going to find herself awfully exposed in the coming weeks.

No. 10 Amanda Overmeyer
Why America won’t vote for her: Play some Skynyrd, man!

No. 11 Chickeze Eze
Why America won’t vote for him: Because he is boring, and we’re running out of people to let go. Chickeze is boring, his style is boring, and no one has really connected with him. Boring.

No. 12 David Hernandez
Why America won’t vote for him: David has only recently impressed us, and we may miss the chance to see if he has anything else up his sleeve. Too little…too late.

more information: http://www.idolme.com/forum/thread9587.html

On Mar. 17, a new crop of contestants will hit the dance floor with their pro partners, hoping to cha-cha their way to winning Dancing with the Stars bragging rights and that famous mirror ball trophy.

This time, the dancing dozen includes athletes, actors, a musician and a magician: sports legends Kristi Yamaguchi, Monica Seles, and Jason Taylor, TV and movie stars Shannon Elizabeth, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley, Steve Guttenberg, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Cristián de la Fuente, and Adam Carolla, singer Mario, and Penn Jillette of illusionist duo Penn & Teller.

This show has got huge over the past few years and this year seems like it will be a decent year as well.

Here is a bit of an interview that Danny Noriega gave a few days ago now.

Q: Were you surprised by the reaction to your YouTube clip making the rounds online?

A: That’s something that is so, like, forever ago that I used to do. It’s almost like another person ago. That’s when I was younger. It was more like an acting thing I used to do, personalities and stuff like that. I’m actually kind of shocked that they used that one. There’s more interesting ones. [He laughs.]

Q: You’re not the only one with a pseudo-scandal: David Hernandez has also been taking some heat for his stripper past. How do you guys handle that pressure?

A: It’s just really weird. Doing something as simple as making an acting video — which I did, like, so many moons ago — something little like that, that was made for humor, gets blown up out of proportion and can be kind of shown as your character, and it’s not the kind of person that I am, you know what I mean? I just think it’s pretty sad that people will do that just to tear down somebody’s success. We’re all trying to be somebody in life right now, and we don’t understand why people would try to cut us down by doing things like that.

Q: Do you think your unique personality helped you get this far in the competition?

A: You always want to stay true to yourself. I think the other contestants were all different, but I definitely was, like, really, really different. [He laughs.] But I wasn’t trying to be different or anything, it just came naturally.

Q: Did anyone ever ask you to tone it down a bit?

A: Definitely. I got that a lot. Yeah, I didn’t really listen! [He laughs.]

Q: How do you feel about becoming a role model to young “Idol” fans?

A: I love the little fan letters that I’m getting from these little kids telling me that they admire me … for being myself and that I’ve showed them that you can be different and still be successful. … I really like to inspire those little kids that think that they can’t do anything because they’re different in ways, whether it’s sexuality or their race or anything like that. It’s fine to be yourself and be successful.

Hillary hints at Clinton-Obama ticket for election

Hillary Clinton was up early today, appearing on the morning television shows a day after her primary wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island and suggesting that she and her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, might share the Democratic ticket — with her in the No. 1 slot.

“That may be where this is headed,” Clinton said. “But of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said it should be me.” She said Democratic voters have begun to focus on who would be the best commander-in-chief.

“I really think that now that Senator John McCain is going to be the nominee, Democratic voters have begun to take their decision very seriously, and that works to my benefit,” Clinton said on NBC’s “Today” program.

Britney Spears has refused to attend her younger sisters alleged wedding. Sources say the singer’s pregnant 16-year-old sister Jamie Lynn Spears is set to marry her 19-year-old boyfriend Casey Aldridge before their child is born.

Sources say Jamie Lynn asked Britney to be the maid of honor at her ceremony but the singer told her “hell would freeze over” before she would attend the wedding.

“When Jamie Lynn asked her, Britney laughed sarcastically down the phone. She told her hell would freeze over before she’d stand as her maid of honor then hung up on her,” said the insider.

Jon Peter Lewis called for “a little less conversation, a little more action,” on his star-making 2004 American Idol turn, and today, he’s heeding that advice. JPL is primed for a major pop breakthrough courtesy of sophomore album Break the Silence, slated to drop in May. The first single set to release on March 18th, is the title track, an assured, infectious mid-tempo cut that recalls equal parts Ben Folds, Duncan Sheik and vintage Beatles.

http://www.jonpeterlewis.com