Syesha has already used up six of her lives. If she has really has three more lives, she'll be in the top 2.

Here's the rumored song list for tonight's Idol show. Since Dolly Parton is the guest mentor, the contestants are singing her songs. It'll be interesting to see what Jason Castro does with "I WIll Always Love You" and whether Ramiele will be able to pull off "9 to 5."

David Cook: "You Know I Love You"
Kristy Lee Cook: "Two Doors Down"
Michael Johns: "Islands in the Stream"
Carly Smithson: "Jolene"
David Archuleta: "Travelin Thru"
Ramiele Malubay: "9 to 5 "
Brooke White: "Coat of Many Colors"
Syesha Mercado: "Eagle When She Flies"
Jason Castro: "I Will Always Love You"

Don't worry. He's still around. He's doing plenty of live chats and they're on Youtube. Check it out.




Thanks to Vote for the Worst for the link

You've seen those annoying Geico commercials. The one where the announcer says something like: "Mary Jane is a real customer, not an actor. So we've hired a real actor to tell her story." Mary Jane speaks, and the person next to her (a minor celebrity, a crazy actor) paraphrases what she just said, either in a dramatic, music or comedic way.

Here's Chikezie on Jay Leno, doing pretty much the same thing...

In Chikezie's exit Q&A with Entertainment Weekly, he mentions a couple of nicknames: Archie for David Archuleta and Cookie for David Cook.

Reading the whole interview made me sad. Chikezie sounds very sweet and kind, someone who can be friends with anyone. And it doesn't appear like he's high maintenance or has a big ego (Ahem, Danny Noriega...)

Ryan Seacrest was doing some damage control for the whole "BIllie Jean"/Chris Cornell/David Cook issue on his radio morning show today.

Here's the story. David Cook sang Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" Tuesday night. But he sang the Chris Cornell version of it. When Ryan Seacrest introduced David Cook, he said it was Chris Cornell's version. But Ryan was also surrounded by a mob of screaming girls, and he judges apparently didn't hear "Chris Cornell." After David's performance, the judges threw heaps of praise on him, and it seemed like the slower, rock version of "Billie Jean" was David's original idea. It wasn't.

Bloggers, Youtube viewers and Chris Cornell fans quickly pointed out that David wasn't doing his own version, but Cornell's.

Today: On his morning show, Ryan was heavy on the spin control. Over and over, he told listeners it was Chris Cornell's version of "Billie Jean." Chris Cornell called in and said he's performed that song many times live and that it's in his studio album as well. When Chris first told people he was going to sing "Billie Jean," a lot of people thought it was crazy. After hearing his slow rock version, they love it. Chris praised David's performance and singing, adding that he hit every note in the runs in the same way that he does it.

Ryan speculated that the judges didn't hear his intro for David Cook on Tuesday night. But, both Ryan and Chris were surprised that Randy, whom Ryan called an encyclopedia of the music industry, didn't mention or know that David sang Cornell's version.

This song-and-dance show with Ryan and Chris went on for several minutes. We get it. Chris Cornell is great. David Cook wasn't all that original. American Idol judges may have goofed. It wasn't Ryan's fault. David Cook did Chris Cornell proud.

New news: Chris Cornell announced that Timabland is producing his third solo album. Timbaland also called into the morning show saying that the album is the best work he's done in his career, better than Nelly and Justin. Cornell said he hasn't been this excited about an album in years.

Diol Idol predicts the three contestants safest contestants are: David Cook, David Archuleta and Carly Smithson.

Everyone else is in the nebulous yellow cautionary area. Here's their order from safest to least safe:
Michael Johns
Kristy Lee Cook
Brooke White
Syesha Mercado
Ramiele Malubay
Jason Castro
Chikezie Eze

Here's Chris Cornell's version of "Billie Jean," which I think is more rich and soulful than David Cook's. Of course, David Cook is an amateur, right?


And here's David Cook's version


And here's the original by Michael Jackson.

At this point in the season, I'm not at all excited about the show or any of its contestants. So I'll keep this short.

Ramiele Malubay
“Alone” by Heart
She almost pulled it off.

Jason Castro
“Fragile” by Sting
He's fun to watch on a reality show, but would you buy tickets to his concert?

Syesha Mercado
“If I Were Your Woman” by Whitney Houston
She sounds great, but I don't think she has a large fan base.

Chikezie
“If Only for One Night” by Luther Vandross
What has this show become? An medley of tunes from the easy listening radio station? He also sounds just like Ruben.

Brooke White
“Every Breath You Take” by The Police
Why is she singing a stalker song? The piano was nice, but at some point she should have walked away from it. It limited her from really shining in the big notes.

Michael Johns
“We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” by Queen
Michael Johns can only sing Queen. You know he's sung these two songs several hundred times in his life. Michael's range needs some improvement.

Carly Smithson
“Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler
Electrifying and scary.

David Archuleta
"You're the Voice" by John Farnham
Why can't this kid sing a contemporary song? All of his performances are 20 years too old for him. He did well, as usual.

Kristy Lee Cook
“God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood
Hating Kristy's performance would be unpatriotic. It wasn't on par with some of the other contestants this season, but it was Kristy's personal best. Doesn't say much.

David Cook
“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
David is probably the smartest contestant on the show. It was a great performance. That said, it wasn't original. Chris Cornell did it -- and better.

From best to worst:
David Cook
Michael Johns
Carly
Syesha (though no one will remember it)
Brooke
David Archuleta
Chikezie
Kristy
Jason Castro
Ramiele

Tonight's theme is Music From the Year You Were Born. That means Carly Smithson will sing something from 1983 and David Archuleta will pick a song from 1990. Expect more 80s hits and if we're very very lucky, a Paula Abdul
song.

Phil Stacey is making his debut at the Grand Ole Opry this weekend.

Press release
Grand Ole Opry site
Phil's web site

Other performers at Saturday's show are: Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Kellie Pickler, Neal McCoy, Ralph Stanley, Jimmy C. Newman, Bill Anderson

Remember Josiah Leming, the kid who lived out of his car? Knoxnews.com is reporting that the ex-Idol contestant has nailed a major record deal with Warner Bros. records. He has an agent and he's bought his dad a new truck.

If that's not enough, here's more Josiah news:

• Profile on Josiah: "Leming estimates he has sold close to $40,000 worth of his music off the Internet since his "Idol" experience."
• Simon Cowell says they shouldn't have cut him
• Josiah gets free car, clothes and other gifts
  

From what I've read on other Idol fan sites, a lot of people think Brooke White looks like Skeletor. (Just don't tell prep sports editor Fred Robledo. She's his favorite.) Thoughts?

Even if you didn't like her singing, you have to admire Amanda Overmyer's down-to-earth attitude about getting voted off. She's definitely no diva. Here's an excerpt from the Entertainment Weekly exit interview.

You sound very grounded and normal about this whole experience. Good for you.
That's the attitude I've had with all of this. I'm thankful to be here and feel very privileged to have come this far. But I absolutely refuse to be nostalgic about it. You know why? That's when you lose a sense of reality. I saw it happen with a few people. It's just ridiculous. We have the potential to be stars right now. We're not stars. All we are now is recognizable. That's it. I've got a hell of a lot more work in front of me before I can exhale and say, ''Alright. I've made it.''

Here are the Vegas odds of who will win it all. (As you can see, these odds were put out when Amanda Overmyer was still in it.)

Kristy Lee Cook – 50/1

Agree. No chance.

Chikezie Eze – 35/1

Possibly, but worse odds than Amanda?!

Amanda Overmyer – 25/1

Already out.

Ramiele Malubay – 20/1

She hasn't given us a power performance. She hasn't found her song yet.

Syesha Mercado – 15/1

Seems about right.

Jason Castro – 15/1

Jason has great eyes and a cute smile. But his vocals aren't as strong as some others. He also looks kind of goofy without his guitar.

Michael Johns – 15/1

Great singer, great performer. He needs to choose less complicated songs.

Carly Smithson – 4/1

Carly has some of the best vocals and stage presence in this competition. She needs to embrace the idea that she's in a popularity contest and pick some more interesting/mainstream songs. Last week, "Come Together" was a brilliant choice for her.

David Cook – 4/1

David is the surprise contestant. His hair looks kind of greasy, but his performances haven't disappointed.

Brooke White - 2/1

I'm not a huge fan of Brooke's, but for some reason, American loves her.

David Archuleta – 5/4

Is there any doubt that the boy wonder would be the front-runner? It would take a major blunder on his part, or several amazing performances by the other contestants to knock him off his pedestal.

Here's Amanda's best performance: Joan Jett’s "I Hate Myself For Loving You"

Did anyone think last night's performances on American Idol were good? Anyone?

The performances, briefly:

Amanda Overmyer
“Back in the USSR”
It's too bad that the best part of Amanda's performance last night was when the singing ended. The singing was all over the place and more of the same Overmyer-styled Southern rock. The best part was when she told the judges, Simon in particular, that she's performing the way she would at an actual concert. Simon quipped back: You haven't sold any tickets.

Kristy Lee Cook
“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away"
Better than last week. Still not good. Bad arrangement, lackluster singing. It's a good thing she's pretty.

David Archuleta
“The Long and Winding Road”
The boy wonder went back to a slow ballad, telling America that he can't sing fast songs. That makes me wonder about his viability as a pop star. Right now, his career trajectory is pushing him to senior homes and local civic centers. This performance was definitely better than last week, but he didn't blow away the competition like he has in past weeks.

Michael Johns
“A Day in the Life”
Again, better than last week. (That seems to be the theme...) Michael is turning out to be a really good-looking karaoke singer.

Brooke White
“Here Comes the Sun”
You knew her happy, smiley streak couldn't last. Too bad she couldn't just stand there and listen to the criticism. Brooke showed her diva and know-it-all attitude when she repeatedly interrupted Simon's critique of her performance. Although it sounded like she trying to calm down the boo-ing in the audience instead of talking back to Simon, it was still very annoying. At what point did she grow such a big head?

David Cook
“Day Tripper”
David was probably the only performance that was good. And it wasn't even that good. Simon was right. David didn't surprise us like he did in previous weeks, but at least he didn't disappoint. At this point, not disappointing us is becoming a tall order for most of the performers.

Carly Smithson
“Blackbird”
Carly, we know you have a great voice. Carly, pick a more interesting song!

Jason Castro
“Michelle”
At this point during the show, I realize we're riding on the crazy train. I laughed the entire time during Jason's performance. This was more hysterical than Sanjaya's rendition of "Bea Me Mucho" -- and he sported a mustache! The singing wasn't bad, but it was like a comical high school talent show performance.

Syesha Mercado
“Yesterday”
Syesha looked beautiful. She has a great voice. She even picked the right song. For some reason, she doesn't feel inspiring.

Chikezie
“I’ve Just Seen a Face”
Wow. Chikezie gave a really fun performance. The slow beginning was a little boring, but the fast part really showed off his energy. Too bad it still feels like we're on a crazy circus train.

Ramiele Malubay
“I Should’ve Known Better”
She is the cutest contestant, but she needs to work on her confidence and stage presence. Although the singing was good, she looked like a nervous animal on stage.

If you're a fan of Mimi/MC/Mariah Carey, you'll be happy to know that she'll appear on American Idol three times this season:
1. Guest judge
2. Guest performer
3. On the Idol Gives Back charity show

Perhaps she'll perform her new single "Touch My Body."

If you enjoy bad singing, watch the following video. If you want to avoid much pain, don't read this entry.

I don't know how William Hung has managed to maintain a career in singing. Somebody must be buying his albums, and it's not me! (He has three albums: "Inspiration", "Hung for the Holidays" and "Miracle: Happy Summer from William Hung".)

I guess past Idol contestants are keeping busy. FOX has a new show that's all about American Idol starring past Idol contestants as hosts and guests. It's called American Idol Extra. It's a lot like the show EXTRA or Entertainment Tonight, except it only covers one subject: American Idol.

Gina Glockson and Constantine Maroulis (you know he wasn't going away) are co-hosts, along with JD Roberto. This week, they interviewed William Hung, who now has recorded three albums, Melinda Doolittle and David Hernandez.

The show airs on Fox Reality channel. If you don't get cable, the web site has a few videos, including interviews with Melinda and William and a performance by Chris Sligh.