I got to vote this week! See, yesterday was a legal holiday here (Patriot's Day, a day for the running of the Boston Marathon and celebrating the fact that, once upon a time, Massachusetts was where all the action was), and today was on a Monday schedule at school, and I don't have any classes on Mondays. So while I was shuttling between the laudromat and the school library during the show itself, I got back in time to watch the tape before the voting period ended.
So, a Barry Manilow show without anybody attempting "Copacabana." Probably a good decision; I love it to bits, and it's probably my signature song at karaoke, but that just illustrates the point -- this isn't karaoke, and it's too cheesy for the show.
To get a few more random notes out of the way: what was up with the audio? I'm guessing they'll fix this for the West Coast airing, but over here, the sound came several seconds after the video until Manlow made his entrance (at which point there was a slight hiccup as the sound skipped ahead). I'm guessing there was some sort of snafu with the five-second delay. And what happened to Paula's arm? Did I miss an explanation somewhere? And what's with Fantasia's family being shown during her song?
Anyway. I've gotta give Barry props for his abilities as a vocal coach: until the key change, John Stevens was having his best performance of the competition. Then it went downhill, of course, and even at his best, he wasn't doing as well as the other performers. (And it took me a moment to see what Simon meant by saying he looked like Stan Laurel... and then I almost spewed Diet Pepsi all over my computer keyboard.) George and Diana came in just ahead of him, I thought; then Jasmine; then Jennifer. This is, in fact, the second week in which I've heard Jennifer's performance and thought that I probably ought to hedge my bets in the pool and put her at #1 one week, just in case, rather than putting all my chips on LaToya.
And then, once again, I heard LaToya and Fantasia and that thought evaporated, because she's just not in their league. It's becoming increasingly hard not to see them as the eventual top two. (Although one would be remiss if one failed to note that the first American Idol was also expected to be a battle of the divas, namely Kelly vs. Tamyra.) Fantasia was Fantasia, and she's actually growing on me. And LaToya got my vote.
Who should go this week: John.
Who will go this week: I'm gonna go with John.
(I like this week's Zap2It recap, by the way.)
Posted by Shmuel at April 20, 2004 11:20 PM