FINAL 8 - BONUS PICKS

Update: Get Picks In By Thursday Night's Show
due to Idol Gives Back

Inspirational music sucks.

Time for them bonus picks. You have 15 points to divide among three contestants - giving at least one point to each of them.

When I got home last night Mrs. Commish warned me that the show wasn't good. She said Johnsie didn't even do it for her - whatever that means. What did we expect from a week of inspirational music?

When I watched Johnsie kick it off - I didn't think it was as bad as Mrs. Commish thought it was. I thought he did a good job - and if he was later in the night the judges would have liked him more because he didn't have a bunch of competition. I did notice that Outback Johns is becoming a bit more cheesy. He said something like, "See, dreams really do come true." That is just as bad as holding his fingers up for his voting number. This competition is getting to him.

Then we had Syesha once again perform a song from an artist much better than she is. She did a decent job but it might not be good enough. The best part was when she basically slammed the other girls in the competition saying that Ramiele was the "only one who really got me."

Then Jason Castweed sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow. I thought it was good. I just couldn't stop wondering why he was wearing my Grandma's sweater and women's pants. I will say that - in comparison to Brooke - he can actually keep time on an instrument. He was a drummer after all. When Jason was done singing I said, "That wasn't bad." Then Mrs. Commish responded, "Yeah, but wait until you see how bad the judges shat themselves over it." (Disclaimer: she was a bit stressed and worn out last night from a long day. That usually makes her pretty saucy.)

Kristy was next. When I found out that she was going to sing Anyway from Martina McBride, I was sure that this would be the nail in the coffin. Martina sings the crap out of that song. I asked Mrs. Commish if I was about to watch a train wreck. She told me it wasn't that bad. Then I said, "Well, does she do her Saddle Squat?" She said, "Yep, she does the Country Crouch." I didn't realize we had two different names for the same dance move. Well, not only did Kristy do a passable version of the song (we all have lower standards for her performances) but she really did look like she was singing something she believed in for the first time. That was refreshing to see.

Then David Cook gave a Belmont Showcase-worthy performance of Innocent. By Belmont Showcase-worthy I mean taking yourself way too seriously trying to sing a song with an inspirational message while wearing some ridiculous performance outfit. I loved watching Simon look down at the monitor in his desk while Davy was giving us the hand, telling us to give back. Simon laughed at the absurdity of it (as you can see in the picture above). We thought Davy's vocals at the beginning of the song were really bad and then it only improved to a moderate butt-rocker voice. Not very impressive Sonny Crockett.

Carly came out wearing those high-waisted pants again so I had to just listen to the rest of The Show Must Go On with my eyes closed. I thought this week was inspirational week. I don't get much inspiration from the message that things suck but you still have to work anyways. I know that isn't the point, but it just felt less like inspiration and more like a substitute teacher who was finally pushed over the edge by that last spitball.

Archie seemed a bit nervous at first playing the piano but he settled into it and gave a typical performance for him. Not bad. Of course the judges liked it. Some girl in the audience was holding a sign that said "Lick those lips". There is no way I would let my little girl hold that sign. Even stranger than the sign was Simon's comment that Angels was one of the greatest pop songs ever written. I usually agree with everything that Simon says, but I completely disagree with him on this one. He wondered why that song was never huge over here - well, it was big enough to hear on the radio all the time. It annoyed me then and it annoys me now.

We ended the evening with Brooke. That song is inspirational in the 8th grade on the last night of a youth group snow-skiing retreat in a room full of candles. Last night it just looked like Brooke was in pain from over-sincerity.