We knew it would be a sweet kind of show when Ryan kissed Simon on the head to start the episode. It just made sense, even though it was kind of wrong, which was sort of what it was like to see Carly go. On the one hand, she probably should have stayed later in the competition than she did. On the other, on a critical note, I still don't feel like she ever made the most of her voice or nailed herself down very well in terms of what kind of artist she was. But it was hard to ever really dislike Carly—she seems to live a happy life and to recognize that she's had plenty of great opportunities in this business we call show. She'll be just fine.
I also felt more affection for Andrew Lloyd Webber tonight than I expected—maybe it was because tonight he resembled Jerry Orbach, who I still miss very much. I also liked that he could be real and criticize Jason Castro's choice of "Memory"—the judges clearly loved that he was being honest and had an opinion.
Speaking of Jason, I also liked him more than usual tonight. Facing being in the bottom two, he seemed to own up to the fact that he stunk last night but with good humor—that's the first time I've ever seen someone make the "choo-choo" motion in response to the word "trainwreck." And thank god he didn't want to sing "Memory" again, because I certainly didn't want to hear it. He refuses to play the "
Idol elimination is serious business" game that make the show resemble a beauty pageant sometimes, and I appreciated it.
And the other stuff that happened:
-The group numbers continue to do nothing to tempt me into buying Idol Live tickets.
-I am confused. According to Ryan, for the 'very first time ever' Brooke stopped and started but she clearly did it earlier in the season. What was the difference between those two situations? One was live and the other wasn't?
-The Ford commercial probably featured the best hair, makeup and costumes of all the 'videos' this season—Brooke looked like that one chick from that one music video from a few years ago, you know the one.
-David A. didn't seem to want to talk about his performance at all—for a second I thought he was going to reference his mumbling of the lyrics, but he was mumbling, so I couldn't tell.
-Clay Aiken kind of looks like he's in the process of turning into a woman, but you know what, he's rich and famous and popular and I am not, so I guess it's working for him.
-Leona Lewis, Simon's pet, performed tonight. To me she looks and sounds kind of like every other songstress to follow in Mariah Carey's footsteps, but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe she's more special because she's British.
-Simon thought that Brooke was saved because she showed a real side of her last night. I am inclined to believe it was Vote for the Worst, however.
-Unfortunately we had to hear the bottom two sing again. I hate this tradition. I think the loser should get to sing whatever they want. Why the hell not?
And then there were five. It's time to start thinking of who we want to serve as our next American Idol, people. I'm pretty sure that it will be Davey A. still but it's hard to imagine what he'll be doing a year or two from now—what will he be up to when Idol checks in on its alumni? Perhaps he'll be in jail for accidentally hitting his Dad with his new Ford. Grade: B
Stray observations:
—Sometimes I really hate Randy. "What's a sweet?" What's a sweet, really? "Yeah, what's this crazy British person next to me saying? I can't understand him!" STFU.
—I felt uncomfortable watching the President and first lady's forced grins during their taped segment.
—If someone was eliminated for fashion tonight, it should have been Syesha. Purple eyeshadow and a red and yellow top? Oh my.
—The final shot of Carly turning around next to Brooke seemed rather ominous, didn't it?