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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > March > 12
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
3/12: David Hernandez is stripped of “Idol” chance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a mild surprise, David Hernandez was ousted first. He is arguably one of the best contestants ever to be out this early. (He certainly is more interesting than Brandon Rogers last year and a better vocalist than Melissa McGhee a year earlier, boring Lindsey Cardinale in 2005 or awful Leah LaBelle in 2004).
You have to wonder if his stripper past hurt him. I loved his voice in auditions, Hollywood and the first two weeks. His past two performances, since the stripper news came out, have been a bit less compelling.
Tomorrow is going to be a fun press conference!
I did say he’d be in the bottom three but the one I thought was going home, Ramiele, wasn’t even there. I at least didn’t pick Kristy Lee Cook, although she was the most obvious pick.
Anyway, here’s the recap:
First safe: Carly Smithson. Second safe: Michael Johns. Third safe: Jason Castro. Not so safe: Syesha Mercado is in the bottom three.
Later, the next four judged. Chikezie is safe. Amanda is safe. David Cook is fine. That means Kristy Lee is the second in the bottom three. (“Where’s the microphone?” she asked before she was given the notice. She knew it was coming.)
The final group of four. David Archuleta is okay. (He could have sung in Swahili backwards and he would have survived this week.). Brooke White is adorably safe, too. It’s down to David Hernandez and Ramiele Malubay. Ramiele is safe! David is down and out. Hmmm….
Paula has never seen a “more stronger” bottom three. I would generally agree, grammatically off or not.
First one who is “saved:” Syesha! Thank you! And Kristy is safe, too! So b-bye Mr. Hernandez. Good vocalist but he couldn’t translate his, um, skills fully on stage. His going-away video includes a glitch. It’s great to hear Ruben sing “Celebrate Me Home.”
And for the first time, they had the bottom three all sing before one of them gets eliminated. This is a way to give the contestants more airtime vs. trotting out a guest vocalist - and to fill an hour.
They are doubling up on Beatles and offering more next week. I’m not sure if this is good or not. Thoughts?
They blatantly cross promote that “Horton Hears a Who” (Fox) film by bringing in Jim Carrey, wearing an elephant costume. Of course.
Upfront, we jump into the group sing (“All My Loving,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Help!”). Carly & Michael, our former Fado-connected folks, hang out together the entire song. Amanda practically chokes on her own phlegm during her bit. David Archuleta remembers his words. David Hernandez can dance (naturally.) David Cook? Not so much. And Sanjaya and his hot sis Shyamali is there in the audience! We didn’t get to see her bounce up and down, though, ahem.
Coke ad uses Cake’s “The Distance.” Love that song!
More cross-promotion between that Horton flick and the “Idols” on the red carpet. And Amanda was excited to meet Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon. I can’t say I respect her more for that.
Kat McPhee does a rather adult contemporary version of “Something.” It’s good if you like Kat McPhee. She looks great, as always.
3/12: On Ruben Studdard’s farewell song, Carly Smithson, Sanjaya
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
— Ruben Studdard’s goodbye song “Celebrate Me Home” (a cover of the Kenny Loggins tune) debuts tonight. I thought he was going to perform it live, but according to his brother Kevin this morning, he won’t be, at least not tonight. Instead, we’ll see Kat sing with David Foster accompanying. I don’t know what she’ll be singing.
— And from cmt.com:
Diana DeGarmo will be the honorary spokesperson for Global Youth Service Day, the largest volunteering event in the world. The three-day event, held April 25-27, is co-sponsored by CMT One Country and Youth Service America. Taylor Swift was the celebrity spokesperson for the charity event last year.
— Mandisa is going to be at Philips Arena this Saturday for the big Christian music concert Winter Jam Spectacular. I made an inquiry to catch up with her again on Saturday but I guess I waited too late because she’s too busy for me.
— My parents live in Woodbury, N.Y. and that’s not far from where Sanjaya performed at a Bat Mitzvah, according to my hometown paper Newsday.. I wonder how much he cost?
And Sanjaya still thinks he can have a career in music, according to an interview with mtv.com.
— Carrie Underwood, who turned 25 Monday, does a Q&A with the Sacramento Bee and doesn’t say anything too exciting. Most interesting Q&A:
Q: The accolades keep rolling in for you, especially for your debut album, “Some Hearts.” Looking back, how do you compare the impact of “Jesus Take the Wheel” vs. “Before He Cheats” on different audiences?
A: After “Jesus Take the Wheel,” I wanted to make sure I wasn’t pigeonholed in the beautiful, sentimental song. But with “Before He Cheats,” I was approached about remixing it for pop radio. I didn’t want to feel like I was selling out, so I said “No, I wanted it to stay in a country format.” But pop radio picked up on it on their own, so it worked out anyway.
— Randy and Paula Monday on the “Today” Show:
And for the five of you who pay any attention to such things, RC is still chapped that I called him out a few months ago for pretending to be Flats. He thinks I should call out Linnykat for going by a different name. So here ya go: stop it Linny! And again, let’s play nice, people.
