AI4 recap, Finalists x 7 (04/19)

So a little clean up on last week. Okay, Kate Beckinsale was the lead opposite Ben Affleck in “Pearl Harbor.” Jennifer Garner was in the movie, but in a lesser role. Never saw the movie. Don’t know if I will. Tough movie to see, as the event had quite a negative impact on the Japanese, not to mention the Americans of Japanese decent.

If you’ve watched American Idol live, you no doubt have seen those awful Old Navy Tunic commercials. They slay me. That white girl is working SO hard to keep up. It’s flowing so naturally to the other two, but she’s like counting steps and forcing movements. She’s like Vanilla Ice trying to keep up with the brothas in “Ice Ice Baby.” Word to your mutha.

So the theme tonight is “’70s Dance Numbers.” And promises to be the most energetic of all the AIs. With the dance-ability of the remaining competitors, I’m not holding my breath.

01 – Constantine, Nights on Broadway (The Bee Gees)
Nice ‘70s outfit. Black shirt with black pants under a white blazer. But wore some eye shadow and that was a tad frightening. Kinda looked like Ozzy Osbourne. Did the Bo “use the whole mic stand” during the performance. I’ll give Constantine this. He’s a very good vocalist. And I think that he’s going to win. Or at least be in the final 2. Like Fantasia last year, I will not vote for Constantine because he’s got plenty of fans to vote him through every week. And when they flash on his family, is it me or does his dad look like the lead singer from Talking Heads? Or the dad from “That ‘70s Show?” Randy said it was a good song choice, but it was “a’ight,” but not “oh my god.” Paula retorted with “everything about you for the last 3 weeks has been oh my god.” Right song. Right theatrics. Great stage presence. I’m going out on a limb here, but I think Paula likes Constantine. Simon likened him to a singing waiter in Spain. Okay. Let’s move on.

02 – Carrie, MacArthur Park (Donna Summer)
Big hair again for Carrie tonight. Along with some eyeshadow along the lines of Constantine’s. Wore a pink dress with flowers on it that reminded me of a bad bridesmaid dress. You know, from the wedding with the insecure bride that has to put her bridesmaids in hideous rags so that all the attention will be on her. Not familiar with the song, but Carrie has such a strong voice. She does do the “Carrie Sway” most every week though. A bit boring in her stage presence, but you can’t deny that voice. Randy said it was official: welcome to the Dawg Pound. Called her vocals unbelievable. Paula said “wow” on that last note. Quipped that Simon turned 53 while she held that note. Simon said she sang it very well, but called her “Barbie meets the Stepford Wives.” Said she’s too young to dress that old. Leave that to Paula. Touche. Simon should talk. He looked like he was wearing a grey Nike Dri-Fit shirt. Like the ones that the trainers wear at 24-Hour Fitness.

03 – Scott, Everlasting Love (Carl Carlton)
Don’t have much to say about Scott really. Sang it pretty well. He definitely looks “softer” with glasses. Although I liked the tinted ones better because it hid his eyes more. Got a comment from a guy (not naming names as to protect his identity) who watches the show that Scott looks like Barrett Robbins. I know some of you won’t know who that is, but he’s the former Raiders center who went AWOL on the eve of the Super Bowl and was recently shot by the police. Randy said he picked just the right song that fit his voice. Paula said he had fun with it and was on pitch for the most part. Simon called him an ordinary guy doing quite well, but equates his performances to karaoke. He’s got no love for Scott. I think Scott’s in trouble this week. He’ll probably be in the bottom 3 every week now until he gets eliminated.

04 – Anthony, Don’t Take Away The Music (Tavares)
Wore a brown shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned. Almost like he’s trying to dress like Ryan Seacrest. Anthony, I know you don’t have much of a fashion sense, but to have Seacrest as your model is not a good move. At least the brown didn’t make him look as pale as when he wore that lime green a few weeks back. He really reminds me of a huskier Clay Aiken. I’m really not a fan of Anthony’s voice anymore. And he dances way too much up there. But he has looked more confident up there lately. Randy started with “So dude…” but said that he didn’t fall his week. Paula called it soothing and in the right range. Simon called it pleasant and safe. I wasn’t too impressed. I think he’ll be in the bottom 3.

05 – Vonzell, I’m Every Woman (Chaka Khan)
Boy does she have a big voice. She needs one to match that booty. I’m a bit younger, so I remember this as a Whitney Houston-The Bodyguard song. Vonzell does Whitney well. Didn’t dance too much tonight, which is a good thing. She reminds my wife of a younger version of the mother on “Fresh Prince.” The first one though, not the second one. Isn’t that funny how shows change characters on you (mostly because of contractual issues) and the go on like nothing happened? Like when the oldest daughter on “Roseanne” was changed? But then she came back. The replacement daughter is now on “Scrubs.” I love that show, but my wife hates it. Don’t blame her. It’s sophomoric humor, at best. Vonzell’s hair tonight looked something Eva Longoria’s character (Gabrielle) from “Desperate Housewives” would wear. I have to tell you, I love that show, but didn’t watch it from the get go because of that title. It seemed like it would be over the top, tongue in cheek. If they’d have named it something else, I probably would’ve watched it earlier. How can you turn down Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria and Felicity Huffman? Although they make Felicity Huffman’s character look so frazzled at times (well, she does have 4 boys). She was a main character in “Sports Night” one of my favorite shows of all time. It only ran 2 seasons and I never watched it live (probably part of the reason it got cancelled) but I saw it in its (I think I got that one grammatically correct) entirety on ReplayTV (via Comedy Central) and now own it on DVD. Great show. Back to Vonzell. She was wonderful tonight. She really can sing, but I think she lacks a following. Final four is the best case scenario for her. She will get a recording deal though. Randy said she chose the song with the highest degree of difficulty, but worked it out. Paula stood up and danced to the entire song. Said she rocked the house. Simon called her right on the edge vocally, but her personality would push her over the top to make it work.

06 – Anwar, September (Earth, Wind and Fire)
I have to preface this by saying EWF is my wife’s favorite group. We saw them in concert in Chicago at the United Center with Barry White. That was a great time. Anwar had on a black velvet jacket along with his patented bell bottoms. Crowd was really into from the start. Sang it okay, but I thought it really had a wedding singer feel to it. And I like Anwar. Randy said it was another good Anwar performance and praised his energy at the end. Paula said he had fun with it and was in the moment. Simon called the ending good but then I got called away by Jared (we didn’t let him stay up tonight and he had trouble getting to sleep) and couldn’t hear the rest of his comments. I think Anwar could be in the bottom 3 tomorrow.

07 – Bo, Vehicle (The Ides of March)
Was this really considered a “dance” song? It was more like background music for a ‘70s show. Or a contemporary movie that is a movie about a ‘70s show, like “Starsky and Hutch” or “Charlie’s Angels.” The thing that I like about Bo is his attitude. Last week when Seacrest asked him how it would be if he was gone, he didn’t really care. His reply was, “what’s the worst thing that happens? I go back home and play gigs again? Which is what I love to do.” For that, I like Bo. Randy said Bo Bice is back. Paula said the competition is back on. Simon called it his only authentically good performance. I thought it was good. But whatever.

I think the bottom 3 tomorrow should be Scott, Anthony and Anwar. I think it has the possibility of being Scott, Anthony and Vonzell or Bo.