Tonight we get part two of the much-hyped Idol Gives Back special. Ellen DeGeneres will be co-hosting this two-hour extravaganza featuring a plethora of guest stars, including an appearance by Bono to meet with the kids. Check out MJ’s excellent rundown of what to expect.
Last night Ryan pimped a shocker. The Interet is buzzing today about what it could be! Is it the Celine/Elvis duet? Or that that they won’t send anyone home and last night’s votes will carry over to next week? Personally, I’m not a fan of the latter suggestion.
Last week Blake took his first trip to the seal. DialIdol has him possibly back there tonight. Let’s hope the hard work of Team Plaid and all the Blakers out there prevented such a travesty. Of course, Dial Idol has everyone but The Pimped One as possibly in the bottom three. Dial Idol = useless.
Thanks to everyone who voted for Blake and a special shout out to his international fans who voted in spirit!
Thanks to Jenlar for the screen cap!
Go BLAKE ! I am confident he will be safe.. I have a feeling.
I also just wanted to say something..
Blake’s performance last night IMO was stellar. It was a heartfelt very sincere performance. His vocals were spot on also. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to Ricky’s mp3. Loved it.
But my question is: I’ve noticed reading on different boards that Blake the last couple of weeks has been loosing his sparkle and confidence. They say he looks a bit vulnerable like something has been bothering him lately.
Do you guys agree? Do you perceive some sadness or dissapointment from him these past two weeks? Are the theme nightsaffecting him?
When you compare his Latin Night electric performance and Time of The Season confident amd flawless rendition, you have to wonder.
Maybe I am just paranoid, but I wanted to see what you guys thought about all this.
Hey, Ana! I feel good that Blake will be safe tonight, too. As for Blake losing sparkle, I don’t see it. His vocals seem great to me. Yes, his performances in the last two weeks have been more subdued, but I do think that’s because of the last two themes (country and inpirational songs). I am hoping we get some sizzle next week. Does anyone know if it’s rock in general or only Bon Jovi songs?
What theme is next week? Is it *really* Bon Jovi?
I absolutely believe that the theme nights are getting to him. He’s probably confident in *himself* -that his performances are *beyond* good- but doesn’t have confidence in the voting results. Blake has proven himself *extremely* versatile, doing miracles with songs outside his usual genre, but how long can he *really* stand out when he can’t use his own style?
It was painfully evident last night, while making the screenshots, watching just about frame-by-frame. There were just none of those big pieces of personality (smiles, smouldering looks, etc.) that are so fun to capture.
Gosh… that sounded harsh. It *really* wasn’t supposed to! I loved last night’s performance. I’m just so tired of belting divas, even though I respect their talent.
Edited to add:
There were five deer in the back yard this morning. I’m taking it as a sign that Blake will make it through. GO BLAKE!
Hi - I thought Blake did great last night. I honestly believe that he connected better with the viewing audience than any of the other performers. I can’t remember what any of the other contestants sang. Blake’s was the only unique and memorable performance, and I’m not just saying that coz he’s my favorite. The judges are really out of touch this season. I don’t know why they like Chris so much. His performance was generic and uninspired.
Orlando Sentinel TV critic likes Blake! (he does not like shouting and didn’t care for Lakisha or Jordin especially)
Blake is getting better vocally, I believe, but IMO the theme weeks are hindering him from showcasing his style. MSN’s recap hit the nail on the head best with this:
Maybe the fact that he’s been having to play it somewhat safe lately and not really be himself has been weighing on him. Who knows, really?
With two performances on tap next week, hopefully he’ll have a chance to show us two good performances, and bring back the Blake we all know and love. Last night was good and very genuine and heartfelt, but it did lack some of the unpredictability and spice that I’ve come to love from him. It was really good, but it was kinda safe. Not his best, nor the best of the night. But good.
pj, am I totally making this up, or did our dress rehearsal spy ninergrl say that Blake would be all goofy and cute with Ryan, and that she was amazed at how he made such a quick transition to serious performance mode? If I am remembering that right, then I don’t think Blake is unhappy or anything. I think it’s just that the last two weeks he’s sung ballads that don’t let him be all happy happy joy joy, so hopefully if he’s still around next week he can give us another fun performance.
I just read on AYN that Ryan had Uncle Nigel on his show this morning, and he said they’d received 65 million votes by 10 PM Pacific time last night. That’s really scary…any of them could go tonight. Hopefully the familiarity of Blake’s song was more of a help to him than a hinderance, and I agree with Tara that he connected to the TV audience better than any of the others. *crosses fingers*
Star, that’s an excellent point about Ninergrl’s comments. She did say that. I’m with you and just think it’s the nature of the last couple of songs.
Wow, 65 million! Gulp. *joins Star in in the finger cross*
Blake will absolutely be safe tonight. He was genuine, moving and was really grounded to the song.
Plus, I voted for him. Hee!
CarieB rawks!!!
Wow, I think 65 million is the highest # of votes they’ve ever gotten. The season 3 finale has been the highest so far, I think, and it had 64 million, IIRC.
I heart Carie muchly. :) I’ve talked to a lot of people who have never voted before who threw Blake votes last night. Whether it was 8, 80, or 800, it doesn’t really matter how many as long as he’s getting them. I think he’ll be fine.
I do still think that he’s been holding back during the theme weeks though. I’m ready to see him be Blake again. This, to me, as good as these performances have been, is just not Blake, if you know what I’m saying.
ETA: There was a really hot waiter at the restaurant I went to for lunch today and he was totally flirting. I think I’ll be going there more often. ;)
My friend did vote for Blake for me, so I feel like I contributed! He must be safe tonight!!
“Imagine” was the only performance I enjoyed last night, I was really bored by everyone else.
Sarah, I get what you’re saying. I guess that’s the nature of a karoke competition with theme nights, though. He really couldn’t change up a country tune or an inpirational song without getting slammed. That said, I’m ready for a little Blake-izing, too. Hopefully, we’ll see it next week, especially if they’re doing two songs each.
Hot waiter? Oooh La La!
Thanks guys!
Love to read your opinions about Blake’s sparkle. He still has it it just has been a bit eclipsed by the themes.
I really LOVED his performance last night and I do have a afeeling he will be FINE.
I am also ready now for more fun performances and I am sure he will deliver next week for Bon JOvi and the next.
Anyone knows here what is the theme for Top 4 week? I read Robin Thicke was going to be there.
Maybe an R&B theme? That would really help Blake.
Anyone knows details about Top 4 night?
Robin Thicke’s performance was pretaped several weeks ago. I’m sure it will be shown on the results show like the Akon and Fergie performances.
I believe that one of the Gibb brothers (from the Bee Gees) is going to be the guest coach for top 4 week, so I imagine that the theme will be 70’s or disco or dance or something of that sort.
I don’t see Blake as R&B really at all, but that’s just me. He has hip-hop elements to his style, but when I think R&B, I think R Kelly, Usher, Omarion, and those kinds of singers. Blake works more the funk/hiphop/electronica/even indie rock kinda vibe to me.
PJ, the thing for me is - he has had a choice of what song to sing. Country week does not automatically mean you have to pick a slow to mid-tempo song. I think he made a wise choice for Inspirational week, and it was a good vocal (so was last week). But you can have joy when singing even the slowest ballad, and I haven’t seen that the past couple weeks. I haven’t felt like he’s been having FUN up there, like I felt the first few weeks. I mean, I think he’s FINE. But I’m sure the wear and tear of the hectic schedule, along with being in the bottom 3 last week, is starting to get to him - in fact it’s probably getting to ALL of them.
Bon Jovi (especially if it’s their music and not a general classic rock theme) is not going to be easy for him, but I’m sure he can find something to rawk out on!
65 million? Wow. I also think Blake will be fine. I’m sure there was much less vote splitting this week. Just look at Chris’ numbers on DI. Not that it’s always acurate, but that was one heck of a drop.
I read somewhere that Bon Jovi night is just “rock songs.” No word on a 2nd theme, so maybe the “no elim” thing is true…
Top 4 is almost always 1 song from the year of your birth and one song from the current Billboard charts. Robin Thicke would definitely fit in to the Billboard theme.
Blake is lucky. 1981 was a good year for music. Especially the kind he seems to like. I bet he can have some real fun with it.
Hello everybody! I have been reading…but this is my first time at jumping in.
I think Blake will safe. I have posted everywhere that his performance of Imagine was simply beautiful. And so was he…don’t you think? I loved the way the lights danced through his hair. Oops…I digress with gushing. He is incredibly talented, and I agree, I am ready for the beatboxing guy from Seattle, WA to make an appearance again…back to who he is!
Anyway, according to dialidol Chris will say goodbye tonight…leaving all of the Cake votes to Blake. And he will leave all of the divas (talented as they are) in the dust! Whoo Hoo…Go Blake!
Hi LAactor! Glad you posted! :)
He did look gorgeous. His hair was great, and purple is definitely a good color on him. :)
Chris does seem to be firmly holding down the bottom spot on DI. This bodes well. Heh.
Erinn - Top 5 last year was birth year/billboard songs. I remember, because I helped create fake spoilers for that week. Heh. Yes, I’m eeeeevil. Top 4 was Elvis. :)
Maybe our new catchphrase should be “bring back the beatboxer!”
Sarah, you’re right. Elvis was top 4. Well, then maybe they’ll reverse it? I really like that particular “theme” so I hope they don’t dunp it this year. As the competition gets down to the wire I always prefer broad themes.
Heh. Bring on the eeeevil Sarah. I have friends who involved with the “G-bomb official!” spoiler on the Taylor board. Now that was evil.
Keep “save the beatboxer…” It’s GENIUS!
Fake spoilers were so great. Had all the fanbases in a tizzy. And the funny thing was that we were right on about half of them. We’re considering doing them again. We almost did for Latin week, but decided against it. Shhhh. LOL.
What was the “G-bomb official” spoiler? That Taylor was going to do Georgia in the finale? I remember that. So baaaaad, but so good!
I love screwing with people’s minds. I am demented like that. Heh.
ETA: Just updated the title under our site name. Other mods, let me know if you want me to change it back. ;)
Yep, that’s the one! The worst part was that these were long time posters (high post counts). People argued over it for days. Even after they revealed the hoax.
I try not to mess with people’s minds unless they’ve earned it. But yeah, it can be fun. Hehheh
Love it! Hey can you make the text bigger or bolder? It’s getting lost in the awesome plaid background.
I think I’m going to capitalize it like the “vote for blake or die” was. I couldn’t find a way to make the actual text bigger or bold it. MJ? Got any suggestions? lol.
Yeah I don’t make it a regular habit of screwing with people’s minds. But when it’s something as relatively trivial as AI, sometimes I just can’t help it. Heh.
I love it Sarah. Confession: I don’t even watch Heroes.
So Ricky’s put his rep on the line by posting the voting results already. I don’t have the direct link to his MySpace blog, but he’s got a thread for it on IDF in the spoiler forum.
Star, will you email it to me, please? I can’t go to IDF from work.
(I don’t watch “Heroes” either. My roommate does, though. :))
Wonder if they’ll do the 3 groups of 2 again like they did last year.
I just e-mailed you Sarah. Let me know if you got them; I’m not sure what kind of filters they have on our e-mail here.
Love, love, love the new tag line. :)
Star, thanks for the heads up on the spoilers. Interesting. I see he’s still giving himself an out, though.
I was on IDF before my meeting, but didn’t have time to post this about next week.
Thanks Star, I did get it and just emailed you back. :)
Thanks for that info on next week PJ! I would think if next week was a two-theme week, they would have already narrowed down a 2nd theme. But who knows with this show? LOL.
And that just says that Bon Jovi will be mentoring, not that they are singing Bon Jovi songs specifically. Ugh. LOL They are not making this easy. Heh.
Here’s the link to Ricky’s spoilers for those who want to be spoiled.
http://www.myspace.com/reekzonfiah
Can we discuss them here or have we decided against it? I suppose we could start a separate spoiler thread that’s clearly labelled. Or I could add a warning to the main post? What do y’all think?
PJ, I’d say to start a new thread. :)
Done! The spoiler thread is open for discussion.
OK, I’m late on this but here’s my take. Blake has not lost his spark in my opinion. What I think has happened is that he was scared about being bottom 3 last week, so he probably was hoping for really good reviews last night. He felt good about the song going in, and was excited about singing it. He delivers a beautiful, heartfelt performance, and instead of being praised, he gets these kind of half-way compliments. Contrast that with Chris who stunk it up and got a tongue bath from the judges. It ain’t right.
And I agree with y’all - I’m ready for the return of the beatboxing and the upbeat peformances that show off his personality and style. :)
Although I stil must say WTSGB (even though it was slow) is my fav of his recordings. :)
Edited to say, Jenlar, your screencaps are killing me. It broke my heart to see that disappointed look last night. I hope he is quickly declared safe tonight so we can get one of his great smiles.
Hey everybody whose new here! Welcome!
I’m so excited about today. I think hes safe. =)
*squishes LB2*
RollTide, you could be on to something there, re: Blake seeming a little down. He looked really crushed after Randy’s remarks. Think there’s any chance the judges might apologize to him if they liked it better on TV? They did it with Kat last year.
Hi
new to this fantastic site. Great work.
I feel Blake got lots of votes last night and will be safe early. I think everyone came out to vote after last week b3. I was thinking 50 mill votes max total, 65 mill wow!
I agree with everything you guys are saying. He’s just not a crooner and has been forced into this mode by the themes and trying to take this competition seriously (not like Chris) and take the judges comments to heart. I felt badly especially after Randy, who we know Blake admires. Blake’ll really rock once he can do his thing without risking Simon “just not getting it”. But I still thought he sounded really good with Imagine and the mp3 of WTSGB. He can sing for sure.
It’s a nice thought that the judges might reconsider last night….
*waves at Cat*
I haven’t downloaded Imagine yet, but LOVE WTSGB. I’m sure Imagine is great too. I’ll get it tonight. I love his voice.
waves back
Listening to my new download of Imagine. Ahhhhhh…….love me some Blake.
RollTide- Yeah, the caps were pretty sad! Tonight’s will be better. Save the boxer, save the world! Next week, let’s hear some beatboxing!!!
I feel a little guilty because my daughter wants to vote for Jordin and I’m hogging the line voting for Blake all night!
Save the beatboxer, save the world!
Jenlar, sometimes our children don’t know what’s best for them (voting for Blake).
Luckily, being the Keane fans that they are, mine have loved Blake since he sang Somewhere Only We Know.