AI Results Show 2/28/08

Last night was elimination night for 4 unlucky contestants.

Ryan made fun of Simon’s moose head thing!

 

I liked the first group song. I think it showcased some solo talent really well. David Archuleta is so good! Kristy Lee Cook sounded great on it too.  Carly did well. Chikezie wasn’t very good.First to go was none other than Jason Yeager. Poor guy. It was time. Danny Noriega looked stupified when the announcement was made. Jason said that he tried to mentally prepare for elimination this week based on the judges’ criticism. Simon was still mean to him after the elimination. He did say he’s not a bad singer though.

Next eliminated was another pick of mine, Alexandrea Lushington. The back row of girl stood up (Asia’h is SHORT). Kristy Lee is safe, Asia’h is safe, Brooke is safe. It’s down to Amanda and Alexandrea. I think Alexandrea knew it was her at this point. She had a tough time taking it in. She performed her song again and David Archuleta started crying some pretty serious tears.

 

Next elimination was a shock to me. Alaina Whitaker and Kady Malloy were called down together. One was in bottom three girls, one got the lowest number of votes. Alaina is out. Ramiele looked shocked.  Poor Alaina was crying and said “I can’t sing.” Ryan hugged her. Aww. Ryan really is a nice guy I think. Paula stood to clap for her. Danny was crying. Alaina did a good job of overcoming her emotions to put on a pretty good performance.

Front row of guys stood up, Robbie and Luke were called to the center. Robbie is eliminated. He pins it on song choice. Simon said it “never, ever felt real.” Robbie Carrico sings us out.

Prenatal Vitamins – out -

AI Top 10 Girls

The girls did well overall for 70s night. The outfits weren’t as crazy as I might have expected (or hoped).

First up was Carly Smithson.

Her mini bio was about working at an Irish bar close to her home. She sang “Crazy on You.” It was a great performance. She looked wonderful and her song and performance were right on target. I really like her once I get past her record deal past. Her tattoos were in full view last night. Well, at least the ones that are safe for TV viewing. J

Syesha Mercado was next.

We saw a clip of her playing a mother on a commercial. She’s good! Maybe she’ll have some talent scouts after her if she gets booted soon. She sang “Me and Mr. Jones.” It was a good performance. I wish she’d belted it out a little more. She did really well with the higher, louder notes and then immediately lost her charm when she fell into her low register.

Brooke White is a beauty school drop-out.

She quit beauty school to pursue music. She could not have chosen a better song. She sang “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon. It was great! She played her guitar at the beginning, but it seemed a nuisance at the end. Simon loved it. He said that she sang well and it connected.

“Lullaby Malubay” ha!

I guess now we know how to pronounce her last name – it rhymes with lullaby. I don’t quite get her appeal. My mom loves her. She hasn’t blown me away since her initial audition, but I did love that audition. She can hula dance. She sang “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” Randy said it was “just really ok.” I think it comes down to a bad song choice on her part.

Girl-next-door Kristy Lee Cook was quite shiny last night.

Her outfit must’ve been made from satin or something. She is a tomboy. Well, we knew that already. “You’re No Good” was her song. She sings well, she’s just very green. She needs some experience. She never really got into her performance. I think she’s scared of really getting into it. It was good. She has a lot of potential.

Cruella DeVille, I mean Amanda Overmyer was number 6 out of the gate last night.

She kinda went overboard with that hair. She’s the bookworm. Nice quirk to have. She was rocking out last night with the hair, the pants, the song “Carry On My Wayward Son.” It wasn’t bad. The judges did not like it.

Youngster Alaina Whitaker sang the classic “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”

She doesn’t like it when her food touches. She is a very natural singer. It wasn’t forced. It was very good. I really like her.

Oh ouch. Alexandrea Lushington was next.

Let’s start with that outfit of her. Eww. That’s a definite don’t. Boys’ cargo pants, a t-shirt with a zip-up hoodie, and bootie heels. Yuck. Anywho, the song wasn’t any better. She sang “If You Leave Me Now.” Look’s like she’ll be leaving us now. Her only comment after she sang “well, it’s over.”

What’s the deal with Simon holding his hand straight out from his head? He looks like an elk or moose or something. Stupid.

Coming in at number 9 is Kady Malloy, my fellow Texan.

She sings opera in her bathroom. I think she could sing opera just fine on stage too. She sang. “Magic Man.” It was not her best performance. I liked her outfit. I think she’s very talented and should stick around for a while.

We did not save the best for last on girls’ night. Asia’h (superfluous ‘h) Epperson the cheerleader sang “All By Myself.”

How did the judges like this? She totally missed a note, like it didn’t even come out. She is not an experienced enough singer for this song. It was really bad on the low notes. The extensions don’t do her any favors either. David Hernandez looked like he was in pain as he listened to her sing.

Going home tonight: Alexandrea Lushington and Asia’h Epperson

Prenatal Vitamins – Out (Wonder why Ryan doesn’t do that anymore?

I know you’re reading this, so comment! That’s half the fun is the discussion. Do you agree with what I said? Do you think I’m an idiot for something I said? Let me know.

 

AI Top 10 Guys

Last night was the performance night for the Top 10 American Idol male contestants. The theme was hits from the 70s. Last week was the 60s. Does that mean next week is the 80s? Whatever.

Starting us off was Michael Johns, the Australian guy. His little “interesting thing about me” clip was about his love of tennis. He sang “You can go your own way.” It was bad. The peanut gallery at my house piped in with “that’s terrible.” I have to agree. Was he sick? Is there some excuse for the bad notes?

Jason Castro’s interview was all about how he hates doing interviews. It was entertaining. He sang “I just want to be your everything.” It was good, but not as good as last week. He’s got a nice bohemian sound. I think he has beautiful teeth too.

Third was Luke “no personality” Menard. I don’t even remember what his bit was about. Oh yeah, acapella singing. Not very exciting. “Killer queen” was his song, one I’d never heard of. His only saving grace is that he looks like Orlando Bloom. The song was awful. There was no melody and it was awkward.

Robbie Carrico attempted to look tough by doing the drag racing thing. It would have been more interesting if it was drag dressing. He sang “Hot Blooded.” It was more like warm blooded when he sang it though. He tries to be a rocker. He thinks he is a rocker. But it’s like Clay Aiken singing rock or Ozzy Osborne singing opera. It just doesn’t work. I bet he was better when he was with Boyz ‘n Girlz United.

Number 5 was our favorite little pretty boy, Danny Noriega. Back story was being in a punk screamo band. I love this kid. He makes me smile and laugh and have a good time. His performances are always entertaining. He sang “Superstar.” He has a nice smooth voice. I just can’t get over the girl pants. Simon said “The camera loves you.” That’s actually a compliment, I think.

Whoo! for David Hernandez. He used to be a gymnast. Now he’s a SINGER. Whoo baby that was a good performance. “Papa was a rolling stone” was his song choice. He sang with emotion, it was the best so far.

Jason Yeager’s “interesting” back story was about being a self-taught musician. He doesn’t have enough personality for TV. He sang “Long Train Runnin.” I don’t really remember the performance. My notes say “not so good, wanted to cry after.” Simon was not very nice. Jason was not very humble “we’re all great singers at this point.” Or something to that effect…

Contestant number 8 was Chickeze Eze. He told us how you really say his name. He sang “I Believe to my Soul.” I didn’t know the song. He had a great time singing it and really did well. Simon said it was “a million times better.”

David Cook is the word nerd. Simon thought the back story was boring. David played the guitar with his performance of “All Right Now.” His hair is bad. His performance was good. It was the best I’ve seen him. There is a nice edge to his voice and I think having the guitar helped him.

Best was saved for last. David Archuleta told us about singing for Kelly Clarkson when he was 11. We saw a video clip, I guess from a cell phone. He sang John Lennon’s “Imagine.” The arrangement worked well. He blew us away with that. My peanut gallery said “Chill bumps!” “Download it!” and “Umh!” He’s got great presence and an amazing talent.

My prediction for the two going home: Luke Menard and Jason Yeager.

Jennifer Lopez baby bliss

 

All the celebrity news sites are full of J. Lo baby news. She and hubby Marc Anthony have not released any photos of the babies or a personal statement. We have, however, heard from Sean P. Diddy Combs, Leah Rehmini, Marc’s sister, Ali Larter, Kate Beckinsale, Rachael Ray, and Paula Abdul, People reports.

Ali Larter offered this gem, “Get ready for the most amazing ride of your life. You don’t even understand it until they’re in your arms. It’s amazing.”

Kate Beckinsale said “Get some sleep now. You’ll never sleep again!”

Sean P. Diddy Combs, J. Lo’s former flame is reportedly sending over Sean John baby clothes and said “It’s double the love, and it’s also double the crying and the screaming, so it’s a unique blessed situation. It’s a rarity to have twins. She’ll be all right.”

Paula Abdul offered this “She is so maternal by nature. To see that happen for someone who deserves that … congratulations to her. I’m really happy.”

And Rachael Ray kept it in the food family “definitely indulge in the food she craves.” Even better? “Have Marc prepare it for her,”

People magazine has reportedly paid $5 million for the exclusive first photos of J. Lo and her twins. (Christina Aguilera only got $1 million for her photos and was not happy with the results).

Pregnant? Try Promise Prenatal Vitamins.

Britney gets a visit with the kids

Emily here, your prenatal vitamins blogger. Today’s news is about the one and only Britney Spears. The pop tartlet hadn’t seen her children since January 3. Now, thanks to Papa (Jamie) Spears, Britney is getting some things back together. Obviously she can’t be left alone with her children, but she did see them. She spent three hours with Sean Preston and Jayden James on Saturday morning in the company of her father, a lawyer, and one of K Fed’s bodyguards.

These poor kids. I hope for their sake that Brit gets it together. I’m glad that her dad has stepped in and taken some much needed control of the situation.

Maybe more times like this are in store:

Angelina Jolie is quite pregnant again

As far as I know there still has not been an official statement from the Jolie-Pitt camp, but wearing this outfit makes no doubt about it. She’s pregnant:

I hope this baby machine has found good prenatal vitamins.

Jennifer Lopez has her babies

In case you haven’t heard, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are now the proud parents of a baby girl and baby boy. The twins were born at 12:12 and 12:23 at a Long Island hospital early Friday morning. Emme was born first, weighing in at 5 pounds 7 ounces.  Max was born 11 minutes later, weighing in at 6 pounds.

Let’s all hope the twins are healthy. I’m sure they will be loved and that J. Lo and Marc are very excited. Big congrats go out to the new parents. I hope she took her prenatal DHA and some great prenatal vitamins. 

American Idol Results Show

Emily here, your Prenatal Vitamins blogger. Let me begin by saying this…I got 3 out of 4 guesses right!

The show opened with a group song. I don’t know what they sang. What does it really matter? The guys looked great in their suits and the girls had on some interesting 60s outfits. The song was good and we got a close up of cute little David Archuleta. His hair was different last night. It was gelled and looked cute.  

Ryan eliminated a guy first. I think that was by far the fastest result we’ve ever seen on AI. He called Garrett Haley up first said something like “at this point it’s hard to say goodbye to anyone, but we have to say it now-to you.” Whew! Ryan, give the poor kid a break! He had to have known it was coming, but still that was a little rough. Although as a viewer I really liked that he didn’t just drag it out forever.

After more patter and commercials, it was time for a girl to go home. Ryan once again got right to it and called up Amy Davis. I felt sorry for the poor girl. You could tell that she really wanted to cry, but she had to sing her way out. I think that more than anything, song choice is what killed her this week.

More filler and then another guy gets the axe. This time Ryan called up Chikeze and Colton. I knew at this point that one of my elimination guesses was wrong (my other choice was Luke Menard). He talked about what each of them sang and then said goodbye to Colton. See, this is why the judges should have kept Kyle Ensley instead of Colton. He couldn’t even hold on past week 1. Kyle’s charm would have at least gotten him to week 2.

Back to the girls. Ryan called up Amanda Overmyer and Joanne Borgella. Talked about what they sang, gave Joanne the obvious news. She sang her way out and that was that.

So in the end I was happy. No one that I loved was gone and three out of four that I hoped would leave did leave. Luke Menard only got through on his good looks. But hey people, looks fade.

I didn’t recognize Carly with her hair pulled back like that last night. She looked pretty though. Kristy Lee Cook’s hair was interesting. She’s definitely got the girl next door look. Lots of guys like that though, so it should work to her advantage.

Kyle Ensley

Baby sign language

This morning on the local morning news they did a segment on babies learning sign language. It was an interesting idea. Babies learn sign language the same way that they learn to speak, but babies can perform sign language at as early as 4 months.

The segment showed children signing: please, thank you, more, eat, hurt, and drink. It was amazing to watch these children signing. It was obvious that they actually understood what they were doing and that by making these signs they could get what they wanted.

This sign language idea is one more reason to take DHA along with your prenatal vitamins while nursing. DHA can improve infant attention span and brain development.

Top 12 Girls

So last night was the top 12 girls. The flu hit the American Idols, yet they pushed on. I’ll try to talk about them in the order they sang.

Kristy Lee Cook had bronchitis. She sang “Rescue Me.” I personally think the song was her pleading to the voters. It was very lackluster. She has a good voice, but to use one of Simon’s words, it was “karaoke.” Maybe it was just because she was sick. I guess I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Joanne Borgella sang “I Say A Little Prayer.” Honestly, without reviewing last night’s performance right now, I can’t tell you a thing about it. So that must mean something–forgettable. She hasn’t impressed me yet. She’s a very pretty girl, but maybe she’s just that.

Alaina Whitaker was perhaps my favorite performer last night. She’s “only 16!” Well, as of today she’s 17. She sang “More Today Than Yesterday.” It was a very mature vocal performance. She had a good time and looks kinda like Carrie Underwood.

Amanda Overmyer was her usual rocking self. She sang “Baby Please Don’t Go.” The only words I could understand were the skat words. She’s got an edge and a definitly unique voice. I just don’t think I’d buy her album. I’d love to hear her try to sing a ballad.

Amy Davis reminds me of Winnie from “The Wonder Years.” Sweet, demure looking girl. Boring. The song choice could prove fatal for her AI career. She sang “Where the Boys Are.” My mom loved the song, but she knew it when it was new. As a 22 year-old I can’t say I was too taken by it.

Brooke White had on makeup! And her hair wasn’t frizzy! She sang “Happy Together” which Simon described as very “yellow.” The song was well suited to her voice. It was a nice performance, but not one for the record books. I like Brooke. I hope she sticks around.

Alexandrea Lushington is another young pup in the competition. She gave a great initial audition with her great-grandmother waiting outside for the results. Last night Alexandrea sang “Spinning Wheel.” It was a very energetic and fun performance. Her outfit couldn’t have fit her personality any better. She sang well. I think her energy alone is enough to keep her around for at least another week.

Kady Malloy did not receive the props she deserved. She sang with such great maturity. You would never have known that the song had the word “groovy” in it just by listening to her sing it. It sounded to me like something that could be on the radio today. She has a slightly Celine Dion-like quality to her voice that I really like. A very pretty girl with a great voice. Hey if AI doesn’t work for her maybe she can impersonate Britney Spears as a career. She does a better Britney than Britney does.

Asia’h (excuse me, the spelling is a bit much for me. Do we really need the ‘h?) tried to play the diva angle. She sang “Take Another Piece of My Heart.” It was good. I’m not disputing that. I just didn’t get too excited about it.

Ramiele Malubay’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” was my mom’s favorite performance of the night. She has a great big voice for such a small girl. I love the tone and quality of her voice. I guess I just don’t like 60s love ballads. And the hair. Ick.

Syesha Mercado has great energy. I was really impressed with her on Hollywood Week. She sang “Tobacco Road” last night. She did well, but I couldn’t help but think of Taylor Hick’s performance of the same song 2 years ago. I think he’s got the monopoly on it.

Carly Smithson closed out the night with “Shadow of Your Smile.” I’ll be honest-I didn’t even really listen to it. I’m kinda over her because of the backstory. She’s obviously good or she wouldn’t have been signed once already. She did touch on that last night, but basically blamed the record label saying that they “imploded.” Regardless, she still only sold 400 copies of it.

My pick for the two going home tonight: Amy David and Joanne Borgella.

Top 12 Guys Recap

Emily again, your Prenatal Blogger. So last night was guys’ night. I can’t say that I was blown away by the whole thing. They were good, but only one really made me stand up and dance. Any guesses as to who it was?

That’s right. David Archuleta. That kid just makes me smile. I can’t help it. To use Paula’s word, he’s “infectious.” It was so cute at the end when Ryan said “you can only vote for him, you can’t adopt him” and David nudged Ryan with his elbow. This kid has the teenage girl vote in the bag. He sang “Shop Around” and boy was it fun. The best thing to do to fully understand his talent is to listen to it without watching him. Then open your eyes and see this little kid singing with that big voice. Whew. It was great.

My next favorite was Jason Castro. He was virtually invisible until the elimination night for the Top 24. I am not fond of the icky dreads, but he really is a good looking guy. I LOVE that they are letting them play instruments this year. It’s not like he was playing some amazing guitar licks or something, but it was nice to have the accompaniment.

Simon was his usual surly self. My mother said “I wish someone would run over him with a car.” Then later “I wish someone would run over him with a bus.” Then later still “I wish someone would run over him with a tank.” I think she doesn’t care for the man.

David Hernandez was good, and of course cute. He didn’t blow me away, but it was a good way to start the night.

Chikezie was sooo off key! How could none of the judges comment on that?!?! The first few lines of the song were almost unbearable. Ugh.

The whole time Colton Berry was singing all I could think was “They passed up sweet Kyle for this?!?!” He was such a drama queen. The song he sang was a tragic song and he kept up his stupid little theater smile the WHOLE TIME. Ugh. I hope he’s gone.

By far, the most forgettable performance of the night was Luke Menard. I barely remember his name. He sang something. Who knows what. It was slow. It was boring. It was not of the caliber it should be for a Top 24 performance.

David Cook was OK. I just don’t like him. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the bad hair. And boy is it some bad hair. Whew.

Robbie C was good. He tries to look like a rocker but sounds more like John Mayer or Josh Kelley. A good smooth voice, but no real rock quality.

Michael Johns is one good looking man. He has great hair (maybe David C could get a tip from him). He delivered a nice performance. Nothing to write home about.

Danny Noriega cracks me up. He came out singing Elvis. He has a good voice, but I agreed with the judges that it was a safe choice for him. I’d like to see that attitude and belting like we got in “Proud Mary” in his original audition.

Who am I missing? Ohhh…Garrett Haley. This is the guy we didn’t see until he got picked for the Top 24. We didn’t ever hear his voice until last night. And to be honest, I could have gone without ever hearing his voice. He’s a sweet little 17 year-old with zero shot at making it past this week.

Jason Yeager is the other. He’s the one with the birth mark in his hair giving him the old school Jay Leno look (black hair with a white spot in front). His little boy was there for the show. He sang “Moon River.” It was a really good performance, but unless you know the song and have some sentimental attachment to it, it is really easy to forget (like I just did). I think he’s good and I’d like to see him again.

 My picks for the 2 going home this week: Garrett Haley and Luke Menard.

My take on the Carly Hennessy/Smithson issue

If you have watched American Idol AT ALL this year then you have seen and heard Carly Hennessy. She has been getting the Idol pimp since the first episode. Actually, since the commercials started. She’s the Irish girl with all the tattoos. See:

 If you have read the paper or anything Idol online, you’ve heard that she had a record deal. She was signed by MCA and produced an album in 2001. They spent $2 million to produce and promote the album, but FLOP–it was a disaster. She sold 400 albums. I know people who have sold more than that out of the back of a van! Anyway, the big hubub is because she was signed. She did put out an album. It was a major label. She was touted as the answer to Britney Spears. She was supposed to be that big. Well, she wasn’t. She went back to Ireland, married a tattoo artist and now is back in the States on Idol. Oh wait, there’s more… this isn’t her first time on Idol.

Carly auditioned for Season 5 of Idol and got a golden ticket but then had problems with her Visa. Well we’ve hread Simon refer to this a zillion times. She was better the first time. Yeah, yeah. She’s good. I’m not disputing that. But does she deserve to be on Idol? She already had on heckuva shot in 2001. I think at this point though, even if she gets cut on the first round, she’s made her face and name known. People are already buying her album again on iTunes and at Amazon. There’s even a music video for one of the songs that you can download on iTunes. She’ll get another record deal, try to record a different style than the Britney copycat and we’ll see.

Methinks this will make good TV. Speaking of…tonight is the guys’ night for Idol. I can’t wait to see what my Davids (Hernandez and Archuleta, not Cook) have in store for me.

Christina Aguilera – Baby! Mama!, I mean Baby mama

Emily here, your Promise Prenatal blogging friend. Today I’d like to talk Xtina news. In case you missed it, she had her baby. Max Liron was born January 12. February 6 found Xtina out promoting her new box CD set.

Now we all know that pregnancy changes your body. But WOW, her belly wasn’t the only part of her to gain 25 pounds. From the looks of it, you’d think she was nursing twins.

Top 24

Well, as far as elimination shows go, last night’s was fairly gentle. I have to say I was VERY upset when Kyle Ensley got the boot. He was one of the final two guys to go in for judgement. It did make me feel better, however, that Simon told Kyle that he didn’t agree with the decision to cut him. I think Kyle had great charm that made him lots of fun to watch.

I am not so excited for Kristy Lee Cook. I think she was OK, but as I said yesterday, you need more than one trick up your sleeve. In the top 12 girl re-cap at the end where they were dancing, my boyfriend commented “whoa girl, get a pole” when she was dancing. Didn’t I tell you she’s a hoochie?

Moving on… of course David Archuleta made it to the top 24. He’s great, sweet, and young. Last year’s catch phrase was “and you’re only 17!” talking about Jordin Sparks. Looks like we may be in for more of the same (David turned 17 in December).

There were several new faces in the top 24. I guess the producers figure if you make it that far you’ll get face time in the coming episodes, so show more interesting people before they get cut.

Our homeless friend Josiah was also cut yesterday. I liked him, but don’t really have any sympathy. You can’t show that much attitude to Simon without backing it up with some powerful vocals. And he just didn’t deliver.

 I know you may think “why is this blog called Prenatal Vitamins, yet this girl is talking about American Idol?” The answer is PR. We want traffic to the prenatal health site, so we set this up. Keep coming here for your American Idol and other celeb information and bear with me on the pregnancy stuff.

American Idle

Is it just me or was last night’s episode of American Idol a total snooze fest? I did, obviously, watch the whole thing but sheesh! Thank goodness for DVR. I started the show about 45 minutes late so that I could fast forward through all of the commercials. If I didn’t have DVR I don’t think I would have spent those 2 hours in front of the TV for that.

My favorite person from last night’s episode was the 16 year old boy, David Archuleta. If you missed him, or don’t remember, check him out …

And yeah, yeah, he was on Star Search a few years ago and actually won, but hey THAT didn’t make a career for him. American Idol is the way to get some serious PR. I have no problem with it. I like to hear him sing. So deal, people.

Kristy Lee Cook barely squeaked by, having to perform the second day with the group. She reverted back to her “Amazing Grace” trick. I’m sorry, but I wish people would sing something other than the ONE song they’re good at. Rumors of nudie pictures of Kristy Lee have been circulating online. Seems to me she’s not the sweet little country girl she wants us to think she is. Maybe if she doesn’t make it on Idol, she can hit up playboy.

Now that I think about it, there was one other person I loved from last night, David Hernandez. Apparently I’ve got a thing for the Davids. He has dimples that make me melt. Oh, and he sang well too. I’d love to hear him cover a Rascal Flatts song.

Ryan had on a bit too much makeup last night. He had ‘coon eyes from all that eyeliner. But hey, we still love him.

Oh and wait … I just remembered who else I loved from last night. Kyle Ensley. The kid with the glasses from Oklahoma that wants to be governor. I can totally see him marrying my best friend. He’s so adorable and sweet and Southern. I’m sure that if he was elected he’d do great things like universal healthcare and free prenatal vitamins for pregnant moms and low-cost senior housing.

 Well, I guess it wasn’t too bad after all.