HEH. SHE SAID "NUTBUSH": See, I don't think they've had a song-and-dance performer as talented as Beatbox Blake before -- he's like everything Justin Guarini tried to be, only talented. His performance of Thicke's "When I Get You Alone" was better than Thicke's own performance last week, and he did his Maroon 5 thing quite nicely. And yet I can't advocate voting him into the finals, because his singing's just not up there with his performing. His "Roxanne" was weak, poorly interpreted and gimmicky. [Still, they have to get Sir Mix-A-Lot to the Kodak Theater for next Wednesday's finale to complete that duet.]
Melinda, I was worried about a bit, and you could see the gap between her and Tina Turner on "Nutbush City Limits". Melinda, at 29, just can't perform like Miss Turner still could at age 57, though her singing remains top-notch. And then, on "I'm A Woman," well, bringing the backup singers to the main stage was just such a nice close-the-circle move on her part, and I was sold. She deserves a chance to win this.
As for Jordin, for a while I've wanted her to win this competition. She's not as technically proficient as Melinda, but she's better with a live crowd, more radiant, more fun to watch. I wouldn't have brought back "I Who Have Nothing" this week, but she sang it awfully well.
Feinberg weighs in, and I want to echo his note that this is "the most wide-open an American Idol competition has ever been as of the Top Three." No one's clearly the weakest, like Nikki McKibbin or Elliot Yamin were, or so obviously ahead of the field like Fantasia Barrino in season three. I'd get rid of Blake, but YMMV.
Sepinwall says to worry about Jordin's chances, since whoever sings first in the final three always goes home.
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