I wish I would have had my Sunjaya Faux-Hawk pictures with me. I'm pretty sure we could have made the TV show- Reality Chat. They were interviewing people with interesting American Idol stories. Oh well... it would have been embarrassing. I can see the headline now "Conservative Gerontology Social Worker for the State of Idaho sports a Sunjaya Inspired Faux-Hawk in Her Off Hours."
Now, a little about the show: Go see it. Contrary to many other opinions, I think Season 6 is chock full of talent.
The show is set up like a review, with solo, duets and group performances all mixed together. The show moves at a quick pace and is very entertaining. I enjoyed this year’s show just as much as the time I saw Clay Aiken's and Rueben Studdard AI group. There are quite a few standout performances. Anybody who is sitting on the fence about attending the show–get down and to your local Select-A-Seat, pronto.
Here are few of my opinions on the American Idol Performers...
Sunjaya: The talent-free hairball that is Sanjaya was one of the first performers of the night. And wouldn't you know it, he still can't sing a lick! He is just as bad in person as he was on TV. He is totally vocally challenged. He resorted to the same head-shaking antics that previously made me want to throw my television out the nearest window.
Fun to watch and laugh at... but a little pitchy! The tweens love him though. The girls behind me screamed his name for 3 hours straight!
Phil Stacey: For me, he was the vocal stand-out of the night. I was surprised to hear the bald guy nail everything he tackled, including the lead on "Hey Jude," which the all the AI guys played themselves.
The TV show just scratched the surface of Phil's charisma. He was so relaxed and personable... probably because he didn't have to deal with Simon glaring at him!
Blake Lewis: Oh my beloved beat boxer! He kept proving how well he sings, and not just how well he can turn his body into a percussion instrument.
His take on Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity" is priceless. He has so much personality and charisma. I would pay to see him in concert by himself. Lucky for me, he took up a lot of stage time last night... seeming to be in on so many people's segments.
Chris Richardson: Blake's buddy and Jordin's boyfriend... Chris truly comes across as a nice guy. He had a lot of the tour spotlight on his buzzed-cut noggin. He is super cute and we got to hear him sing a lot of songs.
He wasn't "nasally" like Simon always said he was on the show. I liked Chris a lot by the end of the show.
Lakisha Jones: I'm not a huge fan of Lakisha (personally I think she should be at home with her child... and not on tv/tour for 6 months while someone else watches her daughter). However, her best moment last night came when she once again acknowledged that she was ignoring the popular opinion to never attempt a Whittney Huston song. Her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" just blew Whittney's out of the water. I got chills. When she ran up to the big glory note, she just attacked it like, "Yeah I nailed it. Did you have doubts?" I did.... But I won't get fooled again!
Melinda Doolittle: I felt like she was holding back too much, allowing herself to be overshadowed by other singers, especially LaKisha. She is a wonderful singer and fun to watch. She looked great and she has a fabulous pair of legs!
Chris Sligh: He was pretty forgetable. I was surprised to see him get behind the electric guitar and rock out to “Typical” (Mute Math). He was pretty sexy playing that guitar though!
Hayley Scarnato: She lack the talent of the others. Plus she looked trampy in all her performance numbers. She oozes sex (like that should be a surprise to us after her nude sex pictures hit the internet?). I kind of felt like her numbers didn't really fit with the "family atmosphere" of the rest of the show. She was still interesting to watch though.
Gina Glockson: I'll keep it simple... this girl can sing. I was blown away with the power of her voice. I also liked her funky sense of style. She really reminds me of a young Pat Benetar.
And finally, Jordin Sparks: For the first half of the show, Jordin seemed to be a footnote in her own victory/show. Everybody else seemed to have a lot more stage time.
But that was before the last 20 minutes, which then became the Jordin Show. She has such a stage presence when seen live. She delivered a solid, incredibly effortless performance. She surprised concert goers by playing an acoustic guitar (she's just learning) and harmonizing beautifully along with fellow strummer/boyfriend, Chris Richardson, on Rascal Flatts'song, "What Hurts The Most." Ahhh... pure bliss.
And here is my video... probably illegally recorded... of Blake's uncanny ability to beat box. There were absolutely no intruments used other than his voice:
