It’s obviously a special night on “
Tuesday marked the first day of the “Idol Gives Back” week. In addition to the six finalists’ performances, the show showed vignettes of the judges and Ryan visiting areas of poverty both in Africa and the United States.
On this night, all they were asking for is increased viewer votes, since each one brings a 10 cent donation from NewsCorp. Though that doesn’t seem like a ton of cash, it could lead to a $5 million donation if there are 50 million votes, meaning a particularly fast texter could bring in 20 bucks to help fight hunger.
The night was special enough to get Simon to dress in white instead of his usual black, and to have Ryan open the show by saying “The calls you make will not only save your favorite contestants (dramatic pause) — they will also save lives.
” It was not, however, special enough to get Ryan to shave.
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LaKisha Jones appears to be in the most danger of being sent home, though it wouldn’t be a shocker to see any of the three remaining men go instead.
Chris Richardson, 22, Chesapeake, Va.: Richardson kicked things off with “Change the World” by Eric Clapton.
Randy loved it and said Richardson was in it to win it. Even Simon enjoyed it. That may mean that the pre-show sentiment was coloring their judgment — it was fine vocally, but thin and understated even for a song as soft as this one.
Richardson has gone about as far as talent alone can take him; if he makes it much further it will be because his looks and personality are capturing attention. Stay or Go? Going first won’t do Richardson any favors.
He’ll probably find himself in the bottom three.
Melinda Doolittle, 29, Brentwood, Tenn.: Doolittle sang “There Will Come a Day,” by Faith Hill.
In four weeks, there likely will come a day when she’ll be crowned the Season 6 winner. In the meantime, she came through with her usual excellent effort. All the judges loved it, because she took an established song and made it her own.
Simon called it “a vocal master class,” and he was exactly right. Stay or Go? Doolittle set the bar high originally, but still gets better every week.
She’s safe.
Blake Lewis, 25, Bothell, Wash.: Was Blake Lewis really a beatboxer at the auditions?
That seems like years ago for Lewis, who’s been gimmick-free for weeks now and was so again in his performance of “Imagine” by John Lennon. In any other week, it would have been too maudlin, but it fit with the show’s theme and he did project sincerity. Still, Lewis might want to lay off the sentimental crooning in the future and show a little bit of that edge again soon.
Stay or Go? Lewis was in the bottom three last week, and may be there again this time around.
April 24: Since Sanjaya Malakar was voted off “American Idol” last week, he has been a guest at the White House and has delivered David Letterman’s top 10 list.
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