American Idol- Final 3

Last night was a very busy one for t.v. viewing with the terrific victory over the one left for dead Chicago Bulls over the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. After all that, I had to stay up very late to watch both American Idol and the GOP Presidential Debate, so this American Idol entry is coming just a few hours before the final contestant is sent home before the finals.

Last week, nobody was at all surprised when LaKisha Jones was eliminated, even though I strongly maintained that she was better than Blake Lewis.

Going into this week, I fully expected both Melinda and Jordin to outperform Blake for it to be a clear-cut choice (if the voting public went along) for an all ladies’ finale.

But song selection played a very important role in last night’s competition as in my opinion, one contestant was able to exceed expectations, another was able to meet them, and one might have fallen a little short at times.

The first of three rounds saw songs selected by the three judges. Nobody was bad this week in any round, but here is I how ranked this one:

1. Melinda Doolittle
2. Blake Lewis
3. Jordin Sparks

Simply put, Paula Abdul picked a much better song for Blake Lewis to succeed with than Simon Cowell did for Jordin Sparks.

Round two saw songs selected by the mysterious producers: Once again I had it:

1. Melinda Doolittle
2. Blake Lewis
3. Jordin Sparks

They were all really good in this round, and Jordin certainly did well, but it seemed like she had a couple slightly subpar moments in the song “She Works Hard for the Money.”

Finally, round three saw songs that the contestants themselves were able to pick. While Melinda and Jordin both did numbers that they had done earlier in the season, and were widely praised for, I do not remember Blake doing the song he did. Perhaps, he should or will get points for taking that route at least. This time I had it as:

1. Jordin Sparks
2. Blake Lewis
3. Melinda Doolittle

Melinda certainly was not bad here, but it seemed like she may had run out of gas a little doing her third song of the night, while Jordin was clearly at her best and Blake was very good in a contemporary sort of way too. He is a much better singer when he sticks to his natural voice instead of trying to totally change things around.

So, when you add all the positions together, and with the lowest number being the strongest, I had:

1. Melinda Doolittle- 5
2. Blake Lewis- 6
3. Jordin Sparks- 7

It is a surprise to me, and perhaps one that I am not necessarily happy about, but I think Blake may have earned a spot in the finale. Jordin has a lot going for her at the age of 17, but maybe just did not do what she had to do to blow people away in the first two rounds. Then again of course, she didn’t pick those songs. Perhaps, all those Hollywood liberals got wind of her Pro-Life activism and strong conservative views, and tried to sabotage her.

I do not think we should be surprised if any of the three are sent home. Melinda clearly deserves a spot in the finale, but her supporters may be lulled by overconfidence. If I am absolutely forced to pick who will be eliminated, I think it may be Jordin.