Gwynethmania

STRIPPER STRIPPED

Sadly, it's the end of the road for one of my favorites. This week, Danny Hernandez leaves American Idol. The stripper scandal might have had an effect on the result. I guess the scandal with the New York governor being involved in a prostitution ring is too much to handle by the Americans that's why they voted off the former stripper from the show. I'm just kidding.

Honestly, performance-wise, my bets didn't do well with their performances except for Carly and Michael. Ramiele's performance was so-so; David A. forgot some of his lines; Syesha's performance was also mediocre; and, David H overdid his.

Anyway, I really think Brooke's performance was also boring.

By the way, they keep on saying that this season, it's all about the youth. Then how come they make the contestants sing songs from the Lennon-McCartney songbook. I mean, that's way too old for the youth. Don't tell me it's classic. Some of the contestants are below 20 years old. They don't even know that the Beatles proclaimed themselves as more popular that Jesus. You might be thinking ... how come they were able to sing songs from the 60's and 70's? Oh come on, simple math. There are more songs in the 60's/70's songbook compared to the Lennon-McCartney's.

Anyway, I'm just glad that the rest of my bets will be given a chance to redeem themselves.

FULL CIRCLE

Why full circle? Because as of this week, we now have this season's Top 12 hopefuls for that coveted spot as the next American Idol. This is the reason why they even started this search - to come to this point; to find out who is the best.

I'm very happy to know that my bets are still included in the list. This week we say adios to Luke Menard, Danny Noriega, Asia'h Epperson, and Kady Malloy. I was somewhat disappointed that Noriega and Epperson got voted off. They're not great singers but they sure are better than the others who should have been voted off. Anyway, it's also a popularity contest aside from being a singing contest (take Sanjaya as evidence)

Here's the list of those who made it to the Top 12:
*Amanda Overmyer
* Brooke White
* Carly Smithson
* Chikezie Eze
* David Archuleta
* David Cook
* Danny Hernandez
* Jason Castro
* Kristy Lee Cook
* Michael Johns
* Ramiele Malubay
* Syesha Mercado

So there you have it. It's time to move on to the bigger stage at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. If you're from the US and you are reading this, please, please, I beg of you ... please vote for my favorites: Ramiele Malubay, David Archuleta, Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, Syesha Mercado, and Danny Hernandez. Thanks!

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Full circle because Celine is already dead. It's a very sad ending to the Celine-JB love story I'm not a big fan of Maging Sino Ka Man (roughly translated as Whoever you are) but that episode was a real tear-jerker.

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There are so many things to blog about but I guess since I'm in my parents' place, my blogging time would be limited. I'm only sharing with my dad's PC. If he needs it, I have to go.

I also wouldn't be able to play online games. It's Lenten season, no online games installed on my dad's pc, so I guess my ass can rest hahaha.

Oh yeah, by the way, I have a new PC. Thanks to my sis and bro for the help picking the peripherals needed, we were able to build a cool PC in PC Corner. Argh. I'm far from my new PC. I won't be able to use it again for about 2 weeks I guess.

I have to sacrifice buying a PSP for that new PC :( I went to my cousin's place today, he has a PSP and he has Naruto installed! Dang it's Naruto!. NA-R-U-T-O. I guess I can buy a PSP when I already have a job. If my CRT did not die on me, I might have been able to buy a PSP, Oh well... i'm tired ... till next time. Ciao!

STAYING ALIVE

Being in a vehicle still gives me the creeps. Especially when it's going more than 60Kph. Not many people know this (my family included) that I was in car crash before. Seated beside my classmate who was driving his sister's car, everything went by really, really fast. We didn't have any seatbelt on. I think we were going more than 80kph that time. I didn't dare take a picture of the wrecked car because I was really freaked out that time. We were en route to our duty in Bulacan (Brgy. Sapang Palay, San Jose del Monte) when the accident happened.

The impact was so hard that the rear view mirror was removed from its hinge and hit me on the head. I'm really thankful that I was holding on to the hand bar that time. I'm also thankful that we did not fly through the glass. The door locks were jammed, the left front wheel was removed from its sockets, the hood was a total mess. Nobody died and we only sustained minor injuries.

I'm not a goodlooking person but I could never forgive myself if I died that time. I don't want to die ugly hahaha. "Vain - I bet you think this song is about you ..." Just kidding ...

SWEET SIXTEEN, BITTER FOUR

This week, we say goodbye to Alexandréa Lushington, Alaina Whitaker, Jason Yeager, and Robbie Carrico. I can't say much about these people because mainly they're not bad singers. They can sing but I guess it all boils down to the right choice of song to perform.

It's been two weeks and from what I can see, it's not important if you love the song. What's important is that you should impress the judges and the people. A lot of them would say, "I really love that song and I'm glad I was able to sing it here," only to find out that their performance would suffer and the judges would just call it mediocre.

What the judge are looking for are performances wherein the contestants can showcase their talent. If they can belt, they should choose songs with high notes. If they're good with blues, they should use that as an advantage. It's good to take risks but make sure that you can make it. I say Asiah did a very big risk by singing a Celine Dion classic (All By Myself). She almost didn't make it. That's what I'm talking about. You can take risks but make sure you're better than the original.

American Idol Top 24 Photo Widget

AND THEN THERE WERE 20

It's the end of the road for American Idol Season 7 hopefuls Garrett Haley, Amy Davis, Joanne Borgella, and Colton Berry.

I wasn't really impressed as well with their performances. Garrett, who, if you have read my previous blogs did not have any video of his previous audition performances, sounded like a violin. Amy, who sang Where The Boys Are, didn't put too much emotion on her performance. It was like she and the song were two different entities. Colton, who Simon didn't want to be included in the top 24, did a performance that looked like it was really exaggerated. Joanne, was a real disappointment. Bad choice of song I guess although she could have easily nailed I Say A Little for You. Hmmm, she might have caught the flu that time. She was really great in her auditions, really dunno what happened to her Top 24 performance.

So now we only have 20 contestants left. Yipee for my favorites who are still on the list. Randy, Paula, and Simon simply adored the performances of David Archuleta and Ramiele Malubay. Ramiele, being a big fan of Lani Misalucha, did her own rendition of the Lani revival of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. She did great performance. David A. was really into the song when he did his performance. Being a pro at performing, he did not find it hard to be confident on stage.

This coming Tue (Wed, Phils time), I hope to see more great performances from my favorites. Keep voting for my favorites please. Thanks!

AMERICAN IDOL TOP 24 -- NOW IT'S OFFICIAL

Now it's official -- no more rumors, even though the rumors were correct :) Hollywood week of the American Idol season 7 has finally ended and we now have the top 24. Hollywood week this season was completely different from previous seasons. For one, there is no more group performances, which I think is a real pain in the "B." Hollywood week was all about solo performances. A first in Idol history, during the first round of elimination, the hopefuls were allowed to use instruments during their performances. Some used the keyboards, one used drums, several others used guitars, and still others just relied on their voices. During the first round, if the judges think their performance was good enough, they will automatically advance to the third round, which would be the elimination for the top 50. However, if the judges think that you didn't do well, you can still have a chance by advancing to the second round, wherein they would have to sing in a capellla. The second round is a do-or-die round. If you're not good enough, it's the end of the road. If the judges think you have what it takes, they will let you advance.

Ok now, the third round ... on this round, the contestants would have to sing a song out of a list of 200. They have to choose one. Another Idol first, is that a full band, complete with three background singers would accompany the contestant during his/her performance -- pretty much like the setup for the Top 24 elimination. This is also a do-or-die round. If you do well, you'll advance to the Top 50. This is where it gets hard for the judges. Out of the chosen 50, they have to deliberate as to who will have the chance to be included in the Top 24 and advance to the live performances next week.

Ok, to make the long story short, remember the rumored top 24 from my previous post? Well, they are indeed the official top 24. I would just like to make a correction regarding my last post, since we were all in a blur, the photos of the supposedly top 24 taken by some paparazzi(?) were in fact photos of the top 50 on their way to the elimination for the top 24. So anyway, here are the top 24 contestants for American Idol Season 7:



Now if you want to see clips of the top 24 contestants during the Hollywood week, you can view them on the following videos (some contestants didn't have any performance videos, sorry you can only see them on one video) plus you can also click on their names to see their bio on americanidol.com:

* Garrett Haley, Kady Malloy, Chikezie Eze, Amy Jean Davis, Alaina Whitaker, Jason Yeager

* Jason Castro, Luke Menard, Alexandréa Lushington



* Danny Norriega





* David Cook





* David Hernandez





* Michael Johns





* Robbie Carrico





* Colton Berry





* David Archuleta





* Kristy Lee Cook





* Amanda Overmyer






* Joanne Borgella



* Brooke White





* Syesha Mercado





* Asia'h Epperson





* Carly Smithson





... and finally, a FILIPINA on the Idols season 7 ... presenting ...

* Ramiele Malubay





Well, there you go ... the official Top 24 for the American Idol Season 7. Please, please, if you're from the US and are reading this, please support my favorites on my behalf. Please support Ramiele Malubay, David Archuleta, Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, David Hernandez, and Syesha Mercado -- in order of preference. Although I have not listened to the other contestants yet, these would be my favorites so far.