"Who the hell’s counting anyway?"

Hello, true believers! Once again, it is I, your Chilean Karaoke God, here to preach to you about all that is Idol. I was absent last week, starting rehearsals for my first gig at the House of Blues, keep posted to the website for dates. One more shameless plug too. I hung out with Tamyra the other night, and her episode of Boston Public’s coming up. Watch it or I will hunt you down and be really, really upset. And now on with the show! And what a show these last two weeks have been, huh? Can we start with a moment of Internet silence for our dearly departed Frenchie. Please turn off all im’s. Pause whatever porn you’re currently downloading. This is serious people. I’m F*&^%ng pissed they booted her off the show! She was, to date, my hands-down favorite to win the thing...and I think that’s why she got the boot. Heaven forbid the winner of American Idol 2 have a past!

Well, obviously I was butt-a$$ wrong about the winners from the 1st group of 8. Y’all had to prove me wrong and throw out my whole "teeny-bopper" vote theory, didn’t you? No worries. I’m glad you all voted the two strongest singers in. Although I was waiting to see if Kimberly C. and Julia would get into a catfight over the last chair. I was all ready for some Crouching Tiger, Hidden Idol action...but they were like...nice to each other and stuff. Oh, well. And hello, am I REALLY happy with the winners from group 2! Ruben is also one of my top favorites to win the thing. By the way, what was the deal with the Seacrest sandwich between Ruben and his brother, cousin? Whatever, you know what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Rubin’s triumphant moment, and Seacrest getting painfully pummeled in the middle of it all. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan’s a cool guy and all...but can ya let a man celebrate with his family for a moment? Kim Locke...I got my eye on that girl. I think she’s the most solid all around of the four already chosen for the Top 10.

Now, on with tonights show! First up, we’ve got Kimberly Kelsey. Uhm, let me go on record by saying..."how many Kimberly’s are there in this show?" I mean, damn..we had the multiple J’s (RJ/EJAY/AJ) and that was hard enough to keep track of, and I spent the summer on the show WITH them. As a viewer, I can’t keep track of the Kim’s. Anyway, it’s all coming back to me now..which ironically is Kim K.’s song choice. She looked a bit nervous in the beginning, but hell...you try singing on national TV AND in front of Simon without throwing up. I think she had a strong finish, and a sweet tone to her voice. I don’t think she’ll move on tonight, but if she competes for the Wild Card I hope she goes less "belty" and more "sultry". She’s got that sweet/sexy kind of voice that makes me wanna...never mind.

Jordan Segundo’s up next, singing "For Your Love". It’s so nice to know I’m not the only Asian ever to make Finalist on the show. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming, huh...yeah, I’m half Filipino). And damn, did he do the community proud. I didn’t agree w/Simon and Randy. I thought he was solid from start to finish, and didn’t see boy band at all. He didn’t overwork it, or try and oversell himself. He had a good song, for a great voice. Vanessa Oli(something or other) is up next. She reminds me of a kinder, gentler...way more fun Nikki. I love her voice and her style...only I’d say pick a new hair color...the comparison to Nikki’s gonna hurt you later on if you push through to the 10. I love the fact that she seems so comfortable in her own skin. I want to see her make the 10. I also want to go clubbing with her..she seems like she’d be fun to hang out with.

Here comes Ricky "Heruuuleees" Smith! On one hand, I feel like saying..okay..we get it...it was funny. Let the Nutty Professor go in peace. On the other hand, how can you NOT love the guy? "One Last Cry" was a good choice for him, and he’s the kind of guy that you just WANT good things to happen to. You know? Samantha Cohen’s up next, and I’m watching especially carefully because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white girl channel En Vogue before. She’s not as strong of a belter as the other girls. Actually, she didn’t belt at all. But she’s got the smoky voice and the sultry attitude to sell records. Win or lose AI, I think she’ll be fine in the long run. Lou Gazzara. Wow, where to begin. He threw me off. A couple of times. He’s apparently the baby of the group, and Simon thinks he’s the next RJ. I don’t. He kind of reminded me of a younger Justin. For someone that young, he plays the camera pretty well. His ending made me twinge...just a little...in all the wrong places..but I’m nobody to judge. I think it’s only because I thought he was TOTALLY solid..up until he missed his high note at the end.

Equoia’s up, and all I have to say is "take it to church girl!" She can sang and then some. She looked good, and had a good attitude. Although, I wasn’t really down for the whole "Group 3’s the best, we’re #1" thing. Can we say sibling rivalry already? That’s definitely setting yourself up to get s&^%%ed on by the other contestants and possible fans. And I wouldn’t want that to happen to you, because..well, you’re pretty and you can sing and it just wouldn’t be right. Last, but not least, is George Trice singing "Unchained Melody". I’m not too sure what to make of him. His voice reminds me of a cross between Marc Anthony and the guy that plays the Phantom of the Opera. It’s not pop, but it’s not Broadway, but it’s not opera, but it’s not bad. He does this weird little ballet stance with his legs a few times, and it makes me uncomfortable. Otherwise, I thought it was a good performance. Once again, I didn’t really see any horrible ones. This group of 32 is proving to be solid all around. The only two that have really knocked my socks off so far though have been Rubin and Kim L.

Brad’s picks? Who the F*&k cares at this point, because in all likely hood I will probably be wrong. Yeah, that’s why I’m singin’ alternative rock and not playing the stock market folks. I think the top 3 for this group will be, in no particular order, that Vanessa chick, Jordan Segundo and Ricky Smith. That is, of course, just my opinion based on pure vocal talent. Y’all may prove my a$$ wrong again and vote the teenybopper route when I think you’re not, and Lou Gazzara may slip in there somewhere. Guess we’ll see tomorrow night. Until then...much love to y’all.

Brad

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