Michae Johns' gone. Don't agree with that, but oh well.

So I heard the other day that The Simpsons is being banned in Argentina. Instead, they are filling the morning time slot with reruns of Baywatch........yeah, good thing we're getting the bad television shows out of the home.....we wouldn't want impressionable young children seeing something inappropriate....

Also, I have a concert next week. I feel like I should care about it more than I do....

Well, it's about time for me to weigh in on recent American Idol activity. But first, an update on life.

The past couple weeks were a mix of crazy busy and obscene laziness. Two weeks ago I was on break and spent it up in PA spending most of the time with Mindy and also catching up with some close friends that I haven't really been able to put much quality time into lately. It was a very good week. The highlights were probably spending a day and a half at George and Jamie's and going up to NYC with PBU to see Tristan and Isolde. Honestly, the Opera trip was not one of the better Met experiences simply because the minimalism of the scenery (apparently you don't need any scenery to perform Wagner?!) was extremely distracting/annoying. Oh yeah, and Debra Voigt decided to be sick and not sing. That was awesome....However, Mindy and I had a great time walking through the city so that made it all worth it. We had dinner at an awesome Italian place called Puttanesca that we have dubbed "our place" in the city. Apparently it's this really upscale place and we were amazed that we were literally the only one's there. Not only that, but it was really affordable. Then we took a little walk through Central Park and got some great shots of us on a bridge. It was a really nice night, despite the disappointment at the Met.

The past week and a half since has been nerve wracking because I have a chorus concert happening in a week (next Thursday), though to be fair, not as stressful as last spring. Mostly because part of me couldn't care less if they fired me tomorrow. Then I could move up to Pennsylvania two months early and see Mindy every day. I don't actually want that to happen or think it ever could, but that mind set has helped my stress level be lower this year.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting married in four months and fourteen days.....Sooooo that's pretty awesome

Now that the important things have been mentioned (namely stating my undying love for my beautiful fiance), we can get to the more or less meaningless ranking of American Idol contestants.

First, I need to say that I'm totally ok with the last two dismissals: Chikezie and Ramiele. Even though I had Chikezie at number 7 three weeks ago, his performance two weeks ago was just plain terrible. He absolutely would have been my choice to go that week. Also, last week, Ramiele was embarassingly bad. It was one of those performances that made you cringe and feel sorry for her. So absolutely not problem with that. Also, I need to preface my rankings this week by saying the cream of the crop has risen and these last eight (with the possible exception of Kristy Lee Cook) all have the ability to be stars. Now that doesn't mean that I think the competition is up for grabs and anyone can win. For instance, I don't think Jason Castro has any chance of winning this competition but I think he'll release an amazing CD and I could definitely see myself buying it. The point is, not much is seperating these performers now, so keep that in mind. Anyways, on to my latest rankings.

1. David Cook - Until he misses, he's going to stay up here. You can say what you want about him being smug and about already having a Chris Daughtry type, but this guy can just plain bring it. And while I didn't love his performace last week, his performances the past two weeks keep him solidly as the frontrunner in my mind.

2. David Archuleta - You may notice that I no longer have David in a tie for first. Mostly that's because I feel his past couple weeks leading up to tonight were a bit underpar for what he's capable. It's funny, two weeks ago (when Chikezie was kicked off) he sang that song by the Australian singer and when he was singing it, I was like, "yeah this song is cool!" And then I heard Simon mock him and say that it sounded like a Disney song where a bunch of animals were coming out to sing with him, all holding hands in celebration of life. And I was like, no way, that's not what it was like at all. Then I clicked back my Tivo and watched it again and I literally couldn't stop laughing because that's exactly what that song was. I must be spending too much time directing middle school chorus numbers....

3. Brooke White - Brooke's past several weeks have not been stellar. They've been solid though and she just maintains this very likeable air about her. And since her debacle on Beatles night, she has been both consistant and confident. But she's lacking the knockout performances that she had early on and she'll need to start pulling those out to her top three position.

4. Michael Johns - Ok.....one of the big reasons I haven't updated in the past two weeks is because of Michael Johns. If you noticed, in my last post, I had Michael ranked 8th (and that was in a list that still included Chikezie, Ramiele and Amanda) and had said that I had lost all faith in him. So what does he do? He goes and knocks two performances out of the park. Not many people can pull off Freddie Mercury and Dolly Parton the way he has the past two weeks. Now, to be fair, I think he slipped this week with Dream On by Aerosmith, but really, singing a Steven Tyler song, regardless of what it is, is no easy task. He just didn't blow me away this week. Still, he's finally impressed enough to be on top for real.

5. Jason Castro - Jason has had some interesting performances as of late, though to be fair he's the most unique performer so that's almost to be expected. I haven't been blown away by anything he's done in recent weeks until he sang one of my favorite interpretations of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". I literally loved it. Unfortunately, I don't think he has any chance at winning this competition. I honestly think Carly, Syesha and even Kristy Lee have a better chance of winning than he does. And it's just that his style does not lend itself to the American Idol mold (and yes, there is a "type" that people are looking for). And with singers like the David's and Brooke, Jason just doesn't stand a chance. I still like him though and would totally buy his CD.

6. Carly Smithson - Carly is slipping alot for me. She hasn't had terrible performances vocally, but she just doesn't seem to know how to perform to her crowd. Last night Simon was right on when he said that her performance seemed angry. Passionate performances can't come across angry, even from an Amy Lee-esque singer. She needs to find a way to relate on an emotional level with her audience if she wants to stick around much longer.

7. Syesha Mercado - Syesha is once again making the mistake of singing songs that are just too big for her voice, both this week and last week. I think she has the vocals, the look and the personality but until she starts picking songs that fit her voice she's going to constantly come across as the girl who sang Whitney's/Dolly's/Fantasia's song. Paula can say that she's making it "her own" all she wants, but it's just not happening. She needs to be smart to stay in this competition. Though it may be too late for her.

8. Kristy Lee Cook - I seriously considered putting Kristy Lee at number six or seven because she has impressed me greatly in the past several weeks. She has been smart about her song choices and has started to finally look like a singer up there. Unfortunately, I just don't think she has what it takes to compete with the remaining contestants. The competition is just too good. Even so, I have to give her props because she has brought it when she had to and has proven a lot of people (me and Simon included) wrong.

I think my 6, 7 and 8 will probably be the bottom three this week, and not just because that's where they fall in my rankings. Honestly, the one with the best chance of not being in the bottom three out of those is probably Kristy Lee. And the one the high ranker that I think has the best chance of being in the bottom three is Brooke. I honestly don't think any of the guys need to be worried. They all performed well enough to be safe. But any one of the girls could be gone this week.

Watching the AI results show, and basically, while I didn't want to go into as much detail as last week, I couldn't let last night go without comment.

First off, two weeks in a row of Beatles was the worst idea ever. One week was brilliant. Two weeks would have been fine, but have something in between, don't do them one week right after the other. Lastnight was simply one of the most awkward performance nights I've ever seen, one week after an absolutely fantastic night.

There was some change in my rankings...a couple big movers. But it wasn't because anyone really blew me away, but people had to move alot because of the suck factor (and Syesha moved way up, but not because she was amazing but because everyone around her was so mediocre). I think my biggest problem was that everyone tried to do something so different when sticking to what's great about the Beatles (beauty and genius in simplicity), that half the performers just looked and sounded awkward. For what that's worth, here's how I think everyone looks after lastnight.

1. David Cook (tie) - I still think that the David's are the one's to beat in this competition. I loved David Cook's performance, one of the few that actually impressed me. The downside to his performance was that he really seemed smug, like Simon said. And that's bad if he wants to stay in this competition. He needs to remember that he hasn't won anything yet.

1. David Archuleta (tie) - For David, lastnight was a redeeming performance. He proved that last week was more or less a fluke. And what he has going for him, outside of the kick butt voice, is that he has the boyish charm thing down. Basically, he is the complete contrast to David Cook, which should help him in the long run.

3. Carly Smithson - After last night, I'm more sure than ever that she deserves to be at the top of this list. She finally showed a side to her vocals that we haven't seen. That light, yet sustained head voice. She proved she doesn't have to belt it out all the time. Unfortunately, at this point it looks like America doesn't agree with me because Carly's in the bottom three this week. She absolutely does not belong there.

4. Brooke White - Brooke is an example of someone who didn't move simply out of the fact that everyone else (aside from Syesha) basically sucked lastnight. But Brooke was scary-awkward lastnight. Literally, I felt so uncomfortable watching her on stage. She looked like a flower child and danced like one too. And the singing was just overly safe. I feel like she was trying to be too different from her last two weeks, and that just wasn't the way to go. She's still safe for at least 4 or 5 weeks, but she has to make better song choices. Also, she needs to stop interrupting the judges and trying to act like she knows how to critique herself better than they do. She's coming across as know-it-all, but I don't think she's trying to be. I think she's just an idiot and doesn't know when to shut up. Again....doesn't affect her singing, but really is a detrament to her image.

5. Syesha Mercado - Syesha finally listened to the judges and picked an arrangement that was perfect for her voice and she basically nailed it. It didn't blow me away but it was very solid. Again, the reason she moved so much from last week was because everyone else was just so mediocre and my faith in Michael Johns was clearly misplaced, though we'll talk about him later. The one reason why I didn't love her performance was because she needs to learn to sing with a little strength in her head voice. Like she has so much power when she belts, but she loses it all when she goes to her head voice because she stops using any air.

6. Jason Castro - Even though Jason moved up in my rankings, I don't think he sang better this week. He just sang with less mediocrity than everyone below him. I hated his french, and he looked very awkward, but he sang well enough to stay in the top ten and he'll stay for at least 3 or 4 more weeks, if not longer.

 7. Chikezie - I don't think Chikezie sang terribly lastnight, but he just chose the wrong song with the wrong style. And he should never play the harmonica again. Really, I'm sold on his singing ability, but he needs to bring it every week or he'll be leaving sometime in the next month.

8. Michael Johns - I'm losing all faith in Michael Johns. I hated his performance last night. He literally butchered a great song. And other than having decent stage presence, there were little to no redeeming qualities to his performance. If he doesn't make better choices here, he's going to keep falling fast.

9. Amanda Overmyer - So I just saw that she got voted off this week, which isn't terribly wrong because she's been getting into a stylistic rut lately and being very unapologetic about it. She just wasn't right for this competition for a lot of reasons, and I'm not overly broken up about seeing her go.

10. Kristy Lee Cook - So Kristy's performance lastnight was so much better than last week. Unfortunately, so much better for her is still bottom three, and America did get that right. While I thought Ramiele really needed to go this week, Kristy was only just good enough to move ahead of her in my mind.

11. Ramiele Malubay - So....she needs to go. I'm literally sick of her. And she just sucked last night, there's no other way to say it. And some people might be saying, "hang on, she had some great notes in there". And while I agree there were some great notes, basically that just made the rest of the song look all the worse. This girl has no clue how to sing with support and not belt. So when she's not belting, she sounds like a 10 year old girl. She needs to have someone coach her or something.

So, Amanda's gone. Not a huge deal. However, if Carly gets voted off in the next two weeks, I will be pissed. Ultimately though...I'd just love to see them go back to something a little safer next week theme wise. I just feel like everyone needs to get back on their game and away from Lennon/Harrison songs.

So, sorry about the whole "not posting on xanga for two months" thing. I really have wanted to, just never got around to it. Now you're probably thinking, "well, Nate probably has some big wedding news and that's why he's finally posting." Actually, that's not why I'm posting. Don't get me wrong, I love Mindy and love the life that we are planning together, and we have an official date: August 23. But, that's not really why I'm posting today. The motivation behind my post? American Idol. But I'll get to that in a second.

So yeah, other things that have happened since my last real post.....Well, I've tendered my letter of resignation to the Woodbridge School District, effective at the end of the school year. That was a difficult decision to make. Even amongst all the frustrating situations down here and the fact that moving back to Pennsylvania means being close to Mindy and my family, it's almost impossible not to feel like I'm giving up on these kids...even though that's not the case at all. The fact of the matter is, my life changed dramatically in a matter of six months and if there was a way to make it work, I would have seriously considered staying for at least another year. But, there was no real way to make it work, so I'm choosing the woman I'll be spending the rest of my life with over the kids that I've given the past two years to. Again, not trying to make my last two years sound unimportant, quite the opposite.

The other big thing that has happened in the past two months, which has added significantly to my current state of business, is I have officially started as the Director of Music and Worship at Neshaminy Valley Baptist Church in Bensalem, PA. Since I commute up every weekend, it's kind of a big time commitment. But so far that experience has been very rewarding and I'm more and more excited about the ministry every week.

Other things have happened too. Mindy and I had the best Valentine's Day ever: Going to NYC to see Wicked on Broadway, which was freaking amazing! Seriously, it fulfilled every expectation I had and more. And it was just a perfect night, with my perfect bride-to-be . Yeah, there's other stuff too, but I need to move on to Idol before the result show starts in two hours.

So here's my take on Season 7 of AI.

I honestly was a little hit or miss early on in the season. I saw most of the early shows, but missed several of the Hollywood performances as well as some of the female nights in the Top 24 shows. But the past several weeks, I've seen enough that I feel I can weigh in on the Top 12.

First off, the Idol contestant that many people were sad to see go, for some unknown reason, was the Metro/All-out-flamer Danny Noriega. Let me just say now that if you were one the "Danimals", you should go ahead and stop reading, because we probably aren't going to agree on anything. He was one of the worst finalists of the year and his attitude was a little TMTH.....sickening.....so yeah, it was a wonderful blessing that he was kicked off. Anyways, here's my take, in my order of best to worst, on the Top 12.

1. David Cook - I wasn't sold on David for a while early on, but after his last two performances (Hello by Lionel Richie, and the Fab Four's Eleanor Rigby) he has solidified himself as the front-runner of this competition. His vocals are outstanding, though he does have some pitch problems in his lower register. But he has the money notes to make you forget all about the one's that he doesn't hit. His stage presence is remeniscent of Chris Daughtry yet he has grabbed hold of it much earlier than Daughtry did a couple years ago.

2. David Archuleta - Last night was far from his best performance. In fact, at times he seemed downright mediocre. But one performance is not enough to completely ignore everything this kid has done so far in this competition. He has one of the best pure vocal qualities of all the guys and it would not surprise me at all if the rumors that David's CD is already being made are 100% true. I chalk last night up to youth and inexperience, though if he puts out another sub-par performance, he will begin to fall quickly. There's just too much talent this year to give free passes.

3. Carly Smithson - I'm sure I'll get a little flack for putting Carly this high because for some reason everyone loves to hate her because of the previous recording contract. Seriously though, get over it. This girl has a voice that does not quit and while she may not have chosen the best songs from week to week, she flat has one of the best voices in one of the best all around packages (I don't find her cold at all, as some judges have suggested). And to be honest, she will be staying up here until she misses on a song, something she has yet to do.

4. Brooke White - In complete and utter contrast to Carly, there is Brooke White. I must admit, I did not like her early on, particularly when the top 24 was decided. I will also be the first to admit that I was dead wrong. Her last two performances have been outstanding if not perfect. Her low register is sultry and heartfelt and the out of tune notes don't hurt her because she nails the rest of the song. Her downside at this point is that she is a complete and utter moron. She fits the dumb blonde stereotype to a T. Of course, that has little effect on her ability to sing, which at this point could easily put her in the top 3.

5. Michael Johns - Michael is still a bit of a curiosity to me. Clearly he has the voice, the look and the stage presence to be a top 5er, maybe ever top 3. But my big issue with him is that he may have peaked early. To date, he has not sung as well as he did when he sang Bohemian Rhapsody before the cuts in Hollywood. That's alot of performances to not measure up to expectations. And lastnight, he sings one of my favorite Beatles songs, Across the Universe, which had such amazing potential, yet he never went anywhere with it. It seems like he has the money notes that David Cook belts out on a regular basis, but just never goes for them. I'm still keeping him this high for the fact that I think he has incredible potential that he just hasn't reached yet.  We shall see....

6. Chikezie - Up until about 8:30 lastnight, I would have placed Chikezie around 11, maybe even 12, but not after lastnight. I don't think I've been more impressed or completely changed my mind more about an AI contestant after a single performance. He was, in a word, phenominal. He looked like complete tool, but his choice of song, style, arraingement and vocals (falcetto and all) were unbelievable. Unfortunately, just like one bad performance does not knock David Archeluta from the top, one outstanding performance cannot pull Chikezie any higher than 6 for this week. If he does it again....again, we shall see....

7. Jason Castro - Just like my inclusion of Carly Smithson so high, my placement of Jason at number 7 is sure to have some of you disagreeing with me. While I think he has the Jack Johnson/Josh Radin folk rock down, I was expecting alot more out of him lastnight, particularly after his breathtaking rendition of Hallelujah last week. What I'm starting to realize about Jason, is that he just can't sing any songs with any "Oomf". All his songs are going to sound like lastnight to varying degrees, and if he ever sings higher than an E without switching to falcetto, I think I just might die. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a Jason-hater, and if he proves me wrong, he has an outside shot at a top 3 finish.

8. Amanda Overmyer - I am clearly not one of those who thinks Amanda qualifies for the "vote-for-the-worst" contestant this year by any stretch, but then again I like rock better than pop.... And while she doesn't fit into that typical American Idol mold, I think she has tons of talent and absolutely owns the stage. Her Janis Joplin take on many of the songs she has sung just plain works. Unfortunately for her, she has absolutely no chance to win because she has no diversity in her style or persona, and she actually likes that about herself. While that's admirable, until she learns to pull off a better style, 8th place is about all she's going to muster.

9. Ramiele Malubay - I was all ready to shout Ramiele's praises because of last week (Against All Odds) when she rocked out, until she put out that clunker lastnight. How boring was it to listen to "In My Life" the same way we've heard people sing a million times. I mean come on, she didn't even try to do anything different with this song until the very last note. That's just not going to do it, and if it wasn't for Kristy sucking at life, she would definitely be in danger of leaving just because it was so forgettable.

10. Syesha Mercado - Syesha is one of the biggest oversingers of the year. She has tons of ability, but just chooses arraingements and styles that are too big for her. And lastnight, she sang a Beatles song! Keep it simple moron! Don't get me wrong, she has a very good voice, but her poor song choices and her ego (that thinks she can pull off said songs) are going to see her leaving in the next couple weeks. Though, to be fair, she's going to get alot of votes from the soul music lovers, since there aren't many of those in the competition this year.

11. David Hernandez - Speaking of oversinging, David has a very good chance of saying goodbye this week. This makes me a little sad because he was one that I had pegged pre-Hollywood to make it to the top 12. But, he absolutely deserves to go after his past couple performances. He's got a great voice, but Simon hit the nail on the head when he said that David was just trying too hard.

12. Kristy Lee Cook - All I have to say about Kristy Lee Cook is, "What the hell was she thinking?!" Seriously, just because you're a country singer doesn't mean she has to go and butcher a perfectly good song. Of course, even if she did choose a different style, she's such an average singer that I don't know if she would have faired much better. And the end of the song....I have no words to describe how badly she finished the song.....Definitely, the worst performance of the night.

Who Should Be Gone? - without question, Kristy. Although, I think any of the bottom five should be worried because of either lack of fan base, or bad performances. 

So that's my take on the top 12 so far. I don't know that I'll weigh in every week, but at least this will be a way to encourage me to update.

So apparently I suck at updating xanga.....

And if that's not bad enough in and of itself......I actually have a lot to update about.

Maybe sometime this week. We shall see....