Pat Fish's Blog: TV-AI 2007 Down to 20-An In-Depth Look at the Contenders; "Apprentice LA"

American Idol 2007 now down to the final 20.

We do a closer look-see at the contenders this year and make our first winner prediction, both male and female.

Also, Apprentice LA churns on. Updates on the Priceline Task.

Pic of the Day

Quote of the Day
We hope that when the insects take over the world,
they will remember with gratitude how we
took them along on all our picnics.
-- Bill Vaughan

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TIDBITS
"The 5 Best Things to Say If Caught Napping at Your Desk"

5. "They told me at the Blood Bank this might happen."

4. "This is just a 15-minute power nap they raved about in the time-management course you sent me to."

3. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the Whiteout. You probably got here just in time."

2. "Did you ever notice sound coming out of these keyboards when you put your ear down real close?"

AND THE NUMBER ONE BEST THING TO SAY IF YOU GET CAUGHT SLEEPING AT YOUR DESK:

1. Raise your head slowly and say, "...in Jesus' name. Amen."

American Idol-First Four Eliminations

The Fellows

Things got serious for "American Idol" 2007 this past week on 2/20/07. For the top twelve males have been appointed and the performances began.

My notes are sparse but I'll go through the male contenders and report what I wrote.

Rudy Cardenas-my cryptic note says "nope" thus I must think Rudy did poorly. Note to self-write better notes! However, in my defense, my "nope" was on the money. Rudy was sent home during the following elimination round.

Heh, next, Brandon Rogers-my note says "okay". Note to self-see above.

Okay, now for some meaty notes. Sundance Head is an interesting character. His name is unique and hey, so is his look. Sundance sang "Nights in White Satin", one of my favorites and not so easy to sing. The judges declared him pitchy but I thought he did exceptionally well.

Paul Kim was a contestant with a schtick. He wore no shoes. My notes indicate I could not hear or understand the words of his song but it's all no mind as Paul Kim was eliminated the Thursday following on the first elimination night. Which proves to me that America has some sense because that singing with no shoes was really dumb.

Chris Richardson-my notes say "best so far". Take that for what it's worth.

Nick Pedro made it to Hollywood last year. He was eliminated because he forgot the words to his song. I mean, how dumb is this? My notes indicate he sang a "safe" song and was very boring. I look for Pedro to get eliminated right quickly in this year's contest.

Ah....Blake Lewis. Folks, ladies and gems, music lovers across the fruited plain, BLAKE LEWIS is the one to beat for the "American Idol" 2007. Bearing in mind, of course, that I am usually wrong in these predictions but it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Blake has demonstrated an easy talent since the first tryouts. Lewis performs some sort of "be-bop" thing that he does, making noises with his mouth only to call them "noises" is misleading. It's sort of a rap type of thing and while I don't much like rap music, what Blake Lewis can do with his mouth is amazing.

Now, besides all this, we discover Blake can SING! He was quietly confident and sang an odd song. Blake gave a great falsetto and was well-liked by our trio of judges.

The only problem I have with Blake is his "look". I realize gelling up one's hair and forming peaks and flips all over the head is a popular male style nowadays. Except Blake Lewis looks a little like "Bob's Big Boy" character and it might not serve him well.

Sanjaya has a last name but we'll stick with his first name for this contest. I don't think Sanjaya is going to last long at any rate but again, I could be wrong.

Sanjaya entered this year's contest with his sister, who was eliminated early on. Sanjaya is a cutie-pie, a mere 17 years old and folks, I'm not at all convinced Sanjaya is a heterosexual. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I thought his performance was boring, more of an adolescent lounge lizard. I thought for sure Sanjaya would be eliminated on the elimination round but I understand he came in the top four in the voting. Which goes to show what I know.

Chris Sligh is another intriguing contender. Here's a fellow with a head full of curls that defies taming. A casual viewer can easily ascertain this is a fellow with a great sense of humor and seems to be keenly intelligent. Chris did a nice job and by me, has possibly the best voice of all the males.

Below is a You-Tube clip some reader sent me. Click to see AI contestant Sligh perform as part of a garage band.

Jarrod Cotter sang and gave an un-notable performance. My notes suggest Cotter has a Harry Belafonte singing style, whatever that means.

An AJ Tabaldo informed us that this year was his FIFTH try at American Idol. Which makes me pause and wonder, does he really want the voters to know this? Just as soon as I absorbed this tidbit I thought, hey, time to toss him overboard. Fortune and luck finally landed him on this year but after five tries my instinct tells me not for long.

Phil Stacey mumbles when he sings. This is not a good thing. Phil informed the viewing audience that he has two kids and pics of these children flashed across the screen. Could this be a ploy to bring in votes?

The Females

We begin with Stephanie Edwards who performed a bluesy song and got down on her knees, literally.

We move on to Amy Krebs. My notes indicate she had bad skin (yeah that's a mean dig but I wrote it down), was boring and forgettable. Amy was eliminated during the first elimination round.

Next Sabrina Sloan. I liked Sabrina's hair and outfit but my notes indicate her singing wasn't the best. The judges, however, liked her. Next, Antonella Barba sang a ho-hum song and failed to thrill.

Now we introduce the female to watch this year. Jordin Sparks has a bubbly personality, a pretty face and seems to possess that star quality an American Idol must have. My notes say she reminds me of me but damn I don't know why I say that. Jordin gave great vocals and was generally viewed as terrific by all the judges. Sparks is my choice of the female to win this thing.

Nicole Tranquilla sang through her nose and was a very awkward dancer. Nicole was sent home the night of the first eliminations.

Haley Scarnatto is one to watch although Simon said she sounded "old". I think she had a great look and a great song. Next, Melinda Doolittle performed and my notes say SHE is the one who really sounded old.

Alaina Alexander has a nondescript voice and just as Simon predicted, if she made it through at all it would be on her looks alone. For Alaina is very pretty and a happening chick. She sang an awful song and while she did squeak through the first round of eliminations, she'll not likely last long.

Nina Glocksen performed the difficult tune "All By Myself". My notes say I did not like it.

Finally, Lakisha Jones performed and some surprises here. First, Lakisha is from my birth state and she's talented. Lakisha is a single mother in the manner of Fantasia and I must wonder if America will vote another single mother as American Idol although I suppose such things shouldn't matter. Fantasia sure made it part of her charm and appeal and Lakisha didn't shy away from it either. The judges sure liked her and to my everlasting surprise, Simon almost tripped over his tongue praising Lakisha. I softly suggest Lakisha might be a finalist in this thing but I don't see her carrying the banner this year.

Notes on the Elimination Round

There is something called an "American Idol" challenge. Viewers can win $10,000 and possibly up to $100,000. Besides money, viewers can win tickets to the American Idol finals. All information is available on the American Idol web site.

Speaking of Fantasia....she sang the night of the first eliminations which make me think she's not doing so well in the music business. She looked like a gorilla for some reason, her song was just terrible and she was not entertaining at all. Fantasia has a lot of talent and she should really be doing and looking better than she does.

AMERICAN IDOL 2007 LINKS
Seattle and Minneapolis 1/16/07 and 1/17/07
Birmingham 1/30/07
San Antonio 2/6/07
The Top 24 2/12/2007
First Four Eliminated

Apprentice LA-The Priceline Challenge

Before delving into this reality series' latest tasks and mishaps, right now I would offer my own fine suggestion on how to hype up renewed interest in this show. For "The Apprentice" was once the darling of the reality show air waves. Of late there's been challenging programming slamming up The Donald's show and let's face it, that Martha thing didn't help.

Here's my suggestion, free of charge, to The Donald....HAVE THE AUDIENCE VOTE FOR THE APPRENTICE!

Indeed, why not follow that tried and true method which has worked for so many reality type shows? Give each would-be apprentice a number and have the audience call in who should be fired.

Now I know The Donald uses the series to show off his amazing executive talent, including his unabashed ability to utter those famous words: "YOU'RE FIRED". Only I have a whisper of a message for Donald Trump: your series is losing viewers and that tent city stupidity ain't cutting it. Give the audience a horse in this race and viewership will rise.

Okay, now on to the task of 2/18/07. Which was, specifically, a challenge to sign up people in a mall to enter a Priceline drawing to win free trips. Likely Priceline will use the names and addresses obtained by the entrants for their marketing. Whatever, the apprentices tasks was to sign up said entrants. Whoever signed up the most entrants would win. The other team would be the losers and would move to tent city with one of their number being sent home.

The Arrow team was led by Surya. Surya led effectively, using free mall ad space to advertise and putting out flyers about the drawing.

The Kinetic team walked around the mall, gave away free hot dogs but failed to notice one important fact: the mall Kinetic was working was filled with Spanish-speaking people. Aimee, Kinetic's team manager, failed to notice how intrusive the language problem was.

Kinetic ended up signing up 326 people with Arrow leading with a sign-up total of 359. Kinetic was rewarded with a trip to the beach to take some surfer lessons. Nicole ended up injured and viewers were treated to some more of the Tim and Nicole romance.

The Donald and The Donald Jr. were in the boardroom. Aimee tried to pin the language problem on Jenn but it didn't fly.

Aimee was fired.