Some of My Favorite Links

Some of My Favorite Links

I thought I would share a few of my favorite links and describe them a bit. Some of them are fun and some of them come in handy sometimes. Here are my favorites:


MLB Beat the Streak

There is this fantasy game I take part in called “MLB Beat the Streak”. It’s very simple. All you have to do is pick any Major League Baseball player you think is going to get a hit on a certain day. If they do get a hit, your streak increases by one. But, if you don’t pick a player on a certain day or you pick a player that doesn’t get a hit, your streak ends and is reset to zero.

The object is to get the longest streak possible. The longest that has ever been done was a 49 game streak two years ago. However, if you somehow compile a streak of 57 games (“breaking” Joe DiMaggio’s record), you win three million dollars. It’s that simple. All you need is an MLB.com account. The game is 100% free of charge. My longest streak is around 16 games. What’s also great is that even if you don’t get to 57 games, there are still great prizes for getting 30 games, 40 games, and for having the longest streak of the season. If you are a baseball fan, why wouldn’t you do this?


Sporcle

Sporcle is one of the best sites to waste time on. It is a website with thousands of “quizzes” where you have to name a certain group of things. For example, there’s games where you try to name all 50 states, or all the Presidents, or all the NFL teams, etc. There are thousands of games on Sporcle from a wide variety of categories, from Entertainment to Geography to Sports, Religion, and History. This really can be used to exercise your brain and test your knowledge of a certain subject.

Recently Sporcle allowed its users to create their own games, and if they’re creative and well-designed, they might get featured on the front page. So you can create quizzes on any topic you want and have others take it. Sporcle really is one of my favorite websites to have fun on, and the added bonus is that you can learn a lot from taking Sporcle quizzes.


Seattle Sportsnet

Seattle Sportsnet is a blog type website, similar to this, created by Seattle sports fan Alex Akita. He posts about one article a day usually relation to Seattle sports, or just sports in general. I like his articles and they really are a fun read. If you’re a Seattle sports fan like me, you’ll love his articles.


Prank Dial

Prank Dial is something I saw a link to in a Youtube video. What you can do is prank call any phone with a message, sound, or song playing for when the other person picks up their phone. You can also set the caller ID to read any number you want. It’s a great way to prank people, such as on April Fool’s Day. You can play The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song, a pizza delivery guy, and more. The downside is that you only get three free prank calls a day.

I must advise though. Prank calls should be thoroughly thought out before deciding to do them. They can result in getting yourself in trouble. I take no responsibility for any actions you cause by using that site. Be sure who you’re pranking has a light sense of humor and will not take it seriously.


People of Walmart

This is an interesting website my dad sent me. What people do is if they see an interesting… character, I guess you’d say, at Walmart, they take a picture of them and send it in to this site and it gets posted. There are hundreds of pictures of the most interesting people, outfits and you name it on this site. But if you do take a picture, you have to be careful not to get anyone’s face, especially the person who you’re trying to get, unless you have their permission. Anyway, you do see some ridiculous outfits people wear to Walmart.


Failbook (formerly Failbooking)

Failbook is another fun to go to kind of website. On this site they have humorous interactions between people on Facebook that have been screen captured and uploaded to the site. Everyone’s identity is hidden so no one feels embarrassed. It’s funny to see what people say to certain statuses and posts on Facebook. This website posts around 5 entries a day, so it’s something you can check every day for a laugh. I must warn you however that some of the things on there are PG-13 or perhaps even rated R.


Awful Announcing

Wondering who is going to be announcing a sports game? This site is one of the best to go to. They post the announcers for upcoming games (playoff games, NFL games, primetime games) and schedules so you know who will be commenting on a game. It also occasionally has news on sports broadcasting, from which broadcasters are moving to which networks get certain sports. I go there before every Sunday NFL game to know not only which game I’m going to see in my area, but also to see who will be commentating it. They don’t post very often, so it’s a sight you only need to go to about once a week.


Auto Complete Me

This site has posts for funny and random messages you get when typing certain things into Google’s search bar. For example, typing in “A bear is” onto Google comes up with “A bear is just a man who made a choice”. Some of them are really quite hilarious. It’s funny to see what people actually search for on Google. And this site is ok for the kids. It keeps it PG.


Area Code Listing, by Number

Got a call from an area code you don’t recognize and want to know where the call was from? Then this is the site to refer to. It has all three digit Area codes in the US (and some outside the US), so just scroll down to the Area code and a listing is given for where that area code is located. Of course, it could be from a cell phone that was purchased in that area, but you get the idea. So if you get a call from a 415 number and you decide to look it up on this site, you’ll see it’s from the San Francisco and Marin county area of California. Sometimes it’s just fun to know where a person is calling from if you don’t recognize the number.

American Idol Gives Back - Top 7 Results Show Recap

American Idol Gives Back – Top 7 Results Show
April 21, 2010
By Brian Holland

We get an introduction from... President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama. They encourage everyone to contribute. Obama says “And to this year’s finalists, as Randy says, ‘You’re all my dogs.’” And the first lady follows with “Simon be nice”. LOL. I guess they watch this show.

CUE AMERICAN IDOL THEME

We see Queen Latifah in a nearby Hollywood auditorium. She mentions a few of the artists that will be performing.

The top 12 do a medley performance. They are all wearing white. I don’t know the song but I heard the lyrics “Keeping the Dream Alive”.

We get a special report from actress Jennifer Garner on a city in North Carolina where many people and children are deprived of books and food.

Victoria Beckham is on stage with Ryan and we hear she went to eastern Kentucky and did a similar thing.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Captain Sully discusses his story. And he encourages us to donate.

Ryan talks to Jonah Hill and Russell Brand (ew) and they talk about their celebrity friends and how they jokingly didn’t show up.

The Black Eyed Peas perform “Rock Your Body”. It was ok.

We see Ryan’s story from Kenya.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Ryan reminds us it is still a results show. And he does mention someone WILL go home, so no surprises tonight.

And we have George Lopez come up onto the stage and he gives Ryan a big hug and he is very ecstatic. He takes over as host for Ryan. He has some fun with the lights. George makes the Idols stand up, then sit down. And he goes on to judge the judges! He makes fun of them. He gives them results. Randy is safe. He makes fun of Kara’s critiques and she is safe. Ellen is safe. And Simon is critiqued and George says America has decided to send you back to England, but since there is a bunch of volcanic ash in the area, I guess you have to stay here!

We have the Ford Music Video. They sing “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands”.

Results now for real.

Crystal and Casey are asked to go to the center of the stage. One of them is in the Bottom 3 and that is….









CASEY. That was kinda easy to guess. Ok, it was ridiculously easy to guess. Crystal is safe.

Aaron and Lee to the center of the stage. One of them is in the bottom 3. *cough* *cough* AARON *cough*

And it is…












Aaron. Lee is safe. Aaron is in the bottom 3.

Back to Queen Latifah and we see a performance from Jeff Beck and Joss Stone. They do “I’ve Put a Spell On You.” It was pretty good.

We get various celebrities encouraging us to donate including: David Duchovny, Demi Lovato, Chris Rock, one of the Jonas Brothers (I don’t know which though), Jane Lynch, Josh Groban, Justin Bieber.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We have Ban-Ki Moon, U.N. Secretary General encouraging us to donate.

And we have Morgan Freeman on stage. He talks about education. He and Randy Jackson spent some time in his home state, Mississippi.

Alicia Keys performs. She sings “Unthinkable” and some other song. Again, it was ok. Josh Groban delivers a message to encourage people to donate.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We have Jonah Hill and Russell Brand again… they have pretend famous people taking phone calls.

Back to Queen Latifah. We have a performance of the song “Change” by Carrie Underwood. She’s good as usual.

Ellen DeGeneres and David Arquette dealt with people that are hungry and with Feeding America.

We get another bit from Africa before the break.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Ryan sat down with Bill and Melinda Gates to talk about their foundation. They are supporting children in global countries so that children do not die at such a young age.

Wanda Sykes is now on stage. She does a bit on stage about American Idol. It was pretty good.

Back to results.

Siobhan, Mike and Tim are called to the center of the stage. Obviously one of them is in the bottom 3.

The first one that’s safe is….














SIOBHAN. She is safe.

Mike or Tim is in the bottom 3. Mike is….

















SAFE. Tim is in the bottom 3.

The bottom 3 is Aaron, Casey, and Tim. Very deserved bottom 3.

And we have David Cook come out on stage. David went to Ethiopia and he shares his story.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

We return with a semi disturbing image of a very malnourished 8 year old African girl. It’s a very sad image. She is HIV positive.

However, on a more positive note, we get a shot of her a few months later with the right care and money and she looked MUCH better. She actually has baby cheeks again.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Mary J. Blige and a few other notable musicians (including Randy Jackson) perform Stairway to Heaven. Great song.

And Simon shares his story with the Children’s Help Fund as he went to Arizona.

We get a message from Ben Affleck before the break. Again encouraging to donate.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Back with Queen Latifah and she is with Elton John. They talk about his foundation and HIV/AIDS. He then performs “Your Song” which is one of my favorite songs of his. He does a great job.

Back to Ryan with the bottom 3. Oh wait, we’ll find out…

AFTER THE BREAK

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Back with the results. Next week’s mentor will be Shania Twain and the theme is her music. I’d pick “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” LOL.

The first person that is safe is…



















Aaron Kelly. So it’s either Tim or Casey. Probably Tim. After the nation-wide vote, the person leaving is…














































Tim Urban. So long Tim. You had a good run.

So that’s it for this week. VFTW has to make a new pick. It will probably be Siobhan. (CHECKING VFTW after the show: Siobhan is their new pick—I guessed it). I’m sad to see Tim go. Anyway, I won’t be doing a blog next week as I will be in California with my girlfriend. J So I’ll see you guys in two weeks. So long!

American Idol Top 7 Recap - Inspirational Songs

American Idol Top 7 – Inspirational Songs
April 20, 2010
By Brian Holland

Intro: We get another introduction of Ryan walking past the finalists. He mentions this is our turn to save lives with Idol Gives Back, blah blah blah.

CUE AMERICAN IDOL THEME

This week, the judges are already seated and are not introduced by the announcer, nor is Ryan. Instead this week we get the old traditional introduction of each judge by Ryan. The Idols come out to the stage.

Our guest judge gets an intro and montage. It is Alicia Keys. She greets the contestants and Big Mike lifts her up, haha.

First up is Casey James. He is singing “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac. Very good song. It’s one of the more well-known song choices this week, I’m sure.

Of course, he has the guitar. He’s doing a pretty good job. The chorus is decent, but not spectacular. The backup vocalists were just to his right (our left). He did a pretty good job.

Randy: Good performance but not your best. Give me more of something else, something different.
Ellen: Great guitar playing. You have to be great and it wasn’t great.
Kara: You didn’t stand out tonight and it paled in comparison to “Jealous Guy”
Simon: That wasn’t particularly inspiring and had no emotion. No originality and was a lazy song choice.
Me: I agree with Randy, you need to do something different. You’re supposed to be getting better and better each week but you are right now just standing pat.

Lee DeWyze up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Ryan is on the stools with Lee. They talk about how Andrew went last week and how they were really good buddies. He also talks about his song choice, “The Boxer”. And funny moment: The tape of Lee with Alicia was delayed, causing Ryan to ask “Do we have the tape with Lee and Alicia?” right before it came on. LOL. American Idol fails.

Lee, like Casey, goes with the guitar as usual. The song starts out slowly. There are quite a few violinists on the stage to the side with Lee. He does ok, but nothing outstanding or anything. (Comment later added) Or so I thought. LOL.

Randy: You are a big artist ready to have a big career and I thought you did a great job.
Ellen: We are seeing better and better from you. Best performance so far by you.
Kara: I think you had your moment tonight. Keep picking things you feel connected to.
Simon: That was sincere, emotional, and inspirational. You made it sound like it was written a week ago and that was absolutely brilliant.
Me: You have just gone from dark horse to favorite. I would be surprised if you weren’t in the final.

Tim and Aaron are up next after the break. The two boys. I don’t know which is going first, though.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Captain Sully is in the audience! Ryan shakes his hand. Tim is up next. He is singing “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls. Alicia said his singing felt really good. We’ll see. Tim becomes the third straight performer to use a guitar. I think he is doing a great job, actually. His vocals are a tad weak but this has gotta be one of his best performances. Let’s see if the judges agree with me.

Randy: It was just ok good karaoke. It just sounded… ok.
Ellen: To me you’re like the soup of the day, but today I didn’t like the soup.
Kara: This is where you belong but it wasn’t your best performance.
Simon: You have improved over the weeks but it was a little bit of a let down.
Me: I liked it. (Applause) I felt you connected to it really well. However, the vocals were a little weak and that may have been too tough of a song for you.

NEXT is Aaron. No break.

Aaron is singing “I Believe I Can Fly”. Oh wow. Alicia stressed the point of him connecting to the song. His vocals are a bit shaky and weak like Tim’s. The crowd is waving their arms again but stupidly totally off the pace of the song, LOL. He however hits a big note at the end. And hits it pretty well.

Randy: You picked a giant song—You’ve got a huge voice, pure vocal talent. Good job with such a giant song.
Ellen: I believe you can fly and I thought you handled it real good.
Kara: Watching that was like taking off. It took a while but you got there.
Simon: If I had heard that on the radio, I would have turned it off in ten seconds. It was good but not something that I’d prefer to listen to.
Me: YOU CAN FLY MY MAN! I love your courage to pick that song.

Siobhan takes on Whitney and Mariah next. Oh boy… that’s a risk.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Ryan reminds us of Idol Gives back, and then we have Siobhan. She is singing “When You Believe”. Alicia was very impressed with her voice. Siobhan does a very good job with the song. She hits a few high notes, but no screams.

Randy: You picked the toughest song of the night—and it was just ok for me.
Ellen: I disagree I thought that was a good job.
Kara: It’s starting to feel too dramatic. I still don’t know who you are.
Simon: Not the right song for you. Old-fashioned, odd, all over the place.
Me: You took a risk but it didn’t pay off. In baseball terms, you probably got a sacrifice fly. You did something right, but it’s not always what you want to do.

Big Mike is up next which means Crystal gets the pimp spot AGAIN! Before Tim even gets it once. I wonder who the producers are supporting and who they want off the show? Well if Tim survives this week he BETTER get the pimp spot next week as he is the only contestant to not sing last. Even with going back to the Top 24, he has yet to sing last. Poor guy is getting screwed over.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Michael starts out on the stools with Ryan. They talk about his song choice. He is singing “Hero” by Mariah Carey. Danny Gokey did this song last year and it is the song that catapulted him into being a favorite. Let’s see what Mike does with it.

I beg your pardon, this is not Hero by Mariah Carey. It is another song with the same name. Michael is also the fourth contestant (and probably not the last) to use a guitar. He finishes with a long note. It was ok. Nothing great IMO.

Randy: You held you own and it worked out.
Ellen: I thought you did a great job with it.
Kara: Not my favorite performance and it was all over and it became unrecognizable.
Simon: I thought you sang it pretty well. It felt a bit artificial to me. I still think you’ll be around next week.
Me: It was very ok but I agree with Simon. It needed a better story and to be more inspirational.

After the break Crystal goes without an instrument for the first time. So I was wrong about Michael not being the last to play the guitar. But I’ll believe it when I see it.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Crystal is singing “People Get Ready”. So she is doing another song I don’t know. And like I said, she is singing last again. Alicia says she knows people are going to love her performance.

Crystal starts without any backup instruments at all. After about 20 seconds, they finally start up. She really gets into the song. She is doing very well. And oh my gosh…. She starts crying at the end. I AM NOT KIDDING. I can’t tell if it’s real or fake but she was indeed crying. She could barely get out the last few words of the song.

Randy: That was unbelievable and I gotta give you a standing O.
Ellen: You just keep getting better and better and it was so beautiful.
Kara: You were on another level and you just schooled everyone.
Simon: THAT was inspirational. I was happy to see you emotional in a strange way. You sang it fantastically. It was in a completely different class to everything else we’ve heard tonight.
Me: That was indeed one of the most heartfelt performances we’ve seen maybe ever on here.

So that’s it. I think it’s clear that our finale may very well be Lee vs. Crystal. They keep dominating week after week. They were the best of the night tonight. I predict the bottom 3 (if they reveal it) to be Casey, Tim, and Michael, with Tim’s journey coming to an end tomorrow night. And I will see you tomorrow night for Idol Gives Back, which I will write a blog on. I usually don’t for results shows but this upcoming one is special. See you guys then.

American Idol Top 9 Recap - Lennon/McCartney

American Idol Top 9 – Lennon/McCartney Songbook
By Brian Holland
April 6, 2010

Introduction: Ryan is in the control room. We see the judges and contestants backstage from their screens in the control room. Cue American Idol logo.

The judges are introduced. Ryan is introduced. Lacey Brown is seen in the audience. The contestants are brought out. We get an introduction to Lennon and McCartney. We see a video message from Paul McCartney to the Idols, which was nice. He’s too busy to mentor, obviously. Ryan questions the judges.

And before we get a contestant to sing, we have a commercial break. I guess that’s what we get for a 2 hour American Idol and only 9 contestants. They should seriously have made tonight’s show only an hour and a half. Oh well. Up first by the way is Aaron Kelly.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

The contestants tell stuff about Aaron and they mention that they compare him to Yoda and mock him in a Yoda voice. LOL. They also say he is an incredible kid. He is singing “The Long and Winding Road”. Just like David Archuleta did two years ago. Let’s see if he gets compared to him finally.

He starts off pretty well. He isn’t as good as Archuleta, but he’s not too far off. But this song is just a tad too slow. He should choose something more upbeat. He holds a VERY long note at the end. VERY. Good job overall.

Randy: Great voice but I didn’t love the arrangement. He didn’t like how it wasn’t changed.
Ellen: It felt like a long and winding song. It was a little slow.
Kara: You’ve been good, but for this, you have to be great. Every week feels like the same performance. And I want some tempo from you.
Simon: Asks why he chose the song and why he didn’t change it. Old fashioned, boring…. (gets interrupted by a VERY loud boo, HAHA). You’ve got to become young and relevant.
Me: Everyone already said everything I was gonna say. Tempo, change it up, and have fun out there.

Katie is up next after the break.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Aaron says something which I missed because I was on the phone. Katie is interviewed by Ryan and Katie mentions she’s been asked out 5 times while on the show. The contestants mention Katie is energetic and like a little sister. She is singing “Let it Be” which Brooke White covered two years ago. Not a good song choice. ANOTHER slow one. What is with the two youngest contestants picking the slowest Beatles songs?

She starts out very slowly, obviously. Kara and Simon are seen talking to each other. Katie’s vocal however is not that great. She is asking to be the fourth straight girl to go home. Overall boring, slow, and I think she’ll be in danger.

Randy: Best performance by you ever! (Me: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT) That was hot! That’s why you’re in the Top 9
Ellen: Perfect example of changing up a song and there’s no way you’ll be in the bottom 3 again (Oh really, Ellen?)
Kara: It’s amazing how much you’re blossoming and you’ve never sounded better.
Simon: Tonight, you got it right. He gloats how he deserves most, but not all the credit.
Me: A little slow for me, but you did all right.

Andrew Garcia is up next. Let’s see if he can repeat last week’s performance.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Katie is happy to hear the judges thought she was great and she gets hugs from Tim, Aaron, Lee, and Siobhan.

Andrew is up next. The other contestants say he is goofy and funny. Lee mentions he and Andrew are great friends now. Andrew is singing “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Finally! A song that hasn’t been covered before. And I think this is perfect for his voice too.

He starts out on the platform behind the judges. This is…. Different from the original. And not in a good way, I think. Entertaining though. Let’s see what the judges think. He does get a long ovation.

Randy: Really solid performance and you sounded good. A little corny at times, but okay.
Ellen: Perfect song choice for you and I loved it.
Kara: I want to see something new from you. You could’ve done more with your interpretation.
Simon: The band overpowered the whole arrangement and made it old-fashioned, corny, and irrelevant. So I think you and the band got it all wrong.
Me: I loved it. Great song choice for you, but you need to show off your vocals more. Perhaps pick a ballad or something next week.

Big Mike Lynche up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Andrew says he was honored to do Lennon/McCartney and had fun doing it.

Katie mentions Mike Lynche is like the Incredible Hulk. Casey says he snores very loudly. The girls compare him to a teddy bear. He is singing Eleanor Rigby, which was covered by David Cook in Season 7. I assume Michael will do more of a ballad like he usually does. He mentions his family used to sing it together.

He starts out with a falsetto then the song picks up. He’s got a bunch of stringed instruments behind him being played. But as the song picks up I start to like it. He does an ok job. Not as good as David Cook, of course, but good nonetheless. The audience seems to like it.

Randy: The parts that worked were great. I loved how you were feeling yourself (yes, he said that).
Ellen: You can take on anything. I loved it, it was incredible.
Kara: I thought that was FIRE. I thought the vocals were amazing. You were committed and believed it.
Simon: I didn’t love it as much as the other 3. This was the sort of thing you’d hear in musicals. I thought it made you go slightly backwards.
Me: Entertaining and good vocals. Not as good as David Cook’s two years ago, but I liked it.

Crystal’s up next. FINALLY, she’s not at the end.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Mike says he could hear himself on the radio. And he greets everyone backstage. He picks Aaron up.

Crystal is on the stools with Ryan. She talks about her hometown. They say they call her Mommasox and B-Sox. They say she is motherly, honest, and nice. She is singing Come Together. This has been done by Carly Smithson and Kris Allen. It’s on the verge of being overplayed on the show.

She is playing her guitar again of course. She starts off like you’d expect. With a bit of a swagger. There is a didgeridoo on stage, LOL. That one Australian instrument heard in the intro for Survivor. But when the song gets going she really shows off her vocals. Very solid if not great performance. Better than Carly’s version. Almost as good or just as good as Kris’s. She gets a long ovation.

Randy: Another solid performance. IDK if it was your best, but you still won me over. You’re in the zone.
Ellen: I loved the didgeridoo and you did great again.
Kara: I loved the performance. It was sexy, playful, and you were smiling (showing off her bad teeth I might add)
Simon: That’s a performance I can hear on the radio. It really worked well. As always, terrific, and better than last week.
Me: Despite your cold, you did amazing. You are in the zone like Randy said.

They get the didgeridoo guy on stage again and have him play before the break.

Ryan doesn’t announce who is up next, but we get a shot of Tim Urban holding his chin doing the thinker pose before the break. Again, subliminal American Idol messaging. Not mentioning his name before the break to try to get people to not vote for him. I know what they’re trying to do here. Trying to get Tim off the show in any legal way they can. Nice try, American Idol. You totally fail if Tim is around next week.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Crystal and Didgeridoo guy are seen back stage making fun of its name.

Ryan mentions Rihanna and Archuleta are on the show tomorrow. Yay for Archie.

The contestants say he is always smiling. Crystal says he’s a good looking guy. He is singing “All My Loving”. One of my favorite Beatles songs. He’s got the electric guitar tonight.

His vocals are actually pretty good. Well, they’re not awful. I am enjoying this though. I had fun watching it. Let’s see the judges criticize him while he smiles.

Randy: Much better performance than you’ve had in the past couple weeks. And I like the Beatles type hair.
Ellen: Perfect song choice and your 2^nd best performance and you did very well.
Kara: We have really come after you week after week. You did something solid. You can smile.
Simon: Taking everything into consideration, you did really well tonight. No gimmicks. You take the criticism like a man. I’m very very proud of you.
Me: Your best performance. That was the kind of performance which shows you deserve to be here next week.

Casey “Mr. Boring” James is up next. Why is he Mr. Boring? Because he is the only contestant to pick a song tonight that I haven’t heard of before. Yes, I know what he’s singing.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Tim said he was comfortable with the song and glad it paid off.

David Boreanz and Emily Deschanel are there at the Kodak Theater. They’re from Bones, the Fox TV show.

The contestants mention that they make fun of his looks and give him names. They mention he has a BIG laugh. They talk about his hair. He is singing “Jealous Guy”. Like I said, I’ve actually never heard it before. It’s John Lennon’s solo song.

Casey is standing center stage with his guitar. It starts out very slowly. And it doesn’t pick up. But I feel him connecting to the song and he hits one note VERY well. He is putting a lot of emotion into it. As he finishes, he steps back out of the spotlight.

Randy: I love seeing the sensitive side of you. I was impressed you took this kind of leap. It was really good. Not the perfect vocal but it was very heart-felt.
Ellen: It felt like it was about somebody, and to me, that was your best performance to date. It was so soulful. I was moved and you have pretty hair.
Kara: You showed vulnerability which was missing earlier. You showed depth. You can still push yourself though and I want you to do that.
Simon: I think it was the best performance of the night. Your stamp was made on the song, you were emotional, and I was very very impressed with you.
Me: I was a bit apprehensive at hearing the song choice, but you made it authentic and a great performance.

Up next: Tattooed Siobhan Magnus.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Lee says something which I missed because I wasn’t aware the show was back on.

The contestants say Siobhan is very weird and unique. And they like her glasses. Then they talk about her range and the notes she can hit. She is singing “Across the Universe”. I like the song choice. I believe Michael Johns did this song two years ago.

She is sitting on a stool with the lights providing a star-like effect. She is singing very slowly but her vocals are absolutely flawless. Her voice is very soothing tonight. Something a baby could fall asleep to. The song never goes up-beat (like Casey’s) but it still was a strong performance.

Randy: It was a little sleepy for me, but I liked the tender side of you.
Ellen: You are really special and talented and you always honor who you are. I thought it was beautiful.
Kara: The vocals were controlled and good but you were very restrained and too polite. I’m not sure you’d hear that on the radio, but I did like how you connected with the song.
Simon: (Asks how she connects with the song and she gives a very heart-felt answer). You are unpredictable, and you were much better than last week.
Me: That was a song that could put a baby to sleep. Very soothing and great vocals, but a little sleepy like Randy said. Try wowing us next week with a more up-tempo song.

Some guy yelled at something Simon said, and they call him upstage and he gets to hug Siobhan (jealous face).

Lee Dewyze is up next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Siobhan backstage gets hugs from Andrew and Katie.

Lee is the gloomy one of the bunch as revealed by the contestants. He always thinks he’s going home. The Andrew-Lee bromance is revealed to be strong and Crystal makes a joke that their babies would resemble Danny Gokey. LOL! Lee is singing “Hey Jude”. No one has covered this on American Idol before. It’s a risky one. Will it pay off?

He starts out center stage with the guitar. It is a different version mainly because his vocals are so much different than McCartney’s. As the song picks up, a man with freaking bagpipes comes down the center steps from backstage to play next to him. Wow. First a didgeridoo now bagpipes. What’s next? A friggin kazoo?

Randy: It was another hot one from you. Please believe in yourself!
Ellen: You showed so much more confidence. Great job, I loved it.
Kara: You were more comfortable up there. I can hear you on the radio. It was hot.
Simon: I wouldn’t have done that (mentioning the bagpipes).
Me: Most interesting performance of the night. But one thing I noticed: you had the most confidence you ever had up there.

Wow, everyone did either ok or very well tonight. No poor performances. The only sub-par performance really was Aaron’s. Ok, I have to predict, and it will be hard. My bottom 3 might surprise you, but it is: Tim, Katie, and Michael. Based on fanbases and performances tonight. Andrew and Aaron might also be in the bottom 3. And my pick to go home is Tim. It’s his time, I think. He did well tonight, yes, but so did almost everyone else.