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Last week we had to sit through two hours of performances and talk about donating money for the "Idol Gives Back" cause before we found out that none of our final six were going to be leaving the show. A relief? I'm not sure. Last night they all had the chance to perform again and to be fair, a lot of it was pretty average. At this point in the competition I was certainly expecting something better. Perhaps they all need some viagra slipped into their food in order to spice things up a little. In any case, someone is going home. No, in fact two people are. Hallelujah!
Hopefully this double elimination will shake things up enough that next weeks top four show will be phenomenal. Do you see me holding my breath?
Bon Jovi will be performing with the Top 6 tonight as well.
Ok, enough rambling. Let's check out what every one sang last night.
Phil Stacey sang Blaze of Glory 
Jordin Sparks sang Livin' on a Prayer
Lakisha Jones sang This Aint a Love Song
Blake Lewis sang You Give Love a Bad Name
Chris Richardson sang Dead or Alive
Melinda Doolittle sang Have a Nice Day
Yep. It was pretty dismal last night with Melinda and Blake being the only two that really made any effort to keep their fans voting for them. Nigel Lithgoe is saying tonight's elimination wont be a surprize. Therefore it wont be Melinda or Blake. Any of the rest of them could be up for the chop.
Now, this weeks polls. How are things looking according to your votes on idolblog.com?
First we'll look at this weeks poll and then we'll combine the results with last weeks and see how the picture is looking.
In the "Who is everyone's favourite Idol" poll this week, Blake Lewis is on top with 41% of the vote. Jordin Sparks takes a huge hit, dropping from the number one spot down to third on 15% while Melinda Doolittle has second place sewn up on 23%.
The bottom two you want to see going home are Chris Richardson (40%) and Lakisha Jones (27%) while Phil Stacey is third on 20%.
Now, who are the bottom three as predicted by the polls?
Chris Richardson 3%, Lakisha Jones 9% and Phil Stacey 8% are the bottom three and it looks as though, despite Chris having perhaps his best week, his fans didn't appreciate his change in style - to one that perhaps he's better suited to.
When it comes to the DialIdol results, Lakisha Jones and Chris Richardson are the two unlucky punters. Strangely though, Jordin Sparks tops their results while Melinda is in third to last.
Now lets combine the last two week's results and see what that might tell us about tonights result.
Jordin Sparks comes out on top with 28%, Blake Lewis is second on 27% and Melinda Doolittle comes in in third place with 25%. Ladies and Gentlemen, I seriously think we have our top three right there.
And the bottom three?
Based on these results, I think it would be safe to assume that Chris Richardson will be going home tonight with 6% overall but when it comes to the second person it's pretty tight. Phil Stacey is second on 7% with only a gnats whisker between him and Lakisha Jones also on 7% (thanks to rounding.)
So who is it going to be? Let's find out:
Going home:
Phil Stacey
Chris Richardson
Safe:
Melinda doolittle
Lakisha Jones
Jordin Sparks
Blake Lewis
Yet to be decided:
There you have it. All that voting was for nothing. Except raising all that money of course.
Auditioning for quality time
by Linda Gentile
It was August, 2005, and I was standing ankle deep in mud. All I could see were the backs of people and water cascading down their umbrellas.
My alarm had gone off at 3:30 that morning -- the first of many times that day when I asked what the heck I was doing.
"Are you ready to go yet?" my son had said, excitedly.
"Umph," I answered.
We walked out into the still-black night. "You're driving," I told him. "I'm not even awake yet."
As he drove, his excitement started to rev me up. After all, we were going to the American Idol auditions at Gillette Stadium. My son, Anthony, a huge American Idol fan from day one, was psyched when he heard that auditions were finally going to be in our area. Anthony had been singing and performing since the age of ten, and he saw this as his big chance.
Then, the rain, the mud, the long lines. When the stadium gates finally opened at 8 a.m., the crowd surged forward. We were now wedged in tightly to each other, all of us fruitlessly trying to stay dry.
We made it through the gate and security people directed us where to go. We got inside the stadium and went over to the processing tables. They took our required IDs and gave us tickets for our reserved seats. We were then told that we had to be in our seats by 8:30 a.m. the next day.
That next day, we arrived at the stadium a little after 6:00 a.m. and found our seats. Thousands of people around us were practicing their vocal skills, or, in some cases, mauling the classics. Even the bathrooms contained the tinny echo of people practicing their singing.
I heard a lot of people speculate aloud as to where the judges were. Thanks to slick editing, American Idol makes auditioning seem like a one-day process. But in reality, no one gets in front of Randy, Paula, and Simon until months later -- at a different location.
Now, the cameras were set up and someone from the show came out to direct us. "We're going to sing 'Singing in the Rain'," he shouted. On cue, we all started singing. We did this about 20 times while the cameras whisked over the crowds.
"Now yell 'Welcome to Boston!'" he said. I realized how carefully orchestrated many "reality" shows really are. Everything seems so spontaneous on TV, but nothing is left to chance. In all, our group's "spontaneity" took about an hour to film.
By this time we were all getting anxious -- even those of us not auditioning. We were finally told what the auditioning procedure was going to be: 14 tables were set up along the football field. At each table were two producers. The singers would line up in fours. Each singer would get a chance to sing for 60 seconds. If the producers liked you, you were given a yellow form and went to the tunnel on the left. If they did not like you, you were told to go to the exit on the right. We watched as most people went to the right.
Our turn finally came. Only contestants and parents were allowed on the field. As we edged closer my son made it clear that he did not want me too near when he started singing. Although I wasn't thrilled by this, I honored it. I knew he was nervous and wanted to concentrate on what he was doing.
When it was his turn to sing, I stood a discreet distance away, watching and trying to catch my breath. He sang his song and I saw the judges talk to him. They seemed to be taking a good amount of time with him. I saw this as a good sign, but then I saw him turn away with no golden ticket, heading to the right.
I ran after him. "What did they say?" I asked.
"They told me I was good but I needed more practice. They told me I could audition in Cleveland."
Cleveland! We both knew that wasn't going to happen.
"Listen," I told him. "I know you're disappointed but I am so proud of you for trying. I think what you did was really cool."
"What about getting up at the crack of dawn and then getting soaked to the skin?" he asked. "I thought you had a terrible time."
"Are you kidding?" I answered. "I wouldn't have missed this time with you for the world!
Not even at 3:30 a.m.
Linda Gentile lives in Longmeadow with her daughter, Melissa, 15. Anthony, now 19, is a freshman at UMass, Amherst. Linda works as a School Adjustment Counselor at Indian Orchard Elementary School, performs in local plays and sings with the Dan Kane Singers.
Filed under: Hilary On Stocks, CKX Inc (CKXE)
You can never go wrong with the King, and I'm still betting big on this one. Back in April, I picked CKX Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) as a double-your-money pick, opining that it might almost quadruple from around $14 to $50 by the end of 2007. If you followed my advice, you might be pretty disappointed so far. The stock continues to trade at around $14. If it's any consolation, I put quite a bit of my own money into CKX -- and I still hold the stock today.
I still believe this one is going to improve. Media and entertainment businesses are always risky, but I believe in CEO Bob Sillerman, who has already revolutionized the radio and the concert businesses. I think he has the right idea to build the company around a few phenomenally recognizable brands, (heard of American Idol? Heard of Elvis Presley?) and to leverage those brands through his other holdings. Anyone who follows the film industry knows the 80/20 model prevails there -- that is, 20% of movies make a lot of money and pay for the 80% that don't. The same thing is happening in the book industry. It's the nature of media today, and I think Sillerman understands this dynamic as well as anyone. He also understands that "content is king" -- it's what his company name stands for -- and that in a rapidly-shifting world of delivery options (Netflix? Movies on demand? iTunes on your cell phone?), if you control the content, you'll make money no matter how it's delivered. And in the meantime, Sillerman keeps hustling -- he's still working to come up with a new reality show, expand the "American Idol" franchise, and cross-promote his vast holdings.
For now, revenues for the first three quarters of 2006 are 50% higher than the whole of 2005, and his operating income keeps growing as well. I may have been wrong about how quickly this would grow, but I still think it's going to be a winner.
Type of stock: A media conglomerate based on a few large brands -- including the legendary Elvis Presley -- run by legendary media mogul Bob Sillerman.
Price target: I still think this one is going to make you big returns on your money. At $14 now, the stock can still hit $50 by the end of 2007. I am betting on Elvis and I am betting on the track record of one of the best entrepreneurs and operators in the country.
Hilary Kramer is a financial editor and money coach for AOL and an authority on investing. Visit her at www.hilarykramer.com.
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Filed under: Other issues, News Corp'B' (NWS), CKX Inc (CKXE)
I was outraged this morning when my local news station broadcast the results from last night's "American Idol" -- Melinda Doolittle was voted off.
Simon Cowell made his preferences clear on Tuesday night. He wanted Jordin Sparks off and expected two finalists: Doolittle for her consistently excellent singing and Blake Lewis for his risk taking. I am guessing he thought those two had the best chance to make him money through record sales. I would have preferred to see Lewis go since I find him a mediocre singer who uses -- what I find very annoying "beatboxing" -- to make up the difference.
So why did Doolittle lose? There is no way to find out why she got fewer votes but my hunch is that she lacks charisma. Lewis probably took up the Sanjaya Malakar slack with the 12 year old girls and 17-year old Sparks exudes confidence and talent. While Doolittle lacks that magical quality, there is no doubt that she can sing better than the two finalists.
And if her post-Idol career is anything like last season's #4, Chris Daughtry's, Doolittle will be fine. However, with Doolittle off the show, it may hurt the ratings a bit for Idol owner, CKX Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox.
Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in CKX or News Corp.
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