Homecoming: Update

Back before she was an “American Idol” finalist, Melinda Doolittle was a Belmont University mascot. She wore a hot, sweaty bear costume and jumped around in the name of school spirit.

Aw. I’m crushing now.

Impatiently waiting for word to leak about Blake’s judges’ song choice. Should be coming any time now if it was announced at his parade…

Here are some mp3 of the Fox 13 studio performance. Credit to jenlar for ripping the original audio.

The whole file:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2tfsyc

All Mixed Up:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ocsal1

Freestyle Beatboxing:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/67uwty

Do we have Melinda or Jordin’s song choices yet? I would have thought those would come out first since they are in Central time.

Apparently, from Idolforums.com, Jordin will be singing a song that Simon picked:

“Wishing on a Star” by Rose Royce!

Jordin is PST. Arizona would be MST, but they don’t have Daylight Savings Time there. I was wondering about Melinda’s too…

ETA: Spoke too soon…then who is picking Melinda? Randy?

Okay I found a snarky little tidbit on my homepage where it states what’s on TV tonight. This is the description of tonight’s NUMB3RS show at 10pm Thieves hijack a truck with supplies, medicine, and $50 million intended for relief aid in Zambia. Damn, and after American Idol did all that work.

Damn, I hope Pauler isn’t picking for Blake.

So according to the Seattle Fox affiliate, Blake’s parade in Bothell is running later than planned… *still waiting impatiently*

I know pj. But I really think Pauler is the one picking for him.
Although maybe Randy, but I dunno.

Catch a small video of Melinda’s homecoming here:

http://www.wkrn.com/node/94780#top

Still nothing about song choices for her & Blake.

So… Simon picks for Jordin, and a disco soul ballad to boot. Quelle surprise. Well, that about wraps things up tight.

Really disheartened now. I was reading an online article last year that had the statistics of the *top 12 photo’s* and the way they are placed in the photo. It said it had been the same way every year. I have kept track the last three years. Final 3, Winner is on the left, second place in the middle and the 3rd on right. Went to AI, and sure enough, Jordin on the left, Blake in the middle and Melinda on the far right. If this stays true, AI will be over for me next week. Jordin can’t hold a candle to Melinda, but hey, she is ONLY 17!!!!! UGH.

I sure hope this goes differently. Would love to see Melinda win, Blake second and Jordin GONE. Maybe if Jordin wins, she will get a better vocal coach and they will teach her not to let her breathing be so vocal in her songs. That drives me nuts. Maybe she can learn not to shriek, keep on key, who knows, afterall, she has plenty of time since she is ONLY 17!!!! She should be in movies, she is such a great actress and heaven knows she could be around for years since she is JUST 17!!!!!

I chose Roxanne for Blake about 2 months ago. It’s scary to think that Paula reads my mind.

If he wants to win, he won’t change up the verse at all, and get loose on “Turn on the Red Light.”

Which doesn’t mean he’ll win. But if he messes with the verse, he won’t win.

lisa – i love you. perfectly said. i too stop watching when melinda is gone. she is the one that has kept me in from the get go. and everything about jordin – WORD!

Margaux.

I think that’s a great song choice for him too. He could have another moment if he doesn’t messes up with the verses, you are right.

I don’t think he will win anyways, you know JOrdin is the one.
But I just wish Blake gets to be in the finale. I hope this song works out for him.
I like it. It’s a very cool song. JMHO.

I thought Jordin was homeschooled??

Song choices? I’m surprised that Simon picked for Jordin and Randy picked for Melinda. But I guess I shouldn’t be. I’m not a fan of Whitney and that particular song is both dull and one where the judges can criticize her for not being enough like Whitney, but then “dull” may be what Randy thinks of Melinda. Sigh.

Good choice for Blake. I shouldn’t be surprised because weird as Paula sometimes is, she seems to do a decent job of song selections.

I had to go to iTunes to recall “Wishing on a Star”. Eh. But it’s right in Jordin’s wheelhouse.

Two boring songs for the girls, and a good one for Blake. Wonder what Clive will pick?

Just thinking of some *fun things* I can do on the night Jordin is crowned the new *AI*.

I could, overpower my local Walmart greeter, and pass out SEVENTEEN photos of Jordin to the first LUCKY SEVENTEEN customers!!!

I could start a campaign making Jordin the SEVENTEENTH world wonder *coughs*.

I could muster up SEVENTEEN tears on cue.

I could go skipping through my local BlockBuster singing *SEVENTEEN Candles* in honor of her highness MISS SEVENTEEN.

I could write David Letterman and demand he expand his *10 reasons why* to SEVENTEEN reasons why Jordin won.

I could start a petition to make every SEVENTEENTH day of the month Jordin Sparks day!!!

More likely I could drink SEVENTEEN beers, and puke SEVENTEEN times.

*mumbles course I do hate beer*…Maybe I could just drink SEVENTEEN ounces of Margarita’s instead, then click my heels SEVENTEEN times and wish myself back to season 5.

Why is Jordin, for her song choice, picking a song she has already sung??? I thought this was a chance for the Idols to pick anything they wanted, but something fresh not rehashed from the current season. The final two already do this during the finale.

i happen to think this may be the most talented f3 we’ve had for a while. i was quite disappointed though about randy’s song pick for melinda. after telling her to show america more, it’s almost the same thing again. paula and simon’s choice are right on again though. awesome.

Elliott versus Blake? Kat versus Jordin? Taylor versus Melinda? Ok that one’s a toss up but Elliott blows Blake out of the water and Kat defintely is a much better singer, and did you know that Kat is only 20 years old?!!

the 17 year old joke is getting old.

Tell that to the judges. They’re the ones who have made the joke of it, and when they quit constantly harping on the age, maybe so will we.

Why is Jordin, for her song choice, picking a song she has already sung??? I thought this was a chance for the Idols to pick anything they wanted, but something fresh not rehashed from the current season. The final two already do this during the finale.

Ding ding ding! Baxter once again says what I’m thinking. So, what would she sing during the finale? This song again? I’m starting to see even more shades of last season and her similarity to a certain contestant…

OH SNAP! There goes Paula picking a great song for Blake! I figured it would be her, and I was really never worried. She’s been quite lucid this season… very very good choice, chica! Now, Blake… just do it justice! We know ya can.

Randy, Randy, Randy… it’s never been so obvious as now that they are trying to throw Melinda under the bus. Why the HELL else would he choose Whitney for her? Just… ugh.

H SNAP! There goes Paula picking a great song for Blake! I figured it would be her, and I was really never worried. Sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been quite lucid this seasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ very very good choice, chica! Now, Blakeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ just do it justice! We know ya can.

I know Sarah.. That song is great for him! So cool, beleive it or not Paula does make sense sometimes. I am glad she wants to see Blake do well. Now Blake you have work to do! But I know you will pull through.

Well, I am a Jordin fan. Not a voting fan however. Given the choices this year – she’s the only one remotely close to sparking my interest. no pun intended. Having said that- wouldnt it have been funny if they woulda picked Stevie Nicks’ “age of seventeen”.

I’m sure Jordin will take that simple song and put in a lot of vocal runs and glory notes into it. I hope for her sake Clive chooses a upbeat song. Three ballads would not be good. How about “Somebody to Love” by Janis Joplin?

radcit, I prefer not to be called dude since I obviously am a female with a female name, thank you.

I don’t hate Jordin, I believe snarking is allowed here. I just do not think she is great, good, but not great. I do however think she will be quite good in a few years.

As for the 17 yr old joke getting old… I agree hearing that Jordin is *only 17* week in and week out is getting extremely old. Tired of them cramming her down my throat.

Snarking IS allowed here. If you can’t take criticism of your favorite Idol, then don’t post or read here. It’s as simple as that.

Randy must really not want Melinda to win. He is always the one who insists how difficult it is to sing Whitney, Mariah, Celine etc. and he gives Melinda a sappy Whitney ballad to perform. The other two have classic songs that have been remixed and remade by several different artists so it will be much easier to put their own spin on them.

WOW. If you haven’t posted here before, I suggest you read guidelines.

I delete and edit posts that don’t follow them.

Jordin’s cd will be titled
I’m 17, I’m beautiful and I’m your idol

oops. It’s I’m 16, I’m beautiful and I’m yours. LOL. cripe, who sang that-was it Ringo Starr?

Jennifer Hudson also sang I Believe in You and Me so there is also that comparison to for Melinda.

TPTB are gassing up the bus to plow over Melinda as we speak. IMO the only reason that Randy would pick such a dull crappy song for her is to set her up for the ” you’re no Whitney” and the ” It just didn’t do it for me” comments.Melinda has been more consistant than anyone IMO . TPTB are setting the table for TCO. But in reality,if by a chance Melinda would get the most votes she still wouldn’t be treated as the winner. The game is all about image and appealing to the young people who buy the bulk of the cd’s these days. TPTB have already chosen their winner.

MJ,
Not sure if Blake sang “She Loves the Way” at the first mini-concert, I think it was called “Emotional Waterfall,” though maybe he did both and it wasn’t mpg’d by BuddyTV?

Thanks for your incredible site!

MindyDoo!

Please, pretty please, will you sing “Since You’ve Been Gone” again? It is a great, great Aretha number and you crushed it. That is the only video I’ve gone back to repeatedly this season.

Baby, Baby, sweet baby…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khf2rQn-kMs

So vftw is supporting Blake now?

MindyDoo!

Please, pretty please, will you sing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Since Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve Been Goneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  again? It is a great, great Aretha number and you crushed it

For sure. It’s easy to forget about these earlier performances and the unequivocal accolades she received from the judges. Held to a higher standard? You bet.

MJ, there are a couple new videos up on the Q13 news site – one of them is of the presentation ceremony with Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb.

They gave him a framed, inscribed picture of him performing with the a cappella group Kickshaw in the very park where they did the presentation. He performed with them twice there. They also gave him an inscribed star for the “Bothell Walk of Fame” since he is their star. The mayor said they wanted to get creative instead of just giving him a key to the city like so many other places do.

There was another Blaker Girls shoutout, and he looked stoked about the song Paula gave to him as her choice.

I haven’t watched the other vids yet. This one is titled “Mayor meets with Dallas, Dinah, and Blake Lewis”.

ETA: Seahawk’s QB Matt Hassleback was also there, according to another video (the one titled “All Things Blake”).

LOVE that choice for Blake. WOW, Paula picked a good one?! I hate Jordin’s song but hopefully she’ll make it work.

Yea Paula! Good choice for Blake. I agree with you MJ. It should be done straight, without beatboxing. If he wants to beatbox this week, save it for his own song selection.

MindyDoo!

Please, pretty please, will you sing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Since Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve Been Goneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  again?

Ooooooh, yeah!!! :clap_tb:

ETA: Seahawkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s QB Matt Hassleback was also there, according to another video (the one titled à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“All Things Blakeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ).

Well, his wife is a Blaker Girl.

wouldnt it have been funny if they woulda picked Stevie Nicksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“age of seventeenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ .

LOL – Edge of Seventeen would’ve been hysterical. And hey – she couldn’t have done any worse than Nikki McKibbin with it.

MJ, love the pic of Blake at the b-ball game. He did a beautiful job with the anthem. Go Blake!

I believe Jordin is saying that if she makes the finale she will sing “I Who Have Nothing” both Taylor and Katharine did at least one song that they had performed previously on the show. So I fail to see the big deal about it.

It’s happened regularly since season 3.

Beckham: Katharine is 23 years old- 22 last year in the finale.

Since we are on the subject of 17-year olds. I listened to the Princess’s debut album last night and it was a real stinker, with song choices I’m So Hot, Burnt, Out of Control. The only half-way decent song was the rap # and Kevin Covais’s half of it is the half I am talking about. actually he makes a very decent rapper, if you like that sort of thing. Princess absolutely ruined Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train To Georgia.

XOXO- Hey great to see you around. Regarding Jordin’s song choice, she said that her “Personal Song Choice” would be a rehash of a song she has already sung this year. Nothing about the finale. The top three get to pick one song to sing and last year T, E, and K all sang fresh songs. So that is what has me scratching my head. I agree that in the finale this happens, but not top 3 week.

angelia: Actually, I’m pretty turned off by Princess since she bit the hand that fed her. She can backpedal all she wants, but that was just classless, IMHO. I’m done with her!

Just heard Kelly Clarkson on VH1 say that this is the first season that she has been able to watch all the way through since she hasn’t been on tour. Her favorite is Jordin who she hopes and thinks will win.

I was at the Westlake Park mini-concert for Blake yesterday. I’m a fan of AI since S3 and this was the first chance I’d had to see a homecoming. It was fun, weather was beautiful, the crowd was enthusiastic. It’s been interesting, though, seeing the wildly different numbers of attendees in the press (Seattle PI said “thousands” which is a bit of an exaggeration…Westlake “Park” is just the corner of a city block). I’d guess around 600 were there. There was someone dressed in a cute orca mascot suit dancing in the crowd…I hope that gets shown on the Idol replay. I was standing on the balcony of the Westlake Mall across the street so I got a great view…of Blake’s back. Oh well. Every now and then he’d turn around but I couldn’t get my camera to catch it fast enough. Anyway, Blake was in good voice, sounded good. I don’t know how much of the Idol audience is into his sound of jazz/reggae/hip-hop/techno fusion (the crowd seemed a bit quiet and baffled during his original song “She Loves The Way”) but they were digging the other stuff he sang.

And I’m going to Taylor’s concert at The Moore in Seattle tonight! A weekend of Idol goodness!

I just listened to “I Believe in You And Me” again for the first time since it came out, and I can’t (well, yes I can) believe of all the great Whitney songs, he chose that stinker. That has to be one of her dullest songs!

They are DEFINITELY trying to bury her! We all know Whitney is working on a comeback album, and Clive is going to be there. WHY CHOOSE HER LAMEST SONG? Easy, so one if not all of the judges can say, “nice vocal, but you really didn’t give it that umph we needed, Whitney worked it, you didn’t make it your own”. Thus it will give Clive another reason to not sign her, and allow the sheeps who allow the judges to dictate their votes, to not vote for her.

They toss Jordin a softball with “Wishing on A Star” all high register notes, mostly soft melodies, and she gets to stand and sing like the pagent queen she it. Get the crown and tiarra ready. UGH. Even if she missed all her notes, they would sugar coat it with she is onlt 17 frickin’ years old, and say good job. wankers.

Blake’s song choice rocks. I hope he can avoid the temptation of playing with the cadence breakdown.

Randy may turn around and say Melinda is as good as Whitney.

That song is soooooo easy for Jordin. Hello it has maybe 5 notes, straight half scale runs….it might actually be one of the easiest songs to sing ever picked for idol.

My predicted order for singing:

Jordin
Blake
Melinda

Nothing on AI about Elliott performing! I thought they were giving me a reason to tune in this season!! Jordin was great on one song..the rest were boring.

I’m not as sold on Blake’s song choice as everyone else. The only chance Blake has of making it through Roxanne in one piece is to “raggae” it up in a big way. His voice is good, but not strong enough to sing Roxanne straight out. It’s a very difficult song to sing.

I predict no beat-boxing but an extremely strong raggae flavor. If he is going to reprise a previous performance, I really hope he goes with Virtual Insanity. I’d much rather see him doing something new though.

Wishing on a Star could not be more perfect for Jordin. However we can hope that she will completely blow it like she did on the Bono song. That “upper register” was so off-key on that dogs within a 50 mile radius were yowling.

Here are the links to Melinda’s Nashville Radio Interview. There are four parts:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiIwKe_rxRc

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjY9KA3_3ss

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21iUeG8U1SA

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpQDAQAgaQo

I don’t think Jordin got a good song choice at all from Simon. It may be easy to sing but is boring and not at all what I expected. I’ve never even heard it before and thought he’d go for a younger sound for her especially after his comments last week.

I also can’t believe that Randy picked a Whitney song for Melinda and a boring one to boot. The only choice I like is Paula’s for Blake. I think he can give it his sound without messing around with it too much such as giving it a reggae beat. Blake has a stronger voice than people give him credit for and even Sting doesn’t do it as high live as he did in studio.

Clive should pick a song for Jordin that she can really relate to:

Either:

“Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffet

or

“Half Breed” by Cher

both of those would be upbeat songs that would not be boring and that Jordin could really feel the lyrics too.

Going with the “so, what?” Tyra Banks movement and all, Cheesburger in Paradise would be perfect for her. I can picture her adding in a whole bunch of vocal runs and glory notes to it…

Well if Jordin goes first then she is NOT TCO. Whoever goes first has been eliminated every year- as has been discussed. My guess is that Jordin may go second.

In Season 3 Diana went last both top 4 and top 3 night- so there’s always the possibility that Jordin could get the pimp spot again.

If JOrdin gets the pimp spot again I am going to shoot the TPTB.
Can they just give the crown to Jordin already? Geeez..

Poor Blake will probably go first once again.
(Although he should go last, it his turn) Just saying.

jordin wnet last top 5 night. that would be three weeks in a row. also, what dumbass producer woudl want melinda dn jordin back to back…all that spells is bad ratings. nope, have to split the women up with blake in the middle. which is how i arrived at my order of

jordin, blake and melinda.

Strange that Jordin is going to reprise a previous song — isn’t that usually left for the finally only? She coulc have picked anything. Taylor’s perforamance of Try a Little Tenderness was amazing last year .

Paula’s song choices always lack creativity. Not sure what I think of Roxanne — could be a tough one to pull off. I was hoping Randy would pick Blake’s tune.

I Believe in You and Me is not a Whitney Houston song, even though she did sing it. It was previously perfomned by the Four Tops, Levi Stubbs. She pretty much stuck to his template, but his IMHO is better. Melinda could and should make this a vocal masterwork and knock it out of the park. R&B will welcome her with open arms. She is a classy, jazzy lady, and will make a good name for herself in the industry. WORD.

i see a future for melinda….her voice will be heard in elevators everywhere.

I think the performance order has gone like this since the beginning of the top 12:

12 Diana Ross – 1st Brandon, last Jordin
11 British Invasion – 1st Haley, last Melinda
10 Gwen Stefani something or other – 1st Lakisha, last Chris R
9 Tony Bennett/Standards – 1st Blake, last Lakisha
8 Latin – 1st Melinda, last Sanjaya
7 Country – 1st Phil, last Blake
6 Inspirational – 1st Chris R, last Jordin
6 Bon Jovi – 1st Phil, last Melinda
4 Bee Gees – 1st Melinda, last Jordin

So, not only has Jordin had the pimp spot 3 times, she has never opened the show in the top 12. Propping her up, much?

MJ, I can tell I am getting old when I had no idea what this meant:

He sings the 311 song à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“All Mixed Upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  plus an original tune with a loop machine and chaos pad.

I think “Roxanne” could be a good choice for Blake. I am more concerned about Clive’s choice.

Abbysee, thank you so much for passing along this information. I am sure Randy will mention Whitney but to go with Levi Stubbs’ take would be terrific!

Two ballads for Jordin? Boo! Hopefully, Clive will challenge her more even though she may be HIS chosen one. I know I predicted way back at the Top 12 that Jordin would win, but for some reason I was really excited back then. Now, not so much. Although, I am sure TPTB are quite hopeful.

Roxanne is a deceptively hard song to sing.. If I remember correctly, Rockstar: Supernova last season, 1 of the rockers crashed and burned because he couldn’t hit the high notes.Blake may have a problem here.

If Blake beatboxes during Roxanne (a great, great song), I will shoot my tv. Don’t make me do it Blake.