American Idol This Week

Short post this week -- I watched last night's final performances on a bed in a Rodeway Inn in New Paltz, New York, where we had to stop on our way home from Montreal because I caught the stomach bug that had hit the rest of my family over the weekend.

So, through stomach pain and the non-stop chattering of my two-and-a-half year old as she bounced off the walls, my impressions:

Blake -- Blake was smart to start off with "You Give Love a Bad Name," the performance which put him in the finals in the first place. He was oversinging (perhaps because of the size of the room?) but made good use of the stage and gave a very good performance.

Unfortunately he followed that up with a strange choice, a mid-tempo Maroon 5 song that did nothing to highlight his strengths. His take on their song "This Love" was a big success, but this one was uninspiring, and it played up his main weakness, which is a tendency toward sloppiness in his phrasing.

Plus, paired with the song they both sang ("This Is My Now"), it gave Blake two lackluster songs in a row. Blake must have been pissed when he got this song to start practicing -- not only is it totally out of his comfort (and talent) zone, but it was directly in Jordin's. He didn't stand a chance in a head-to-head competition with her on this song.

Jordin -- Her first number, a take on Christina Aguilera's "Fighter," was well done -- as Simon said, it showed the younger side of Jordin, something which has been missing for most of the season -- but I think she had some enunciation problems because I kept hearing her sing, "thanks for making me fire." I don't know, maybe it was the stomach cramps that were fogging my brain.

She followed it up with a re-hash of "Broken Wing," and I wish she had saved last week's "I Who Have Nothing" for this slot, since I thought she lost a little bit of oomph (yes, that is a technical term) this time through the song. It probably would have been impossible to recapture the feeling of the first time she sang it, as I think that was pretty much the first time people started taking her seriously as a potential finalist.

Any questions about who deserves to win this competition were put to rest when she sang "This Is My Now." It's like the song was written for her -- upbeat, uplifting, full of soaring notes and heartfelt emotion. If Blake wins this thing tonight he ought to give this song to Jordin and let her release it, because I think it'll sell like crazy, whereas no one wants to hear Blake sing it. She performed flawlessly, putting an emotional exclamation point on the season.

For The Night -- Jordin, Blake

For The Season -- Jordin, Blake

Who Should Go Home -- Blake, who is out of his league in a singing competition (as the judges continually reminded us this was) again Jordin. Still, I won't shed any tears for Blake, who has a good chance at being the biggest star out of anyone this season.

Who Will Go Home -- Blake. The people are an ass when it comes to voting throughout the season, but they usually get it right when it comes to the final.