American Idol Recap: Stephanie Hits the Bricks, A Nation Scratches Its Head

Here's my most confident American Idol prediction: I need to stop predicting who will be ejected from American Idol.

Not just because I haven't gotten it right yet. But because these predictions keep bumping against one of my biggest peeves about the show: the lack of information on voting totals.

Last week, we were led to believe smiley-faced, non-singing urchin Sanjaya Malakar, cueball Phil Stacey and ejectee Brandon Rogers got the least amount of votes. This week, the worm turned with a new set of Idols at the bottom: ejectee Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson -- the JT clone who actually turned in one of the best performances Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, because viewers -- and journalists -- don't get any information on vote tallies, we have no idea how close the results actually were. Even Dial Idol, the site which predicts ejectees based on surveying users who employ their program to vote, named six possible ejectees this week (last week, they didn't even name the ejectee, Brandon Rogers, as a possible loser).

Dial Idol's bottom ranker was babe-licious Haley Scarnato, who remains one of the contest's weakest singers. If this were actually a singing contest -- or even a PERFORMING contest -- she would be at the bottom, right next to Sanjaya, Stacey and Gina Glocksen.

But middling singers like Edwards have discovered another brutal truth about Idol: mediocre vocal skills and a powerful image often trumps better singers with bland personalities.

It may make for great television -- NBC's Today show even had an interview this morning with the blonde, crying 13-year-old fan who probably helped Sanjaya avoid the chopping block -- but it makes for a lopsided singing contest.

R.I.P. Larry "Bud" Melman

Once of the worst results of David Letterman's move from NBC to CBS was the loss of Larry "Bud" Melman.

Sure, actor Calvert DeForest continued to appear on Letterman's CBS show using his real name, playing up his role as oddball upstart, reciting his lines with an awful lack of poise that was perfect for Letterman's satirical jibes.

But NBC legal suits ensured the Melman name -- which carried a perfect air of small-market TV mediocrity -- would stay at the network stupid enough to deny Letterman the honor of succeeding Johnny Carson for glad-handing workaholic Jay Leno. (See his first appearance, as the first face to appear on Letterman's late night NBC show, below)

DeForest stopped appearing on the show back in 2002. But it still hurt to hear that he had died Monday at age 85 (You don't want to know how many beer bongs I had to drink in college timed to his manical laughs).

Letterman, who had already missed a show taping due to a stomach flu, issued this statement about Larry "Bud": "“Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man. To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him.”

Thanks for all the laughs Larry.

   

Comments

[Jim Johnson]

I think this is part of the reason Idol is so strange this year...

http://www.votefortheworst.com/