American Idol’s finalists have been determined, and the early favorite to win is not among them. Of course, the guy was never a favorite of mine.

Danny Gokey will go no further than third place in the popular Fox show, and its good riddance to a man who road the coattails of his wife’s death (through no fault of his own) and the American Idol hype machine for far too long. It was embarassing how the judges, early on in the season, praised the guy like there was no one else to win, even though he turned in week-after-week of boring performances. Sure, Gokey could sing, but hearing boring renditions and watching cringe-inducing dancing (not saying I could do better) is not my definition of a good time, nor do such things equal a performer worthy of the crown. (more…)

OK, I just banged my knee on my desk. For the second time tonight. My already injured knee. It hurts big time.Just wanted to say that – it has nothing to do with this article. Anyway…

I rarely comment on American Idol on this blog, typically because there are so many other blogs devoted to the show. I am a fan, and watch nearly every singing episode – but generally skip the elimination shows. I’ve watched all eight seasons, I’m pretty sure – wait, I think I skipped one – but I’ve never dialed in my vote nor plan to in the near future.

But I had to write a blog post on today’s episode – the Tuesday, March 10, 2009 episode. I’m not going to say he’s going to win the show nor will I make any silly predictions like Paula was prone to do tonight. However, I have to say that Adam Lambert absolutely blew away the competition.

It takes a lot for me to say this, because up until this week, I have hated Adam. Why? The hair. Yes, something as vain as his hair. I’ve always hated that hairdo, and I always will. The emo-goth-rocker ‘do just screams a pompous “look at me,” and I can’t fully respect anyone who proudly allows himself to have a style like this. The male cleavage shirt isn’t very cool, either.

That being said, he made me a fan tonight. His song and the performance was incredible, a very professional, seamless and thrilling rendition.

That’s all I have to say. I will remark that Alexis continues to impress, but isn’t her phone number tonight – which ends with a “36″ – a little damaging. What if people just assume she’s “13?” Allison was also good, but I didn’t remember from previous weeks. I want to desperately like Anoop, but he still hasn’t impressed me. Danny, whom Simon and others are clearly grooming him for the finale, also hasn’t blown me away. He’s fine, but only once have I seen anything that has really made him stand out – other than the fact that his wife recently died, and that’s no excuse to give him extra props. I actually liked Jorge tonight, even though he hasn’t done much for me. Kris was terrible, and Jasmine was forgettable. Lil was great, and Matt was OK – though he just reminds me of Jason Segel and if I were to take just one of them, I would choose Segel singing his Dracula opera. Michael was good enough to last until next week, but I think he’s going to have a hard time getting very far in this competition.

As for Scott, the blind guy… really? He’s been OK, but is clearly getting votes due to his disability. He was supposed to be great when pitted with his piano, but he was still just blah. Ask yourself: if he wasn’t blind, would you be rooting for him? No! Of course not! It’s a pity vote.

And finally, there’s Megan, who normally would be my pick to win just because she’s the hottest girl in the competition. Yes, the season that Carrie Underwood won – I didn’t think she was the best, but she was the hottest. Like I’ve admitted before, I can be shallow. But there’s something about Megan that just bugs me. She has an interesting voice, but her stage presence is absolutely terrible. That little hip swing she does is cringe-inducing – enough to make me despise her.

I’ll date her, but never vote for her. As for Adam, good luck to him. If only he would cut his hair…

I’ve hated him since week one. It probably doesn’t help that I hate dreadlocks. Why would you want unruly, smelly hair when you could just buzz your head and have the same low maintenance? Regardless, Jason Castro has to go. He’s never been a good singer, and he never well be (yes, he can sing better than I, but I’m not in a competition to sell hundreds of thousands of records). Sure, he’s pulled out – let me count – two good songs over the course of his short-lived career, but that’s not much at all.

Castro should have gone weeks ago, but this week he just has to go. American Idol doesn’t deserve the guy for another week. Syesha has been doing all too well to go home, and it would just be wrong for one of the Davids to go home already. Please, American Idol voters, please! Send Jason Castro – a.k.a. Dreadlocks – packing ASAP.