American Idol Recap: Round of 6 - May 1st, 2007

After last week's feel-good performances and a results show with no results, we're back to the weekly grind, whittling down the contestants to one. Our Idols had it easy last week - no one got the boot. Tonight, they have twice as much chance of going home, though. Two of the six remaining contestants will be leaving us tomorrow night.

Bon Jovi is the guest this week, helping the Idols with their singing. Let's hope he does some more coaching than Bono did last week. He and the keyboardist from Bon Jovi are joining the Idols for some coaching this week. Jon echoes Paula's standard advice to "make each song your own."


First up is Phil with "Blaze of Glory". He says he's been singing this song in front of his mirror for the past 15 years. Bon Jovi is impressed, saying Phil has a lot of confidence. Starting at the very back of the audience, Phil comes out with plenty of that confidence, and a bit of a swagger. His performance is great. His vocals are strong and solid, and his energy is fantastic. I think this may be his best so far.

Randy: I'm happy for you for a lot of reasons. Other than country week, this is your best performance ever. That was the bomb!
Paula: This is a year out of your life you will never forget.
Simon: It was okay. I didn't hear any authenticity. Like a bad actor playing a role.

Buzz Score: 9.5


Jordin Sparks was terribly nervous when meeting Bon Jovi, saying her mom is a huge fan. It sounds like she might have played Bon Jovi in Jordin's crib. She and Bon Jovi had to work extra hard on "Living on a Prayer", to get the melodies down. She starts out on stage with two rockin' guitarists, and has a totally rocked out look, with the big hair and the long chains. From the start, I'm not terribly impressed by her performance. Her voice is weak, off-pitch, and totally unbelievable as a rock performance. It sounds like a good karaoke performance, but a bad American Idol performance.

Randy: You're definitely not the rock girl.
Paula: It's hard when you have a hot guy's band. It was a little bit out of your range.
Simon: It was like something out of the Addam's Family. Just out of control, verging on shrieking at times. It was terrible.

Buzz Score: 7.5


LaKisha is next, and she's not much of a "rocker" either. Will she be able to hang with Bon Jovi, or will she have a "rough week" like Jordin? Cathy of Texas asks her what kind of training she had before the show, and she tells us that she never had any training at all. Just singing in the church choir. American Idol likes to play up the angle that they practically take people off the streets with no training and help them become stars, but many of the contestants have a lot of prior training and experience in lower-level performing prior to the show. It's nice that LaKisha is a true amateur. It makes her success on the show that much nicer.

LaKisha has heard of Bon Jovi before, but has never listened to his music. She chose "This Ain't a Love Song", a good soul song that really seems to fit her style. Hearing LaKisha sing this song, it's almost hard to believe it was even a rock song to begin with. LaKisha is really taking Bon Jovi's advice to heart of making the song her own.

She brought a lot of emotion to the song for the first time in a few weeks. LaKisha's been regressing recently, and like Simon, I'm glad to see that she's back in full force.

Randy: LaKisha's back. A little pitchy in the beginning. You blew it out the box.
Paula: You gave everyone a little somethin' somethin'.
Simon: I actually could kiss you after that. You rose to the challenge. You absolutely nailed it, and I'm so glad.

Buzz Score: 9.5


Blake is rolling the dice on his interpretation of "You Give Love a Bad Name". Bon Jovi seems to like it okay, but he seems unconvinced that America will be willing to accept such a unique version of a well-known song. America likes Blake though, so they may be willing to roll with it. The song starts off a little slow for me. There are a few pitch problems, and it's hard to get in to. As the song progresses though, it really takes off.

I can see how not everyone will like it, but I thought it was cool. Blake has a very unique talent, and he's shown it off a little so far, but he's never really put it fully on display like tonight. I'm glad he decided to really put it all out there before the competition ends. If he sticks around until the final, look for him to dom something like this again.

Randy: The most original version of a song on American Idol ever. That was hot!
Paula: That was the biggest leap of faith. This was amazing!
Simon: Half the audience will hate it. Half the audience will love it. You're very brave, but it was the right thing to do. This will keep you in the competition.

Buzz Score: 9


Chris is asked what he tells himself before he walks out on the stage. He says he tells himself to just have fun. He's singing "Dead or Alive" tonight, probably the best known song of the evening. Chris Daughtry sang this last season, but Chris said it wouldn't be Bon Jovi night without someone singing "Dead or Alive", and it's so true.

In rehearsals with Bon Jovi, he forgot some of the words, which has got to be embarrassing. He seems to remember the words tonight, and I think he puts together a good performance. He's toned down the nasally voice, and he's actually somewhat believeable as a rocker. Overall, I thought it was a really good performance.

Randy: Tonight, I was worried about these rock songs,but you didn your thing. You made it your own. nice.
Paula: You don't have anything to worry about. You did your thing.
Simon: I think you did as much as you could possibly do with that song, since that is not your style of music. I'm not sure if you'll stay another week.

Buzz Score: 9


Melinda rounds out the show tonight with her rendition of "Have a Nice Day." Melinda says that she is just learning rock music, but Bon Jovi says she has the pipes and he can teach her to rock. By the end of the rehearsal, he says she can join the band. She starts off looking very confident, and sounding very rockstar-ish. Randy was right when he said she was reminiscent of Tina Turner. Though I would rather watch Melinda sing other types of music than rock, there's no doubt in anyone's mind after tonight that she can sing just about any type of music she feels like. Very very good!

Randy: Great performance again from Melinda Doolittle.
Paula: From the first note, your game was on. You're a rock star.
Simon: I thought it was like a young Tina Turner. Vocally, in a different league than everyone else.

Buzz Score: 9.5


After Melinda's performance, we're greeted by George and Laura Bush, thanking us for helping American Idol raise 70 million dollars last week. President Bush threatens to sing, but fortunately, Laura cuts him off.


Again, it's so hard to predict who will go. Since two people are going home, I guess I have about a one in three shot of correctly predicting at least one. Jordin was by far the worst perfomer of this week, but her strong showing in previous weeks might keep her around. Phil was great, but he went first, and he hasn't been the most popular contestant this year. We also have to keep in mind that all of last week's votes will count as well.

I'm going to have to go with Phil and Jordin, but I'd only be truly surprised of Melinda was voted off. I think everyone else should be worried tonight.

That's all for now. Until next week.........