Reality Roll Call

Tonight’s show includes more footage from various stars’ visits to Africa last year.  We begin with Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, best known for his phenomenal portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.  Whitaker is joined by his wife, Keisha, in Rwanda where they visited the family of a man who was blinded by a land mine.  This man lives as a beggar on the streets of Rwanda, and is assisted by his 6-year-old son as they walk through the streets begging for coins on a daily basis to pay for food to feed the family.  Whitaker and his wife were invited into the home of this man and his family, three children in all, who sleep in a hut on a dirty mattress.  Whitaker and his wife also visited an orphanage where not enough children are taken in, children who have been orphaned by the ravages of HIV/AIDS.  The people who run the orphanage are angels who have made it their life’s work to make a difference in the lives of children who would have ended up lost.  Idol fans were again encouraged to donate in an effort to also make a difference in the lives of people who are in such great need.

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s focus is “inspirational themes” and Michael Johns is up first!

His is an inspirational story in that he is from another country and has come to America in search of the American Dream. So far, it seems like he’s close to finding it. He sings “Dream On” by Aerosmith and boy, does he rock it! He even attempted a really high falsetto portion of the song; even though Randy thought he had “some pitch problems”, typical Randy critique. I think he clinched it, and so did Paula. She thought it was a perfect song; she also thought he sounded “as good as he looks”. Simon thought it was “a very good performance.” He also slightly agrees with Randy, but he thought it was a “little bit wannabe-ish,” and he thinks Michael’s really a bluesy singer, not so much a rocker. I think Michael Johns rocks no matter what genre of music he tries his hand at. Great performance. I give him an A.

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s elimination show begins with the kids singing one of Dolly Parton’s songs, “9 To 5”, which was pretty good.  Dolly talked about her opportunity to meet with all “her children” and you could tell that she came away from this experience with very fond memories.  After a recap of last night’s performances and some good-natured questions from the viewing public, next was a performance by the group The Clark Brothers, who won the title of Fox’s Next Great American Band.  These gentlemen sang “This Little Light of Mine” in a way I’ve never heard it before.  The performance was definitely different – in a weird sort of way.  Then, we heard a performance from Dolly Parton of one of her new songs from the new just released album, which was excellent, of course.

by Deb Porter-Jones

Tonight’s elimination show starts out showing the Idol kids preparing to film a commercial. It’s amazing how Idol never fails to pimp out these poor kids for marketing purposes. This time, the kids were shown filming a commercial for some type of Ford vehicle.

Kellie Pickler, the dumb blonde from last season, performed a track from her sophomore album. She has proven to be the same sweet, clueless airhead girl that she always was “but with a better job.”

Carly Smithson was first to be inducted into the bottom three and Kristie Lee Cook and Amanda Overmyer eventually joined her. Whoever’s sent home will not be part of the Idol Tour.

It made sense to me that Kristie Lee Cook was in the bottom three. It kinda made sense that Carly Smithson was also in the bottom three. But it made no sense that Amanda Overmyer was there. It made even less sense that Amanda was the one going home.