LIVE IDOL BLOG 2/18

6:45 Welcome to our third live blog for American Idol. It's been a long week, but it's finally here ... the first live Idol performance of the year! As always, feel free to join the conversation and leave comments below throughout the show. As each performer sings, we're going to make some attempt at ranking them (and yes, we ARE always right). So charge your cell phones and do your business, it's time for the show!

7:10 Here we go!! THIS is American Idol. So if the “judges are starting to look like the View” does that make Randy Whoopi? “Dude, yo, you got to be in it to win it, yo, yo, yeah dog”. enough said. Awwww. Kara’s nervous…whatever. Alright, enough will all the talk about how serious this night is.. we know. Could the judges put any more pressure on the contestants. What happened to Ryan? We miss Ryan’s faux hawk hair! And here are the candidates… Michael looks good .. Tatiana is …… bright. Jackie’s first: LOL.. she was the one who sang when the wall fell behind Simon. He should be scared of giving her any bad comments. She’s singing Elvis.. should be interesting. Shake it. We’re not sure about the outfit…a little Betty Boop for us. She even did a Betty Boop voice. It’s hard to hear what her voice is like in this song. Great stage presence though. Ehh.. it was okay. Judges: not sure about vocals but good entertainer. Can “work the stage” Those are some scary pants! Paula has become her old stuttering self. Spit it out already. LOL.. Simon says she played the CLOWN. Ahhhhhh, we love Simon (for now). Her parents are here?? Are we going to meet Michael’s?? Ok, her mother is too nice… let Simon have it!

7:20 Ricky Braddy (Bunch) is next. He was serving chicken fingers?? What?? That was a weird interview. Wow.. that Alicia Keys song was great.. did we see that in Hollywood? Here he goes: He stole Seacrest’s haircut!! Wow.. great voice. We’ve got a new contender.. Where’d this guy come from?! If there are other contestants like this that haven’t got much TV time, we may be in for trouble. Judges: Randy loves him. “unbelievable, good voice” Kara “you killed that” Paula “you deserve to go very fair” Simon “no star quality”.. hmm, maybe. Either way, we are now Braddy Bunch fans. Ok our first ranking: 1. Ricky, 2. Jackie. And here are the parents.. they’ve even got Braddy Bunch T-shirts!!.. how cute (or not)

7:30 We’re not fans of this new look on Seacrest.. a little too cleancut frat boy. Here’s pink hair (Alexis Grace) singing Never love the man. WOW.. doing great .. making Aretha proud. Damn, we are in trouble. Michael better ROCK it. Judges: She’s “dirty” (it’s a good thing) Randy and Kara love her.. Wow Paula’s got a lot of bling on her hand .. must be the new jewelry line Tatiana’s been pimpin. Wow, Simon says she’s the best contestant. Ok, so we’ve determined that the length of each post correlates to how good each singer is. We find it hard to type when we are enjoying a performance. 1. Pink hair 2. Ricky Braddy 3. Jackie. Is that her DAD??

7:45 Brent Keith.. LOL .. ah, the joys of live TV.. Brent’s tape won’t play.. awkward pause.. and we’re back. He’s singing Hicktown (live in one) hmm.. not sure about this song. It doesn’t really show off his voice. Yeah, not a fan.. we though we were going to like him more. Is it just us or does he look like he doesn’t know what to do with his arms.. Judges: Randy: Could see him at a chili cookoff.. WHAT? And Simon’s invited. DON’T GO. Kara disappointed. Thinks he didn’t take enough risks. Simon says he’s blown opportunity.. we agree. 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Jackie 4. Country boy.. Aww. .he’s sad.. there’s always next year Brent. (actually I think they make them wait 2 years, oh well)

7:55 Stevie Wright .. wow, Simon’s never said a good thing about her. Let’s see if she changes his mind. UH, NO. Off to a bad start. You can tell she’s nervous.. voice is shaky. And out of tune. YIKES. LOL.. they showed the other contestants watching from above and none of them were clapping along. And it’s over… that was sorta painful. Judges: Bad, bad, bad, bad. ..WAIT, Paula said she was bad too!! And Simon “terrible” but “at least you got some experience” LOL . 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Jackie 4. Country boy 5. Stevie Wright.

Now Anoop Dog (in the house). He’s singing Angel of Mine. Here we go: he’s singing into the camera like he’s some hunky sex thing.. not buying it. Doing ok, nothing rememberable yet .. little out of tune. Hmm. That was a bit of a disappointment.. too safe. Judges: Bad song choice, little out of tune. Wasn’t best performance. But they all believe in him.. awww. Whatever. Simon says too serious and grown up. But likable.. Simon “likes” him? 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Anoop 4. Jackie 5. Country boy 6. Stevie Wright

8:15 Ok, we’re halfway done. We’ve had a few pleasant surprises (Alexis, Ricky) and a lot of disappointments. So who’s next? Casey Carlson’s up. Every little thing she does is magic.. well let’s see. Not a good start. OUCH. That was out of tune.. WHAT’S GOING ON TONIGHT. These guys must be under a lot of pressure. Is she even with the music? Those cheesy camera mugs and moves have got to go. No magic there. Judges: sounds karoke, Kara “Everything about that was wrong”.. bad song choice. Aww, she’s about to cry. This is kind of hard to watch.. and Simon hasn’t even spoken yet. 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Anoop 4. Jackie 5. Country boy 6. Casey 7. Stevie Wright

8:25 Well things are looking good for Michael. It’s his to lose. He’s next.. and our TV is skipping right now.. .what the … technical difficulties here.. NOOO. OK, it’s back. missed first couple seconds. He’s making the song his own.. definitetly taking lots of risks. He’s making some weird face and movements, but sounds good. It’s a hard song to hear his voice on.. a little pitchy. Good job Michael! Judges: Started out pitchy (see we know what we’re talking about on occasion), maybe wrong song choice, didn’t perform it that well. Kara: Not his best performance but he’s likable. Paula liked him! “Did a good job” Found him changing mikes with hands distracting (weird movements that we were talking about). Simon “tricky one” says he likes him personality wise but vocals weren’t best. … but there were definitely worse. Simon asks America to pick up phone and vote.. Here’s his wife and Mom!!! They didn’t give the family any time to speak… show must already be running late.

Anne Marie singing natural woman. Decent start. We feel like she’s screaming at us on some of those notes. A little pitchy in spots. Safe song but decent. Judges: Randy “not right song” choice.. all agree. Paula thinks she did better than previously.. really? Then why did she get this far? Simon: “if I’m being honest with you” -- since when isn’t he --he could be the best hotel singer in California.. another reality series coming from fox? 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Michael 4. Anoop 5. Anne Marie 6. Jackie 7. Country boy 8. Casey 9. Stevie Wright

8:40 Steven I-forgot-the-words Fowler is next. Very sultry voice. He’s off to a good start. He’s not blowing us away but decent job..yikes some bad notes.., safe song though. Judges; “not right song.” ..ouch, they didn’t like it. Steven says “not comfortable performing without piano” .. he has excuses for days.. Paula disappointed. Simon “pointless" 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Michael 4. Anoop 5. Anne Marie 6. Jackie 7. Country boy 8. Steven 9. Casey 10. Stevie Wright (ok, this ranking is becoming harder and harder, We’re sure about the first 4. After that it is a mess (as were the performances).

8:50 Two left and you KNOW who’s next.. Yes, it’s Tatiana herself. And what’s scary is she just may have a chance with a great performance. The door’s been left wide open. Alexis and Ricky were our only standout performances so far, but have they saved the best two for last? Here she is .. God help us all. Oh goody, we get to relive all the drama of past episodes. Hmm.. but she doesn’t seem to be herself.. She’s singing I’m saving all of my love for you (not us, you). Quiet start, but it’s pretty good. OK we are freakin out at the lack of crazy. We could almost like her.. almost. She’s showing her demure side? Some really nice notes. Enjoyed it but kinda safe. STANDING OVATION (not from us, the audience) Judges: Randy “there were some nice moments” Kara calls her a “roller coaster ride” Paula says she misses the “crazy” Tatiana. Simon says she’s “drama queen” We kinda miss her too.. at least we know what to think of the crazy one. Simon says “better than expected” As we suspected, the craziness was all a show. WHO IS THE REAL TATIANA????? 1. Pink hair 2. Braddy Bunch 3. Tatiana (sorry) 4. Michael 5. Anoop Dog 6. Anne Marie 7. Jackie 8. Country boy 9. Steven 10. Casey 11. Stevie Wright ……..and we got a little peak of the old Tatiana at the end.. I can’t believe we miss that..

9:00 Well they’ve put Danny in the pimp position. Will he live up to hype? …did he and Michael buy their shirts at the same store? He’s singing Mariah’s Hero.. interesting choice. Good start, little pitchy.. not really feeling it, but it’s good. Wow, that was a good moment. Second half of song is picking up. Great finish. Not a stand out song for us but very solid. But obviously the judges LOVED it. “Blazing hot”, “hero of the night”.. okay, Simon agrees with us.. (we’ll never admit that again) Simon says he’s not buying all the hype yet.. nor are we.

OUR FINAL RANKING 1. Pink hair (Alexis) 2. Braddy Bunch (Ricky) 3. Danny 4. Tatiana (sorry) 5. Michael 6. Anoop Dog 7. Anne Marie 8. Jackie 9. Country boy 10. Steven 11. Casey 12. Stevie Wright

But enough of who we think is the best. It’s your turn. VOTE. Michael’s number is 1 866 43657 08 - (a very tired) Enterprise out.