It is obvious that we were disappointed to see Chris Sligh eliminated from the competition, but he just never seemed to live up to his potential on "Idol," especially for those of us who have seen what kind of great music "chubby" can produce. Not to beat a dead contestant, er, horse, but here's one last pitch for our readers who haven't before looked to check out the first video for the band Chris leads and is the main songwriter for, Half Past Forever. You can listen to more album clips here. We especially love "In a Moment" and "Know." And we love them for the music as much as for the vocals. They're a good band with great potential.
By this week, Chris seemed almost ready for defeat. He faced the judges like a beaten dog and only weakly defended himself. Maybe he wanted to go home at this point. We did think that he left with dignity, especially going over and hugging his fellow contesants as he sang his way out last night. Although we did wonder why Phil 
Stacey said to him, "I owe you 50 bucks" as they embraced. Sounds as if they had a wager on who was and wasn't leaving (probably Phil thought he was and he did come damn close for the second time).OTHER NOTES ON LAST NIGHT'S SHOW
... Why the hell was Akon there to "accompany" Gwen Stefani if he wasn't allowed to do his rap? He stood around looking like window dressing, contributing less to the song than the backup singers. Are the producers that scared to introduce any hip-hop or rap to Idol? Scared of alienating Mr. & Mrs. Middle America? What a waste. There's been tons of that type of music on "So You Think You Can Dance" and it has only attracted larger audiences. Not that "Idol" is in any danger yet (as Nigel Lythgoe has said, they could lose half their audience and still be in the Top 3), but the show has been losing ratings all season -- this week's performance show had 12 percent less viewers than last week's two-hour performance show -- and eventually the producers will have to try something new to keep their old viewers, or attract new ones. Trying to threaten "Dancing With the Stars" by 
running over into the time period for its results show had little, if any, effect. "Dancing" garnered the biggest ratings for any of its results show ever this past Tuesday. So is this the first chink in "Idol's" mighty armor?... Is it just us, or is anybody else getting tired of the endless amount of commercials -- wrapped as programming -- inside the Idol results shows? We read that nearly 15 minutes of the results shows are devoted to advertising if you include the appeals to buy the MP3s on the "American Idol" site, the lame weekly viewer multiple-choice call-in contest and the pleas to corporate America to get behind "Idol Gives Back." And that doesn't even include the weekly celebrity performance which is shameless promotional payback to hawk the mentors' new CDs or tours. Each results show has approximatey 5-7 minutes of actually programming, and yesterday Fox announced that a number of future results shows -- on April 11, April 18 and May 2 -- will be increased to an hour in length. We can't, ahem, wait.
CHRIS RICHARDSON'S SHOWMANCE?
TMZ.com reports that "American Idol" semi-finalist Alaina Alexander and finalist Chris Richardson may have sparked more than just a friendship on the show. An inside source revealed that the pair "hit it off instantly," and even after Alexander was voted off A.I. island, their relationship is afloat. TMZ said that what they share is "beyond just friends." It seems not to be a coincidence that the wannabeen Miss Alexander has a really sweet picture of the two on her MySpace page. Also adding fuel to the romance rumors ... last week when they panned the audience to show Richardson's adoring friends and family, Alaina just happened to be in the crew. "A.I." reps had "no comment."IF IT WORKED FOR ANTONELLA ...
TMZ.com had another recent story about Alaina, only it involved the somewhat revealing photos of her on her MySpace.com site:"American Idol" castoff Alaina Alexander is showing off her other assets on her new MySpace music page. Her alleged music page features four songs she's laughably categorized as her "Greatest Hits," and like any good 'ol American idled wannabeen, she's added some racy pics over which her teen admirers may care to drool.
"Perhaps this little songbird should've flaunted that taut bod a little earlier in the singing contest. Like Haley Scarnato, whose singing puts one in the mind of performing televised tracheotomies, showing off her physical prowess might have kept her on the show until the inevitable vote-off."
So is Alaina upset about the TMZ.com story? Nah. The girl knows good publicity when she sees it. A posting on her MySpace.com blog even provides a link to the TMZ story and reads:
"Tuesday, March 27, 2007
TMZ!!!! what can I say........
Hello to all my peeps!!
First off wanna thank you for all the love and support. You make me soooo happy!!
Ok now lets get started on a little website called TMZ.For those of you who dont know about it, it gives the scoop on the juiciest celebrity gossip.I must admit, even I'm a sucker for the occasional celebrity scandal.
A little bird told me there was a recent article on me. "Wow me?".
So I checked it out. It talks a little about my myspace, my music.........then of course my pictures.Now people , is it really that bad to have some flirty but classy photos?.
I mean, I'm young, free spirited and just trying to have a little fun.
Can I get an Amen?
So check out the article and let me know what you think!
Once again thank you, all of you, for your love and support.
a.a
Click HERE to read it on TMZ!"
BEEP! BEEP!
And lest we spare you from any TMZ.com muck, the site also had a field day ridiculing Sanjaya Malakar's ponyhawk on Tuesday's show (but who's laughing now? Not Chris Sligh), by saying he looked like the Road Runner from Looney Toons:
"From Diana Ross to Halle Berry, you never know whose weave will inspire "American Idol" wannabe Sanjaya Malakar. This week, his hairspiration was none other than Looney Tunes character, Road Runner. Acme Hair Spray, anyone? *beep beep*Sanjaya's mindboggling pony-hawk was enough to almost distract from his butchering of No Doubt's "Bathwater." Almost. Unfortunately, a more appropriate song choice for Sanjaya would have been the power pop band's 90s hit, "Don't Speak," which Timberlake-alike Chris Richardson ravaged. *beep beep*
If Sanjaya survives another week, he's going to have a busy day in the studio -- the hair studio that is!
That's all folks!"
ANOTHER VIEW OF VFTW
In a posting called "American Anti-Idol," Michael Bloxham writes on MediaPost's TV Board:"This week is about viewer involvement in programming and the rich potential for subversion that exists. Having been weaned at the tender age of seven on the earliest episodes of “Monty Python” in the U.K. in 1969, I have to confess a deep-seated love of the subversive and that which pokes fun at the conventional wisdoms and practices of everyday life.
So, naturally, I find myself irresistibly drawn to VotefortheWorst.com (VFTW) — a Web site entirely based on the notion that if enough people vote for the crappiest singer, then “American Idol” can be way more fun. Interestingly, it’s a site that has developed something of a following — especially since Howard Stern got behind it and encouraged people to join in the subversion of the core format of the show.
First established in 2004, the site’s owners are claiming some degree of success and make a habit of targeting campaigns of tactical voting aimed at blocking the progress of those they think the producers want to win, by elevating those who appear to be there for pure (and excruciating) entertainment value.
Of course, whatever the motivation to vote, every vote cast still generates revenue for the program’s stakeholders, and it all goes to increasing the program’s social currency (though you may define it as counter-currency in this case).
It also suggests that maybe there’s a market among these sorts of talent / reality shows for the versions that bring together the worst rather than the best of previous contestants (less “American Idol All-Stars” and more “American Idol No-Hopers”) — probably not sustainable over a full series. But let’s face it, seeing the least talented people in the nation is a major reason for tuning into the audition rounds of the show.
If nothing else, VFTW is a great example of how a program can be extended by an audience in ways that the producers didn’t dream of, while still building an actively engaged community that quite probably wouldn’t be as engaged otherwise, thereby increasing the overall equity of the show.
Anyway, take a look at the site, have some fun and see if you can think of sites of a similar nature that other shows are crying out for but don’t yet have."
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