Ah, Stage 36.
Its been so long and my, how Ive missed you.
Well, not really.
Though eight months of Simon withdrawal does tend to make me a little testy.
No, not yet or no, not at all?
God, that ending was so genius last season, when is it coming back?
My daze is disrupted by Corey the warm-up guy.
This is the one part of theIdolaudience experience that irks me.
But his shtick feels like a bar mitzvah MC on meth, and I just cant take it.
Ryan, on the other hand, had an air of Brian Williams about him.
And why is he heading towards my secret spot in the back??
Wouldnt you know it, the opening shot is set to go down literally three feet from my seat.
Debbie the stage manager reminds all, Not until he says those magic words can you go wild.
I, for one, hadnt forgotten.
As it turned out, Hearts Alone was too big for little Ramiele.
I guess thats what makes them pros.
Not a great start to the show, but not to fret, JasonCastro was up next.
Jason casually strolls on to the stage, guitar in hand, almost as ifhes whistling while he walks.
Not that Jason did it justice, of course.
Syesha is next in line, still looking for balance in her stilettosas the video rolls.
Note to the otherwise lovely soul sister: pleasestop with the creepy baby laugh.
It totally freaks me out.
Im talking,like, night terrors.
As for her performance, I found it a bitpredictable, but more than competent.
Jason Castros birthday surprise during the break.
Wedidnt quite know what was going on.
All I could hear was Debbiescreaming into her headpiece, Ryan, I need you… now!
and then satbewildered as the 10 finalists were brought back to the stage.
And get all that gook in his hair?
ThoseIdolkids, theyre craaaazy!
How aboutsome Duran Duran, people?
Or a little Careless Whisper?
You cant gowrong with George Michael.
Brookepractices a bit before the show goes live again and its hard to makeout which song she might sing.
And its precisely that self-assurancethat makes her false start not that big a deal.
She worked it out, asRandy would say, and pulled it off.
Still, Im jonesing for some rock at this point since all theseballads are making me drowsy.
Fortunately, Michael Johns relieves thatitch with his bombastic Queen medley.
And did they ever oblige.
The screams are, at this point, deafening and hiscompetitive side is loving it.
Sure enough, it was probably his mostmemorable performance thus far.
Once again, the applause-o-meter is in the red.
As Davidgets interviewed by Ryan, girls are pleading out loud, Take me to theprom!
David attempts to concentrate, but the screams dont stop.
Thatis, until he starts singing and everyone looks around helplessly,obviously thinking, What song is this?
And Simons take is that it could have been a theme parkperformance, with which I totally agree.
It was not Davids night maybe hell be able to make it to his May prom after all.
Two more to go, andnext up is Kristy Lee Cook, whos teetering on the brink ofelimination.
It was not lost on this crowd that tonight is her make itor break it moment.
As for her song, GodBless the USA, reaction was decidedly mixed.
I saw a lot of eyesrolling, and some teary one, too.
Did she sing it well?
Will she stay another week?
Thats still a bit iffy, but David Cook(pictured) most certainly will.
But the one that stood out for me was Brooke, whoseems like just a genuine person.
As for herown performance?
Im happy because last week was so hard on me.
Imtelling you, the gals got class and that goes a loooong way.
So whos heading home tonight?
Id put my money on Ramiele.
What do you guys think?
