American Idol

I am addicted to American Idol this season. I've never really been so addicted to it before but I watch each week. Here are my thoughts on this season. The last 10 contestants have been really good. Good, in that they are all good singers. And good, that they are all good, happy, smiley, decent people. They have been very supportive and kind to each other. They have been good to the judges and to the audience. And it's not just the "kiss butt" kind of good. They are all genuniely humble. I like that. Plus they all dream big and never boast about making it this far. Perhaps it's because there are two LDS people left? Who knows. But I am happy it's a more positive this go around. There are only 6 singers left.

After reading some comments left on the website, I am probably not correct but this is how I wish it would happen. It's hard though. I think the top two will be David Cook and Murray's own David Archuleta. They have the most consistent and strongest voices. They always choose good songs and the audience loves them. The two that I like the least are Jason Castro and Syesha. I like Jason's voice but I can't get over how he looks. He needs a haircut and lessons on facial relaxation while performing. Plus his pants are too slim fitting and he wears these same vintage 70's shoes every week. Syesha has a beatufil voice but it is nothing new and original. She always chooses songs to big for her voice and personality. She's nice to look at but I don't think she should go on. Brooke and Carly are right on the verge as well. Brooke has a unique voice. It reminds me a female version of James Taylor. She's got a folksy style. But she is not a powerhouse voice. She is sweet and pretty and very talented, especially with other musical instruments but she makes small technical errors and she's not completely unique. However, she is all around talented, like I said before, and she does choose good songs that suit her voice and style. But she goes out there and makes risks and mistakes. And people and the judges like that. She doesn't let it get her down, at least not on stage. I love Carly's voice but she doesn't give herself enough credit. She is very talented and can sing several types of music from rock to pop to folk. I think she is beautiful despite her odd outfits (though that is improving) and dark make-up (Samuel was scared of her a few weeks ago...but she has toned it down a bit) and her tattoos (she and her boyfriend! yuck!) but it's her voice that is most important.

I don't actually vote because I am usually putting kids to bed plus I can't use all our minutes and we don't have texting. And I wouldn't know who to vote for anyway. My brother-in-law Grant has this fan call thing that keeps track of the numbers. Plus he plugs his cell and land line and hits redial or something to get as many votes in as possible. He's a little obsessed :0

But it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's not over for at least 6 weeks....that's a long time. I don't know who is going to win at this point but it's fun to watch them progress and grow.

You can also log on to www.songwriter.americanidol.com to vote for the finale's song. People submitted original songs and they widdled it down to 20. You can go and rate them and the top one will be sung by the winner. There is a BYU grad who wrote one called "You Believed in me" . I actually didn't like his song the most but I gave it a 10 anyway. Go BYU Alumni! But song #2, called "You can do anything", has to have been written by an LDS person. It says things like "anchor of truth," "stand tall" and "still small voice" Hello! So, I gave that one a high score too, although the music was a bit cheesy. So if you have 10-15 minutes and you care, go and vote!

Yay for American Idol!