American Idol 2, April 29: Two-for-Tuesday with Neil Sedaka

Joshua Gracin, "Bad Blood"

Ugh. It's not very good at all. And Joshua seriously needs to enunciate. A couple times I couldn't tell if he blew the words or just wasn't saying them clearly enough to actually understand.

Randy: Wow. Definitely different from your last performance. A lot better.

Neil: You're a feel good singer. You made my song your own. I'd like to see you relax a little bit more.

Paula: This is the performance we've been waiting for. You were yourself. You had fun.

Simon: This is not personal, but the bar has been raised. Paula doesn't know what she is talking about. These performances are not good enough to stay in the competition.

At this point Paula just says, "Whatever." Um. OK. Paula, do you really think these performances are good enough to get him to stay in the competition? If so, who, exactly, do you think he should beat? This is what I really hate about her (and sometimes Randy's) little outbursts. She always wants to say something good, but the fact is that somebody is going to get the boot!

One again, Ryan talks to Joshua, noting it was kind of a tough night. Josh replies that Simon is just lucky "I got Marine Corps restraints on me." Oh please. Now he's threatening Simon? Joshua comes off as vindictive and not terribly witty (the drag queen line earlier was much better). I figure Josh must know his days are numbered - numbered at "one," actually - and so he figures he has nothing to lose by slamming Simon. So he might as well try to get the anti-Simon vote and hope for the best. Plus, it didn't hurt that he reminded everybody yet again that he's a Marine.

Kimberley Locke, "Where the Boys Are"

A very good performance, but again, I just don't find myself getting into it.

Randy: That was hot!

Neil: Sugar-sweet.

Paula: So versatile. Brilliant.

Simon: Thank you for proving my point. You've gone beyond the bar.

Before the final performance, Ryan goes into the Red Room with the four who have performed already. We find out that Trencye does a shot of olive oil before each performance to keep her vocal cords moist.

Clay Aiken, "Solitaire"

We come back to the studio in the dark - no stage lights or audience lights except the ones that focus directly on Clay in the center of the stage. He takes the song and just sings the hell out of it.

Randy: I'm loving this part of the competition. You did your thing. I'm so impressed.

Neil: I have lost my song forever to you.

Paula: One of the most vulnerable performances ever. You are the pop singer and you just are.

Simon: Congratulations to Neil on the song. Clay, you are one of the few people I've met who can take criticism like a grownup. You learn, you got rid of some of those annoying facial expressions. You gave a grown-up, fantastic performance.

After those songs, I would rank them:

1. Clay
2. Ruben
3. Trenyce
4. Kimberley
5. Joshua

So, if I combine the two performances, it is obvious that Clay is #1, Ruben is #2, and Joshua is #5. I have to give Trenyce the #3 slot because I think her two performances combined were better than those of Kimberley, which puts Kim at #4.

I'm guessing they will not do a bottom three this week, but just a bottom two. However, since Wednesday night's Results Show is a full hour, starting at 8/7 Central, who knows what they are going to do to fill up the time! In any event, I predict that Kimberley and Joshua will be the bottom two. I further predict (and really, really hope) that Joshua is finally voted out. Because then we can tell him goodbye.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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