American Idol 3, April 7: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me

Ryan Seacrest welcomes us. And, he tells us there is a little wrinkle tonight. The contestants will be separated into groups of three. The three highest vote-getters, the three lowest vote-getters, and the three in the middle. This could tell us a bit more about how they are doing!

There were 24 million votes cast last night! Well done!

Intro the judges.

Ryan introduces the contestants.

Recap of last night's performances, which you can read about in detail right here.

Ryan chats with the contestants. Jon Peter Lewis says he doesn’t know what was up with the judges. They weren’t “up.” (Actually, he was searching for something to say that wouldn’t anger anyone. Tough question for that! Thanks, Ryan!) Fantasia says she’s not still steaming about what Simon said, he was sleepy, and Randy and Paula liked it! The audience didn’t laugh like they usually do. Time for grace now, Fantasia. Camile wishes her dad a happy birthday in Japan. And, everywhere else, I’d bet. LaToya says she will sing at Simon’s wedding, she thinks weddings are beautiful things and she came to win the Idol. She just may. John says he couldn’t have shown more personality than last night with “Crocodile Rock” and he was satisfied with his performance (not convinced of that). Jasmine and Diana said they had laryngitis, Ryan seems to want to convince them they had tonsillitis. What, is he a metrosexual doctor now? I wonder why they didn’t make that clear last night, when the girls could have used a little benefit of the doubt?

Tom Ennis, 19 Entertainment, announces that this season’s Idol contestant album will be soul classics. Gladys Knight (I miss her!) tells us that soul music has its roots in church. Some of the contestants talk about what soul music means to them, and why they “chose” the songs they did. Funny, Amy Adams, in her post-Idol interview call, said the songs were selected for them! Semantics.

You can pre-order American Idol: Greatest Soul Classics right here!

Julia DeMato is here! She has a single called “Let It Rain” and you can get it from her website (the actual site was mummed out in the tape delayed version of the show in my time zone). Despite her stage fright in season two, Julia records very well, as we heard on American Idol: Greatest Love Songs. It’s worth your ears for a few minutes.

This year’s contestants give us a medley of Elton classics, “Bennie and the Jets/Daniel/Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” in the dreaded group number. No “The Bitch Is Back.” I’m disappointed, too. Not too bad, JPL may have sounded the best he ever has! Don’t give up on him. I still think the big performance is coming for him.

The Idols got to go to the Kids’ Choice Awards. Being an Idol is fun!

Ryan tells us that even after you leave the show, the journey isn't over (even though he says it is at every show opening). Another former finalist, Tamyra Gray from season one, is back performing "Raindrops Will Fall." (What is with all the rainy singles?) Tamyra looks great and sounds as wonderful as she always has. If you are new to Idol, as many of you are, her dismissal before Nikki McKibbin in season one remains the most shocking and heartbreaking moment in Idol history, in my humble opinion. Hence, the Tamyra Factor that you always hear about around here. I've never heard an audience gasp in unison. It's a haunting sound. I remember hearing "no!" at the exact same time from three different windows in my block! Enough of the past, her song (she wrote it herself, thank you) is beautiful, and with just a wee bit of production tweaking, it could be a number one. It could score on the R&B charts just as it is! Nice to see her again! Tamyra will have an album out in June, and she wrote 12 of the 13 songs on it.

There is time for a few questions from the current contestants for Tamyra. Jasmine asks how she handled the pressure, Tamyra didn’t allow the stress and criticisms to get to her, she made it all into a positive, and put the energy into the performance. LaToya wants to know if not finishing in the top three hindered her. Tamyra says it certainly didn’t hurt her, sort of through clenched teeth. I think there was some hidden meaning there. I would have gotten it out of her! Anyway, she says wherever you end up, you have to make the most of it. Very true, they may never be as hot as they are now. Fantasia wants to know if Simon’s criticism got to her. Tamyra says she listens to the criticisms, and when the show is over, the criticism doesn’t stop. But, don’t take it personally. I doubt Fantasia does.

A video. “Love Machine.” Sir Elton didn’t do this one! They are all 70’d out. How cute. It’s a Ford commercial.