American Idol 4, March 23: The Great Do-Over

An extremely enthusiastic crowd, most seemingly armed with amusing signs like "Please Don’t Fire The Numbers Guy!" is shown. Ryan welcomes us, with a wry smile on his face, to an "unprecedented American Idol!" Indeed.

There seems to be lots of explaining to do, and Ryan wastes no time. He says last night was one of the best shows ever (not puffery, I actually agree with him!). He goes on to explain that the bottom of the two phone numbers, the ones without IDOL showing in them, were mis- um, shown? This was attributed to "human error." Hey, happens to all of us.

Ryan gives a brief dissertation on the importance of voting, gesturing toward the seated contestants like they are orphans waiting for adoption. He introduces a rather stoic-looking group of judges. Chances are they know they have to work an extra night when they probably had other plans. And they are not happy about it!

So, last night’s votes? Thrown out. The mysterious "independent accounting firm" has decreed those votes null and void. Ryan goes on to explain that the performances will be seen again, in the same order as they were last night, and you will be asked to vote again.

(How amazing is this? The error could end up winning Idol more viewers. I know for a fact that people who never watched the show – yes, there are still some – are planning to see how this calamity plays out. Good chance that a percentage of them will be compelled to watch a contestant get eliminated tomorrow and the real thing next week! With luck like this, who needs a proofreader?)

We see Anthony Fedorov perform George Michael and Aretha Franklin’s "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)." In my critique, I noted that it was smart of Anthony to choose a song that Clay hadn’t performed, because the comparisons to Clay won’t help Anthony establish his own identity and make his own mark in his campaign. I guess I should have added it was a song Clay hadn’t performed – on the show! A ridiculous number of people just had to tell me that Clay did the song in concert last summer, thus making Anthony some sort of Clay imitator. Well, I doubt that. The only thing Clay and Anthony have in common is they are skinny, male, and white. Anthony wears glasses every week. Clay wore glasses for about 20 seconds that we saw.

As for Clay’s concert playlist, the 60 million people who are watching Idol every week did not see Clay’s concert. Many did, but not 60 million, so the vast majority of us are not going to draw on a comparison between Anthony and Clay with "I Knew You Were Waiting." That was my point. Sorry you missed it.

Anyway, we saw Anthony do his thing, he went in the crowd, he shook his thang a bit. He looked comfortable, came off a little flat at times, but performance-wise, he was decent. Ryan recapped that two of the judges were positive, Simon was not. Ryan asks Simon if he wants more sex appeal from Anthony. Simon says not personally, but he thinks the performance was karaoke and boring and he stands by what he said last night. Somebody give him an ice cream cone. Ryan gives Anthony’s phone number for voting again.

Next, we move on to Carrie Underwood’s astonishingly brilliant performance of Heart’s "Alone," which was THE talk of water cooler today. Last night, Carrie was stunning, big ol’ hair and everything. Today, she looked like she should have been on a box of hot chocolate! What the –? Ryan reminds us that Simon said she will win this competition, and asks Paula if he should have made such a prediction. Paula says emphatically that it is much too early to make that call, and it’s not fair to the other Idols. Randy says he agrees. Simon "apologizes" for having an opinion, and says Carrie’s hair looks better tonight. Ryan gives Carrie’s numbers again.

Last night, Scott Savol performed Phil Collins’ "Against All Odds," and I was impressed with the emotionality of the performance. We see it again. Ryan reminds Simon that he didn’t like it last night. Simon says, in a real world critique, if someone saw Scott for the first time, they would say he wasn’t very good. So, Simon adds, he likes to keep his critiques in the real world, and not "in la-la land." Scott holds his tongue (good boy!), and Ryan gives Scott’s numbers again.

Bo Bice is shown again performing Jim Croce’s "Time In A Bottle," which I admit, I like better this time around, now that I’m past the shock of Bo not conventionally, well, rockin’. And I think someone got a hot oil treatment in that hair! Ryan says Randy was underwhelmed. Randy denies this, he said he noted the performance was "subdued," and he was just struck by the lack of rockin’.

You can see his dilemma. Ryan then asks if there is any chance Bo will get a haircut. Bo says he’s had two good haircuts in his life, and there is zip-zero chance of him getting another one.

Next up, we revisit Nikko Smith’s performance of Sisqo’s "Incomplete." I got a few emails remarking that Nikko’s voice is nowhere near as strong as the other Idols. I’m inclined to agree, but what makes Nikko different is the effort, the heart he puts up there every single damn time! He never leaves anything in the dressing room! Ryan remarks Paula was a mess after the song. Paula stands behind her reaction. Randy says he thinks Nikko had the performance of the night, Nikko found himself. Nikko says he was nervous last week, but basically got himself together.

Then comes Vonzell Solomon, with my sentimental favorite performance of the night, the Emotions’ "Best of My Love." She and the background singers sounded like they had toured together for six months now! Vocally demanding. She responded. Loved it. Ryan asks Paula what was different last night. Paula said she sounded great, she was fearless. Randy says she is most improved. Simon says Vonzell is listening to the judges, and she is growing on them with her sense of fun. Ryan asks her she navigated in the platforms. Vonzell says she prayed on it.

Commercial break! Hey, Fox showed a promo of the 36th Annual NAACP Image Awards without shamelessly plugging Ruben and Fantasia, both of whom are appearing and, I think, nominated for awards! Fox, you just keep surprising me.