Ok, technically they’re not in Manilla, but Thrilla in Hollywood didn’t rhyme. This is the brawl to settle it all. It’s Rocky vs. Apollo. It’s Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock. Ok, maybe I went a little too far. But this is the show that we’ve all been waiting for.

Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson

Tonight, we get two hours of Idol madness that they could really wrap up in two minutes, but I’m sure having Ryno Seacrest say hi and then Seacrest out in two minutes wouldn’t be good television. Co-hosting with Ryno are Christina Christian and my second REM sleep mistress, the beautiful and talented Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Ok, maybe more beautiful than talented

Jenny Love introduces LaToya London and she performs on an outdoor stage. She’s singing If You Don’t Know Me By Now and immediately shows that it really should be her battling Fantasia tonight. I guess she really does have a future because she’s wearing this fat choker with shiny stuff all around it (maybe diamonds?). Ryno goes into Diana’s makeup room and we get the peppy DeGarmo who says she slept like a brick last night. I wonder if that brick was wearing a corset? They go to Kimberly Caldwell, last year’s hotty, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta surrounded by pro DeGarmo fans. It’s a little odd to have so much build-up even though the results are already in.

They showed a few quasi celebrities giving their predictions and after Nicole Ritchie picked Diana, she then said she couldn’t wait to have sex with Kobe Bryant. They cut to Fantasia’s makeup room and Fantasia pointed out that she needed two tubes of gloss for her lips. Clay Aiken is in North Carolina at the Greensborough Coliseum with all the crazy Barrino fans. Clay isn’t quite as good as Caldwell at looking pretty. He’s close, but not quite. Blake is somewhere smiling right now.

Christina Christian is interviewing Lionel’s outrageous daughter, Nicole. Once again, she says she can’t wait to have sex with Kobe Bryant. Jenny Love is back on the stage and she bounces along with my main man, Georgie Huff. He’s singing Me And Mrs. Jones and he says they got a thing going on. Just like Me And Ms. Hewitt. George reaffirms my thought that even he was better than Diana. If Jennifer Hudson comes out and sings next, it could be three in a row better than Diana.

Back to Ryno. He goes into Paula’s dressing room to interview Randall Jackson and Paula Abdul. Paula’s boobs are huge tonight. She’s trying to smuggle two canteloupes in her dress. Back to Christina Christian who is talking to someone I’d expect to be there, Ray Romano. He says that his vote would go to Fantasia. Back to Jenny Love. Uh oh, Jasmine Trias is singing next. I read somewhere that Jasmine and Camille have a concert in Hawaii that sold out in 4 hours. Those Hawaiians love their pop starlets. Jasmine is singing Midnight Train To Georgia which is so not her. Comparing Gladys Knight’s voice to hers is like comparing ice cream to horse manure. It’s odd how much I liked Jasmine in the beginning and how much I don’t like her voice now. Ryno goes into Simon’s dressing room. Simon is showing the chest hair. You might be able to put a comb through it. Back to the real J. Lo. She cuts right to Christina who is interviewing Sharon Osbourne. Where’s Ozzy? I would pay to see that man interviewed right now.

Tamyra Gray is singing the National Anthem, and the camera immediately cuts to the Fonz. Henry Winkler was the man. I still pop my collar like the Fonz. Ryno says there were 65 million votes last night. I wish I could vote for the president by phone. Ryno introduces Randall, cantaloupes, and chest hair. And then he goes right to Diana and Fantasia who are dueting. Wait, it’s a threesome, I mean Kelly Clarkson comes out, showing some belly. Wait, it’s a menage a four. And the dog pile crusher himself, Rube Studdard comes out. Rube has been out there exactly 20 seconds and he’s already sweating buckets. It would be perfect if only Justin Guarini came out. But I think I saw him last on the back of a milk carton. Where are you Justin Guarini?

Back to Clay Aiken who is still in North Carolina. Fantasia is smiling. And she needs dental work. Ryno throws it back to Kim Caldwell at the Georgia Dome. She interviews Diana’s choir teacher who is almost hotter than Kim. And she starts interviewing the Mayor of Snellville who isn’t quite as hot as the choir teacher.

Kelly Clarkson is back singing Beautiful Disaster from her Thankful album and I’m thankful that she’s not showing her belly anymore. You know, I have this thing with Kelly where to me, she looks like a kin of Rosie O’Donnell. And that my friends, is not a good thing, it’s a bad thing. The wife just said her dress was actually not a beautiful distaster, but more along the lines of a horrible disaster. Ok, enough about her look tonight. The girl can sang.

Uh oh, the top 12 are back singing tributes to the guest judges. Georgie is leading Reach Out. Matt, JPL, and Baby Dean are singing background. The girls are singing Gloria Estefan, and baby girl, Camille starts off first. Leah Labelle jumps in after Camille. And then it goes to, um Amy Adams. I had forgotten about her. And she showed back up into my life. The nightmares, the nightmares. They cut into some Donna Summers and then into Ashford and Simpson with Solid As A Rock. Baby Dean got a few lines in with the ode to Big Band. Diana and the boys sing I’m Still Standing. They just showed the Fonz again. I think he gave an “Aye” with a double thumbs up. Jenny Hudson and LaToya are singing Barry Manilow. I think they just showed Teena Marie in the audience, but I’m not sure. Rick James wasn’t there bitch! Sorry, it wasn’t Teena Marie.

Big Rube Studdard is next with a horrible single What If. You know I love Big Rube. But his album is horrible. He has this line, “I love you like I used to love cake.” Dude, be real, you still love cake homey. This song has some of the worst lyrics you’ll ever hear.

What if I was broke?
What if I was slim?
What if I couldn’t sing and I didn’t win?
What if I had to catch the bus?
I still stay wit my momma so there ain’t no making love
Baby what if I had to used the payphone just to get my game on?
Would you still wanna put it on me?

In a classy move, Rube unveils his quadruple XL Luther Vandross shirt.

Diana sings the song she did last night written by Tamyra, I Believe. I’m going to guess that Fantasia is going to do it too? Diana does a better job than she did last night, but guess what? The votes have already been counted. Fantasia is singing Dreams. Darn, I wanted her to sing All My Life again. I think Diana’s performance was much better but guess what? The votes have already been counted.

Before we get the results, Diana and Fantasia duet with I Knew You Were Waiting or something like that. They do a commendable job, but I’m just waiting for the results. Simon says AI is the best talent show on earth. Paula says she’s proud. Randall says he’s proud too. Like a big old Papa Bear. Drum roll, please. Ryno is ready to let us know who the winner is.

And the winner is:

Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia takes us out with her new single, I Believe.

For one last time, like Ryno Seacrest, I’m out.

TivoJunkie roving photographer, only known by the code name B2 took a picture of Simon and Randy walking out of a restaurant together. Where was Paula you ask? According to those at the scene in New York, she was either too short for the shot, or was the fourth leg in a three legged race if you know what I mean. Actually, I think she was nursing her battered thumb.

Rather than go to the reader feedback, which basically wasn’t that good this week, we’re going right into the show. After tonight’s write-up, I’ll be back tomorrow night with the American Idol 3 Season finale.

As far as singing goes, tonight is the important show. They will also sing tomorrow night, but only tonight’s performances will be voted on. Word is that both singers will sing a Tamyra Gray penned tune tonight and it will be the winner’s first single. Also, word on the street is that Jennifer Love Hewitt, Clay Aiken, and Chrstina Chrstian will be on the show tomorrow night in some capacity.

Here’s the eleventh edition of the Love List.

1. Fantasia Barrino- Even though people say Diana is the favorite, there’s no question in my mind, Barrino is best.
   
2. Diana DeGarmo- Great comeback, but the immaturity is killing me
   

The Homesick

1. Leah LaBelle
   
2. Matthew Rogers
   
3. Amy Adams
   
4. Camille Velasco
   
5. Jon Peter Lewis
   
6. Jennifer Hudson
   
7. John Stevens
   
8. George Huff
   
9. LaToya London
   
10. Jasmine Trias

Tonight, Ryno Seacrest is wearing a white suit with a black shirt. Kind of looks like a reverse penguin. The singers will perform three songs, and just so we won’t have to hear so many busy signals while voting, each singer has three phone numbers in which you can call. Also, you will be able to vote up to four hours after the show ends.

Looks like they put a corset on poor Diana DeGarmo. Either that or she’s sucking that stomach in something fierce. Diana also says she’s going to give 500 percent, which is impossible, but I guess it’s more hardcore than just saying 100 percent. Because of the coin toss last week, which Fantasia won, Diana will sing first. Diana will sing Gray’s song I Believe first. She will get to pick her next two songs. Fantasia will also have to sing I Believe. Diana does what Diana usually does. She starts off really slowly, and then picks up the pace. It’s basically a Mariah Carey like spiritual ballad, and Diana shows that she can do that song decently. What this also shows me is that she’s not the great wailer that Kelly Clarkson was in Season 1. Clarkson would’ve probably killed this song. In the words of Randy Jackson if he were writing this, for me for her, she’s going to have to do much better on her next two songs. Randall says she worked it out tonight even though it was a big song. Paula says she feels like a proud parent. And she should. She really is old enough to be Diana’s mom. And speaking of Paula, she’s one of the few women who actually looks better after her prime. When she was singing Forever Your Girl and Rush, Rush she was a pretty lady. But during the first two seasons of American Idol, she was a fox. Or as Lionel Ritchie would say, she was “outrageous!” But in the last year, she’s aged so much. But still, most guys wouldn’t kick her out of bed for leaving crumbs. After that tangeant, Simon says his only problem with the song is that Diana hasn’t done all the things the song says, such as swimming lakes and climbing mountains. I hope he has the same complaint for Fantasia since she’s hasn’t done it either.

I read somewhere (cough San Jose Mercury News cough) that Fantasia didn’t have the personality that would vibe with the rest of America and that would be a reason she wouldn’t win the vote. I’m not sure what show the writer was watching because Fantasia’s goofy personality is only topped by her stage performance. She’s singing All My Life. This is actually my song with my wife. When K-Ci and JoJo broke away from Jodeci, I bought their CD, entitled Love Always and found this gem of a song. I played it for my wife when we were actually still dating and it became our song. People would scoff at the song because of how slow and lovey dovey it was, but 5 months later when it was the number one song in America, they were singing right along. By that time, I just laughed because I told my wife that if they ever released the song as a single, it would go number one. Fantasia’s performance was a scream fest, but she showed more emotion in that performance, than Diana has the entire competition. It does make me want to bust out the original though. Randall says that Fantasia made the best of what was a bad instrumental arrangement. Paula says she stands out because she takes a mediocre arrangement and she puts the audience in a chokehold and tells them to listen up. Simon says that she’s lucky that she’s singing more than one song because it was a complete mess. By the way, the wife didn’t love the performance.

Diana is singing No More Tears by Donna Summers. Right from the top, she sounds great. She changed clothes so the corset is off. Why do I have the feeling that she sang this before? Shouldn’t she get docked points for that? Why doesn’t Fantasia just sing Summertime again? I checked and she did sing this on the disco show. Damn, she gets docked by me for lack of originality. Randy and Paula really liked it. Simon says the song was great, but the dancing was hideous.

Ok, Fantasia IS singing Summertime again. Now what did I miss? Do they have to choose one of their best performances to re-sing? Ok, I take back my critisicm of Diana. Her original performance of this song was my favorite performance of all time for American Idol. While nothing is going to top that performance, she still does a great job. It’s pretty tough to top the original because she brought such a dramatic twist to it the first time, and she’s basically duplicating her first performance. Both performances are probably equal here. Randall says Fantasia is back and it was unbelievable. Paula says she reinvented herself and will never bore the audience. Simon says Fantasia is the best contestant in the history of not only American Idol, but the history of the Idol series. Wow, I wonder who he wants to win?

Diana is singing Don’t Cry Out Loud. I’m trying to figure out when she sang this before. But I liked it. Randy and Paula both say that she lost it in the middle of the song. Simon says the last time she did that song, it was sensational, but she missed this time. After Simon’s glowing recommendation of Fantasia, I think Diana feels that she’s already lost.

Fantasia is next with I Believe. I think they better pick a different single, because both girls didn’t sing this song all that well. Tamyra did a better job last week on the Wednesday show than both did tonight. Fantasia definitely brought more energy and drama to the performance, but Diana probably did a better vocal performance. Randall says it was brilliant. Paula says that it was her night. Simon says that it was her acceptance speech.

The judges were very interesting to me tonight. It was if Diana could do no right, and Fantasia could do no wrong in their eyes kind of night. I thought Fantasia did do the better job, but she didn’t smoke Diana’s big behind by as much as the judges would want us to believe. I guess, the performance is really a bigger part of this than I originally thought. Simon and Randy always say it’s about the singing, but it was more than that tonight. Vocally, Diana is right on par, but it’s the dramatics, the emotion, and all the stage presense that doomed Diana. But Diana is not totally out of the running. For much of the year, the voting has been surprising. It would not surprise me to see it happen again. In the end, it’s the year of LaToya and Fantasia anyway. It might actually help the Idol brand to have Diana win because without the win, she’s not as big of a star. Fantasia and LaToya are already stars. After all that, I’ll take Fantasia to win.

If you want to be like Jesus M. or B2, you can send me an email. Let me know your thoughts on the show, and who should win. Or, you can just use the new comments feature that good old Blogger has supplied at the bottom of this post.

Like gout, I’m Seacrest out!

Sometime last November, Mike and I were supposed to write up an NBA Preview of the upcoming season. I actually had mine 3/4 done, but Mike didn’t even start. I never finished it, but found this, which was supposed to be the first draft of my introduction. I figured that since the NBA is in their Conference Championships, I would post it now or else there’s a possibility I would forget and it would be too late.

2004 NBA Preview

David Stern is a very smart man. He didn’t back into this. It’s of no consequence that the two most televised amatuer basketball players are rookies in this 2003/2004 campaign, which again is Jordanless. Lebron James was on ESPN more times last year than most NBA teams. Carmelo Anthony won the NCAA Championship and was the MVP of the entire tournament. These two guys are the most famous young twosome to enter the league since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Magic and Larry met on the college scene before entering the NBA, and their rivalry was a true one. Lebron and Carmelo are buddies. Magic and Larry were initially not. Without the intense, already made rivalry, can Lebron and Carmelo bring the NBA back to what it was when Magic and Larry rejuvenated what was called a dead league? For one, these guys are much younger than Magic and Larry were. Lebron and Carmelo haven’t yet hit their 20th birthdays. And two, their teams don’t have established veteran stars that can help them mature more quickly. This will make it much harder for Carlmelo and Lebron to win early or often. This is going to be a testy time for both young athletes. But, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to be spectacular. Lebron is a 6’8 man child. His body is scuplted and his explosiveness is second to none already. His eyes are always moving and his teammates will often find the ball in great scoring opportunities. He could lead all rookies in rebounding and assists, which might be most amazing of all his accolades he will acheive this year. Carmelo is much more of a scorer. His medium range outside shot is more pure and his moves around the basket more natural. And with a pass first point guard in Andre Miller, he may get more opportunities to succeed than Lebron. What about Darko Milicic, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh you might ask? It’s not really about them. It’s about two players who David Stern is going to bank on and use for all they are worth.

Last year, the San Antonio Spurs dominated out West to break the Lakers threshold on the NBA title. Led by MVP Tim Duncan, the Spurs look to repeat, but with a slightly different supporting cast. Gone are the Admiral and Steve Kerr to retirement, and added are swingman Hedu Turkoglu, veteran Robert Horry, and scorer Ron Mercer. Turkoglu is a young player with a nice upside and some young players to grow with and Horry is on the downside of his career, looking for another chance at an NBA title, after reading the writing on the wall when Dream Team West was designed. As for Mercer, he’s looking for some place to call home. Coming out of Kentucky he looked like a sure bet to score 20 points a game, but has been in stops with Boston, Chicago, and Indiana. He’ll get an opportunity to back up Manu Ginoboli at the shooting guard and hopefully for San Antonio, provide some needed scoring punch off the bench.

The Los Angeles Lakers pose the best threat to take the title from San Antonio. The team who just four years ago won their first of three straight titles, got even better, tremendously better if you can believe it. When Shaq and Kobe decided that they needed a little help, Mitch Kupchak delivered Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Can Payton be the same guy who helped Seattle take Michael Jordan to six games in the NBA Finals nearly 7 years ago? As for the Mailman, can he still deliver in the latter stages of his career, being fourth fiddle? As a team, they have many questions. With the impending trial looming over his head, will his offseason tribulations hinder Kobe Bryant’s play. As we’ve seen already, Kobe and Shaq are as unstable as any battle tested married couple. But, with the star power and the ability to take over games late as a team, the Lakers should be there in the end with San Antonio in the West.

Should we just reshuffle the divisions, or will the East pose a threat this year to any of the teams in the West. The New Jersey Nets added Alonzo Mourning to help them get that title, but Mourning is coming off a kidney ailment that left him in street clothes all of last year. To expect Alonzo to be the Alonzo of old is ludicrous, but to expect him to not help this team is also ludicrous. He’s a true force and one of the fiercest guys in the league, and he’ll help Jason Kidd and company be a better team, but this year, it might not be enough. While Indiana with new head coach, Rick Carlisle should be much improved and could contend for the East title, and Detroit should be just as good as they were last year, I think New Orleans is the team we should all root for to win the East. While Allen Iverson may be the most valuable guard to his team, Baron Davis is ready to become the most spectacular. Davis is the most important player this year for a couple reasons. The former UCLA star is the leader of the most Western team in the East. Their point guard is big. Davis is only 6’3, but he’s a bulldozing 6’3. At over 220 pounds, he can be a bigger version of Gary Payton. He’s the key to their success and if he can be the guy like I expect this year, I see them going all the way to the finals. And they don’t even have Mad Mashburn yet.

I’m not sure why I’m more excited for this year than almost any that I could remember, save for 1993. Why 1993? Well, in that year, there was a young power forward from Michigan who was drafted by the Orlando Magic and subsequently traded to the Golden State Warriors for Penny Hardaway and a boat load of draft picks. That was the year the Warriors were going to lose the underdog tag and actually be favored to beat some teams. They had good teams before Webber, but he solidified them as a team that meant business. Don Nelson finally had his big man, and all was supposed to be better. We know how that story turned out. This year is different than 1993 though. The Warriors are back to being the underdog, rather than being run over with a team laded with both veteran players and a young supporting cast. One would think that losing your two best players would mean doom for your franchise, but in a twisted way, the Warriors will probably fight for a playoff spot this year, rather than playing for lottery balls for the first time in years.

There’s a real fresh air to the league for the first time in a long time. And it’s really about two young players in James and Anthony who though young, seem more mature than just about any top rookie tandem since Jason Kidd and Grant Hill entered the league. But it’s not only that. The real reason David Stern needed Michael Jordan to come back to the NBA for the second time was because Stern’s new stars weren’t ready to put the league on their backs. Stern tried promoting it as a league of team rivalries rather than one of superstars like it had been promoted when Jordan was in his prime. Vince Carter had one great year, and then seemed to not step up and grasp the league by the horns. Allen Iverson had too many off the court issues to be deemed as the next one. Shaq O’Neal couldn’t win the big one until his second in crime came along in Kobe Bryant. But now, there are several players ready. Kobe Bryant, throughout his off the court problems, has the all around game that could put him second to only Jordan himself in best scoring guards ever category. Tracy McGrady’s game is as silky smooth as the best of them. He has that bulldog attitude near the end of the game that all the greats have, and if he can keep his back strong, he’s young enough to dominate in this game for a long time. Iverson may be the most talented player in the game, and at 6 foot tall, he may have the biggest heart. He’s matured enough to where he’s recognized as one of the game’s elite. As for big men, are there any better in the game than Kevin Garnet and Tim Duncan? Two seven footers who can work inside and outside while defending on the other end. This league has the stars to cycle upward again and become fantastic.

In the end, I have to take San Antonio to repeat. As easy as it is to pick the Lakers with all their star power, it’s just as easy to think that they won’t be able to stay completely healthy, endure Kobe’s off the court issues, and have enough bench help to play well in crunch time. Robert Horry anyone? I’ll take San Antonio in six over New Orleans in a Finals that won’t make the NBA happy with television ratings, but would probably be the best match-up possible.

All I can say is wow. I never saw that coming. But as I think about why it happened, it makes sense. Let me put this in different terms. Let’s call this Pop Chick Idol. Your favorite singer is Britney Spears. She’s in the final four with Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. Britney as usual sounds awful. She just doesn’t have it tonight. Britney’s fans figure if they don’t save their favorite, she’s a goner. And while Britney was horrendous Christina Aguilera was great. She belted out notes you thought only pre-crack Whitney Houston could get to. Her fans figure that since she did so well, everyone voting must be voting for Christina. There’s not a huge need to call. They don’t have to save her. She did fine. And guess what? Christina is voted out. Now if you interchange the parties involved, you have the LaToya and Jasmine situation. LaToya performed well last week. Maybe every single one of her fans didn’t feel the need to vote. She did too well not to make it. And on the other hand, Jasmine was Britney. She did horrible. She started dating someone else’s baby father in the mean time too. She had to be saved. No one could possibly be voting for her except her fans. And Britney aka Jasmine Trias was saved. Poor Christina, aka LaToya fell just short and is now gone. The moral of this story is simply to vote whether or not you think your vote is needed.

Feedback

This is from Jesus M. who seems to love to email me.

Sometimes when I see Fantasia, I think I’m watching The Swan.

Jesus, that was so wrong. Funny, but so wrong.

This is from Paula Abdul’s manicurist (is that a word), who ruined Paula’s hand.

You say I charge her eight dollah. It was only seven.

Paula In Much Happier Times

And finally, the wife chimed in and said:

LaToya was boring! Diana sings better songs.

Well, the wife likes the spunky ones. No wonder she married me.

If you want to become a regular like Jesus M., you can send me an email. Or, you can just use the new comments feature that good old Blogger has supplied at the bottom of this post.

Do I agree with LaToya leaving? No. Do I have a feeling that the general fans love her more than Diana and Fantasia? No. Was she the best singer in the competition? Yes. I thought she was the most polished of them all. But America seems to have a fetish with spunky teenagers. We’ll see what happens tonight.

Here’s the tenth edition of the Love List.

1. Fantasia Barrino- Still has the best star quality
   
2. Diana DeGarmo- What a difference a few weeks makes
   
3. Jasmine Trias- I didn’t know all the voting comes from Hawaii
   

The Homesick

1. Leah LaBelle
   
2. Matthew Rogers
   
3. Amy Adams
   
4. Camille Velasco
   
5. Jon Peter Lewis
   
6. Jennifer Hudson
   
7. John Stevens
   
8. George Huff
   
9. LaToya

The way it’s going tonight is the singers will perform a song of their choice, one of the judges choice, and one of Clive Davis’ choice. Yep, the Clive Davis who is important for giving us Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys. But he’s also responsible for executive producing Kelly Clarkson’s, Ruben Studdard’s, and Clay Aiken’s very average albums. I wonder who executive produced Justin Guarini’s album, which was the best of the bunch, that is unless you count Kim Locke’s album. I’m not sure which one I like better yet. Kim Locke’s album is good though.

Jasmine Trias is going first. The worst will be first. Jasmine is singing Whitney’s Saving All My Love For You. I figured out what I really hate about Jasmine. She is horrible in that transition between notes. She can hit the high note well. But the way her voice trembles before she gets to that note is so annoying. As for her first performance tonight, she takes a Houston song that I really like. But as I’m trying to give her version a shot, I can only hear Whitney’s voice. It was decent, but not the best. Randall says it was good, not great, but not all the way there yet. Paula says you have to sing as good as Whitney, but she’s almost there. Clive says no one can sing better than Whitney. He thought she did well though. Simon says it was like dinner with Paula, nice but forgettable.

Fantasia is next with Chain Of Fools which she also does on the new American Idol 3 album. What’s odd is that the live version is tons better than the album version. Of course, she knocks it out of the park. Randall says no matter what, she’s a winner. Paula says a bunch of things that are hard to understand but I think she said it was good. Clive says that she took a chance with Aretha and did a great job. Simon says she wasn’t a carbon copy Aretha, she did her own thing. Diana DeGarmo is doing Ain’t No Mountian High Enough which is an odd choice. I don’t think it’s her best performance and is probably a bad song choice. Actually, she does do what she usually does, which is pick it up in the end. Let’s see what the judges say. Randall says it was just ok and the song was a little bigger than her. Paula says she did a great job. Clive says it was good cabaret, not unique. Simon says not to get carried away with the audience because she shouted the song.

You know what I don’t like? When Ryno Seacrest calls Jasmine, Jazzy. Is Fantasia the Fresh Prince? And Diana the Cowardly Lion?

Jazzy?

Paula picked Hey Mr. Melody for Jasmine. I can’t tell you if she hit the right notes, or if she was on pitch, or if she was sharp. I can only tell you that it was pretty boring. Even though I don’t like Jasmine as a singer, it is kind of cool seeing an Asian go this far. Randall thought the song choice was good. Paula says that she liked Jasmine singing more uptempo songs. Clive says it wasn’t her best. Simon says “so what”? Simon has chosen Fool In Love for Fantasia. Is it me or is Fantasia always in tune? You never listen to her and wish she wasn’t singing. Randall says she reminds him of Mary J. and Aretha and calls her dude. Paula says that Fantasia doesn’t even need the competition anymore. Clive says if he saw her in the basement performing, rather than on stage at American Idol, he would sign her right away. Simon says she needs a sympathy vote (nice shot at Jasmine) and says it’s the worst thing he’s ever heard in his life.

The seventh Jackson brother, Randall has chosen Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion for Diana. This is going to be trouble. As much as I hate Celine, her voice is very original and by singing this song, just like with Whitney, we’re going to try to hear Celine. The wife just chimed in that she hears Diana taking huge breaths and after listening for it, I can hear it. It reminds me of when I used to watch The American Dream Dusty Rhodes do interviews and he’d be so out of breath that he’d take these huge breaths. At least Diana isn’t the son of a plumber. Randall says it was just alright. Paula says she has the pipes, however, she needed to color up the song. Clive says it was a good choice and that she could hit the notes. Simon says it was a seven out of ten.

Ryno just showed the Canadian Idol in the audience. He’s no Jason Priestley. Clive Davis has chosen All By Myself for Jasmine. There have been times during the show, usually listening to Jennifer, LaToya, George, or Fantasia sing, where you knew they hit it out of the park. You could even tell by the first few lines. But here, I can’t tell if it was good or bad, and I think at this stage in the competition, it’s a bad thing. Jasmine hits this huge note that I’m not sure was necessary. Randall says he doesn’t feel any connection. Paula says it was better than in rehearsals. Clive says the overblown ending wasn’t needed as the song was about being all by yourself. Simon says the reality is that her time has to end tonight. Ryno calls her Jazzy again. Damn that Ryno! Clive decides to give Fantasia The Greatest Love Of All. This is a big challenge mostly because Fantasia will have to rely solely on voice and not dancing and vibin’ with the audience. The wife just made a great point in that Fantasia understands the words when she’s singing. She can feel the emotion that should be felt. You would think that with Fantasia’s squeeky voice that there’s no way she could match Whitney’s dulcet tones, but you’d be wrong. While it wasn’t the greatest vocal performance I’ve ever heard, she did this song justice. Damn emotion. Randall says it was a great version. Paula says she feels honored to be in Fantasia’s presence bad thumb and all. Clive says it was fantastic and Simon calls her the American Idol. If you’re Diana and you’re having a rough night, how do you follow up? Let’s hope Clive doesn’t give her Fallin’ because she might take that literally.

Clive has chosen Don’t Cry Outloud which was a hit for Melissa Manchester according to Clive Diddy. This is definitely Diana’s best job tonight. However, is it even a contest anymore? No matter how next week ends, I think the choice must be Fantasia. Diana won’t go down without a fight though. She hits an amazing note to end the song. Wow! Randall says she brought it back and it’s all about the great song. Paula says it was flawless. Clive says she nailed it. Simon says because of Clive’s great song selection, Diana is now in the finals. Great, Hawaii just started dialing because of that comment.

I really hope the vote comes out right. There were three different singers out there. You had possibliy the best performance in three years with Fantasia tonight. You had a commendable job performance with Diana. And you had the “what you talkin’ bout Willis” performance with Jasmine, the kind of performance where you just give the gas face. America needs to step up and vote. Oh yah and SBC, please block the access for Hawaii to call tonight. Like gout, I’m Seacrest out!

PS: Not sure if this counts for anything, but if you look up each singer in Google, Jasmine Trias comes up 41,000 times, where as Diana comes up 38,000 and Fantasia 36,000.

On Saturday night at approximately 11:15PM, Brandon Kazuo Nakamoto was born. To those who aren’t related to me, it’s just another baby born in this world. But to my family, it means a lot. My cousin Mike and his wife of just over a year, Kim had their first child. Before I talk about how special this is, let me take you back a bit and give you a little history on why this means so much.

I’m half Japanese and half Mexican. My mother is Japanese and her parents decided (ok, maybe not decided, but more so went with the flow) to have 14 children. No, I didn’t fat finger that number. Not 1, not 4, but 14 children. My grandmother Ruth mothered 14 children and before it was all said and done, the number of family members that have some Nakamoto blood in them is currently over 40. And the number continues to grow today as my youngest peer cousin is not even 10 yet. Now Michael was born not too long after my grandma had her last child. He was pretty much the 15th child. He was a self proclaimed “grandma’s boy”. As the oldest Nakamoto cousin, he’s the Obi Wan Kenobi of the cousins, and understands the importance of family. When my grandma passed in 1999, it was tough on each and every one of us, and I know he took it hard. After all, the self proclaimed “grandma’s boy” just lost the person he was closest to for most of his life. One would’ve thought at that time, he would’ve brought his own baby into the world to make up for the void in his life. But he waited. He, always the most patient, did it on his own (and his future wife’s) terms.

Fast forward to Saturday night. My oldest cousin, the one who was mistaken for grandma’s 15th child, finally had his own son. Brandon Walsh Nakamoto, I mean Brandon Kazuo Nakamoto was finally here. As it is with big families, you take the good with the bad, but with every thing good that happens, there’s also plenty of heartbreak to go with it. We’ve had our share of heartbreak lately with my Uncle Dave’s (Kazuo) passing last September. But with every new child, there’s something new to be happy about. And with Brandon coming into the world, and with my cousin Janene ready to pop with her second, things are on the up and up. And with some 30 (or around there) first and second generation grandkids, this family really shows no sign of slowing down. And now that I think about it, I wonder if this was really grandma’s plan all along. While she was popping out all those kids, she probably figured that the family would possibly go on forever. And now with Brandon being born, and her master plan continuing to be in tact, I know she’s smiling because now she finally has her “great grandma’s boy”.