David Cook Billie Jean Watch It Here
This… is American Idol. It’s the AI Top Ten, and the theme this week is “songs from the year of their birth.” Tomorrow night we will bid goodbye to another of the Fox reality contestants as we walk down the road to the “Who will it be?” Ramiele (born in 1987) goes first, and she’s doing “Alone.” My first thought is how ballsy that choice is, given Carrie’s outstanding performance of this song a few years back. Then she starts singing, and it’s shaky. Then she starts SCREAMING at us. I have always thought she has a pretty, big, powerful voice. But this? This isn’t good. She also has troubles with her stage presence. Randy agrees with me, Simon doesn’t.

Tonight’s Jason Castro’s birthday (also born in 1987). He’s singing “Fragile,” and he’s got his guitar back. It’s nice, it’s a good version of the song, and it’s a good choice for him. It’s nothing that we’re going to be talking about seasons from now, but it’s nice. In a word? Nice. Simon tells him that he needs to step it up, and if he does, he could win. But as he’s going, he’s too laid back, too much in his own world, and not taking it seriously. I think that maybe Jason doesn’t take anything seriously… but that’s just a guess. And not in a bad way.

Syesha was also born in 1987, and she’s doing “If I Were Your Woman.” I don’t remember this song, but I like her performance. She has such a clear, strong voice. Very Whitney Houston-ish. The judges love it, and comment that she finally turned it on and showed what she could do.

David Hernandez was indeed a gay stripper at Dick’s Cabaret, Phoenix, the manager of the joint has confirmed to AP. Gordy Bryan told the news agency that the 24-year-old worked at the club for 3 years, until September last year.

“He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here,” manager Bryan told AP. David Hernandez allegedly appeared fully nude and performed lap dances for the club’s “mostly male” patrons, he said.

Also, Bryan confirmed that he knew Hernandez was a vocalist but he never sang at his place. He told AP that he thinks David left the job because of his selection on “American Idol.” Hernandez originally auditioned for “Idol” in San Diego on July 30, 2007.

The main problem is that David Hernandez lied blatantly, suggesting several times that he was straight. Very smart indeed, obviously he is not in touch with the history of past Idol seasons. He pretended that he likes women (such as in an interview with the Washington DC Fox affiliate, when Hernandez asked if there were any single ladies around).

The top 8 guys will perform tonight and the top 8 girls will get their chance to stay in the show tomorrow. Thursday, March 6, four more contestants will win a ticket home. Tonight, the top 8 guys are to perform: David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook, Chikezie, David Hernandez, Michael Johns, Luke Menard and Danny Noriega.

Vote for the Worst has apparently found out first about his stripper past (and future?) and his true sexual orientation.

The Vote for the Worst (American Idol contestants) campaign has selected this season’s male contestant: Danny Noriega, and also threw their weight behind rocker Amanda Overmyer last night, who are both considered “VFTW inspirations.” The Votefortheworst.com site was started in 2004 to support “the entertaining contestants who the producers would hate to see win on American Idol.”