American Idol - Whatever week

So, the theme this week was, well, whatever you want to sing I guess. It started out pretty bad and there were only a couple great performances for me. There are a few singers tonight who just seemed to pick awful songs. I don't get it when they say " I picked this song because I like it" If I were on American Idol I would pick songs that I'm good at singing and that America and the judges are going to like. It's like they forget that they are in a competition and they think they are singing for their own pleasure.

Anoop - Caught up

Anoop was one of the performers that I referenced above. He should not sing songs like this, Not good, he seemed very out of his element and I think Simon summed it up when he called it a "wannabe" performance. I think Anoop is in trouble with that performance.

Megan Joy- Turn Your Lights Down Low

Another artist who said that she picked the song because she likes it and once again it was not good. She may be in trouble tonight.

Danny - What Hurts the most

He had some pitchy moments but it was a good performance anyway. I'm sure that it was tough singing this song without crying thinking about his wife. Not the best of the night but I think he's safe.

Allison - Don't Speak

I thought she did good. the Judges didn't say much about her singing but spent too much time worrying about what she was wearing. Yeah, it wasn't the greatest outfit or hairstyle but who cares? She sounds great!

Scott - Just the way you are

This is the first time in the competition that I have enjoyed one of Scott's performances. I think he is safe from being in the bottom 3 this week.

Matt- Something by The Fray, I didn't catch the name (oops! my bad)

Another singer who sang something for themselves this week. After being in the bottom 3 last week you would think he would sing something that would make America want to vote for him. I really like Matt and I'm hoping he is safe this week but I'm pretty sure he'll be in the bottom 3 again.

Lil Rounds - I surrender

Maybe it is because It came through different on the tv screen or something but I thought this was awful. It was painful to listen to for me. It was very old fashioned too. The judges seemed to think she sounded great so, I don't know... I think she is safe.

Adam - Play that Funky Music

Weird song choice BUT I loved it! I'm starting to warm up to Adam. He was fun and entertaining tonight and sang really well.

Kris Allen - Ain't no Sunshine

Loved the arrangement, especially the breakdown part in the middle of the song. Besides the goofy monkey faces that Kris makes it was a good performance. I think he's safe.

Bottom 3 this week prediction: Megan, Anoop, Matt

American Idol - Motown Week

I've always liked Motown music, I was raised listening to it. So I figured this would be a good night of singing. The contestants did not disappoint! The second hour of the show I was running back and forth between the Living room where my fav. show in the world was on (Lost) and the playroom where the second hour of my second favorite show (American Idol) was on so I didn't get to see the full performances and judges comments from the last half of the show. (darn you Obama!! grrr)

Also, new this week in my blog look for the new "That's what she said" Moments. The judges are always saying things that could be followed up with "that's what she said". Let's roll.

Matt Giraud - "Let's Get it On"

This was a risky song choice because this song is used kind of tongue in cheek alot these days and you have to have a lot of soul to pull it off. Matt delivered. He started out at the piano which he played really well but I was glad when he got up and moved around the stage. His singing was great. Another great night for Matt.

That's what she said moment: "I know you have it in there" Kara, and "do you feel the growth they're talking about?" Ryan

Kris Allen - "How Sweet It Is"

This was another great performance. He made it his own which is good because this song could have been very karaoke / wedding singerish. Kris is moving up in the rankings again this week. Has anyone else noticed that "Swagger" is this year's "pitchy"? They say the word at least a couple times every episode this season. I think college students could turn it into a drinking game. Every time you hear the word swagger take a drink, but I digress.

Scott - "You Can't hurry love"

Scott apparently likes to sing girl songs. Last week he sang Martina McBride and this week Diana Ross. It was a cheesy performance, not good singing and I hope that he goes home this week. For some reason Paula and Simon seem to always duke it out after Scott's performances. After Simon's comment Paula handed him some coloring books and crayons, implying that he was acting childish. I'm sure Crayola appreciated the free advertising!

"Megan Joy (apparently she's dropped her last name) Corkery" - For once in My Life

I liked her dress, she looked gorgeous but she warbled through the song. She needs help in picking her songs and she needs to not dance. She dances like she's trying to scratch an itch on her butt without touching it.

Anoop dog: Ooh Baby Baby

Once again did a good job with the song this week. It was a little boring but it's a slow song so what do you expect.
"that's what she said moment": "I want you to push it more" Kara

Michael Sarver: "Ain't too proud to Beg"

I didn't like it, the song was too big for him. I think he'll be in the bottom 3 again.

Lil' Rounds: "Heat Wave"

I only got to see the beginning of her performance and I was not impressed. She may have gotten better at the end because the recap I read said that the judges liked her. I thought that the 60's style hair was a bit much.

Adam Lambert: "Tracks of my Tears"

This was a great performance. Much better than last week! He cleans up good too. I liked his slicked back hair.

Danny Gokey: "Get Ready"

I thought he did good although the judges criticized the performance.

Allison Iraheta: "Papa was a Rolling Stone"

She did awesome once again! I loved her performance. Of cource Paula had a mustache, hand drawn by Simon while critiquing Allison. Why did she sit there and let him draw on her face? This show just gets weirder and weirder.

Bottom three this week will be: Scott, Michael and Megan. I'm not sure who will go though.

Obama's Youth. Disgusting!

Read about Obama's (Hitler) Youth program:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/03/obamas-youth-brigade-will-not-be.html

It is mandatory and the practicing of religion is prohibited.

This is ridiculous!! What if I don't want my children participating? I'm all for volunteerism but this is very scary. What ever happened to the freedom of religion?

What would happen if a "youth" did practice their religion? would they be arrested? blacklisted? be unable to get a college loan or grant?

wordless Wednesday: Pics from my new camera

Hillbilly Housewife

I have discovered a website that I wanted to share. Hillbilly Housewife is great. It gives recipes on how to make things from scratch. Convenience foods, from Hot Cocoa Mix to Pancake Syrup and bread recipes. She also gives meal plans there is the Emergency $45 meal plan and the everyday $70 menu. These menus cover all meals for a family of 4 to 6 for a week. I might try the $70 menu. The $45 menu is truly for emergencies!! I know that my mom and my sister would like to look at this website, but I thought I'd share it with everyone.

American Idol-"cough, cough" Country Week

Week 2 of American Idol started out pretty good. I was worried with it being country week since there are not a lot of country type singers in the top 11 this season. This week seemed to be a week of redemption for some and brought some of the early favorites back down from the stratosphere. Let's get going:

Michael Sarver: "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up"
This a really fun Garth Brooks song that was pretty big when I first started listening to Country Music back in the 90's and I thought that he did a really good job. His voice is definitely made for country.

Allison Irahetta:"Blame it on your Heart"
This is one of my favorite country songs. It's fun to sing and it has a good beat to it. Allison did great singing it. I know I'm being nitpicky but it annoys me when people hold their fingers up when there's a number in a song. Everytime the phrase "two-timin'" came up in the song she held 2 fingers up. That is my only complaint though.

Kris Allen: "To Make You Feel My Love"
This song was made famous by Garth Brooks but it is one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs ever. This song brought Kris up in the rankings. The Tweens will swoon over his performance. I was afraid that the judges would say he was boring but luckily they all loved it, even Simon!

Lil' Rounds: "Independence Day"
This song has been done too many times on this show. Lil' started off by saying that she didn't want to add her R&B to the song and she wanted to be "true to the Country" Whatever made her think that was a good idea? She's an R&B singer and there are a lot of crossover country / R&B songs that she could have done. Lil' rounds was definitely brought down to Earth this week. She did look nice though, I'll give her that.

Adam Lambert: "Ring of Fire"
This performance was just weird. Did anyone else feel uncomfortable watching him and Randy Travis? I kind of liked Adam until this week. I just feel like it was, as Simon so eloquently put it, "Indulgent Rubish".

Scott McIntyre: "Wild Angels"
I had to agree with the judges. He doesn't have very good stage presence. He is a great piano player but not a great singer. The songs that he chooses are too slow and boring. He needs to kick it up a notch.

Alexis Grace: "Jolene"
Alexis is another one to fall from "Grace" this week (sorry couldn't resist). She must have done better in rehearsals with Randy Travis because he told her not to change a thing. I think she should have done something a little more young feeling or bluesie. I think she'll be safe for another week though.

Danny Gokey: "Jesus take the Wheel"
Again I agree with the judges here. He started off a little shaky but man, the end of the song "was da' bomb" He can hit those high notes like nobody's business.

Anoop Desai: "Always on My Mind:
This was Anoop's come back performance. I think he probably saved himself with this one. I haven't been a big Anoop fan up til now. This performance made me a fan. It was soulful, heartfelt and beautifully sung.

Megan Corkrey: "Walking after Midnight"
She did OK this week considering she was sick. I'm still not blown away by her like the judges are though.

Matt Giraud: "So Small"
This was a great performance to end the show with. His voice reminds me of Eliot Yamin a little bit, who is a great singer. Matt moved up in the rankings with this performance as well.

I have no idea who will go home this week. The ones that had the worst performances are also fan favorites. This might be the week that the judges use their "veto".

AI - Michael Jackson Week

So this is when Idol is officially started. The big stage, the big crowd, the top 13 performers out of thousands who auditioned. Tonight they introduced the judges in a whole new way, usually the judges are seated at their table but tonight they walked out on stage, something that probably added to the rush at the end of the show. This week's theme is Michael Jackson and because there is a top 13, instead of the usual 12, two people will be leaving the show tomorrow night. Simon also revealed that there will be some sort of twist this year in the results, wonder what that could be?

First up tonight was Lil Rounds. She sang the Way You're Makin' Me Feel. She is a great singer, great personality, very likable. I thought she did a great job. If I voted I would vote for her.

Scott Macintyre: Keep The Faith. I thought it was just OK. I'm not a big fan of Scott's and I really feel like he made it this far simply because he is blind and people feel sorry for him. He seems like a nice guy and he is a very talented pianist. The piano playing was better than the singing for me though.

Danny Gokey - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing). I like Danny a lot. People have given him a lot of flack over using his wife's death to get him far in the competition. I don't agree. I believe that the producers of AI exploited her death but not Danny. I thought he had great vocals and great stage presence. I could tell from his performance that he sings in church. It just had a churchy feel to it. Simon didn't like his dancing but I thought it added a lot to the performance.

Michael Sarver - You are not Alone. I'm not a big fan of his. He is just OK. I could see him possible doing a country album. He had some flat moments on this song but I don't think it will hurt him. He is very likable. People will vote for him anyway.

Jasmine Murray- I'll be There. The producers really want her to stay in the competition. She is the first contestant to get a one on one interview with Ryan Seacrest. They're really trying to sell her to the audience. Jasmine did better than I thought she would at the beginning but by the end of the song she seemed to be struggling. The whole performance was kind of karaoke too. Is it just me or does she look kind of alien like? A pretty alien though.

Kris Allen - Remember The Time. I like him, he definitely has that teen girl vote. The guitar seemed a little off from the band at the beginning of the song but it got better as the song progressed. He is a good performer.

Allison Irahetta - Give it To Me. Love Her! She is one of my favorites. She has great presence on the stage and she sings high notes like it's effortless. She needs to get better at her interviewing skills, I want her to stick around for a while.

Anoop Dog - Beat It. I agreed with the judges, it was very karaoke. He looked like some college frat boy singing at a karaoke bar with his necktie on . I hope that America keeps him around for next week. I like him and I want him to have another shot.

Jorge Nunez - Never Can Say Goodbye. (I swear I wrote this before the judges even said anything) The arrangement was very old fashioned sounding. He chose the wrong song. I liked him in the last round, I'm wondering what America will think this week.

Megan Corkrey - Rockin' Robin. This was a strange performance. Her dress was weird, the dancing was awful. I like her voice though. She at least sounds different than the average singer.

Adam Lambert - Black & White. Adam did awesome, He was born to perform. He has a great voice and stage presence. I think he'll be in the top 4 for sure.

Matt Giraud - Why? He did a decent performance but Adam was a tough act to follow. He is a good pianist and has a good voice. I'm afraid that he was forgettable.

Alexis Grace: Dirty Diana. I did not like her outfit, it was strange. She sang decently, she did tend to shout toward the end of the song. I hope that the number fiasco won't hinder people from voting for her.

My prediction for who's going home: Matt Giraud, Jasmine Murray or Megan Corkrey

American Idol Top 12

So, a couple years ago I did a weekly blog on my Myspace page on American Idol for that week. I've been playing with the idea of starting that up again for this season. I'm not sure who watches it and would be interested in reading my thoughts on AI. Let me know if you would be interested in reading a post each week reviewing American Idol.

Thanks!

Henry's spelling game

Henry has been practicing spelling. This is a new game that he loves. I help him sound out the words and he types them in the word processor on the computer. This video was taken on Saturday. Yesterday when I got home from work he was spelling words in his head! Maybe this little game is actually helping him learn how to spell. Sorry the video is hard to see. It's hard to video tape a computer screen.

Zoe being cute

Zoe learned a new trick that she has been doing a lot. She's such a cutie pie, don't ya think?

I started planting seds

I bought some seeds and some starter dirt(not sure what it's actually called) this weekend. Henry, my hand model, is proudly displaying the seeds I got in the picture to the left. Henry helped me plant the tomato and pepper seeds. He had a lot of fun helping me. First I had him help me pour water on the dirt one 1/4 measuring cup at a time to make it expand. Zoe wanted to help too and at one point did get her hands on the bowl of water.

After the dirt was nice and wet we planted the seeds. I used this as a little mini lesson on counting. We put 3 to 4 seeds in each section so I had Henry count out the seeds for me. He had a lot of fun and I'm hoping that he will continue to enjoy helping me with the garden this year.