The Week That Was…

So, of the Top 12, based on my rankings, here's how they rate:

Week 1 of the finals was the always-rough '60s Week.  And the top performers didn't disappoint.  Bo Bice's spirited performance of "Spinning Wheel" rocked the house; while Nadia Turner showed her talent on "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."  The darkhorse of the night was rocker Constantine Maroulis, who soundly saved himself from elimination with his rendition of "You've Made Me So Very Happy."  

The weakest four performances came down from Mikalah Gordon ("Son of a Preacher Man"), Anthony Fedorov ("Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"), Lindsey Cardinale ("Knock on Wood"), and, surprisingly, Jessica Sierra ("Shop Around"). Three of those four -- Gordon, Cardinale, and Sierra -- turned out to be the bottom three last week.  And Cardinale...my #10...was eliminated by the viewers.

Move forward to Week 2 -- one of the best weeks of American Idol we've seen in a long time (if ever) this early in the competition.  There were six solid performances, and five that were a bit iffier.  And my rankings did the biggest shuffle and tightening of the four seasons I've been doing this.

Here's where the Idol finalists stand -- in my book, only -- following Week 2:  "Billboard Number Ones."  Note that consistency matters...that's why some contestants are ranked so surprisingly high at this early stage.

Wow.  The top ten just seven points apart.  It's anybody's competition.  Given how close it is, it's almost impossible to pick a bottom three...I'd say two of those three will be Mikalah and, surprisingly, Nadia.  The third?  Who knows.  Especially with everyone getting two chances to see the performances.

As for next week, expect Bo to move back up to at least second, unless Vonzell can really do as well as she did this week.  I've not been a big fan of hers up until now, but her performance Tuesday was overall excellent.  Carrie's performance of "Alone" might have been the best thing I've seen on Idol since Kelly Clarkson.  

So we'll see what happens.

Also, even though the rest of the GSNN gang has already given plenty of great analysis on Mario Vazquez quitting Idol, let me say this.  Sean (P. Diddy) Combs' statement today, when asked if Vazquez had been signed or will be signed to Combs' record label, was telling, basically saying he couldn't say anything about it at this time.  (In other words, not denying it.)  Admittedly, some of the contract details for the AI winner are rough. But I just hope Vazquez didn't decide to quit just to get a better opportunity.  If -- and I do say if -- he did, his decision runs the risk of making Idol irrelevant, if contestants can just use the show as a temporary springboard, and then quit before it's over.

On "The Apprentice"… 
John needed to go week before last, and he did.  I've read a brief preview of this week's show (airing the night of this column's publication).  Chris should be the next to go, in my opinion.  He's already on Trump's bad side -- for obvious reasons.  This week's task -- a do-it-yourself-workshop, should be interesting.  Let's hope the Apprentices are better at home improvement than ad campaigns.

On "Survivor"… 
We've had a whopping three episodes of "Survivor" since the last time I wrote this column (since the series made its temporary move to Wednesdays).  

Two weeks ago, the Ulong tribe continued their unprecedented losing streak.  And they mercifully voted off Kim, unanimously.  Kim and the other Ulong women were the only reason Ulong even had a chance to win the immunity challenge, "Sumo at Sea."  Their disorganization showed when they couldn't even elect a representative for the reward challenge.  For their own sakes, the best thing that could happen is to put Ulong out of their misery.

But that didn't happen last week either.  Instead, there was just one challenge -- for reward.  Not surprisingly, Koror won again.  But in the first of a series of twists -- both tribes had to vote someone off.  Koror chose to vote off its weakest link first:  Willard.  Simply put, he couldn't keep up with the rest of his tribe, and only made it as long as he did because his tribe never went to Tribal Council.  

Then the rest of Koror received its reward -- a big ol' meal.  And in a sick twist, Ulong had to watch them eat it while they went through Tribal Council themselves -- for the fifth time in a row.  Ulong's Angie couldn't even watch them eat -- but she should have, because they would be her final views of Pulau...she got voted out in a second-vote tiebreaker, after tying with Bobby Jon.  

Because of the press time of this column, last night's episode (3/23) won't be included this week.  We'll analyze that, and who's next to go...next week.