Round of 20: Results - March 2

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, and welcome to the first American Idol Roundtable for 2006!!! Thanks for joining us this evening.
Jason: Back again for another year of bad singing and a new superstar is about to be crowned... in about 2 months time.
Gordon: Let's introduce the crew, starting with my bowling buddy, who's done this with me for now the 4th straight year, Mr. Anthony Rojas.
Anthony: Hey.
Gordon: So what do you think of this year's talent so far, Anthony?
Anthony: A bit different I think. The girls are better this year.
Gordon: And the guys?
Anthony: I think there's only one true singer on the men side.
Gordon: Really? Who is that?
Anthony: Chris Daughtry
Gordon: We'll see what our other guest for the evening thinks of Chris Daughtry. I am talking about the uber-genius from WPLJ's Beat the Block, Mr. Jason Block! Welcome to the show, Jason.
Jason: Thanks for having me. Paris is the favorite of mine on the female side. And so far Ace is still in there too.
Gordon: I think that Chris is the man to beat on the men's side. I happen to like Mandisa on the ladies side. And let's see who you like as we get to play...SAFE, TROUBLE, OUT!
Anthony: ok.
Gordon: You both know how this works, but if you're new to the forum, here's a quick summary. I give them a person and they tell me if the person is safe, in trouble, or going bye bye. As you all know, this is just practice until the Final 12, where we start keeping score. The winner of the contest gets to moderate the final episode. Last year said winner was....me. Yay!
Anthony: Boooooooo =)
Jason: May I abstain this time around?
Gordon: You may. Wuss.
Anthony: (chicken)
Jason: Ok, fine. I will play.
Anthony: :)
Gordon: We start with the ladies and...

Mandisa

Anthony: safe
Jason: Safe
Gordon: safe. That was easy, wasn't it?
Jason: sure
Anthony: yep

Lisa Tucker

Anthony: safe
Jason: safe.
Gordon: I think she's very safe
Anthony: She's a strong favorite with a real upside.
Gordon: Did you know that she got all the way to the finals in Star Search?
Jason: I read that.
Anthony: She was also in the Lion King at the age of 10.
Gordon: She's definitely a favorite.

Paris Bennett

Anthony: safe
Jason: Way Safe
Gordon: safe, but I think she needs to get younger in terms of song choices.
Anthony: With song choices, yes

Katharine McPhee

Anthony: Safe. She's very good but needs better song choices
Jason: Safe.
Gordon: I'm going to say trouble. She didn't help herself last night, but I don't think she's out.

Kinnik Sky

Anthony: Trouble, but not out
Jason: Trouble.
Gordon: Trouble. I do like what she's trying to do with trying to create a fan base that's not R&B, but she has 3 power R&B singers in front of her, and there's no way that 4 R&Bers are getting into the Top 6.
Anthony: She's got other in front of her to edge her this week.

Heather Cox

Anthony: Out. Didn't do well and is average at best.
Gordon: Out. Bad choice of song and average isn't going to be good enough.
Jason: I'll say trouble.

Melissa McGhee

Gordon: I think she's the other one out.
Jason: Why do you think she is out?
Gordon: Nice voice, but bland. At this stage of the competition, the bland people are leaving
Anthony: Trouble

Ayla Brown

Anthony: She's safe just because she wasn't bad
Gordon: Safe. One of the best female performances of the night
Jason: Safe

Kellie Pickler

Anthony: Kellie is safe
Gordon: I agree. If she gets to the Top 12 and improves, she can be very very dangerous.

Brenna Gethers

Anthony: Out
Jason: why?
Anthony: She's really gone too far and can't sing - and she's very cocky.
Jason: Cocky never wins. The credo of Idol. See: Scott Savol
Anthony: yep.
Gordon: I don't think she gets into the Top 12. I do think that she survives the week because she does have personality, which will get her votes. That being said, she needed to bring it and didn't, which leaves her in serious trouble and it really wouldn't surprise me if she was out instead of Melissa. Now for the guys...

Taylor Hicks

Anthony: Safe - very unique person
Gordon: Safe, but has to get out of Christian Country mode
Jason: Safe

Elliott Yamin

Anthony: Very safe - not the best looking guy but has a very decent vocal
Gordon: Safe. There is one pattern I saw last night with the guys. The people who did fantastic jobs with the songs picked old, non contemporary songs, while the people who chose the right songs did not execute them properly
Jason: Safe.
Gordon: Elliott did a great job, but the song choice was terrible because I'll guarantee you that most of the voters are not familiar with it. It would not surprise me if one male lost this because they alienated the voting base, and we got a male version of Nadia Turner - should be around a lot longer but gets knocked out due to a rotten song selection that makes them too old for this competition.

Ace Young

Jason: Still in.
Anthony: Safe because of his looks - lol
Gordon: Trouble. Did not do a good job on his song, and had to sing right after Elliott and Taylor

Gedeon McKinney

Jason: Trouble.
Anthony: Trouble
Gordon: I completely disagree. Safe. He did a knock out job last night

Kevin Covais

Gordon: Safe - for now
Jason: Safe
Anthony: Maybe, but the vocals were not good. Trouble

Bucky Covington

Anthony: Safe
Jason: Safe.
Gordon: Trouble. Too many rockers up there (Taylor, Chris, Elliott), and I don't think 4 will get into the Top 12.

Will Makar

Anthony: Out
Gordon: Out. Bland, bland, bland. Zzzzzzz
Jason: Out.

Jose 'Sway' Penala

Anthony: Safe
Gordon: Safe, but this is what I'm talking about. He selected a good song, but did not sing it very well.
Jason: I agree with you, and I don't have him in my Top 12. Safe, but he's out next week.

David Radford

Anthony: Out
Gordon: Out. Crooners are nice, but a combo of too many old songs and not enough personality does him in.
Jason: Out. He isn't John Stevens.
Gordon: No, he's not
Anthony: :)

Chris Daughtry

Anthony: Safe. He sings songs that suit him and he has to be considered
the male favorite
Gordon: Agreed. I'm agreeing with Rojas? Ack!
Jason: (Slaps Gordon) We're LIVE! and in Fox Viewing Mode.
Gordon: We get the intros from Ryan as we see the judges and the singers and...Carrie Underwood!
Jason: Carrie is back this evening. Before we get to Carrie, we get to the medley, as the Idol Candidates are doing "Love the One You're WIth". Mandisa has a voice and a half. Wow.
Gordon: So what did you think of that group medley?
Jason: Not bad.
Gordon: It actually sounded good...for once. Maybe we do indeed have a talented bunch.
Anthony: Blah. I hate them when there's too many people
Gordon: We're back, and we get a recap of the shows of the week. The theme is Song choice, Song choice, song choice
Jason: You are right....Chris, Paris and Mandisa are the top of the class right now.
Anthony: Now, it's time for Carrie to take the stage.
Jason: She is doing her #1 single, "Jesus Take the Wheel"
Gordon: I'll tell you this - she's MUCH better now than she was on Idol.
Jason: You think?
Gordon: I do. Wow. What a nice voice.
Anthony: There's alot of country fans - many more more than we in the northeast corner of the country think that there are.
Jason: She has an amazing voice.
Gordon: After the break, the ladies are here to be eliminated...well, two of them are. This week, it's a little bit different, as the girls will find out now whether or not they are in the Bottom three. Two of them are going home.
Jason: Lisa is not in the bottom 3
Gordon: Ayla is....safe. Katharaine...gets away with a bad song choice and is safe.
Jason: Mandisa is safe as well...duh.
Gordon: Kinnik...is in the bottom three. Brenna...will be joining Kinnik.
Jason: Brenna hopefully will be going.
Anthony: :)
Jason: Kellie is safe. Paris is safe.
Gordon: It comes down to the Bottom three, and that third person is...Heather. Ryan tells Heather and Kinnik to sit down, as Brenna, who had the least number of votes of the women, is the first woman eliminated for the evening.
Jason: Brenna goes home.
Anthony: Cocky to the end.
Jason: Cocky never wins.
Gordon: Cocky will never get you far in Idol. Even if she made the Top 12, I didn't see her going very far.
Anthony: Agreed
Gordon: And in true Brenna style, she hawks her merchandise and CDs before singing her reprise.
Jason: How the blue hell you can say what you said.
Anthony: All she cares about is money more than trying to sing.
Jason: In the words of Chico Alexander...you suck, get out.
Gordon: One more woman will be hearing those words, as Kinnik and Heather are back up there. We do the excruciating part and leave the women twisting in the wind as the judges are asked why the 2 women are there. Simon thinks that Heather is leaving. Simon is...right. Heather is gone.
Jason: No real surprises this week either on the women's side.
Gordon: Can't say that there are. Even though I didn't pick Brenna, it doesn't surprise me to see that she's leaving.
Jason: Heather's voice is not strong either.
Gordon: She has a good voice, but it's not good enough against the powerhouses, and she just didn't have the charisma to cover her. We go from the ladies to the guys
Gordon: Bucky is teased by Ryan, but he's safe.
Jason: And so is Ace--same result.
Gordon: Ace also survives a less than stellar effort and is safe
Jason: Elliott is safe as well.
Gordon: Each guy is being asked if they are in the bottom 3. Each guy is trying to be modest
Jason: Sway can now be worried though - he is in the bottom 3.
Gordon: Taylor is the first person who is being honest, in a silly sort of way, but he's safe.
Jason: David is in the bottom three with Sway.
Gordon: Chris hopes that America agrees with the judges - and they do. He's safe. Gedeon, the 'funny little thing', according to Paula, is not in the bottom three either. That leaves us Kevin and Will. Joining the bottom three is...Kevin. Will looks shocked, and quite frankly, so am I. The person with the lowest votes is....David.
Jason: David the Crooner is gone.
Gordon: Which is no surprise from anyone here
Anthony: I'm 3 for 3
Gordon: I'd just like to remind everyone that the reason why Anthony is perfect is that these scores do not count =)
Anthony: :~p
Jason: And David, after the reprise, gets love from the women.
Gordon: He croons us out to the lovely ladies. Now who will be joining him?
Jason: Sway
Anthony: Kevin - sway sang better
Gordon: This is a perfect example of the Idol Dichotomy. Sway is the much better singer, but Kevin may have the better fan base with his kiddie core audience. I will say that Sway's Filipino audience is stronger than the kiddie core, so he sticks around and Kevin leaves....which means that once again, I will be agreeing with Anthony. Ack.
Anthony: Ha!
Jason: (Slaps Gordon again)
Gordon: Advice from the judges...according to Simon, the Moth who looks for the cornflake gets the melon. Huh?
Jason: The wonderful wisdom of SImon...I think.
Gordon: Simon says that Sway is leaving. Simon is...right. Simon is 2 for 2 this evening.
Jason: Told you so. Frankie J wannabe gets booted.
Anthony: There wil be no Asian sensation tonight.
Jason: No big surprises again. The wheat is being separated quite nicely from the chafe.
Gordon: Like the women, even though that one of the guys were leaving that I didn't call (I am still surprised that Sway got the boot), I don't think that a main contender got bounced.
Jason: Agreed.
Gordon: We are down to 16. 4 more people will be going bye-bye next week. We get to see the funeral videos of the 4 people leaving.
Jason: With the song 'Bad Day' once again.
Gordon: And with that, we are out of the show - and out of the Roundtable. Special thanks to Anthony Rojas and Jason Block once again for a nice kick-off to the season
Jason: Thank you for having me.
Gordon: For Anthony and Jason, this is Gordon Pepper, thanking you all and telling you all to Spread the Love.