Before I give my wrapup, let's all keep the family of Steven Curtis Chapman in our prayers as his little 5 year old girl was struck and killed in their driveway by his son accidentally. I can't imagine the grief the family is going through.

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On the the show, as of the time I am writing this I haven't seen the entire show yet, only half of it. I enjoyed all your comments on the show in my last blog and am looking forward to most of it except Carrie's lack of an outfit. Everyone seems to be pretty happy that Cookie won. It really was a great ending, he showed such joy, and his Mom and brother were so proud of him.!After I watch the show I will come back and put a few more comments in this spot.)

Showing a little midriff buddy! I posted more pictures in my photo section!

Some questions that were asked in my last comments section: ..I don't think ITunes has songs available any more. The show with the groups is the Next Great American Band, and I'm not sure if it is returning this fall. I loved it but the ratings weren't that great.

OK, now on to the final point totals. The only movement was Steve, Craig, and Sue getting 20 points for picking Cook and Kadi getting 5 points for having Archie #2 in the top 12.

Her are the final results:

The order...1..Alison  218   2...Bev   203   2.  Steve..203

4.Mark..196  5.  Sue  192

6.  Jim...188   7...Talia...185   8..Stephanie...184

   9. Cait...180    

10.  Vita...168  11. Karen...164    12. Tanya...161

13.  Kadi   160    14.Wendy ..154      15.  Amy...153

16. rockit....150  17.  Craig  141   18. Scott..137

congrats to Craig for getting out of last place!

To finish up, it's been a great year and I made a lot of new friends! Hope you can all do it again next year. Don't be a stranger in the meantime!

I have our football picking contest in the fall, and if you are watching the Senior PGA golf championship on NBC this sunday you might see me in the background!

Tonight's the big 2 hour finale to see which David wins. If you came on to vote for who you will think will win or all my takes on the show last night, go to my last blog. I have some more random thoughts here.

After hearing the songs again I really think Cook took the night. I give him a huge edge on the second one and the other 2 were too close to call. It took me a long time before I could even get through to get a vote in for him..so I'm thinking he might just win, but my thought is still Archie. To see an interview with both guys after the show, go here:http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007164_20171835_20201543,00.html?xid=email-alert-americanidol-20080521-item2

Tonight will be tough for me to blog about..I'll come home from Church and watch the final half hour to see who wins, then I will leave a few thoughts. The rest of the show I won't watch entirely until Thursday and then blog about it then.

See you later tonight..Jim

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WOW...a big upset, but was it really? 12 million votes was a blowout. Congrats to David Cook! Only Craig, Steve and my wife picked it..though most of you wanted it. both David's were class acts..a kind of so-so year will be forgoten by an awesome final two.

I'll have more thursday night on the final show..I have to go watch the first 90 minutes now!

We finally get down to the last night and the epic battle of the David's. To start you off, here is a video recap of the whole year and you can vote for which David did better week to week. It's fun!http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007164_20171835_20201238,00.html

I have a bunch of things to go over in honor of tonight's last show. What were my favorite performances of the year?

1) David Cook.."The Music Of The NIght." I can't stop playing this song over and over..it gives me chills.

2) Jason Castro.."Hallelujah."  He went from a novelty to a serious contender with this inspired performance.

3)  Chikezie...'She's A Woman." He would only last a few more weeks, but this was a showstopper on an otherwise boring Beatles night.

4) David Archuleta.."Imagine."  I always disliked this song..but this version was unforgettable.

5) Kristy Lee Cook.."Anyway."  this years most laughed at contestant began a few weeks of putting in all together with this country and Christian hit.

6) David Cook.."Hello."  His version of Billie Jean is when most people started giving him serious props, but this is what started making me a believer.

7) Carly Smithson.."Crazy on You."  This was the one time she reached her full potential.

8) Brooke White.."Let It Be."  This song fit her like a glove.It was all downhill after this.

9) David Archuleta.."Smokey Mountain Memories."  I think Dolly Parton week was my favorite and this was silky smooth.

10) The top 7 sing "Shout To The Lord." This should be #1, but it really wasn't an individual performance so I'm giving liberty including it.

Worst performances:

Amanda.."Carry On Wayward Son" Took my favorite song of all time and ruined it.

Kristy.."Eight Days A Week"  Sounded like when you have something at double speed..surprised she survived this week but I'm glad she did.

Favorite line of the year..after Dolly sang "Jesus and Gravity" she told Ryan she has Jesus but he had Simon..and he said something like we got the short end of the stick on that one! LOL!

What were your faves of the year?

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OK...more odds and ends. who is going to win? I said in yesterday's blog that I thought Archuleta would win because his fans would be more likely to vote often. Most off the polls I've seen has Cook as the favorite in every way except the teen vote, and I think that is the most important demographic. That having ben said, if Cook blows him out of the water tonight he can definitely pull it off.

Got the scoop for performers on Wednesday's 2 hour results show... Carrie Underwood will be doing "Last Name." The one song on the CD that is not very wholesome.  The good news for most of you is that the Jonas Brothers are also on tap!

For the contest tonight I will have you pick the winner. It will be worth 20 points..10 points for having the correct second place and 10 points for winner. The only 2 people who have a chance to win the entire contest are Alison and Bev, so I'm asking them to give me their picks in secret then I will them both when I receive them both. I want to thank all of you who played in the contest this year..sorry I couldn't keep up with printing the week to week point totals, that was too big a project for me. But I tried to keep the weekly standings every week. Next year we will try for even more!

If you didn't see the link a few blogs ago with the second part of the interview with Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey and Mandisa, it's well worth your time. They say that the Nigel, the producer, might have been allowing so much Christian music this year is because his son had a radical conversion to Christ.

Next year's results show will only be a half hour..which I'm glad about. An hour was too much. They need to do some tweaking in the show next year..starting with allowing the contestants to sing newer songs. I read the average song this year was 31 years old! This is turning off the teen viewers, though it picks up the old fogey's like myself, the teens are where it's at to remain hip.

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The show is about to start..I sure hope the winning song is decent..they haven't talked about the songwriting contest much this year so I'm hearing it's a lame song.  We'll find out soon...

David Cook is going first...first advantage goes to Archie, the winner of 5 out of 6 idols went last.

Clive Davis picks the songs for round one..and you can see why he is a legend..picks two perfect songs for these guys, and they both nail it. I never thought I would hear a U2 song on Idol, but Cook did Bono proud with his strutting around and vocals were right on for "I Still Haven't found What I'm Lookinf For." As good as that was Archie's rendition of "Don't Let The Sun Come Down On Me" was flawless. Usually the finals the contestants show worn out voices and nerves, but not these guys. I'd give it a tie..both A+ for round one.

On to round two..a good idea this year..the contestants get to choose from 10 songs..that makes much more sense then being stuck with a song that doesn't fit you. Cookie does "Dream Big" and I like it more than the judges..lyrics all about having faith and stuff. Thought it was pretty catchy, and Cook sang the thing great. I'd give it a A-.

Archie's song is "In This Moment" a classic "all about myself look at me" type idol winning song. These are the kind of songs the public can't sing and relate to..you have to be in the moment the singer is. Right in keeping with "A Moment Like This" and "This Is My Now." That having been said, Archie does sing it great. Grade A for performance, but I liked Cook's overall song better.

For round three Cook does a song by Collective Soul called "The World I Know." It's a beautiful song and I give him HUGE props for not picking a song that he already did like every other final 2 contestant in Idol history. I get the impression he's auditioning for the CD he's going to put out  and he doesn't care if he wins or not. The CD will be a smash if it's like this. Grade..A-

Archie on the other hand plays it totally safe with a song he's done since he was 11, "Imagine." It's in my top 10 songs for the year above, and he sings it just as well, but it was like watching "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" again..great, but no surprises involved. Grade..A-

So give me your pick to win. After tonight I have no doubt that Archuleta is going to win. I picked him after the hollywood rounds and I'm not going to change now. All in all, it was the best finals since Clay and Ruben..it was nice to be able to see Ruben sing his song at the end.

Have a great night and enjoy the show tomorrow!

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Later thoughts..I read that the song Archie wanted he couldn't get permission to use, so "Imagine" may have been his backup choice...I'm sorry for saying he played it safe.

Alison looks to be the winner of the contest..she and Bev both picked Archie already so Bev can't pass her. She is a friend of ours and not a myccm user..last year my sister won who wasn't a myccm member either..the curse of myccm? She has allowed me to show her picture with her hubby Ray:

 Everyone else can still give me your picks on who will win though...want to see a top ten for the contest!

 THE 2008 American Idol myccm contest winner..Alison

Who will be the real big winner...

After 2 years I've discovered color! Here is part 2 of the interview with ex-Idols Mandisa, Phil Stacey and Chris Sligh from ChristianMusicToday. If you go there sign up for their newsletter, they give you lots of cool things like reviews and interviews.. go to:http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2008/americanidols2-0508.html

I was just thinking, and I'm being honest, does anyone else not like to raise their hands in a worship song if the song tells you to? I like to raise my hands when the Spirit moves me too, which is often... I just have a problem when the lyrics say to then everyone feels like they have to, and that's not Spirit led. I think I feel like this because growing up my Mom would tell me to raise my hands and I thought it was up to the person. I'm also one that when everyone is standing I like to sit down and almost kneel down before the Lord to worship without distraction, so I guess I'm a little off center.

That's all for now..have a blessed day! Check out a great new artist  Merdith Andrews at:http://www.meredithandrews.com/ecard/

Hey everyone..I was doing devotions this week and I read the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 34. Did you know that was the first recorded Rock song? Yup, verse 4 says "He Is The Rock, his works are perfect." (NIV) It's a Christian rock song too because verse 31 says "For Their Rock is not like Our Rock." cool huh?

On a serious note, does anyone besides me get upset over Christian radio charts and music being played? I miss our local station switching format, because KLOVE plays the same songs over and over. When I hear 20 the countdown magazine there is hardly ever any movement unless it's a Third day, Casting Crowns, etc. Chris Sligh is in every other top 20 but can't crack that one. What upsets me is songs by Chris Tomlin, Aaron Shust and stuff will be on the charts for over 40 weeks..get those songs off and release a new single for crying out loud!! A CD from a major artist will come out and only one or two songs will be played even though there is a half dozen great songs on it. Thank God I can play the music I want to hear most of the time, but when I can only listen to the radio I want to hear what's new and fresh out there.

OK..end of Rant! Have a great weekend!

For the last week of Idol I will have a bunch of fun things to do before I take a long deserved blog vacation next week.

Here is an interesting poll you can take on the two David's..results in the nationwide survey I will give before tuesday's show in my blog. This is from USAToday by the way.http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/05/got-a-favorite.html

People have been asking me the format of the finals show. Here is what I have been saying:..The final show usually has three songs..one that the contestant picks, one they did earlier in year, and then the winner of the songwriting contest has their song unvailed as the new single and both get to try to sing that. it's uasually always a sappy number about being proud or this is my moment to shine blah blah. It will get to #1 on the charts and 3 weeks later everyone will forget it. The results show is usually very good, they will bring out lots of guests and the contestants from earlier in the year.

I've heard this years entree's in the final song contest are even worse than last years..be prepared to cringe!

More Idol related stuff as the week goes on..

I'll have my thoughts on the show after Church..you can leave your takes below in the meantime Only two people are picking Archuleta to go, everyone else Syesha. A bunch have either David in their #3 spot in the original top 12. Sorry if I made anyone miss Switchfoot on Leno, it was Tuesday night not wednesday. I had the right date, the 13th, last week, just thought it was Wendesday for some dumb reason. OK, be back later....

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Congrats to the two David's for making it to the finals! Syesha was a good sport in defeat. The producers got what they wanted. I mean, out of a million songs they choose an obscure song from Happy Feet for her to do? I thought it was weird last night that they didn't show them in their hometowns, I forgot they were saving it for tonight. Well, I have to go back and watch the first 30 minutes..I'll have the point totals in the contest by the morning..and lots of stuff leading to the finals all week..keep checking back! SEEYA..Jimbo

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OK..I saw the rest of the show. thought it was neat that Randy said Cookie should do a Switchfoot type album. I disagree though, his voice doesn't fit that type of style. I also agree with the comments of Steve below, Fantasia looked demon possesed. How did she win..how did she pass auditions for that matter? She did good on a few songs that year but mostly I'd rather hear fingernails across a chalk board. After her Syesha sounded beter than Whitney, Celine and Mariah combined!

On to the point totals. Congrats to Alison, Bev, Talia and cait for having both david's in your top 2 to start of contest..you get a big 30 points to move up the standings. Not sure if I will give more than the usual 10 points for picking who gets the boot. Most people have Archie winning, so there won't be much movement in standings.

The order...1..Alison  218   2...Bev   203   3...Mark  196

4.  Jim...188   5...Talia...185   6..Stephanie...184

7.  Steve...183    8. Cait...180     9.   Sue ..172

10.  Vita...168  11. Karen...164    12. Tanya...161

13.  Kadi   155    14.Wendy ..154      15.  Amy...153

16. rockit....150  17.  Scott...137   18. Craig  121

OK, that's it for sure..Jim

It's hard to believe it's down to the final 3 already. The big news this week is David Archuleta's dad being kicked out of rehearsals. If you aren't up to snuff here is an article:http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/05/can-david-archu.html

Now can David be more relaxed without his dad watching over him, or will he fall apart? My personal opinion is that he's a nervous wreck on interviews being afraid to say the wrong thing. I'm not sure if he is mature enough to handle winning Idol right now. He might be better off coming in second. They say David Cook would be better off coming in second so he can make an album that he wants, not forced on him. So who REALLY needs to win..Syesha! If she comes in third you may never hear from her again like Vonzell Solomon. If she wins it will be the biggest upset in Idol history..but I gotta hand it to her for really pushing herself week after week. I like her a lot more than when it was down to ten or so.

I'll be back blogging when the show starts as usual. In the meantime, you can go to my last few blogs if you haven't had the chance and see my Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey CD reviews..a cool youtube video that relates to a picture I took at the Switchfoot concert, and what I did on vacation. See you later tonight..Jimbo

(Later note..I messed up...Switchfoot was on Leno tuesday not wednesday and I missed it and probably made lots of you miss it too. SORRY!)

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OK, David A starts off with a song Paula chooses.."And So It Goes" by Bily Joel. This is a really pretty song and he does his usual solid job with it. They have had Billy Joel week's in the past..always some good choices from him. grade.B+

Syesha is looking more beautiful every week, and Randy chooses Alicia Key's "If I Ain't Got You." I think she gets lost in the mix with the background singers at first then comes on strong. Grade.B

David Cook get's to tackle "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" thanks to Simon. I love it when he does something not in his comfort zone..and he knocks this one out of the ballpark...a 430 foot bomb to dead center field...grade ..A

Now they get to pick their own songs..so for the first time all year they can do a song that was written this decade! Archie takes advantage and does a hip Chris Brown song "With You." The only trouble is this kid really doesn't come over as all that hip. Grade..B-

Now Syesha goes really old school with Peggy Lee's "Fever." I think she thinks she is red hot with this one but it comes across to me as something Haley would have done last year out of desperation. I was uncomfortable watching it. Grade..C

Oh my..Cookie is doing Switchfoot's "Dare You To Move!" I agree it took him a while to get in pitch but he rocks out the end. this is a song you really do need a full 3 minutes. I'll have to download the studio version of that one! This was the encore song when I saw the band last week..and don't forget to see Switchfoot on Leno wednesday night. I'll give a B+ for the vocals but an overall A for picking that song. David Cook for American Idol 2008!

Now the producers pick the sappy "Longer" for Archie. Dan Fogelburp..er Fogelberg used to bore me to tears in the 80's and this doesn't do much either. He sang it very well though. Grade..B

Syesha does "Hit Me Up'..which I never heard before now, they saw it's from Happy Feet soundtrack. This doesn't do much for me either..I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for Cookie..grade..C+

Man, we only have a week to get songs from ITUNES..what pressure! Hope songs are still available on myplaylist. If you haven't checked out the songs by the contestants on myplaylist on my profile page yet, go over and check them out.

Cookie closes the night with the powerful "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." His voice is starting to go just a bit, but it held out better than Daughtry's did. It's a tougher grind for the rockers. I'll give this a B+.

For the night, David Cook wins easily, followed by David A setting up the all David final the producers have wanted all year. You gave it a nice run syesha, but you are my pick to leave, as well as Susan's. We don't even have to think about it. I will give the usual 10 points if you predict her to go..if you want to play catch up in the contest and pick a David to leave, I will give you 20 points if you get it right. Let me know by the start of Wednesday's show as usual.

Have a great night..Blessings to all of you..Jim

Here are the short reviews I gave to Phil Stacey and Chris Sligh in my reviews in www.newreleasetuesday.com/

First, here is Phil's:Do you love country music but but are put off by the occasional lyric about cheating boyfriends, drinking, etc? This is the album for you. Phil is the third Christian from season 6 of American Idol to release a CD, along with Jordin Sparks and Chris Sligh. The album if full of positive messages from a Christian point of view, like "Be Good To Each Other" and "Looking Like Love." It has songs that could be played on Christian radio, like John Waller's "Identity." The country is not overly twangy, just great stuff like his rising single "If You Didn't Love Me" and "Round Here." Check him out, you'll be glad you did!

I gave it 4 and a half stars, as I also did for Chris Sligh. here is my review for him:Sligh sings for the Lord | Posted May 13, 2008
As a big fan of American Idol, season 6 was a great year for Christian artists. Sligh is the third one to release an album following Jordin Sparks and Phil Stacey, and the first one to be mostly aimed at the Christian market. The album is solid from top to bottom and has a good mix of rockers to ballads. Radio friendly throughout, I'm sad "Empty Me" isn't climbing the charts faster than I expected. Other highlights include "Vessel" and "Are You Pleased." The "fro patrol" delivers.

The above site can't compare to myccm for community, but like the ccmmagazine website, it does have a lot of great stuff for Christian music fans to fill the void of the print edition of CCM being over.

My peep Crystal informed me of a youtube video of someone who was in this picture I took at the Switchfoot concert..the little boy in the lap! It is SOOO cute!http://youtube.com/watch?v=wNZwf-IIEJI

here is the picture I took again:

Just had a nice vacation week. When you homeschool you can go on vacation when no one else does so places aren't crowded. We got to go on a field trip to a dairy farm, and a visit to the zoo. Was able to see my kids homeschool classes and get a round of golf in. My daughter had her spacer put in at the dentist. As you read earlier, got to see Switchfoot in concert and meet Phil Stacey. If you go to my pictures you will see pictures of a lot that I did.

Have a great weekend and be nice to your Mom on Mother's day!..Jim

GOT MILK?

If you didn't check out my Phil Stacey story and pictures, check out my last blog and picture section. Here is a cool interview my new friend Russ did at ChristianMusicToday.com with Phil, Chris Sligh and Mandisa:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2008/americanidols-0508.html

I finally got Chris Sligh's CD today and  it sounds nice. More on that in future blog.

Here is Russ's review of Phil' Stacey's CD in ChristianMusicToday.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2008/philstacey.html

Here are the point totals in the Idol contest..once again, I'll try to fill in that running total blog but who knows!

1.Alison 178   2.  Mark   171   3.  Jim and Bev  163

5.  Steph  159   6. Steve  158    7.Vita  153

8. Cait  150   9. Karen 149  10. Sue 147

11. Tanya 146  12  Talia 145   13.  Kadi  140

14. Amy  138  15.Rockit  135   16. Wendy  129

17. Scott  122  18. Craig  121

Have a great week everyone!

As usual I will have brief comments after the show on who got voted off. If you want to leave a comment before I do, go ahead in the comment box. If you are making your pick on how is getting voted off, go to my blog on last night's show. See you later.....

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OKAY..it's 10:30 and I just got home, so the blog and thoughts will have to wait until Thursday morning. I haven't seen the show yet. Why, because after Church I stopped by the arena where Phil Stacey did a concert I couldn't get tickets to. Everyone was pulling out of the parking lot, and I was going against the crowd! I went in the front door and saw nothing, so for kicks I walked to the back and I saw a line of over 1000 people waiting for his autograph. I was just standing there when they let the band in to go to the autograph table, and I saw he was going to walk right me. I had the camera ready, and Phil was so nice he stood for a pose until I took it! The security wouldn't let anyone stand near the booth without waiting in the line, but I got a few more quick shots before they kicked me out! Here they are!

Below is a shot at the booth..he could pass for Peter from the Newsboys!

OKAY..come back Thursday for my thoughts on the results show!

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I posted all the Phil shots in my photo section. On to the show..no surprise to see Jason leaving. He was completely ready to go. 11 out of 13 who picked got it correctly. 5 people had him going #4 in their top 12 as well..me, my wife Sue, Mark, Rockit and Alison. Me and Alison were the only 2 of the 5 to have Jason picked to go this week, so we get 15 big points instead of 10. 7 of you have both David's in top 3 for big points as well. I'll have all the points totals later..it's 12:45 and way too late!

Bo Bice was awesome tonight..he paved the way for guys like Daughtry and David Cook to rock on Idol. Bo is coming to town as well to play after a soccer game May 17th. Doubt I will sit through a soccer game to see him though.I prefer sports where there are more scores, though I admire soccer players for their stamina.

Have a great and blessed week..Jimbo

Tonight the singers get to choose from the list of the top 500 songs of all time. If you want to see some commentary on the show from the EW crew, visit:

http://www.ew.com/ew/video/idolatry?xid=email-alert-americanidol-20080506-item2

They have some interesting takes from behind the scenes. David Cook is really nice, if someone else wants a song that he already picked, he lets them have it. Jason Castro said he's ready to go home.  They said that Archuleta won't do any songs with a negative message. Go to the video for full details.

If you want to see the list of 500 songs, go to the link below.

There are a ton of great songs..I'd love to see David Cook try a U2 song like "Pride" or "Sunday Bloody Sunday" A lot of songs have already been tried..David Archuleta wanted "I'm A Believer" last week..now he has another chance for the kiss of death song! I'd like him to try Jackson 5 or maybe Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." Maybe Jason could swoon the girls with "Love Me Tender."

http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs/

I'll be back with my commentary during the show.

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OK, David Cook starts with the song that was big in the early MTV days, "Hungry Like The Wolf." I would not have thought it was in the top 500, the song never did anything for me. David does about the best you can do with it I guess. I agree with the judges, good, but not great..Grade B

Syesha is gonna do "Proud Mary"..a good choice for her. She looks great tonight..starts off slow so you know it's gonna pick up the pace halfway, and it does. I kind of liked the slow part better. I thought the fast part was a little broadway again. Solid effort though. grade  B.

Oh no..Jason is going to do "I Shot The Sheriff" reggae style like Bob Marley. Growing up hearing the Eric Clapton version, I thought he was saying "I Stopped Sharing." It's a dumb song, and though Jason was a little more intense than he has been, it wasn't very good. Grade..C

Archie once again picks a great wholesome song.."Stand By Me." Once again, silky smooth vocals with some nice runs at the end. easily the best of the first 4. grade..A-

I see Bo Bice is singing tomorrow..so maybe the streak of Christian songs on the results show will continue..he has a bunch of them on his new CD.

 David Cook returns with a rock classic, The who's "Baba O Riley" I never knew why the song wasn't called "Teenage Wasteland" though. he starts it off slow and sultry, than brings the house down. Great job again my Cookie. his voice has held up through the grind of the show better than Daughtry did. Grade..A

Syesha is doing the song I thought Archie might do, "A Change Is Gonna Come." She does look like a star tonight. I thought the song kind of dragged a little until the last 30 seconds. I think I agree with Randy more than the other two, it was just OK for me. Grade..B

Jason is doing "Mr. Tamborine Man" and screws up the words horribly. I don't think he is taking this thing seriously at all. He was sounding pretty decent until that point though. Grade..C-

My wife is going to need the computer, so quickly I will say David Archuleta was sensational with "Love Me Tender." grade..A

I will have a complete wrapup later..please leave your comments and who you think will be leaving. Check back in a while for full wrapup!.

OK, I have a few minutes. Obviously, Jason was the worst tonight. The last 3 weeks the worst has gotten enough votes from people who voted harder for their favorite, but will it be enough to keep Jason around? I don't think so. Even his loyal fans like myself know he's almost begging to be voted off, so I'm not wasting my votes tonight. This reminds me of season two, when a Clay-Ruben final was inevitable, but Kimberley came out of nowhere from the original top 10 to get a deserved top 3. Syesha is no Kimberley, but she has been pretty solid for weeks and deserves to finish ahead of Jason. Will there be a top 4 shocker like Daughtry or Tamyra? Ryan reminding everyone about them will make that not happen.

I will give the usual 10 points if you pick Jason to go and you are right..but to make things interesting, I will give 15 points if you predict Syesha correctly, and 20 points if you pick a David. So if you are way behind and want to take a longshot..go for it!

Thanks for reading..hard to believe there is only two weeks to go!

My pick will be Jason.. sorry bro..hope you can record a folk-worship CD. God Bless you.

P.S. Almost forgot..Chris Sligh's CD comes out today. I've been promoting it for months and I forgot it came out today..thanks to Josh for reminding me! It's $9.99 on ITunes,,I'll probably get the CD for $11.08 at the Christian store to support them on this one.

P.S.S.  If you haven't checked out my new playlist on my profile page..you will dig all the Idol songs!

Sunday May 4th Switchfoot wraps up their spring tour with a stop in Rochester. It was a general admission show and when I got there, I could have stood pretty close, but I decided to hang out in front on the sound booth. I find it has the best sound from that spot, and I can kind of lean back on the rail instead of being hot and crowded.

The band Athlete is supposed to be the opening band, but I notice the drum kit has MAE on it. I was excited because MAE is a critics favorite, along with several of you peeps. Sure enough, it was Mae! Right away they blew me away with a 5 minute instrumental number. They had a progressive sound which brought me back to my love of bands like Kansas and Yes. They did a 45 minute set, which they mention is rare for them as they usually open for 2 groups and have less time. Considering a didn't know one of their songs, I still loved it. I went to their booth and met the bass player Josiah and picked up a special edition of "The Everglow", which has bonus tracks and DVD, for 10 bucks. When I came home I noticed it got a rare 5 star rating from Christianity today. I'm listening to it right now and it is awesome. here is a picture of me and Josiah.

Ironically, I have a peep named Josiah that looks like him..could it be? He's new to the group since the CD I got from 2005. I have to try to find him to ask!

Anyway, Switchfoot starts to rock the house with the opening chords to "Meant To Live", but fool us and go into "Oh Gravity" instead. They follow with the classics "Stars" and "This Is Your Life." I knew from my peeps Kyal and Chris that Jon likes to go into the crowd, and does he! He climbs speaker polls, goes into the crowd, and everything in between. He's right up there with Bono for being a showman on stage. They followed with "Ammunition" and "Gone." They notice a guy in the crowd with a sign that says he has seen the band 20 times, and invite him on stage. Jon asks him to introduce the band and he does a fantastic job. It was almost too good..has anyone seen this before or was it a moment that was unique? I can't remember all the songs, but shortly they do the new song they did for the next Narnia flick called "This Is My Home.." Jon says they are going to be doing that song on Jay Leno May 13th, so set your DVR's. If you want to see them doing this song on The Dove awards, click below: Jon really reminds me of Bono in his mannerisms on this song.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FhN3SbKeiz0&feature=related 

Some of the other songs that followed were "Dirty Second Hands," "The Shadow Proves The Sunshine," and my favorite from the new CD "American Dream."  Jon then had everyone hold up their cell phones and did "On Fire." he then walked to the back of the arena where the bleachers were set up and sang there for a few minutes. I ran over just in time to be able to take a few pictures. I have the close up of this shot in my photo's, but here is how this looked originally with the crowd around him.

A very cool moment!

They finished with "Meant To Live." after the custumary break, they came back and Jon did a beautiful acoustic song called "Your Love Is Strong." (I think it's the title.) Maybe it was from one of his solo EP's? Then they really finished up with "Dare You To Move."

It was a great show. I stood around a few minutes to see if the band would meet the crord, but I did get to talk with Rob, the MAE keyboard player a bit. When I left there was a big crowd outside the tour bus, who knows if the band ever came out!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading..God Bless..Jim

Hey guys..I don't realy feel like making the list of everyones point totals in the Idol contest. No one ever seems to comment on it..if one of you wants the full rundown I'll do it up! My last blog has the top 10 point totals.

For fun, I wanted to compare past years top 4's and see how this years crop stacks up. I always do this, but now that I have seen the first two years in rewind I can give a better opinion. Only season 3 have I not seen every Idol episode. I watched 4 or 5 shows that year so I have a little opinion, but I didn't care for much that year.

Season 1..Kelly...Justin...Nikki..Tamyra

Great winner and Tamyra was almost just as good. The rest of cast was weak.

Season 2..Ruben..Clay..Kimberley..Josh

Best top 4..top 3 were great on show and Josh Gracin had his moments. All have had some success after the show, but all their careers are going down after fast starts.

Season 3..Fantasia..Diana..Jasmine..Latoya

weakest year in my eyes..my faves that year were #5 George Huff and #7 Jennifer Hudson. I rooted for Diana because she was related to Christian pioneer rocker Eddie Degarmo. Fantasia has great charisma but her voice  doesn't do anything for me.

Season 4..Carrie ..Bo.. Vonzell..Anthony

Best winner ever and I loved Bo too. Vonzell was that years Syesha. Nadia Turner deserved top 3 more. Anthony was a joke for top 4.

Season 5..Taylor..Katharine..Elliot..Daughtry

This was the best year for top 10..Mandisa, Kellie Pickler and Bucky have all gone on to success in their fields. Great diversity in top 4..but order should have been reversed of course! Daughtry second best Idol ever..best non-winner.

Season 6..Jordin..Blake..Melinda..Lakisha

This was the year of the Christians..you can go to Christian bookstore and find Jordin, Chris Sligh (Next month), Phil Stacey, and Melinda should be there if she ever puts out a CD! Blake was someone you couldn't wait to see every week. The field was so deep that #11 Stephanie might have made top 4 this year, I think she was much better than Syesha. This year gets a bad rap because of Sanjaya, but at least&n