Happy Thursday! It's the day after another elimination on Idol...and looks like Lodi Nacirema is happy with last night's results!.......



What a great wrap up for country week! And no offense, but thank goodness
it was Siobhan to go and not Casey. In my opinion, he didn't deserve to be
in the bottom three at all, although he has been there a lot lately. Some
contestants just don't have the supporters... no matter how good they sing
or look!

There was lots of entertainment this week for results night. Rascal Flatts
sang twice - once with Shakira. The song was good I thought, but it might
have been better on her own. Lady Antebellum was good, no surprise. The
third group had a connection with Carrie Underwood who introduced them.
Let's just say they were interesting. I think they were also on her special
around Christmas time.

Well, after tonight's elimination, we are down to the Top 5... 4 guys and 1
girl. If I recall correctly, this was the case the year that Jordin Sparks
won. So don't count out Crystal. Of all the girls, I knew that she would be
the last girl standing. Maybe, she will be The Last One Standing? We have 4
weeks to go to find out.

Next week are the songs of Frank Sinatra with Harry Conick Jr as mentor. I
usually enjoy these types of songs (the Standards), especially when they
dress the part. But really, what type of week don't I enjoy?

One last thought... the Idol tour tickets will be on sale starting May 14th.
The Top 10 will be in Minneapolis on Sunday August 29th at the Target
Centre. Think about checking out the concert, maybe adding it to a summer
trip to the States. They are always great concerts. But seats do sell fast,
so don't delay! I will definitely be there!!

Talk to you next week,

Lodi

Lodi Nacirema has the rundown on last night's Idol.....


Country week with songs of Shania Twain. I was looking forward to this all
week and the night sure didn't disappoint. She was a great mentor to the
contestants and worked her magic. The standouts for me were Michael, Aaron
and Casey. They really took her suggestions and went with them. The judges
all raved, with the exception of Simon's comment to Big Mike. I still don't
really understand what he meant by his performance being "wet". But, I am
not alone I'm sure.

I didn't quite agree with the judges when it came down to Lee and Siobhan.
Usually, I really like Lee but the start of his song was just weird. It
sounded off. The middle was good and the end okay, but the four judges just
loved it! The only one that kind of mentioned it was off at the start was
Randy. The others thought it was great! Oh well, maybe my ears are plugged.
Whatever. As for Siobhan, her rendition of "Any Man of Mine" was okay. She
changed it a bit and maybe that's whay I wasn't crazy about it. Maybe, I'm
just not that crazy about her. I just wish that she would stop with the big
notes. That is her calling card I guess. Maybe she needs it to impress
people. I just didn't think it fit.

Now down to Crystal. I am nervous. I love the song she sang. It is one of my
favourite Shania songs and I think it fit her style. But, if you listen to
the judges, it was the worst! She was one of the only singers that actually
sang it country on country week! With only 6 singers left and no saves, boy
the people better her back her up and give her the votes. Remember I talked
about an upset last week? Believe you me, I wasn't thinking about Crystal.
If it is, it would be as bad as Chris Daughtry or Constantine. I would be
depressed for sure.

In my opinion, Ellen was right. It is going to be very tough to pick who is
going home. I think they all sang great (or good at least). It may all boil
down to popularity this week and who actually votes and supports their
favourites. Out of the 6, only three have ever been in the bottom 3. Aaaron,
Michael and Casey. The other three have always been safe. But to me, these
three probably sang the best out of all of them. So, let's do a switch. I
will put Lee, Siobhan and Crystal in the bottom with..... Siobhan going
home. (I'm crossing my fingers and my toes!!) Phew! I don't think I will
sleep a wink tonight and I truly hope that I am wrong about the bottom three
or at least two of them. To me, I would prefer Siobhan to go home out of
all of them.

Wednesday night is result night with Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum
performing. Oh yeah, Shakira too... on country night? What... no Shania!
What's that all about! I was hoping to hear her sing. Oh well, maybe they
will surprise us. Talk to you tomorrow.

Lodi

Happy Tuesday!

So, last night city council voted down the online and telephone voting system. I think it would be a great idea, I think more people would vote if they could do so from the comfort of their homes. But, at this point, there may not be enough time to get the system in place. Maybe for the next elections? We'll see.





WATERCOOLER CONVERSATIONS

We know you could not get through the day without this tidbit of info....A study out of the Univeristy of Maryland….reveals:...many university / college students are addicted to the Internet, social media and their cell phones - and show signs of withdrawal if kept away from them.

Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since taking office, beating George W Bush's record.

According to research the average woman dates 24 men and spends more than $3,000 before finding Mr. Right. Over 2,100 women were polled. Although men traditionally still foot the bill, women pay for hair, clothing, accessories, etc. The study also showed that seven percent of women - have been on between 40 and 60 dates before finally finding someone to share their life with.

In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator!!

Back from a week of vacation...that partially felt like an actual vacation!!! Sleeping in, relaxing, shopping, relaxing...it was sooooo much fun!!

I was happy to come back to work though! Helps when you love your job! What I really want to do is to be able to take the time to just sit...and watch a movie. I know, it sounds odd, but I have not watched much over the past few weeks and would really like to zone out for a bit!! Holiday de-briefing? lol!


WATER COOLER CONVERSATIONS.......

A new report out, says that health care costs are up in Canada because of Mom’s too “posh to push”….. some women opt for C-sections that don’t necessarily need one because they don’t want to do the work that goes with labour…. And in the end it costs a lot more for them to recover from a Caesarian.

According to Forbes magazine, David Beckham is still the highest paid soccer player in the world – even though he can’t play. You gotta love those guaranteed contracts. Celebritynewworth.com, reports his estimated worth around $175 million

India has 545 million operational cellphones, a number that’s expected to reach 1 billion by 2015. That exceeds the number of people who have access to toilet or sanitation facilities in the country – about 366 million.

It was this weekend in 1981, IBM introduced the very first personal computer

What happened on Idol last night? Lodi Nacirema knows, looks like she knew what was going to happen, before it happened!!



Well, I hate to "toot" my own horn, but can I pick them or what? I was a
little nervous though at the end. I was praying that Casey would be safe and
Tim would go. No offense to Tim, but I think Casey has more to offer
(musically of course!)

For me the show was all right. Past years have been better. It seems as though
there wasn't as much entertainment as other years. They tried a bit more
comedy and in my opinion, the show should stick with music. I liked George
Lopez though, he was funny.

Carrie Underwood returned with a great song. Alicia Keys performed and was
good, but not great. I have seen her sing better. Elton John was great, as
well as Annie Lennox. They are always great in my books. I wish that Black
Eyed Peas would have sang a more well known song. Even my 11-year-old wasn't
crazy about it.

All in all, the important message of poverty and sickness in Africa, as well
as in the USA was passed along loud and clear by many celebs, as well as the
judges and past Idol winners and contestants. Hopefully, the show will achieve
what it set out to do. I liked the idea of telling people about what a
donation of $10 would buy. Even in today's poor economy, most people can
afford that. Donations of $10 over and over will add up for sure.

At the end of the two hour ++ show (Ryan did warn us on Tuesday that it would
go over), I think I heard that next week's mentor would be Shania Twain. I
would assume then that it is country week. She was a great guest judge this
summer for auditions, so I expect nothing less as a mentor. I am looking
forward to that immensely.

We are now down to the Top 6. Things will only get more interesting as time
goes on. Is there an upset brewing in Country week? We haven't had one yet
this year. Tune in to Idol on Tuesday to find out.

Lodi

Lodi Nacirema fills us in on how she thought things went on Idol last night...

This week's show was all about inspirational songs leading into the two hour
show on Wednesday called "Idol Gives Back". They have done this for the past
few years and it is always an awesome show with a lot of money raised going to
charity. Alicia Keys was Tuesday night's mentor and passed on some good points
to the contestants.

Inspirational songs is a broad category. What is inspirational to one may not
be the same to another, especially Simon. He made fun of Michael's choice of
Hero, stating that he shouldn't have picked a song about Spiderman. Come one
Simon think deeper than that! Also, he gave Casey a hard time for his song
choice right at the top of the show. Just because it isn't a gospel song,
doesn't mean that the meaning of a song isn't inspirational. Casey chose
Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop". It was upbeat and I enjoyed it. Although, most
of the judges thought it was just okay.

The same heavy hitters shone brightly again. Lee and Crystal were awesome. I
even thought that Siobhan was pretty good this week. She tackled a song that
both Whitney and Mariah sang. I'm not a big fan of hers, but those judges
always give her a hard time... asking her to figure out who she is. Give her a
break! She knows who she is, she is one out of 7 singers left who is trying to
win American Idol. She sings the songs that fit the category that week and
does her best. Stop trying to brand her into a category.. pop, country, R&B,
and so on. If you want her to choose, don't have all the different categories
for goodness sake. As for her outfit... very cool. She looked like a garden
with vines, flowers and butterflies all over (or leaves if you are in Simon's
world!).

Okay, enough of my ranting. The bottom three for this week will probably be
Casey, Tim and Aaron. Tim because he just didn't sing that well, Casey because
he sang first and he sounded the same as usual and Aaron just because the
others were stronger. Out of those three, I would choose Tim to go home.

Don't forget to tune in for the big "Idol Gives Back" show. A two hour event
starting at 8 p.m. They promise a lot of great performances. I heard Elton
John, Black Eyed Peas and of course, Alicia Keys to name a few. There will be
one singer going home for sure. No saves left. It would have been nice to save
someone at this "charity" event, but oh well!

Read more on tomorrow's blog.

Lodi

Two people went home last night! Here's what Lodi Nacerima thought about the "chosen" ones...and of course...Adam Lambert......


Wednesday night, result night, double elimination. Adam Lambert. What could be
more exciting? How about getting it right! Andrew went first. Quite quickly I
might add. I kind of felt bad for him. Sometimes Ryan surprises me. Anyway,
poor Katie had to wait until the end of the show. She stood on the stage with
Michael and Tim. I knew it had to be her. The other two were too good last
night to leave.

Anyway, as far as performances go, Brooke White (Season 7 - David Cook
winner)and Justin Gaston performed first, singing an Elvis song. Very nice.
But let's get to Adam. Finally toward the end of the show it was his turn. He
did not disappoint. What a voice and laser show to go with it! Very cool. Good
song.

Overall a good show. Although, I still think they could cut it back to a half
an hour result show. An opening group number, a guest performance and right to
the bad news. Short and sweet I say.

Next week is Idol Gives Back with the song theme being Insirational Songs with
mentor Alicia Keys. This show is usually great with the Wednesday show being
full of great performances to raise money for Africa. Be sure to tune in.

I just have one thought to leave with you until next week. It has been bugging
me for a few weeks now. Do you think they lip sync the opening group number?
This is the first year I have thought that they might. It sounds too perfect.
If it is, it's a shame. I hope not. They are talented singers and that would
really surprise me because the live concerts are awesome!

Have a good week. Talk to you again on Wednesday morning.

Lodi