It was hard to tell who had hit the Aria parties harder Luke Dickens or Gabriella Climi. Six time Aria winner Gabriella who was the special guest singer on Australian Idol looked tired and a tad emotional. At times I really had no idea what she was gibbering on about. At least she admitted some of her acceptance speeches were shite because they were.

Bottom three was Teale Jakubenko, Sophie Patterson, and Mark Spano. The only surprise being Mark. Was his female vote turned off by his Diana Ross type moves?

Imagine Teale and Sophie having a conversation it would be super dull. Sophie even revealed she had been studying accounting prior to her auditioning for Idol. She would really slot into the stereotype of one.

Anyway Teale was first Idol to be safe. Was Mark Spano going to fall for the seventh place curse? No Sophie was eliminated and it really was her time to go she never lived up to all the hype surrounding her.

Aria night is always a trick for the unwary when Channel Ten move the show back an hour to 6.30pm. Two other things happen on Aria night, Andrew G hosts the show alone, and the show will finish on time.

Tonight was soul night and the guest mentor was Guy Sebastian. Lucky for him he got to plug his Memphis album again. It was a nice change from aged rock stars whose careers were on the declinine.

I liked his advice that when he was on Australian Idol he picked a bit in each song to be a “moment”. Well it worked for him some of his performances I still remember.

Mark Spano – You Just Keep Me Hanging On.
This is a soul song? Anyways just to remind us how butch Mark really is they had him sitting leaning up against a wheel of a car in his pre-song interview.

Mark did not look comfortable with soul, not helped by what he was wearing the tie made him look like a school boy. Also the choreographed moves with the back up singers just reminded me of a bad version of The Supremes.

Sophie Patterson – Papa Was a Rolling Stone
To think this girl was my favourite singer from the auditions. Last night when she opened her mouth and started singing it was like fingernails on a chalkboard. She is the same each week, strappy little dress, high high heels she can barely walk in, the little nose wrinkle at the beginning of the song, and the same warbly tones.

I would have liked to have seen her groove the song up a bit more and some tight black pants would have been more appropriate rather then the pretty doll dress.

Dicko said she mutilated the song. Teale Jakubenko is the only thing saving Sophie from going home.

Luke Dickens – My Girl
Now Luke is guaranteed to have a hangover after the Arias. He knows how to be rock and roll ok he just doesn’t seem the type to turn down a free beer. After being told he needed to put more light and shade in his voice, which you knew he had no clue what that meant, he delivered tonight an assured performance.

Anyway I thought he was great and certainly was in the top 3 performers on soul night. He will be safe for another week.

Dicko gushed and said “he had a recording voice.” Also that his rehearsal song was better. It was must have been sensational.

Teale Jakubenko – Ain’t No Mountain Higher
Teale reminds me of the kid at school trying so hard to get into the cool group at school. He’s trying his heart out but he is just not going to make it as a pop star. It is becoming uncomfortable to watch. His voice is just not strong or varied enough.

Again the stylist’s had him in a tie and suit jacket. Luke had refused the tie which was a good thing.

It is time for you to go Teale.

Chrislyn Hamilton – Get Ready

Well this was her night and she looked and sang it great. Though I was not sure about the hip flick towards tiny John Foreman. If Chrislyn doesn’t make it on her own I am sure she will make a great back up singer.

I will be surprised if she does not win the Cadbury’s Magic Moment this week.

Wes Carr – If I Were A Carpenter
I would not have thought this song was soul either. Now Wes was going to get caught up in the suit jacket and tie look. No he looked all rock star in a waistcoat and shirt. He played the guitar and it was excellent. Really it is going to be a surprise if he does not win. His album will be out before last year’s winner Natalie Gauci.

All the judges gushed – it is like they have a marketable Bobby Flynn.

Roshani Priddis – Reflections

I had such high expectations from her and they just were not matched. Sometimes she works to much on her performance and her voice is compromised because of it. Also the song choice was boring and pitch problems did not help especially in the higher registers. A certain bottom three.

Bottom three predictions – Sophie Patterson, Teale Jakubenko, and Roshani Priddis.

Thanh Bui the latest Australian Idol Contestant eliminated believes the judges were really hard on him.

This follows on from Tom William moaning that he was eliminated not from lack of talent but because the judges were biased against him. Previous post here.

What is wrong with these guys where they are so deluded they think the judges are able to control the voting audience like we are the stepford wives??

In an article on Livenews Thanh said:

Who on Australian Idol uses the most botox? Is it Kyle, Marcia or Teale as none of there foreheads move. To be fair to Marcia and Kyle other parts of their faces do move. Teale needs to become more animated. I think this is the reason he keeps on landing in the bottom 3.

Another one who is having a hard time getting her personality to the voters is Sophie Patterson. If she is pitching for a record contract I am not sure record producers would have been to impressed when she pondered after her performance last night that she didn’t know how to connect with the audience. I thought the aim of this show was to promote yourself.

Bottom three were Teale, Sophie and Thanh Bui, with Thanh being the one who was punted.

Jessica Mauboy sang her new single. I thought she looked fab, but did not like the song. Maybe I am just an old fogey.

Tom Williams in an exit interview with Who Magazine says it was the judges bias that got him eliminated, not his lack of talent.

WTF??? I thought the judges were far to complimentary considering Uptown Girl would probably rate in my top 5 of Idol’s worse performances ever. Actually make that top 3.

He also states that they judges are rigging the show as they want Wes Carr to win.

Tom obviously is having a dummy spit – and clearly thinks he is more talented then he actually is.

Last night’s eliminated Idol, Madam Parker, was on media duty today.

Here are some interviews to read. She said she plans to tour with her band shortly.

Interview From The Daily Tele.

Interview From Live News._

Good luck Madam, it will be interesting to see if she gets a recording contract.

Tom William says Thanh Bui Is Arrogant – The Question Is Why?
Former boy bander and now Idol contestant Thanh Bui is apparently making waves with everyone in the competition.

In the Sunday gossip columns it was hinted Thanh kept to himself in the Idol house, and now Tom Williams confirms the story in this week’s TV Week.

He said “People have been getting a bit edgy with Thanh. He’s coming off a bit , ‘I know what I’m doing, I’m better than you.’ A bit arrogant. When he has a bad performances, he kind of stays to himself, but when he has a good performance and gets good raps from the judges, he’s like, ‘Did you see that?” He gloats a little, but he’s still a really nice guy.”

Well that is the case he will be really gloating today after being voted the week’s Cadbury Moment Of the Week with his rendition of the Winner Takes It All.

Was I the only one in Australia that thought that performance was ordinary?

Wes Carr Had Troubled Teenage Years.
In this week’s TV Week Wes Car reveals he was trouble when he was a teenager.

When he was 15 he was asked to leave his school in Adelaide. “I was a bit of a ratbag at school,”Wes confessed. “I was pretty much obsessed with music and nothing else – I didn’t want to do anything at school. Nobody could tell me what to do.”

He then went and lived with his Dad in Sydney. “It was the hardest thing I’ve experienced in my life,” he said. “Leaving all my friends, everybody I loved, my mum. Being in Sydney was bad – living with my dad’s girlfriend who I didn’t know, then having to go to a performing arts school with people I didn’t know.”

However he said his misery over his situation helped his music career. ” I started writing songs more intensely,”

“A lot of those songs are still on my MySpace page.” I think that was a plug for us and record executives to go and listen to it.The link to his My Space page is here.

His songs sound pretty good. Hopefully being on Idol will increase his profile and give him some well deserved success.

Chrislyn Hamilton – The Weight Issue Won’t Go Away.
NW have now dedicated half a page of magazine space to Chrislyn’s weight problem. It is a pity the same amount has not been dedicated to Teale Jakubenko’s lack of personality or Madam Parker’s IQ. At least people can lose weight.

Chrislyn said she would like to change her weight. “….because it gets in the way.”

A school friend of hers Kieran Ewald said pressure from other people makes Chrislyn wish she was smaller.

Chrislyn says she’s come a long way in terms of her self-belief but admits her confidence levels could probably be higher. “Confidence is my weakness.”

I presumed this is not helped by the fact that the judges and media bring it up each time they talk to her.

Well the stylist, Sheridan Tyler, sabotage of Chrislyn Hamilton worked this week as it landed her in the bottom three. As it was more the shocking silver tight top rather then the performance.

The other bottom two were a shocked Roshani Priddis and Madam Parker.

As if Chrislyn wasn’t feeling shitty enough the interview with her and comments from the judges were all to do with her weight and the not great outfit she was wearing last night.

Madam Parker again gave her ususal mono tonal interview performance which was like a politician who his scared he is going off message. “I had fun last night” was said in about five different ways.

And Roshani went into her hyperactive bubbly personality mode.

……..Sorry for the break in blogging I just had to pick myself up off the floor where I fell when I saw Thanh Bui had been voted the Cadbury Moment of the week.

Are these the same people that think tonight’s guest performers Metro Station are a good band?

The first person safe tonight was Roshani Priddis, and Madam Parker was eliminated and of course she said in her end speech “I had fun”.

If the judges are going to do touchdowns can they bring back Mark Holden? Come on guys get your own catch phrase.

It was a big week for the Idol’s in the Sunday papers. It was revealed that Mark Spano was a bit of Lothario and that he used to date Matilda Brown (Bryan Brown’s and Rachael Ward’s daughter) and he is now dating a make up artist.

Also apparently Thanh Bui is the most unpopular person in the Idol house, as he keeps to himself.

And that when Ricki-Lee left the Young Divas the other divas never got over it ie none them are Facebook friends with her.

Anyway it was Abba night, and there were fewer trainwrecks then I expected but also few highlights.

Chrislyn – Mamma Mia

Chrislyn was saying she chose the song as she related to the lyrics of having crushes on boys that were unobtainable. The Greek chorus in my lounge room immediately started cracking crushing jokes, but I was not going to go there.

It was a solid performance but not a show stopper like previous weeks. Sheridan Tyler must have been paid off by the other contestants who were worried about her popularity, as he dressed her badly.

Sophie Patterson- Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee

It was Sophie Pattersonised where she just slows all the songs down, and lets out her usual slurry wail. All her arrangements are starting to sound the same. Sophie was my favourite from the auditions, however I don’t know if I can listen to many more songs by her. Also that little nose wriggle she does to try to be sexy is starting to annoy me also. The slowing down of the song did make me hear the lyrics for the first time.

The more I see her the less likely I think she will win a recording contract.

Thanh Bui – Winner Takes It All.

Ricki-Lee said before the ad break that “We wouldn’t want to miss Thanh’s performance” well quite frankly I could have. Ok it wasn’t a train wreck but was it as good as the judges thought? He reminds me of a singer in a Karaoke bar.

Roshiani Priddis – Money, Money, Money.

Roshani said she was going to put a bit of cabaret, blues and burlesque in it. Cool a bit of Dita Von Teese action. Well with her corset top it did look like a nipple could pop out at any moment. Her whole performance to pinch a quote from Simon Cowell “like something you would see on a cruise ship”.

But what would I know the judges loved it.

Wes Carr – Fernando

Wes killed any rock star cred he had left when it was revealed he was a student of the Johnny Young Talent School. However he certainly is talented. His arrangement for Fernando made an old over played song fresh again. Sophie should take notes from Wes on how to make a song your own.

Mark Spano – Waterloo
Mark strutted the stage like he was locked in a prison cell. He paced back and forward like he was waiting for the song to finish and he could get off stage. It was a bit of a shocker complete with forgotten lyrics.

The judges slapped him around, but Mark remained defiant.

Madam Parker – Dancing Queen
Madam Parker looked great but Dicko was right “She did not look like she was absolute comfortable”. Though she reckon she had fun with it. It was a bland, forgettable performance of an iconic song. She is the best dancer in the comp, she could have really gotten down and dirty with it.

Teale Jakubenko – Thank You For The Music
Now I know his seven brother’s get him but I don’t. His performance started of extremely shaky but he did pull it together by the chorus. Kyle thinks he is a contender for the title, I don’t think so. Tonight’s performance where he strummed an acoustic guitar increased his sex appeal slightly, but he still lacks charisma.

Luke Dickens – Knowing Me Knowing You.

Every week you think Luke is going to tank and this week I would have betted on it, but again he surprised me. For the total amateur in competition he looks very comfortable on stage. He did look relieved when the song was over. His likeability will keep him safe for another week.

The other good thing about it was Dicko cracked his first joke of the season saying his version was “Abba mixed with Wolf Creek”.

Bottom three will be Madam Parker, Thanh Bui, and Sophie Patterson.