Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

Melinda voted off Idol? She finishes third behind the talented -- but clearly less talented compared with Melinda -- Blake and (syrupy sweet) Jordin Sparks? Call it a triumph of youth voting (or youth idiocy). As in 2004, how can 60 million people be so dumb...

Update: I'll tell you how ... because young viewers voted based on "cuteness" ... the Nickelodeon factor. Result: I think Jordin will be the winner at the end of the day. Please (don't) pass the sugar.

This year's crop of American Idol contestants is different from previous years, in that they have reached new levels of cunning...

Misplaced beauty pageant contestant Haley Scarnato was called on the carpet by Simon, literally minutes after my husband and I tagged her strategy -- which is, in Simon's words, to wear as little in the way of clothing as possible to make up for her lack of vocal talent relative to the other singers. Bingo.

Blake Lewis, who just might win the whole thing, has staked out the "cool contestant who is signable right now" territory so completely, he's left little room for Chris Richardson to survive for too much longer.

Teeniebopper (and professional plus size model) Jordin Sparks' strategy: sell cute, sell bubblegum, woo Nickelodeon just in case you don't win...

Chris Richardson's schtick: get ... signed ... by ... P. Diddy.

I actually don't think Lakesha and Melinda have a strategy, per se. Both are under the perhaps naive impression that their clearly superior vocal talent IS their strategy. We shall see. I think it's probably truer for Melinda than Lakesha, though both are extremely talented. But Lakesha's personal story gives her a good shot at staying in this thing for a long time...

My man Phil Stacey doesn't have a strategy either, though in my opinion he has the best natural voice of any of the guys. Unfortunately, my Florida brother isn't going to make it... he's just not contemporary, or serious enough, for this competition... (had she not been given the boot, Gina Glocksen would have also earned points for her consistent portrayal of the patented Rocker Chick...)

And then there's Sanjaya, who probably is the smartest, most diabolically cunning contestant I've ever seen at work in this series (Randy called it tonight, but I swear my husband and I had JUST said that, too...!) Sanjaya knows who his audience is. He has embraced who HE is. He's the stealth "joke" candidate whose ace in the hole is his superior marketing -- The Hair (which is at this point more anticipated each week than anyone's singing, including the fabulous Melinda's...) the come hither looks into the camera (and you thought he was a weepy, naive teenager...) and the slightly cocky demeanor with the judges. He is selling exactly the pheromones that pre-teen girls are buying, and he knows exactly what he's doing. I mean, you don't think that mustache and goatee just got there by accident this week, do you??? For gods sake, he's got something only people like Sting, Hillary, Rudy and Cher can boast: one name only name recognition.

Besides... and this is painful to admit ... he really didn't sound half bad today.

In fact, Haley Scarnato has so far surpassed him in annoying unacceptability that I actually would pay money to watch him perform if God would only like me enough to get that irritating little pop tart off my television screen...

Sorry, hope that didn't come out too mean. ... I think it's all this Imus controversy. It's making me crabby...

Kentucky Fried Chicken has stepped over the line. They have reached out to align their all-American product with the bain of American cultural existence: Sanjaya Malakar. When the offer of a lifetime of free chicken bowls failed to woo the talentless wonder of American Idol, KFC sweetened the deal.

Here is the text of the horror:

Who is Sanjaya Malakar sleeping with ... and how can we get him ... or perhaps her ... deported...?

No, seriously, it helps to remember that 'American Idol' isn't really a singing competition, it's a reality show, and every year, the producers assemble a cast of 'Real World' worthy characters (typically short-handed as, "the fat guy," "the punk rock chick," "the rock guy," "the teen idol," "the black girl who really can sing but gets voted off way to early" etc.) This year, they just happened to get lucky and find two really great singers to go along with the pack. Lakisha and Melinda ARE this year's show. All the rest, is pure Sanjaya.