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American Idol: Big Hair and Bon Jovi
As a product of the ’80s and growing up outside Philly, this particular LAist poster never got into Bon Jovi. Maybe it was the big hair. We don’t know. But we preferred the skinny, pasty guys from England. Think John Taylor from Duran Duran or Martin Gore from Depeche Mode. So we were really, really not excited to cover tonight’s American Idol. By 8:03 PM, we were having flashbacks and could already smell the Aqua Net.
When Ryan Seacrest announced that the final contestants would be singing “six Bon Jovi classics,” we chuckled. Puhleeze. Did they even have that many hits that you could consider “classic”? Not really. But the singers did admirably with the material they had to work with.
So here’s our take on how final six fared tonight:
Phil Stacey brought his country thing to “Blaze of Glory” from the Young Guns soundtrack. It was just ok. We didn’t love it like Randy and Paula, but we don’t think that he deserved Simon's wrath either.
Jordin Sparks’ performance of “Livin’ on a Prayer” was surreal. And not in a good way. She was terribly off key. And in homage to Bon Jovi and Sanjaya, she grew her hair something fierce. And it wasn’t pretty. It made the big girl even bigger, towering over Seacrest during her critique.
LaKisha Jones took on “This Ain’t a Love Song,” which we’d never heard before. And we liked her version much better than Bon Jovi’s. After a few weak weeks, LaKisha brought her A-game back.
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Blake Lewis gave “You Give Love a Bad Name” a 21st century makeover, and we loved it. He was beatboxing to Bon Jovi. And it worked. He is still one of the more exciting performers to watch on this show.
Chris Richardson sang “Wanted Dead or Alive” and it was just “eh.” He might be one of the next to go…
Melinda Doolittle ended the show with “Have a Nice Day.” We know that rockin’ out isn’t her forte, but she did a good job with a pretty lame song.
Tune in tomorrow night at 9 to see the TWO performers who get the boot this week...
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