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So after LAist got over the initial shock of Melinda Doolittle (the best singer this year) getting the boot from American Idol last week, we had to sit through tonight's reality -- one hour of two OK performers, their three songs and packaged childhood retrospectives.
Tonight's second-to-last show pitted the beatboxer (Blake Lewis) against the 17-year-old power singer (Jordin Sparks). They each sang their favorite song from a past show, a cover song they'd never performed before on AI and the winning song from the songwriting competition. Here's how we scored the rounds:
Round 1:
Blake couldn't stay away from the Bon Jovi. He did his dance version of "You Give Love a Bad Name" while Jordin sang X-tina Aguilera's "Fighter." We give this round to Blake -- not because his singing was outstanding, but some of his beats reminded us of Michael Winslow in the Police Academy movies.
Round 2:
Blake took on Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved." And while the judges liked it, we didn't. At all. Besides, Jordin shortly followed with the awesome rendition of "A Broken Wing" by Martina McBride. So this round goes to the perky 17-year-old.
Round 3:
This round showcased the winning song from the AI songwriting competition: "This is My Now" by two dudes from Seattle. It was a power ballad -- and reminded us of all the other first singles by past winners. Remember Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This?" Yeah, it was kind of like that. So this song and round goes to Jordin. Blake looked and sounded uncomfortable, but we really can't blame him because the deck was stacked against him.
So America, your next Idol will be revealed tomorrow. You want our guess? Well since Jordin is obviously the better singer of the two, we have to give the title to: Blake Lewis. (Yeah voters, we know how you operate.)
