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Fox Reality Channel, the only all-reality, all-the-time cable and satellite network, has locked in the cast of the new original series, “Gimme My Reality Show!” announced Bob Boden, Senior Vice-President Programming, Production & Development, Fox Reality Channel. The series, hosted by George Gray, follows 7 celebrity reality stars as they compete to win their own reality show. The 4-episode one-hour series premieres Saturday, October 11, at 12a/11c following the 2008 Fox Reality Channel Really Awards; both produced by Natural 9 Entertainment.
“After our initial cast announcement for ‘Gimme My Reality Show!’ the flood of interest from reality TV’s celebrity community was overwhelming,” said Boden, “We chose unique personalities from a wide variety of popular reality shows, who will surely deliver entertaining television.”
Celebrities joining the previously announced cast of Traci Bingham, Santino Rice and Gretchen Bonaduce include Kato Kaelin, Ryan Starr & Bobby Trendy.
Kaelin first garnered attention as a minor witness, and one of the more colorful characters, in the O.J. Simpson trial. Presently, Kaelin hosts “Eye for an Eye”, which is a daytime TV court show that is in syndication in 34 countries, as well as “National Lampoon’s Viral Videos.” He is also touring with the comedy play “The Weenie Manologues,” the male response to “The Vagina Monologues.”
America fell in love with Starr and her off-beat rocker attitude when she became a finalist during the first season of FOX Broadcasting’s “American Idol.” After touring the U.S. with Idol’s top ten, she widened her fan base by touring across South America. Starr was later featured on VH1’s “Surreal Life 3”, where she got an opportunity to show her true colors as a genuine rock star. Ryan Starr continues to pursue her music career, and is currently recording an album.
Trendy rose into the public eye thanks to his distinctive sense of style and his flair for the extravagant. Through his interior design company, Bobby Trendy Designs, Trendy quickly became the darling of Hollywood celebrities, and decorated the homes of Carmen Electra, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Rodman. Trendy’s introduction to audiences came when he was selected to decorate the home of one very high-maintenance client on E!’s “The Anna Nicole Smith Show.” His unique charisma turned what was to be a single appearance into an entire season of unbelievable antics, and Trendy became an instant icon of interior decorating.
This charismatic and diverse group of celebrity reality stars will battle it out through a variety of creative challenges in an effort to convince the public they should get their own future reality show on Fox Reality Channel. Judging the efforts of the stars will be a panel made up of a reality television producer, an entertainment agent, and former reality star. The show’s host, George Gray (“Junkyard Wars,”“Weakest Link,”“What’s With This House?”), will help moderate the competitive stars, and his quick wit and engaging presence will help keep him on top of the drama.
The ultimate winner will be chosen by an audience vote. S/He will be announced during the show’s grand finale on Election Night (November 4, 2008), and will receive his/her own original docuseries to premiere on Fox Reality Channel in 2009.
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Both high school and American Idol feature harsh social criticisms,
popularity contests, and shady characters - be it Ryan Seacrest, or the neighborhood creep. But which is more evil - calculus homework, or bad renditions of Aretha Franklin songs aired three times a week? To decide, Patton Oswalt and Andy Kindler go head to head in the court of the honorable judge Lewis Black, the ultimate evaluator of evil. Tune in tonight at 10:30
p.m. on Comedy Central.
I just received a bunch of pictures from a Thursday evening event, “The 24th Annual William S. Paley Television Festival - An Evening with “American Idol”I’ll post a link to the photo gallery when it’s up, but in the meantime, here are a couple of pictures to tide you over.
AMERICAN IDOL will host the series’ two-night grand finale from a new home at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE Tuesday, May 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) and Wednesday, May 21 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. After weeks of performing on the American Idol stage, the two remaining finalists will perform live Tuesday in front of a theater audience of over 7000 as well as millions of viewers watching at home. Then, on Wednesday night, at the end of a two-hour music celebration, Ryan Seacrest will announce the next AMERICAN IDOL.
NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE hosts more than 120 music, family, dance and comedy acts, award shows, televised productions, conventions and product launches annually. Since opening its doors in October 2007, NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE has hosted the Eagles and Dixie Chicks, Sugarland, Queens of the Stone Age, Neil Young, Anita Baker, the American Music Awards, Mary J. Blige, the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour, John Mayer, Björk, John Fogerty, Tori Amos and George Lopez.
NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE will be the heart and soul of L.A. LIVE, the 4 million square foot sports, residential and entertainment district of downtown Los Angeles. Located adjacent to the STAPLES Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center, L.A. LIVE will ultimately become the primary event center for people seeking sports and entertainment offerings in a unique urban environment.
Following two and a half hours of the biggest love-it-or-hate-it, mashed-up, cheese-fest of an American Idol finale I have ever seen, a new Idol was crowned. Jordin Sparks, the 17-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., took the prize over beatboxer Blake Lewis of Bothell, Wash. I called it wrong, thinking Blake’s appeal with the ladies would push him over the top, but apparently the majority of the record 74 million voters appreciated Jordin’s big voice more than I do.
Overall, I think the show should have been billed as what it was: some producer’s fever dream after a big night on the town in Las Vegas. There was the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s” medley (did you see “Love” at the Mirage, producer?), Bette Midler (soon to replace Celine Dion at Ceasar’s), and Tony Bennett. Plus way too much Taylor Hicks, who should play Vegas (Has he already? Believe me, that’s his niche.). The evening showcased past Idol winners more than any other season’s finale. There’s so much to talk about, so I think the best way to review the show is to list what I loved and what I hated.
Things I Loved:
1. Ruben Studdard! It’s so sad that this guy hasn’t had more success since winning Idol season two. He has got one of the best voices in the music biz. His duet with Jordin on “You’re All I Need to Get By” was fantastic!
2. The African Children’s Choir. Even Simon paid attention, actually getting on his feet, when these joyful, adorable and talented kids took the stage.
3. Green Day. Loved seeing them. Loved that they were on the show. They sounded great, but that song they did, John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero,” is such a dirge. And it went on FOREVER. Still, Green Day on Idol. Yah gotta love it. It got my 10 year old son’s attention. He’s a big fan and we saw them together on the Americian Idiot tour.
4. Blake Lewis and Doug E. Fresh. Blake is one talented beatboxer. The crowd was really into this. I can imagine Simon was reaching for his cocktail,
cigarettes and migraine medicine.
5. Smokey Robinson with the top six guys. Smokey still has it!
6. Bette Midler. I absolutely love her. I have even grown to like the biggest, sappiest song ever recorded: “Wind Beneath My Wings.” Had she done this with the African Children’s Choir I would still be crying. However, I fear Bette is losing her vocal talents just a wee bit. I have seen her perform on TV a couple of times in the last few months and she seems to lack her golden tones. So sad to hear. And now she’s going to do show after show in Vegas. I would definitely go see her, I just hope her voice can hold up to the pressure of so much performing.
7. Sanjaya and Joe Perry. Sanjaya sounded just as bad as ever, but he’s sure a lot of fun to watch. And cuter every minute. Crying girl was there and I think her family should start saving for the therapy now. She really is crying. That is no act.
8. The response of the crowd to Tony Bennett. I love Tony. Have also seen him live. What an entertainer. I thought he was good tonight, not great. But I loved the respect the crowd gave him. He was eating it up, too. What a guy!
9. Any number with Melinda Doolittle in it. She was great with the Winans. She looked so happy singing with Gladys Knight. We all know she should have been in the final two.
Things I Hated:
1. The Red Carpet “Spectacular.” Apparently there is no requirement for the use of the word “Spectacular.”
I guess you can label something that absolutely sucks and is thrown together at the last minute “Spectacular.” We got those two idiots, Dorothy Lucey and Jillian Reynolds (formerly Barberie), and one nice guy, Steve Edwards, “interviewing” celebs as they arrived at the Kodak Theater. First of all, we don’t need THREE PEOPLE to interview the celebs. One would be fine, but these three co-anchors of the Fox LA affiliate a.m. news are welded together at the hips. Then NONE of them could conduct an interview. They didn’t seem to know where the camera was. They stood with their backs to it or blocked the celebs, and they paused awkwardly and apparently had no producers assisting them in shuffling celebs through their interview station. So, so bad!
2. The Sgt. Pepper’s medley. This really stunk. Especially Taylor Hicks (sorry, Grandma S., I know you love him.). Leave the Beatles alone! Go see “Love,” the Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage in Vegas if you want a Beatles fix. It will erase the memory of this horrible medley from your brain. Ruben’s part was okay, though.
3. Taylor Hicks, Taylor Hicks, Taylor Hicks. He sings fine. He just needs to stop dancing. Or take lessons. I don’t know how he can sing on beat when his dancing is so out of sync with the songs. My brain can’t take in the battle between the rhythm of the sound and the lack of rhythm of the visual. It hurts my head. Nice guy, though.
4. Kelly Clarkson’s “Never Again.” I have a lot of respect for Kelly. Good for you for fighting to put out a dark album that your record company didn’t want you to make. However, this is just not a good song.
5. The stupid Golden Idol awards to some of the characters who auditioned — badly. I never needed to see Margaret Fowler, the disturbed woman in the Big Bird outfit, again. That was not funny or entertaining.
6. That terrible arrangement of “Heard It Through The Grapevine” that the top six girls had to struggle through.
Allright, enough, enough! I’m hereby putting away my blogging tools and retiring. Thanks for reading these posts for the past few months. Thanks also for your comments, especially those from Grandma S., who never missed a post once she found out about the blog. Here’s one last chance for you to be heard. What did you think of the final show? What did you love or hate? How about the outcome? Are you happy Jordin won, or did you think Blake’s performance skills should have put him on top? And how many of you thought the real Idol (Melinda) finished in third place? Let’s hear it! Bye, bye!
Here’s the deal: I was about to go mad tonight watching the competition between the final two American Idol contestants. Based on what they did on stage, and the judges’ comments, it was boiling down to the “performer,” Blake Lewis, versus the “singer,” Jordin Sparks. And before we go any further, I have to say that I still haven’t recovered from Melinda Doolittle’s ouster last week, and that means I still don’t care who wins. Sorry about that.
Here’s what happened. Following American Idol tradition, each contestant had to sing their favorite song from the season, a song they hadn’t sung before, and a new song written for the finals, which will be recorded by the winner. This last song has usually been a sappy, inspirational ballad that the finalists either can’t sing or seem to hate. In other words, usually a bad, bad song. This year there was the chance that it would be a good, good song because Idol held a songwriting competition to choose the number. We’ll find out how that turned out in a minute.
So, Blake took the stage first in a truly exciting, energized performance of his beatbox take on Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name.” It was really great! The crowd went nuts. He got the loudest ovation of the night for this performance. Randy liked the beatboxing but said the singing was just allright. Paula thought he was great and Simon agreed with Randy that Blake is not the best singer but said his energy was amazing.
Jording answered back with Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter,” which she shrieked to the point that I thought I was going to have to mute the TV and take a nap during a commercial break. I really don’t like her voice when she belts. It’s exhausting to listen to. There is a piercing quality to it that reminds me of . . . wait for it . . . Jessica Simpson! Yes! I finally figured out what bugs me about Jordin’s voice. Although I’m not sure Jessica can sing quite as high as Jordin, but I’m also not sure Jordin SHOULD sing as high as she does. Her top notes are painful to my ears.
My soul mate Simon also called the performance shrieky, which is the harshest criticism anyone is going to get in the finals. I mean, the judges can’t say you’re horrible at this point because their bosses are going to have to release your record! Get it? Simon deservedly gave round one to Blake, Paula called it a tie (of course) and Randy gave the performance to Blake but the singing to Jordin.
And now let’s pause to contemplate this. If we all believed this was only a SINGING COMPETITION, the BEST SINGER was sitting in the audience watching. Yes, Melinda Doolittle was there. Did you see the look she was giving Jordin during the last song? Was that a death stare or just concentration? Or was she thinking, I could kick the crap out of this song? More on that later.
First, round two, where Blake did a lovely, easy job with Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” Had Blake been any more relaxed tonight we might have accused him of dipping into Paula’s stash of happy pills. He seemed so confident and at-ease in that crazy setting at the Kodak Theater. The judges all liked the performance, but it didn’t bowl them over. Simon nailed the problem once again by saying Blake did a good job, but that the song choice was questionable since the number didn’t really have enough impact. It was too mellow for the finals, I agree.
Jordin then served up her favorite number of the season, “A Broken Wing,” by Martina McBride. More opportunity for shrieking. But I was apparently alone in my pain. Simon said, “Now that was good!” Randy called it flawless, but he was wearing a suit jacket with chains and giant rivets on it, so what does he know? Paula gave my favorite critique of the night when she said Jordin was in “great vocal voice.” Yeah, Paula! But, of course, poor Paula was probably on some pain meds for the broken nose and bruised body she got after tripping over her chihuahua. How many of you tuned in just to see what Paula’s nose looked like? Were you, like me, hoping for two black eyes and a big, white bandage right in the middle of her face? Nope, didn’t happen. As reports of the dog-tripping incident came in throughout the day the “broken nose” description was softened to “torn cartilage in the nose,” so I guess I was prepared for disappointment. Darn it. Anyway, Paula still got up and boogied a few times during the evening, despite bruising lots of areas of her body, all copiously noted in media accounts. Hey, Paula, how do you like my “written writing” tonight?
Okay, where was I? Oh, yeah, so the judges, apparently working with marshmallows in their ears, thought Jordin won round two.
Then we were on to the big final number.
The song-writing competition winners were two guys from Seattle. They apparently studied up on the final songs of past Idol seasons since their composition, “This Is My Now,” sounded like a retread of all those numbers. In fact, I amused myself with word play on the title of their song and the titled of original Idol Kelly Clarkson’s final number “A Moment Like This,” which “This Is My Now” closely resembles. Hey, let’s just make it “A Moment Like This Is My Now.” Or how about “Now Is My Moment?” Do you like “This Is My Moment” better? One more: “This Moment Is Now.” Okay, I can’t stop myself. How about: “This Song Sucks?”
Poor Blake. You can just imagine the expletives he uttered when he got a load of this atrocity. Of course he probably knew it was coming. And given the realization that he would have to sing a song not at all suited for him for his final number, he SHOULD have wowed us more with his second song. He did his best with “This Is My Now.” (What the hell does that title mean? It doesn’t even make sense! Do you see why I am nearly crazy after tonight?) I thought Blake tried to make the peformance as cute and energetic as possible. Simon thought it was a bit odd, but kind of gave Blake a pass, saying the song was so unsuited for him that he should be judged on only his first two performances. I think that was Simon saying, “Don’t worry about it, Blake. That song sucked. There was nothing you could do.” Simon is notorious for dissing the final songs written for the competion.
Jordin had her go at “This Is My Now” next, and, of course, did a pretty decent job of it since its sappy sentiment is right up her alley. She didn’t shriek as much on this one as on her first two numbers. And she got all shaky and emotional at the end, which sold the number even more. Kudos to Jordin for engaging the audience in a really bad song. Simon gave Jordin high praise by apologizing for saying last week that he didn’t think she was good enough to make the finals. He said he was wrong about that based on her perfomances tonight.
In the end the judges seemed to tip things in favor of Jordin, based on singing ability, although Simon conceded that Blake had the best individual performance tonight with the Bon Jovi song.
And meanwhile, there sat Melinda Doolittle in the audience. Truly the best singer in the competition — perhaps in Idol history — having to hear over and over again that it is a singing competition and the best singer should win. I would have loved to have heard her sing “This Is My Now.” She would have made it make sense, would have made me cry, would have hit it out of the park!
Well who will win? I think it will be close, but I’m guessing Blake is the Idol. Just judging by audience reaction and past Idol voting history and winners, the more lively entertainer is usually the winner. Teen girls are driving this bus and they want Blake as their passenger.
What do you think? Are you Jordin fans happy with her performances? Should Blake have done that Maroon 5 number? Could Randy’s jacket have been any more heinous? Comments, please. It’s your second to last chance to have your say!
Well, apparently you have to vote a lot more than 12 times to get “your girl Melinda” in the American Idol finals. In what I think most people would call a shocker, Melinda Doolittle (Mindy Doo) was eliminated tonight, leaving teen-fan faves Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis to battle for the Idol crown. Sixty million votes were cast last night. SIXTY MILLION! So I guess I should have voted for Melinda maybe 1,200 or 12,000 times in order for it to really make a difference.Â
Jordin looked positively relieved to make the finals. Blake looked a little sheepish and shocked. Simon look peeved all show long, which probably means he knew what the result was before it was revealed and he didn’t like it one bit. It seems terribly unfair that someone so talented should be passed over for an inexperienced but promising singer (Jordin) and a fun but mediocre performer (Blake). But that’s Idol for ya.Â
I couldn’t care less who wins. Which might actually make next week’s shows still a little fun to watch. That way I can base my vote on the performances since I have no allegiance to either remaining contestant. However, it would have been so much more fun to root for Melinda in the finals. I don’t think she would have been a lock to win — far from it, so it would have been exciting.
She sure went out like a pro. Dry-eyed and classy.Â
That’s really all I have to say tonight. I’m kind of disgusted and now toting up the hours I have spent (some would say “wasted”) on this season of Idol. Yeah, I’m a sucker for thinking I would somehow be rewarded for an investment in a reality show. Anyway, there are no bad guys here to root against, so may the best performer win and prosper. Can you believe this will all happen again next year? When will the world have enough pop stars?
None of the final three contestants gave us any reason to hate them tonight, so I think it’s a bit of a toss-up who will get into the final two. Melinda Doolittle should be a lock, given her mostly flawless performances of her three numbers tonight. Plus, as the show wrapped Ryan asked the judges who should make the finals. Randy said the two girls (Melinda and Jordin Sparks), based solely on singing. Simon just said he wanted “my girl Melinda.” I don’t think he really cares who she goes up against. She may win it all or she may not, but at this point whoever does win should sell a few records and that means the judges and the producers have done their jobs. Paula, as usual, couldn’t choose a final two. The best thing about having the show over will be not having to listen to her burbling for two hours each week.
The judges couldn’t find much to pick at tonight, and really, neither could I. I think with the final three the pressure is off, in a way. Unless a contestant really falls on his or her face and disappoints the viewers, their core fans won’t desert them. On the other hand I don’t think a really good performance tonight could necessarily tip the votes in favor of one contestant. I think it comes down to how many fans have they picked up from the beginning of the show and how aggressively do those fans vote. I think I called about 12 times for Mindy Doo tonight — I actually lost count. If I were 20 years younger and didn’t have dishes to do, a 10 year old boy to chase into the shower and a teenager doing a science project asking me what the nutritional value of an apple is, I would have voted more!
The format tonight featured each contestant doing three songs:Â one chosen by a judge, one by the producers and one of their own choice.
The judge’s choices were revealed to the contestants while they were at their “home town visit” events. The gentleman who revealed Melinda’s judge’s choice song — I think it was the mayor of Nashville – humorously called Randy Jackson, Randy Johnson. Yeah, dawg, I’ll bet that stuck in your craw! Anyway, Randy chose a singer-killing Whitney Houston number for Melinda, “I Believe In You And Me.” This song, like most Whitney songs, is HARD! Even Whitney can’t always sing this one, although now that she’s successfully shaken off that good-for-nuthin’ Bobby Brown, maybe she’ll get back into vocal shape again. I digress. I actually thought Melinda struggled with this a bit. I’d have to watch it again to be sure, but she seemed a tad hoarse on a few of the notes and not quite the picture of perfection she usually is. However, the judges were impressed. And once Melinda did her second number, Ike and Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits” I understood why she might have sounded a little strained on the Whitney tune. She growled her way very satisfyingly through “Nutbush.” It was my favorite performance from her tonight, but I’m sure working up that number took a toll on her voice. I’ve read other bloggers suggesting that Melinda do some Tina numbers, and they were right. It was a great sound and style for her. Randy urged her to record something in this vein in the future. It was impressive. For her own choice Mindy reprised her take on “I’m a Woman,” one of her first “wow” performances in the top 24 round. It was even better tonight. I loved how she gave a nod to where she came from, and props to the three background singers, by having them come forward for the finish of the song. I wish she had done a longer version. It was terrific.Â
Blake impressed tonight by being the Blake so many have come to love in this competition. He’s not an outstanding vocalist, but the total package with him is fun. He sings nicely most of the time, he has good time, he might throw in some beat-boxing and he dances around a bit. Paula chose the Police’s “Roxanne” for him. This really suited his voice, and he did a nice job. I didn’t care for the arrangement. The fast chorus, where if you were dancing back in the day, you would bounce or “pogo” wildly (hey, I was a bit punk once!) was softened by the wimpy female background singing. Kind of ruined it for me. It could have been a little wilder and more fun. Blake probably did his best on Maroon 5’s “This Love.” I liked it better than the original. Then Blake did a Robin Thicke number, “When I Get You Alone.” Look back at my post for Episode 35, when Thicke performed on the show, and you will know why I don’t have to hear Thicke sing this song to know that I liked Blake’s version WAY better (Thicke sings like a weenie. Really, his falsetto is no good.) Simon said, “I actually really liked that” and gave Blake props for always taking a risk. Blake was the only one of the final three to try a new song for his personal choice, so I think that was fairly daring. He also probably needed to throw himself out on a limb if he wanted to make the finals.Â
Jordin gave three solid performances tonight. Simon picked a tune by Rose Royce (”Who?” I said. But this is a funk band that did the music for the 70s movie “Car Wash.”) She sang “Wishing On A Star,” which is a really neat song. She did a great job, too, although Simon hated the arrangement. The producers had her sing Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard For The Money.” I thought this was a really strange choice for a 17-year-old since I have ALWAYS thought this song was about a hooker! Turns out it is about a real-life restroom attendant that Donna Summer once met. Seriously. Google it if you think I’m foolin’. Still kind of a strange choice. Jordin sang this well, but I wasn’t really feeling it from her.Â
 I’m so glad she chose to do that great Shirley Bassey song, “I Who Have Nothing” again. She was amazing on that during British Invasion week, and even better tonight. I think the only problem is that we know Jordin is quite inconsistent, and especially when compared with Melinda, she comes up short.
I’m obviously a Melinda girl all the way. I will be really angry if she doesn’t make the finals. I still don’t know who will be voted out tomorrow night, but right now I’m kind of thinking it might be Jordin. I think Blake’s got the young female vote sewn up, Melinda’s got the the mom and Grandma vote (right, Grandma S?) and I can’t get a handle on Jordin’s fan base. I’m not at all discounting her talent, though, nor her future potential for success.
Okay, I gotta run now because I haven’t see this week’s Soprano’s yet, and even though everyone is talking about the prominent character who got whacked, I have so far avoided finding out exactly WHO it was. Of course I have a good idea.
We’ll talk again tomorrow night. In the meantime, I always love your comments, especially the gal who thinks I’m funny and who is not my mother. But she is probably one of my mother’s friends. Later!Â
The Detroit Free Press has a good interview with LaKisha, and there’s quite a bit of somewhat new info.
Sanjaya — sit still!
LaKisha speaks fondly of the contestant who became a national obsession and says the Sanjaya craze wasn’t a distraction for the other contestants. She’s looking forward to seeing him on the Idol tour. “Sanjaya is like a little brother that got on your nerves all the time. … I could be like, just having a moment and he’s jumping all over the place. I’m like, ‘Sit down!’ But I appreciate the fact that he trusted my judgment, he took my advice and that he also was there when I needed him.”
On finishing fourth
“Only thing I can say is, ‘Look at Chris Daughtry.’ “
Who’s the front-runner now? LaKisha isn’t playing favorites. She says all three remaining singers are talented and “whoever’s supposed to be the American Idol will be the American Idol.” She calls Jordin Sparks “doggone cute,” says Blake Lewis helped keep her going and praises Melinda Doolittle’s soul and power.
First purchase
With the money she makes from “Idol,” LaKisha plans to buy a new house for herself and her daughter. “I just can’t wait to get the keys, and open the door and let my baby run through the house.”
As is always the case when it gets down to the final three, the contestants visited their home towns this week. And in the case of Blake Lewis, that meant a trip back to Bothell, Washington.
Among those greeting him was Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. A fax from Paula Abdul arrived announcing that next week Blake would sing “Roxanne.” Lewis took the stage, thanked the crowd for their warm support and sang five songs.
At the start of the parade, Jonathan Douglas, 8, held a sign declaring himself Lewis’ No. 1 fan.
“I like the beatboxing he’s been doing. I think he’s going to go all the way,” the youngster said.
His mother, Marie Douglas, said, “He’s like a breath of fresh air because he’s so different. She added that she couldn’t tell her son they were going to see Lewis on Friday or the boy wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep.
One thing Lewis didn’t do was predict that he’s going to win the competition. That, he said, likely would happen for Sparks, the teenager from Glendale, Ariz.
And which musical performer is least likely to have been connected to a performance by Blake Lewis?
Knees bouncing and right hand “air mixing” in his trademark dance style, Lewis performed five songs at Westlake, including Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” and Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity.” He also did an original song, “She Loves the Way,” and he backed up special guest Sir Mix-A-Lot on the rapper’s famous “Baby Got Back.”
After taking the stage with local band Ari Sawkadoria, Lewis looked at the crowd and said, “Seattle, say hello to ‘American Idol,’ ” and a cameraman on stage turned his lens to the cheering throng. The hometown visit is being filmed by the show and the footage will appear on Wednesday’s show. The other two finalists were getting similar treatment in their hometowns Friday.
Sir Mix gave Lewis plenty of respect. “I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I saw this cat on TV,” he told the crowd. “Every time you see ‘American Idol,’ you see people who can sing, and that’s it. This cat got real talent.”
