today's one liner

I know it's a LOT late to say this, but after unseeded players consistently beating seeded ones in various tournaments, I'll say it's gonna be an interesting year in Tennis.

dueling idols - American Idol top 24

"We're gonna lose half of these guys before we're moving on to the final stage!", Ryan Seacrest shouted to our dearest ears on the first semi final show of American Idol 7. Well, if he wasn't shouting it, it just feels like it, because during Idol season, I really can't get away from shouting Ryan.

Each time before every top 24 show, I always try to really take it in that half of these talented kids will not be there for the finals. Usually, the realization comes after some bad performances. Not naming names, here. But check the contestant without any last names. Oops.

But just because I want the finals to be as diverse as possible, here's how I saw last night's show.

1. Chikezie vs David Archuleta

The first David and Goliath showdown for David. This is the classic duel between the best and the worst. I love how energetic David's performance was. With that duality of personality while performing and doing interviews with Ryan, I really think he is the 17-year-old white male version of Melinda Doolittle. On the other spectrum, orange and all, oomph is what is missing in Chikezie's performance.

Winner: David Archuleta

2. Robbie Carrico vs Michael Johns

Robbie and Michael is two of the I-do-not-know-how-much rockers this year. What sets them apart is Robbie keeps telling us, "I'm a rocker! ROCKER!! I sport all this mandana and beanie and berets and meticulously grown and kept facial and chest and head hair and talk in a rocker kinda way, so of course, I am a real rocker!" Right. On the other hand, Michael just went there, manscaped, and sang. And we can vividly see that he totally rocked that stage. I mean, really.

Winner: Michael Johns

3. Jason Castro vs Danny Noriega

This round was appropriately themed the 60's. Jason and Danny were the only two that was true 100% to the theme. They were the last night's hippies. It is so easy to say that Jason is much hippier than Danny, since he has a long Bob-Marley-influenced kinda hair, performed with a guitar, but Jason misses Danny's hip thrusts and hipster pants. So, Danny scored two points for being the hippiest here. Plus he reminds me of Jake Shears. That's a HUGE compliment.

Winner: Call me crazy and hate my guts, but Danny Noriega - eventhough I also want Jason Castro in the finals

4. David Cook vs David Hernandez

Yep. I paired them simply because of their first names. Performance wise, I like David H better. I don't know why, but it's very rare to find male singers like David H in the finals of Idol. I don't think he is as bad as what Simon said and yeah, why don't we give a singer like David H more chance. On the other corner, David C, really? Another rocker?

Winner: David Hernandez

5. Luke Menard vs Jason Yeager

Idol is usually crowded with soulful, powerhouse, rangy vocalists. Because of that, I would like to see a safe, kindly calming, ballad-friendly vocals also make it to the finals this year. It can be easily from one of these two. I lean towards Luke more. I like the KennyLogginsy of his voice (Kenny Loggins is one of my favorite performers because of his safe, kindly calming, ballad-friendly vocal). Oh, and they are paired because they have the most daddy quality in them. Err, no. Non-sexually speaking.

Winner: Luke Menard

6. Colton Berry vs Garrett Hayley

These are the two contestants that I least care about.

Winner: See sentence above.

Will be updated later with the girls. (Did anyone notice that Carly Smithson was nowhere to be seen yesterday?)

rockin idol

Unlike listening to Avenue Q at least once a day, voicing my infatuation towards one contestant to another before I saw them performing on the top 24 stage is not really my habit. But in this seventh installment of International American Idol, I can't help of noticing some stand-outs from the preliminary rounds. See, I still won't take sides at this point, I just have some judgments. Now, not big judgments like who to hire or who to buy newspapers from.

Most Internationally Recognized

It's a tie between Carly Smithson and Michael Johns. Smithson is Irish, while Johns speaks with an Australian accent. I think they're cool. Hopefully, internationaldom won't hurt their chances.

Most Likely to be the Most Successful David

Funnily, we have three (THREE!) Davids this year. If this is Indonesian Idol, the producers will have problems making the SMS vote code. I mean would you like to hear, "Kirim 'IDOL spasi DAVIDA' ke 9889". I mean, who's Davida? But on that note, 16-year-old David Archuleta can easily garner votes from one of the biggest blocks in Idol: the teenie girls. Besides he will be the one to make the headline "David vs Goliath" or its puns work.

Most Entertaining to Watch

Two words: Danny Noriega. Also two words: Love him. Not really two words: I can't believe he sang "When I Need You" with those daring movements touching his carefully groomed hair in a better way than how the likes of Christina Aguilera or Beyoncé does it. Dayum. And oh, yeah, I had watched those 30-second youtube clips for like three hundred times already.

Most Likely to be My Favorite

When I first saw Joanne Burgella, I thought she would be an upgraded registered version of Mandisa with a prettier face, better outfit, and more user friendly (*coughlesshomophobiacough*). But soon as I heard Burgella sing, her voice is so not Mandisa, and deserves to be one of my finger-countable CDs. You know, screechy and screamy. Love her.

Most Likely to Pull a Nadia Turner

Nadia Turner was a favorite during the first weeks of Idol 4 finals, only to find on the next week that she was far to "unique" for Idol. This year, the motorcycle chick nurse, Amanda Overmyer might fall on the same category. What is it with motorcycle chicks this year? After Sweet P, we have Amanda now?

First to Hear the Word "Forgettable"

I have a hard time to name this category. But I seriously wonder what's so special about Syesha I-cant-even-remember-her-last-name.

Most Likely to Rock the Idol Stage

I honestly don't know. There's just too many of them already.

The Pimpette

Oh, come on. If by now you haven't heard of Carly Smithson already, you shouldn't call yourself an Idol freak, you freak. Even the controversy surrounding her this past few days made her a pimpette a little too much.

best news I've heard so far in 2008

Found it in Boing Boing.

Neil Gaiman has decided to donate a book to be freely (as in costless) available online to celebrate his blog's birthday.

Yay!

He said,

Which book, though...? Ah, that's up to you.

What I want you to do is think -- not about which of the books below is your favourite, but if you were giving one away to a friend who had never read anything of mine, what would it be? Where would you want them to start?

I voted for the you-will-not-see-London-the-same-way-again "Neverwhere". So, come on! Help us all read "Neverwhere" for free! It's only down a couple of votes from "American Gods".

PS: To be totally honest, though, I haven't read ALL of Neil's books.
PPS: Yeah, I still don't actively celebrate my birthdays.