American Idol (April 27)

It's Gloria Estefan night. I always thought she was a classy lady on a personal level, but really don't dig the music. This one will be hard for me to judge kindly.

Fantasia Barrino: Actually, it was a kind of bland rendering of a song that never really caught my attention to begin with. She still shows great stage presence and comes across as the contestant who could easily make the transisiton to actually performing.

George Huff: No. No. No. Trying too hard and the music simply didn't suit his style. That really isn't necessarily his fault; the Gloria Estefan sound isn't easy for anyone else to reproduce or do justice. There was nothing impressive about this one.

La Toya London: "The Rythm is Gonna Get You" as done by a diva. Weird fit, but it worked better than the others thus far. Pretty good, which, for tonight, is pretty damned good.

[Insert lame musical interlude and crass commercial product placement.]

John Stevens: Sucking the life out of Latin music. 'Nuff said.

Jasmine Trias: My God, why is she still here? Boring vocals, no stage presence, and still sounding like the proud winner of the local high school talent contest. John Stevens or Jasmine Trias--hich one would I vote against first?

Diana DeGarmo: Oddly, I think Diana came in second at that same high school talent contest. Somewhere, in the most primitive part of my brain, whenever I see this person on stage I want to hit people. I want to strike out violently at anything even close to me. Apparently, everyone else liked it and that means that I am likely wrong--but my visceral reaction cannot be denied.