In all honesty, Ceci, I hope Jordin wins now. She is without a doubt the better singer than Blake.

I had just hoped that the best would win...Melinda.

I agree Kingrex, Melinda was the best, in my eyes too.

I'm sure my heart did flip flops when Ryan said Melinda was going(:. What has America done. I hope Jordin wins. But Melinda is still a winner whether she has the title of AI or not. But I'm sure she cried herself to sleep tonight.

Its like Paula said....time for Melinda to go get started on her career.....and man is she ever gonna have one.......
I think several of the top 10 we will hear more from.....Look at Elliot.....he was GREAT last night......

We have not heard the last of Melinda Dolittle!!!!!!!!!

I've mentioned before that I like Blake - I wasn't surprised to see him and Jordin in the final two. Not to toot me own horn but...

I'll be thrilled to see either of them win at this point but am favoring Jordin as the best bet. She seems to embody the youth, energy and vibe (and genre) of AI. Blake's got the 'Sting' thing going on... he's a fine entertainer. Wonder if he's considering film??

Melinda's talent surpasses American Idol, she'd outgrown the show by round two ...and I agree with those who've said it's time for her to move into her future career already. Watching her stand there subjected to criticism by the judges made no sense, week after week.

I'm glad you said that Becca, now they can throw tomatoes at you....instead of me... I think Blakes' rendition of The Police's song Roxanne was very good. I like them all, but I heard on TV this morn that since Melinda got knocked out that her votes will now probably go to Jordan....

Like I said B4, I like them all, but Melinda just didn't have the stage presence to attract the younger crowd... She's a fantastic singer and will no doubt, succeed wonderfully in her career...

I like Blake and I like Jordan, but I also heard that her overconfidence is hurting her.... (now, stop throwing rotten fruit at me)

I just said I heard that..... *hiding w/Becca*

We'll just pick up that fruit and make pies, doll. It's all good.
This morning over coffee, one of my workmates did get angry with me when I told her I thought Blake deserved to be in the competition. Ooo-wee, she looked at me like I'd just called her a big stoopid-head or something.

I'm not going to name names, but there are many Stars out there making money hand over fist, whose only talent is too make us think they have talent.....I's called Style.

Melinda has the voice but little style. Blake has the style..no voice. It's hard to say, in this day and age, who will go farther and who will last.

I can't imagine what your criteria for "style" are if you think Blake has it and Melinda has little. Maybe it's a geographic thing. Are you telling us that Melinda's rendition of "I'm A Woman" last night lacked style?

I'm totally comfortable in predicting that Blake will have no real career, apart from the requisite CD fueled by AI exposure and talk show appearances. IMO, he's another Taylor Hicks, only with 13 year old girls as his fans. His style consists of one or two cheesy spin moves and, of course, his beat-boxing. It takes a lot more than that to make a career in music and entertainment.

Personally, I think Blake looks scared to death. He's not got nearly enough "game" to be on Center Stage, and he knows it. I really think he was hoping to go home last night. The other two are bursting with talent and promise. Some people obviously think Blake is "unique"; in truth, the only reason you don't see anyone else like Blake is that "entertainers" like Blake never reach the point where you would see them perform because they just don't have enough talent to move to the next level. American Idol is the one-in-a million shot to make the huge leap from local curiosity to household name. Because of the voting system, Blake is still there and a fabulous entertainer is not. I mean, did Sanjaya not make it to the Final Six?

The proof will be in the pudding, I guess. I'm really not as emotionally invested in all this as it may seem but it does upset me to read comments like "Jordin is over-confident" (huh????) or "Melinda lacks style" or is "too old". In truth, the title means little. The music industry knows who's promotable and who isn't. So, we'll see who gets promoted post-AI with record company dollars. FWIW, neither Taylor Hicks or Katherine McPhee have been promoted much; Bucky Covington and Chris Daughtry have been doing well commercially, Daughtry in particular (I like Chris Daughtry). Chris' album has been on the charts a long time and is still very near the top. The question is, after the initial success wrought by their exposure on AI, where do they go from here? The way it probably goes is: make another album, give it an initial push and then see if the success of the first album translates into a strong follow-through effort. If not, that's about it. Record companies don't like losses.

I think Melinda will be a huge success. Jordin, too.


(my first time to say: "Vent Over")

What she said!

Well, unlike you Rex, I'm not upset , but by making the comment: "He's not got nearly enough 'game' to be on Center Stage, and he knows it" about Blake, you're saying something that's no more (or less) true than any other opinions shared thus far. And your comment makes ME go "huh??". It's all subjective.

Melinda's got a great voice, no doubt about it. And sure, she's got style - in her voice particularly. Blake's got style. He's also got charisma. As far as my tastes go, whether or not they're based on geography I don't know but I'm minnesota girl with a few friends in the music biz and I daresay they're pretty successful. What Blake does with his style, we'll see. I wish them all well ...though am sure they don't need my well-wishin'.