Chris Speaks...

So as best friends, Blake and Chris stood there awaiting their fate, what were they talking about? Chris told reporters today that they were singing a song that they wrote and Chris was telling Blake to sit down because Chris knew he was the one going.

How did he know? "I looked around and saw the band getting ready. The guy who plays the 12 string guitar was setting up and I was the only one who performed with a 12 string guitar."

They really need to find a better way to hide this stuff…

Chris said he and Phil were already expecting their departures after Simon’s comments Tuesday. “We knew who he would try to dwindle out of the competition, and who he would try to keep in the competition. I would always go out there preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.”

Chris also set the record straight about his personal life, which has started to hit the tabloids (He’s been linked with Lauren Conrad.). "You know what, I just got out of a 3 ½ year relationship back home. All the other rumors and stuff are just rumors. Those people are just my friends. They are acquaintances. I'm single but still respect the fact that I just got out of a relationship with my girlfriend”…

Simon's Eye Roll: Controversy Confirmed

Apparently Simon's comments at the end of the show were not enough as "Idol" was forced to go into damage control mode today...

On Ryan Seacrest's radio show this morning, Simon said he was talking to Paula, asking her what Chris meant by singing nasally on purpose, so he didn't even hear what Chris had said about the tragedy. His eyes rolled "given what [he] was saying to Paula." Simon was clearly angry about the controversy, telling Ryan, "I did want to clear this one up because, you know, this is a very very sensitive subject. The irony is that we did want to try and set the right tone on the show. And then something like this happens, and it just starts fanning the flames," Cowell said. "And people need to understand, there are families involved. It's not right."

Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe also came to Simon's defense, saying "it is disheartening that a quick camera cutaway could have been misinterpreted."

FOX said it had received "few complaints" about Simon and the Blacksburg, VA (where Virginia Tech is located) affiliate had received no complaints...

By the way, the show's opening was Ryan's idea since he felt they needed to say something given how many people watch the show.

Did Chris Exploit a Tragedy?

Since Chris is from Virginia and he seemed incredibly sincere, I didn’t give it any thought when he extended his thoughts and prayers to Virginia Tech. But there are some this morning who are questioning the timing of his comments…

This from Michael Slezak at “Entertainment Weekly”: "Even more troubling, though, was Chris' abrupt change of subject from mouthing off to Simon to extending his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Mind you, I'm not saying the Virginia resident's remarks weren't sincere, but the timing felt way off. By sniping at Simon first, realizing he was in a losing battle, then turning the subject to an unspeakable national tragedy, Chris created the season’s most uncomfortable moment.”

Many of the posters to the “EW” site are jumping on Slezak's bandwagon and questioning if Chris used the comments to make up for his lame “nasally’s a form of singing” argument with Simon. I have to agree that if Chris wanted to send out sincere wishes to his home state—and I believe he did—then he should have kept his mouth shut about the nasally singing…

Because now we have two sides—the people who thought Chris was exploiting a national tragedy and didn’t vote for him because of it and the people who thought Chris’ performance may have been affected by the week’s events and voted for him because of it. It could make an interesting evening for Chris…

For me, it was actually Simon’s comments in the middle of his critique of Blake that I thought were badly timed, but “EW” offers up an explanation for that as well. Apparently the cameras caught Simon rolling his eyes at Chris and Slezak theorizes that Simon may have made his comments so he did not appear to be unsympathetic—since he is (I didn’t say his comments were insincere, I just said they were strangely timed.). If Simon did roll his eyes, it was clearly because he was exasperated with Chris thinking that nasally singing was a good thing…

By the way, the Top 7 results show is usually when Ryan unveils his two groups of three trick, where he creates two groups of three and a seventh contestant, who is safe, has to pick which group is the top group. A LaKisha-Chris-Sanjaya bottom three would be interesting…

I’m sticking with my LaKisha prediction, but it’s looking more and more like this could be the night we say goodbye to Sanjaya—especially now that even Jim is losing faith in him…

Since the first half-hour is nothing but filler, I’ll be blogging tonight beginning at 9:30, so I hope you’ll join me then…

LaKisha bombs and Chris is Chris...

LaKisha Jones, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”: 14
I would have never guessed this one for LaKisha, and her performance showed why. She was over-enunciating and then she was oversinging. In other words, it was just a mess.

Chris Richardson, “Mayberry”: 15
Okay, so I got the Rascal Flatts right. This wasn’t a bad choice, but I am just so over him! But I think it was actually better than LaKisha—and I can’t believe I just typed that. The Rascal Flatts fans will have to let me know if he screwed up any of the words.

More Forgotten Words?

So Ryan pointed out that Blake wrote some of the words of his song into his tattoos last night--Thanks Ryan--but did anyone catch that Chris flubbed the lyrics to "Smooth"?

This from "Entertainment Weekly"...

"Indeed, Chris's tinny, off-key 'Smooth' was more like a mug of stagnant pond water — so viciously wrong that I failed to notice he flubbed his lyrics for the fourth time in the last five weeks. Thanks to those of you who caught him singing, 'It's the same insane emotion that I get from you,' when he should've been singing, 'That's the same as the emotion that I get from you.'"

Can we dump this guy already?

Chris' Copout...

Chris Richardson, “Smooth”: 13
I realize this was not nearly as bad as my score. I’m just so over him! And the vocals were off. Plus, I think a song with a Rob Thomas vocal is a copout on Latin night.

Chris and Jordin...

Chris Richardson, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”: 13
I’m sorry. I am just so over him. I thought the whole song sounded off.

Jordin Sparks, “On a Clear Day”: 17
Her voice sounded great, but I just didn’t feel she connected to the song.

Chris butchers a No Doubt classic...

Chris Richardson, “Don’t Speak”: 12
Someone should tell Chris and the band that’s not a happy song. I HATED it! And did Gwen only give her advice to the camera, because no one listened to what she had to say.

Did the Chrises Diss Diana?

Here's an interesting tidbit I got from "Entertainment Weekly"...

Apparently the Chrises had some interesting comments about Diana Ross Week before their performances Tuesday .

Chris Richardson said it would be hard because it's tough to make a "woman song"
a "man song." And how many seasons have the women had to sing "man" songs? It's called adapting Chris...

But the most insulting comment came from Chris Sligh. He said that the week would be difficult because Diana has a "weird range" of "only seven or eight notes. That's it." Combining that with completely redoing "Endless Love" and no wonder Diana didn't seem happy with him. Here's a piece of advice, Chris. Don't diss the judges you're going to work with. America listens to what they say (or how they're edited). Just ask Ace from last season...

Did America Squelch a Romance?

And here I thought that Ryan Seacrest would be the most devastated by Alaina Alexander's departure...

TVGuide.com is reporting that Alaina, who you may recall butchered the Dixie Chicks last week, and Chris Richardson, who wowed the judges with "Geek in the Pink" were an item...