American Idol - Top 10 - R&B

I have to admit that I enjoyed majority of the performances tonight. I liked the addition of the backstage camera.  It was nice to see their reactions afterward.   I wasn't sure how many of them would actually pull off tonight's R&B theme, but I was super excited to see Usher whose been doing this since he was what? 14??  Anywho, I have a few quick notes and a guess for going home tonight.

Siohban Magnus starts the show with Shaka Khan's Through the Fire.  Blah!  I expected her to actually do well on this song, but what a disappointment.  I don't think she'll be going home, but that was definitely NOT a good performance from her.   And seriously, I'm sick of the screaming notes.  Just sit and sing and stop trying to have a power note every single dang song!!!

Casey James came next with Hold On and I agree with the judges this was his best performance yet.  You could see he had total confidence in this performance and he really nailed it.

Big Mike sang India Aire's Ready for Love and I have to say he performed the heck outta that song!  Great vocals!!

Didi Benami sang Brokenhearted and I was very brokenhearted for her.  I think she may have done herself in this week IF Tim has more fans, which I doubt so she'll prolly be safe.  I really just do not like this girl...I agree with the judges that she has NO idea who she is and is just floating around like a stereotypical blonde. (No offense to my blonde friends, please!)

Tim Urban (Stalker) sang Anita Baker's Sweet Love.  WTF? and WHY?  He had absolutely no business trying this song unless he was going to change the arrangement enough to make it his own.  Otherwise who in the world told him that he could take on Anita Baker?? And I swear the guy is like a stalker....it's creepy!

Andrew Garcia sang Chris Brown's Forever.  He went back to the acoustic sound and it was much better than he has been in a few weeks.  I think he did good at making it his own and avoided being a "copy cat" as Simon would say!  I like it.

Katie Stevens attempted to sing Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools.  It actually wasn't bad and I really wish the judges would get the heck off this "young and current" kick.  The kid has a bluesy soul type voice and I think she is picking songs she knows matches her vocals.  I don't think she will win, but she does have a good voice and minus the horrendous outfit she had on she did OK.

Lee Dewyze sang Treat her Like a Lady and I enjoyed it completely.  I love the texture of his voice and he owned the song last night!  Great performance from him this week.

Crystal Bowersox sang Gladys Night's Midnight Train to Georgia.  The girl blew me away with her vocals tonight.  I mean she's been my favorite all along, but the vocals tonight caught me off guard and were superb!  I liked the change in her outfit and stage presence for the fact that she fit the R&B category.... judges are so confusing sometimes, it's just annoying!!!  Either way, her and Mike were the best performances of the night!

Aaron Kelly decided to go with Ain't no Sunshine and maybe if he was a little older and could really relate to the words of the song it would have came over better, otherwise, blah.  He just wasn't feeling it enough or wasn't able to project the energy well enough.  I'm still saying he's just too young with not enough experience.  

My favorite perfomances of the night were (in this order):

Crystal Bowersox

 Big Mike

 Casey James 

Lee Dewyze

 Andrew Garcia 

My guesses for bottom 3 is:

Katie Stevens

 Didi Benami

Tim Urban  
 

My guess for going home is:

 Tim Urban

If there are any curve balls thrown at us, I could see Siobhan in the bottom 3, but getting sent back as the first one safe.

I could also see Didi go home over Tim.  Tim although stalkerish does have better pitch in his performances. 

American Idol - Top 11- Billboard #1s

I just have a moment to make a quick few notes.


I am completely loving Ms Bowersox. Great performance last night!

I'm not sure how many more times I want to hear Siobhan scream a note for a few seconds every single pereformance!

Aaron Kelly, even though he's a tweeny I have to say he was not half bad at all last night!

I also like Michael Lynche and Katie Stevens. They didn't have "awesome" performances but they are good all the same.

Casey is borderline for me. Great voice and he's OK to look at but now wow factor just yet.  I loved it when he told Miley he was a fan of her dad's!!!  Funny!!

My guesses for Bottom 3 are:

Paige Miles

Tim Urban

Andrew Garcia

We will probably be saying goodbye to:

Tim Urban

Maybe Paige, not sure which has more fans between the two...and he beat her last week, so.... just saying!!! 
I thought about Didi as well for bottom 3, but I think she has more fans than Andrew so she still has a minute before gracing that lovely bottom 3!


I don't even have enough time to comment about Miley Cyrus as a mentor! Wow American Idol. Just Wow!  She didn't do as bad as I thought she would, but still .... hmmm not sure!

Understanding the PT-INR Test

http://www.clotcare.com/clotcare/ptinr.aspx

Understanding the PT-INR Test

Marie B. Walker

January, 2004



If you have ever undergone oral anticoagulation therapy, you have most likely heard of the PT-INR test, but you may not understand what it is and/or what it means. This article will attempt to explain the PT-INR test.

First let's talk about the PT test. PT stands for prothrombin time. It is a measure of how quickly blood clots. The traditional method for performing a PT test is to have your blood drawn and sent to a lab. At the lab, a substance called a reagent is added to your blood. The reagent causes the blood to begin clotting. The PT result is the time in seconds that is required for the blood to clot.

There are a variety of reagents that can be used when a PT test is performed. Since each of these reagents works a bit differently, a PT result obtained with one reagent cannot be compared to a PT result obtained with another reagent. To account for the different reagents, the result of a PT test must be converted into standard units that can be compared regardless of the reagent used. These standard units are known as INR units.

INR stands for International Normalized Ratio. As its name suggests, one INR result can be compared to another INR result regardless of how or where the result was obtained. So, the INR is really just the standard unit used to report the result of a PT test.

There are a few things worth mentioning about the INR. First, an individual whose blood clots normally and who is not on anticoagulation should have an INR of approximately 1. The higher your INR is, the longer it takes your blood to clot. In other words, as the INR increases above a given level, the risk of bleeding and bleeding-related events increases. On the other hand, as the INR decreases below a given level, the risk of clotting events increases.


The ideal target INR range will vary from person to person depending on a variety of factors such as the reason for taking anticoagulants, other medical conditions, and a number of other issues. Your anticoagulation clinician will determine the appropriate INR range for you. The most common INR target range for someone on warfarin is somewhere between 2.0 and 4.0. INRs of 5 or more typically are avoided because the risk of bleeding increases significantly at INRs above 5.


Once your clinician has established an appropriate target INR range for you, he/she will adjust your anticoagulation therapy to keep your INR in the target range. If your INR rises above the high-end of your range, your risk of bleeding and bleeding related events may start to increase. If your INR falls below the low-end of your target range, your risk of forming a blood clot may increase.


Numerous factors can affect your INR, so it is important that you keep your clinician up-to-date on any changes in your life. For example, you should notify your clinician before starting new prescription or non-prescription drugs, including herbal remedies. Also, you should notify your clinician of changes in your diet, exercise regimen, alcohol use, tobacco use, etc. Good communication with your clinician will help you keep your anticoagulation therapy on track. For more information about oral anticoagulation therapy, please review the About Warfarin section of our website.

Top 12 - Rolling Stones - Results

Since I am currently still stuck in a hospital bed, I'm going to write this during the show, or at least try.  I do still have an Economics essay due tomorrow at midnight so maybe this will get me rolling with the writing. 

Ryan and Simon crack me up.  I'm not sure if they are truly enemies or friends...they always seem so serious!!  All the judges prolly hate him when he puts them on the spot with his little smart remarks and such.

David Cook comes out and performs Jumping Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones and kinda shows everyone of the idols how it's suppose to be done!!!  He is really excited about this album, huh?  I may just have to check it out.

Well, I forgot about naming Bottom 3 yesterday..I just took a guess on who was going to go home.  Oooops....If I have time to continue my blog once I'm out of the hospital I won't forget next time.  (I really want to write about this hospital stay too)

Ford commercial was pretty kewl.  I will never ever in my life buy a Ford, but I do like the colors on the cars in the commercial.  The contestants also had an opportunity to create a custom design for a Ford Fusion, and they all seem to have pretty creative ideas in that aspect.  

And now on to finding out who our Bottom 3 are:
First up is Paige Miles and Ryan asks about her voice before slinging her to the Bottom 3.

Next is Lee Dewyze, Ryan asks him about the advice Simon gave him and he said he agreed that he needs to have a "let it all loose" type performance then Ryan informs him he's Safe

Siobhan Magnus is, to nobody's surprise, Safe.  Ellen advised that her uniqueness is what they like about her.  She's not struggling to figure out who she is, she already knows.

Aaron Kelly of course is Safe (Ryan cannot sing at all!!!)  I shouldn't even bother commenting on him being like Justin Timberlake....PUULLEEEASE!!!!  I don't think so!!  JT has MAD talent that kid only wishes he possessed from what I've seen.  He hasn't even presented himself as a song writer in any type of way.  Am I being too hard on the tweenie??  Oh well, can't stand their bubble gum stuff!!

Andrew Garcia and Tim Urban are asked to both stand. Kara babbles some kinda crud about them both being really bad last night and then Ryan just slaps Tim to the Bottom 3.

I have NO idea what the rock chick's name was.  Don't think I've ever heard the song she performed before either.  Her vocals weren't all that great IMO.  Too bad we can't send her home.  Seriously?  She got to work with MJ??  Oh well, not impressed with that performance what so ever...lucky her!

Didi Benami with her I'm so much sweeter than you demeanor (GAG, finger down throat) is safe.  It hit me tonight while she was talking about her mom being in the audience that she's just annoyingly fake to me.  I don't believe a word that comes out of her mouth.  Just the aura I get!

Crystal Bowersox is giving me some ideas on styling my dreads...hmmm, I kinda like the little bit of regular hair in the front...hmmm after 10 years I may try something new, we'll see.  Anywho, of course she is safe, but not after explaining again that she has never thought she had this competition in the bag, she is just enjoying herself doing her.

Katie Stevens has no choice but to be confused the way the judges are tossing her around.  Kara thinks she's an R&B/Pop gal (NOT) and Simon says she should go Country.  Either way the girl is safe but prolly more confused than she wanted to be at this point. LOL  Her "sweetness" comes off as fake to me too, but I'm prolly just being overly judgemental as I'm so ready to get out of this damn hospital bed!!!

Michael Lynche is a total HAM and we are just going to have to get used to his corny ways as long as he pulls his vocals off.  He will prolly not win due to being corny, but I think he has a huge fan base already because of his baby being born on National TV (sorta) Either way Big Mike is safe.

Casey James and Lacey Brown are asked to stand and Lacey is sent to the Bottom 3.

Ryan asks the judges if they would save any of the Bottom 3 with the judges save.  Ellen gives an iffy yes and Simon flat out said that there was only ONE out of the 3 that he would use the save on....I'm guessing he's speaking about Paige considering he likes her voice AND she's suffering from Laryngitis.

Tim then gets sent back to the couch as the one SAFE out of the 3.  I'm getting excited thinking I may be correct on my guess to go home at this point...hehe  (I did guess Lacey, right?)

Another performer that I've never heard of....boy am I out of the loop on what's playing on the radio.....hmmmm  Prolly a good thing...more GARBAGE IMO.  And my husband's awesome vocals and creativity still remain undiscovered but this garbage gets played over and over ....Arrghhh!!

Paige Miles is safe and Lacey Brown has to sing for the judges to see if she can earn her save.

Doesn't happen.  Simon advises that they were completely unanimous and they will NOT be using their save on her.  YAY!!
Good luck Lacey in whatever you end up doing with your career!!

Lacey Brown

Top 12 - Rolling Stones

So we have finally made it to the Top 12....Top 10 soon to follow.  There are quite a few folks that I wouldn't mind not seeing on tour so my hope is that the people that I've dubbed my "likes" stay safe till the Top 10.  I'm not sure what to expect with Rolling Stones night...I am not familiar enough with all their music to say that I will know all the songs picked tonight!  So here we go.......


Michael Lynche - He sang Miss Me and it was OK for me. At least it didn't suck.  Simon advised he was kinda corny with his dancing.  I think for the most part he's good enough to move on and he definitely knows what type of artist he wants to be and I think he'll be successful in whatever he puts out.  This performance however did not WOW me and at this point those are the type of performances I'm looking for every week, it's a must!!


Didi Benami - She chose to sing Playing with Fire.  The arrangement was OK, she did her thing with it and actually sounded OK.  She got kinda lost pitch wise in the middle, but overall OK job.  Still no WOW factor for me where she's concerned.  I like the texture of her voice, but she is just not pulling me in the way I want her to.  I have to agree that this is probably her best performance for me, but it was still just an OK overall performance.


Casey Jones - It's All Over Now was his song choice.  He made a blues/country sorta rock rendition of it and it was really good.  I liked it.  I love his bluesy sound!!  Ellen is making a very good judge IMO.  She made a crack about how girls will definitely vote for him, but then people like her and then she just paused....of course you assume she's speaking of her sexuality but then she says "blonde"...haha  Anywho, Casey is good although not really my genre of music, he's still good.


Lacey Brown - She sang Ruby Tuesday.  I just really don't care for her mousey voice.  She's ok if you like her voice, but I'm not interested.  I love her style and her look, but her voice is terribly annoying to me. 


Andrew Garcia - He sang Gimme Shelter.  Good choice for him I thought, but it was a little pitchy in places.  I think he messed himself up by doing the Straight Up song during auditions because he doesn't have anything else just as strong or better to keep him in the running.  We are expecting Straight Up performances every week and he really didn't have that arsenal waiting like we were hoping.


Katie Stevens - Wild Horses is her song choice.  What a totally boring arrangement of what could have been an awesome performance for her.  She has a good voice, but that was not a WOW performance for me at all.  Something about this girl I just don't believe.  I think she may have all her family dupped as well...hehe


Tim Urban - He sang Under My Thumb. I just have to say he totally looks like a creepy demon character from Supernatural or Charmed or something....I don't know what it is about him when he performs that's just scary.  I completely loved that arraingment of the song and prolly sounded the best he has all competition IMO.  Judges didn't like it at all, but maybe since I don't really know the original it was OK for me.  Besides Reggae is my heart so I was impressed he was able to pull it off with the vocals.  Good thing I'm not a Stones fanatic, huh Simon??


Siobhan Magnus - Paint it Black which was a great song choice I thought.  There was a pitchy moment in her lower register for a split second, but then she got into the song and I really liked it.  That outfit she had on you either love her or not....that was just wild, but she made it work for her and the performance of the song.  I love her uniqueness...it's quirky and kinda loveable.  Hands down the best performance of the night IMO.  I would just warn her against trying to have one huge note in every song...that will get played out to me, really fast!!


Lee DeWyze -  Beast of Burden was a good song choice for him and I really thought he did a good job with the song.  Maybe he could have rocked it out a bit more, but I love his raspy rock voice and I think he did it well.  He does need to hit us with a WOW soon or he will be leaving before the top 6.


Paige Miles - Honkey Tonk Woman was her song choice...there are jokes that I'm just NOT going to make here, but anyone who knows me knows just what I'm thinking.....LOL.  After that being said I actually liked it and thought she did OK.  The fact that she has Laryngitis and performed that well, I give her mad props and so did the judges.  



Aaron Kelly - He choose to sing Angie and he has an awesome voice, but kinda boring.  I just can't get past the tweeny bopper thing, but maybe he'll have a wow moment in a couple weeks for me.  Great vocals though I will give the kid that as well as a smart song choice.  He maybe finally realizes he can sing, but he doesn't have a huge voice in any kinda way.  Nothing like Mick Jagger.


Crystal Bowersox - She sang You can't Always Get What you Want.  To me she's ready to hit someone's studio and just start recording her music.  I'm thinking she's going to come out like India.Aire or somewhere along those lines as long as she doesn't win and let Idol producers stifle her.  I don't want to see her leave till about 3 or 4 like Daughtry though.  She will always be my favorite so in that case I do not want her to win.

So who do you think will be leaving tomorrow night?  Who did you vote for?  Me? I didn't bother cuz I was not wowed at all.

I think it's possible the judges have doomed Tim Urban and we may see him go home OR Lacey Brown could go home....I wouldn't be upset with either one!

American Idol - Top 24 - Top 10 Guys

Guys switched with the girls since Crystal Bowersox was rushed to the hospital .... :(

We pray she will be alright!  She's my fav!!
Well this week they are suppose to tell us something we don't know about them! If it's interesting I'll include the info...hehe

Michael Lynche - He juggled theater art and football at a performing arts high school.  OMG, he can bench 505lbs.....hmmm hummm...Now that I'm done drooling....He performed James Brown "This is a Man's World" and he did exactly what the judges wanted IMO, it was his OWN version of the song and I loved it.  The judges loved it too.

John Park - Grew up in Korea although he was born in Chicago, so English is actually his second language. He is performing John Mayer "Gravity" and he was much better than he was last week and a much better song choice.  He is really pitchy in some parts though.  I don't think he has the "umph" to make it as a recording artist.  Simon thinks he's going back home this week to his Acappella group Purple Haze.

Casey James - He has never watched the show before..because he grew up without a TV in house and has continued in his adulthood without a TV.  He performed Gavin McGraw "I Wanna Be" and he did horrible with the vocals.  Disappointing as I like his bluesy voice texture, but he tried to do a rock version of the song as he was playing the electric guitar.  I think the guitar is overpowering for his voice texture but he can sure play the heck out it!!

Alex Lambert - He is suffering really bad from stage fright.. poor guy....He performed John Legend's "Everybody Knows" and this kid has an awesome crispy voice that I really like, not sure how far he will make it due to his lack of performance experience, but very kewl voice!  Could have elaborated a little on the arrangement but overall I really liked it!

Todrick Hall - He is actually a classically trained dancer. Looked good on the videos shown.  He performed Tina Turner "What's Love Got To Do With It" and he was actually much better than he was last week.  He definitely made the song his own but his vocals are shaky.  All the judges thought it was the wrong song choice for him.

Jermaine Sellers - Eww..I really don't like this gal, oh I mean guy.  He actually bragged about his onsie that he wears around the house..WTF???  He performed Marvin Gaye "What's Going On" and he did just what I expected....boo boo!  I don't think his vocals are strong enough for the Top 10 guys much less the Top 5 that go on tour.  I will give him that he did better than last week, but I hope we say buyh-buyh to him this week!!


Andrew Garcia - He is a break dancer as well.  Should get a crew and get on ABDC..hehe He performed James Morrison "You Give Me Something" and it was just OK this week for me.   Wasn't big on the song choice, but I still like him.  I prefer to see him with his guitar, jamming out.

Aaron Kelly - He enjoys photography.  He performed The Temptations "My Girl" and he did a great job.  He's more for the tweenies than for me, but good vocals and he definitely has more confidence and a good performance.  Simon was the only judge that really didn't care for it and I actually didn't agree with him this time.

Tim Urban - They just harped on how bad he did last week. He performed Matt Nathanson "Come on Get Higher"  Never heard this song so not sure what to expect.  It sounded really pitchy to me in places.  He may go home this week as well.  Ellen suggested he go into acting and get on GLEE...LOL.  And Simon actually liked it...haha.

Lee DeWyze - Went to an alternative high school due to making bad choices.  He performed Hinders??? "Lips of an Angel" and he is another one that I love the texture of his voice.  A little pitchy in a few areas, but overall a really good performance. 

My vote would have been Big Mike, Alex Lambert, and Lee DeWyze.  But since I just got done watching the show guess it's too late to vote..haha.

On to catch up on ABDC (America's Best Dance Crew)......BEFORE the girls come on tonight.