Posted on 3/19/2008 6:15:24 PM

Entertainment Betting - American Idol - 11 Hopeful Idols

By Mike Rose

Entertainment Betting - American Idol - 11 Hopeful Idols

Simon said it best when he stated that maybe they shouldn’t have had back-to-back weeks of Beatles songs, because last night’s show was tough to sit through. There wasn’t one single performance that “wow’d” me or got my juices flowing, and it was clearly evident that the judges felt the same way. We correctly chose two of the bottom three contestants last week and made a couple more dollars when David Hernandez got voted off at close to 6-1 odds. Without further ado, let’s find the next contestant to get booted.

Amanda Overmyer started off the show with a very predictable version of “Back in the USSR”. Randy gave it a 7 out of 10, while Paula thought it was a very “Overmyer-esque” performance. Simon thought it was predictable and messy in parts, and believes “she’s in danger of becoming boring.” Amanda will survive this round, but it will be interesting to see what she comes up with next week to get back in the good graces of the most important judge on the panel. That said, another trip to the bottom three could be in store for Amanda.

Kristy Lee Cook barely survived last Thursday night’s elimination show after doing a dreadful cover of “8 Days a Week”. She said she’d try and wow the judges right before her performance, but then came out and put forth a very boring rendition of “You Got to Hide Your Love Away”. Randy would have liked to see more emotion from her, while Paula thought it was a safe song choice. Simon came flat out and said, “You’re not a good performer”. There’s a reason why Kristy was installed a –140 chalk to get booted off this week, and it looks as if this could be the end of the road for the Oregon native regardless of the possibility of her blowing Simon out of his socks next week….

Competition favorite, David Archuleta bounced back nicely by nailing “The Long and Winding Road”. After last weeks blunder, this performance was a breath of fresh air for Archuleta supports. He got rave reviews from all the judges, and Simon even went as far as calling his performance of the “master class”. All those that laid large amounts of money for this kid to win the whole thing can now exhale. He’ll be back next week.

I was excited to hear Michael Johns try and tackle “A Day in the Life”, but came away very unimpressed and I’m starting to think it’s almost time to start hedging with this guy. He hasn’t wow’d anyone since covering “Bohemian Rhapsody” back in Hollywood week, and his week-to-week odds have decreased because of it. It’s tough to pass on a 15-1 payout, but Johns should be good to go for a couple more rounds simply due to his potential. Maybe a trip to the bottom three is just the kick in the rear he needs to get going again.

The best performance of last week’s show was put forth by the squeaky clean Brooke White when she covered “Let it be”. That wasn’t the case this week though as her rendition of “Here Comes the Sun” came across as very safe. Randy thought the performance was awkward, and even Paula thought she could have tackled a more challenging song. Simon said it was an awful performance after giving her major props after her three previous performances. That said, Brooke’s a +3500 underdog to get voted off this week for a reason. She’s not going anywhere!!!

After putting forth sensational performances the last two weeks, David Cook saw his odds to win the whole thing drop from +4000 to +1500 to its current position of +400. Simon’s statement last week clearly had many buying into Mr. Cook, so all the values pretty much been wiped clean over the last week. That said, his performance of “Daytripper” came across as a bit cocky. Paula and Randy think he’s ready to go sell records, but Simon kicked him off his high horse stating, “the performance wasn’t as good as he thought it was”. Still, David’s a lock to move on so don’t get on the fade train just yet.

One of the other competition favorites, Carly Smithson, took center stage next and belted out the power ballad “Blackbird”. I thought it was ok, but Randy loved it and stated there’s a “cooliosis” with her. Paula gave her a capital “F” for Fantastic, but Simon thought it was a bit indulgent. Carly then went on to defend her choice of the song, but I stopped listening by then. Carly’s one of the few females that can make a deep run in this competition, so there’s no reason to fade her now even if you’ll get a nice 30-1 return on your investment.

The dread locked one, Jason Castro, took the stage next and tackled the Beatles multilingual “Michelle”. I thought it was a very bland performance, but he got loads of praise from the teeny-boppers in the front row after he finished. Randy thought it was a good song choice, while Paula thought he looked a bit disconnected without his guitar. Simon thought his face sold that performance and said he would have turned it off if he heard it on the radio. It wouldn’t be all that shocking if Castro was voted off this week, and I’ve got a funny feeling he’ll be joining Kristy and Ramiele center stage in the bottom three. That said, his goofy looking hair and his charm should allow him to move on to next week.

Syesha Mercado made it a point to look past her poor performance that found her in the bottom three last week, and she did a solid job with “Yesterday”. Randy thought it was a very very very good performance, and Paula loves her musical instrument. Simon didn’t think it was incredible, but she sold it and it was her best performance to date. At +350, it’s not juicy enough to back this dark horse contender this week. Syesha will avoid the bottom three this time around and participate in next weeks show.

Chikezie put forth the most memorable performance last week when he brought the house down and got wiped down by Ryan Seacrest. He tried to do the same this week, but his rendition of “I’ve Just Seen a Face” just wasn’t as good. That said, he’s grown a ton over the last couple weeks and is no doubt one of the competition’s most talented. This is highly evidenced by the fact that his odds to win it all plummeted from +8000 last week to +4500 before Tuesday night’s performance. Look for this big dawg to stick around for at least another week.

Closing out the show was the tiny Ramiele Malubay who looked to make up for her bland performances the last two weeks. Instead, she went the karaoke route and lost my interest a minute into the song. Randy thought she showed more confidence, and Paula said it was better than last week. Simon thought it was a lame song choice. I touted the pint sized Polynesian to get booted last week, and I’m going right back to the well this week. She received the fourth least amount of votes in last weeks elimination show, and oddsmakers protected themselves a bit more this week after cutting her odds from +2500 last week to +750 this week. It was the single largest correction of all the contestants.

So there you have it folks. It was one of the worst shows of the season, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make money off of it. There’s not a doubt in my mind that both Kristy Lee Cook and Ramiele Malubay will be in the bottom three this week along with either Amanda Overmyer, Michael Johns, or Jason Castro. Definitely put a unit on both Kristy and Ramiele. You’re guaranteed either a split or a nice $650 payday.

Until next week…..

Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, in Futures/props, under Entertainment Props.