Posted on 3/6/2008 6:14:55 PM

Entertainment Betting - American Idol 8 Hopeful Men

By Mike Rose

We had ourselves a perfect elimination round in regards to the men last week. Both Jason Yeager (+100 underdog) and Robbie Carrico (+500 underdog) were eliminated as predicted in this here column. A $100 dollar bettor would have brought home a nice $600 dollar return signifying the fact that if forced to watch this guilty pleasure, you might as well make the experience pay off by paying close attention. Unfortunately, elimination odds weren’t released this week, so instead, I’ll give you my advice on who to buy and who to sell when breaking down who really has a chance to win this thing.

The show kicked off with Luke Menard who after tackling Queen last week, decided to liven things up a bit and cover Wham’s "Wake Me Up [Before You Go-Go]". It didn’t go as planned though as his overall performance was bleak once again, and I don’t foresee his face allowing him to escape elimination this time around. Randy thought it was a corny song choice, but he liked the fact that he finished strong after getting off to a rough start. Paula also thought it was a surprising song choice, but as usual, she loved it. Simon didn’t hold back when asked what he thought stating, “I didn’t like it, it was weak and girly”. He then added, “he has no chance of winning or advancing to the Round of 12”. Look for this pretty boy to be one of the two males voted off this week, so don’t let the +10000 odds fool you as Luke’s a lame duck!!!

Next up was American Idol favorite David Archuleta who came in a –250 favorite to win it all before Tuesday night’s performance. He picked another ominous song as he sat at the piano and belted out Phil Collins “Another Day in Paradise”. I felt it was his worst performance yet, and that thing he does with his tongue has really started to affect my ability of watching him sing. Randy felt like he was watching him at a concert, while Paula felt his imperfections made him perfect. Simon felt it wasn’t as good as last week’s remarkable cover of “Imagine”, but that’s been the best performance to date. Mr. Archuleta has pretty much been deemed the winner of this competition, so it does make a bit of sense to buy some of him at worse odds to allow for a hedge down the road.

Danny Noriega and his purple highlighted hair took the stage next to butcher Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”. I’m tired of this dudes shtick, and I thoroughly think he’d be gone already if not for the guys that sucked worse than him. Randy wants Danny to stop holding back, while Paula called him “the bright light in the competition”, and she loves that he’s true to himself. Simon all but sealed his fate when he stated, “I thought the whole thing was horrible; absolutely useless”. At least we won’t have to look at this kid and deal with his snappy comebacks anymore. As White Sox TV announcer Hawk Harrelson says, “He gone!” Forget buying a 55:1 Noriega ticket because he’ll be one of the two guys packing their bags Thursday night.

Amidst gay bar dancing rumors that you can find all over the internet, David Archuleta looked to build off of last weeks excellent performance that got him back into the thick of this race. He sure didn’t look like Meatloaf on stage, but I thought he did a fine job covering “It’s all coming back to Me Now”. Randy thought it was a nice song choice, but pointed out that he overshot a couple of notes. Paula compliments his vocals and believes he’s finding his groove and getting into his niche. Simon liked it and believes he secured a spot in next weeks show 100%. Hernandez is one of the darkhorses in this competition, and at 28:1 odds of winning it, I advise you to take a flyer on this kid regardless of the bad press he’s been getting the last couple weeks.

David Cook was supposed to take the stage next but ran into some technical problems with his guitar setup. Instead, Aussie rocker Michael Johns was asked to pick up the slack and he took the stage without skipping a beat. That was impressive in and of itself showing that Michael is a true professional, but then he nailed Breakfast Club his “Don’t You Forget About Me”. I like this guys stage presence, and he did a great job of U2’ing this song up. Randy stated, “It’s so you. Nicely done!” Paula loved his stage presence, and said, “You are an artist defining who you are”. Simon liked it but didn’t love it and then added, “You’re a huge talent, but you still haven’t connected with a song to propel your full talent. There’s no doubt Michael Johns is serious competition for prohibitive favorite David Archuleta, so 9:1 odds are good enough to buy stock in this cat.

Once his guitar was juiced up and ready to go, David Cook took the stage and simply blew my mind away. His rendition of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” was sensational. I actually backed the DVR up just to hear it again because, simply put, he rocked out one of the best power ballads ever! It was by far my favorite performance of the entire season. Randy thought he did a tremendous job rearranging it, and stated, “It could be a single and a huge hit!” Paula thought it was fabulous, while Simon thought it was very brave. He also stated that Lionel himself would have appreciated that cover. Mr. Cook has really turned the heat up the last couple weeks, and this bartending rocker is an excellent proposition at 25:1 odds to make some real noise throughout the rest of this contest.

I was really taken aback with the next contestant, Jason Castro, who threw us a curveball and performed Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” without his guitar. Now, I’ll be honest and tell you I’ve never actually listened to this song in its entirety, so I’m not one to critique it. However, I thought it was very tactful of Jason to try and steal some of the religious vote with this performance. Randy loved the song, and gave him props for trying to tackle it. Paula thought he made it sound effortless, while Simon thought it was an absolutely brilliant move. I think he said that because he’s taking my stance from up above. Either way, Jason will move on to the next round, but he’s certainly not a frontrunner in my opinion.

The argumentative Chikezie Eze closed the show with his rendition of Whitney Houston’s “All the Women that I Need”. It was strange hearing a man’s voice covering the tune, but I felt Chikezie did a solid job of it. Randy thought it was a really tough song choice, bur he did a good job of it. Paula thought his vocals sounded excellent, but Simon wasn’t a fan. He said it was alright in bits, but also stated, “I don’t think it was a very smart move”. Now Chikezie’s a tough one to get a handle on. I think he’s a very talented singer, and he’s got one of the best voices in the competition. However, his weakness is taking criticism from the judges and I’m not sure how much longer his antics will last. That said the 90:1 odds for him to win it all are just too juicy to pass up. He has the tools to win this competition, but he’s got to stop acting like a crybaby when he gets negative feedback.

Overall, the guys were much better than last week. All six that will remain after Thursday night’s elimination episode have a shot at winning the ultimate prize. That said, Luke Menard is a goner along with Danny Noriega. However, don’t be surprised if David Hernandez’ bad press catches up to him, and Chikezie isn’t out of the woods yet. If you’re able to find elimination odds somewhere before Thursday night’s episode, hit Menard up big and then spread a couple units around between Noriega, Hernandez and Chikezie. A positive return is certainly in the cards since those not mentioned appear to be locks to advance.

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