American Idol top 16

This week the top 20 performed on American Idol. Since nobody got sick this week, the plans stayed the same. The girls performed on Tuesday, the Boys on Wednesday, and of course Thursday was elimination night.

The first performance on Tuesday night was Katie Stevens. She sang "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson. I thought she did a really nice job, but the song seemed kind of gloomy. The judges didn't like her very much. The second performance was Siobhan Mangus. She sang "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals, and sang it very well. The judges all liked her, but didn't like it near as much as her last week's performance. They didn't think she changed anything, and didn't think it was the right song choice. I thought she sounded amazing. Next was Lacey Brown. She sang "The Story" by Brandy Carlisle. Lacey had a very unique voice, and she did a really good job with the song she picked. The judges all seemed to like it fairly well. Fourth was Katelyn Epperly. She sang "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King. The judges didn't like her very much, and thought that her performance might have been a bad move. However, I liked her performance. She is definitely one of my favorites! The next girl to perform was Didi Benami. She sang "Rianna" by Fleetwood Mac. All the judges loved her. She did an amazing job. She is also one of my favorites. Sixth was Paige Miles. She sang "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin. The judges didn't like her very much. The song choice wasn't right, and the song didn't allow her to show off her big voice. Seventh was Crystal Bowersox. She sang "Give me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman. She did a really nice job. The judges gave her high remarks. Last was Lily Scott. She sang "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline. She sang it well and the judges said she sang it well. Overall, the girls did really well. It's hard to tell who is going to be going home on Thursday.

The first performance on Wednesday night was Lee Dewyze. He sang "Fireflies" by Owl City. I thought he did an ok job, and the judges all liked him pretty well. Second was Alex Lambert. He sang Trouble by Ray LaMontagne. The judges all liked him, but said he needed to "let go" a little more, and get into the song. I thought he did ok, but he isn't one of my favorites. Third was Tim Urban. He sang Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. I thought it was pretty boring, but the judges all really liked it. Fifth was Andrew Garcia. He sang "Genie is a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera. I thought he sang it fairly well, but thought the whole thing was kind of weird. The judges said it was good, but definitely not his best. They thought he could have done much better. Sixth was Casey James. He sang "You'll Think of Me" by Keith Urban. The judges all liked it better than last weeks, but still didn't think it was his best. They seemed to think it was pretty good though. I thought it was ok, but it wasn't my favorite performance of the night. Seventh was Aaron Kelly. He sang "Already There" by Lonestars. The judges didn't think he did very well. I thought he did alright, but not too great. I am still a big fan of him though! Eighth was Todrick Hall. He sang "Somebody to Love" by Queen. I thought it was pretty entertaining, but the vocals weren't very good and that is what matters most. The judges all liked it pretty well. Ninth and last was Michael Lynche. He sang "This Women's Work" by Maxwell. He was really amazing. His voice was good and he performed it well. The judges all liked it too. He was probably the best of the night. Overall, the guys did really well with a few exceptions.

Thursday night was elimination night. Here are the names of the people that were voted off: Katelyn Epperly (sad), Todrick Hall, Alex Lambert, and Lily Scott.

American Idol Top 20

This week the top 20 contestnats performed. The girls were supposed to be on Tuesday, but they changed at the last second because Crystal Bowersox(one of the contestants) was sick in the hospital. Instead they had the boys perform on Tuesday, and the girls perform on Wednesday.

On Tuesday my favorite performance was Lee Dewyze. He sang "Lips of an Angel" and I thought it was really good. I also thought Andrew Garcia, Aaron Kelly, and Alex Lambert did pretty good. The judges really liked Micheal Lynche, but I'm not really a fan. I didn't think Casey James did very good, and neither did Jermaine Sellers. John Parks, Todrick Hall, and Tim Uran were all ok.

On Wednesday my favorites were Siobhan Mangus and Katelyn Epperly. They both have amazing voices. Lily Scott, Michelle Delamor, Lacey Brown, and Kate Stevens all did a pretty good job too in my opinion. The judges favorite was Crystal Bowersox. I can't deny that she is a great singer, but she isn't my favorite. Didi Benami and Haeley Vaughn weren't doing their best. I really like Didi, but neither her nor Haeley did too great.

Thursday was elimination night. Once again 2 boys and 2 girls were sent home this week. The names of the contestants who were sent home are: John Parks, Jermaine Sellers, Michelle Delamor, and Haeley Vaughn. With them gone it is down to 16 people in the competition. I'll keep you posted on upcoming weeks!

American Idol Top 24

On Tuesday February 16th, a third of the contestants were eliminated on American Idol. That left about 46 contestants. They then went on to start announcing the top 24. They started announcing on Tuesday, and finished on Wednesday February 17th. Here is a list of the Top 24!

Aaron Kelly
Alex Lambert
Andrew Garcia
Ashley Rodriguez
Casey James
Crystal Bowersox
Didi Benami
Haeley Vaughn
Janell Wheeler
Jermaine Sellers
Joe Munoz
John Park
Katelyn Epperly
Katie Stevens
Lacey Brown
Lee Dewyze
Lily Scott
Micheal Lynche
Michelle Delamor
Paige Miles
Siobhan Mangus
Tim Urban
Todrick Hall
Tyler Grady

(List From americanidol.com)

On Tuesday February 23rd, the top 12 girls performed. After each performance the judges critiqued. Sometimes the comments were good, and other times they were not so good. My favorite girls so far are Katie Stevens, Didi Benami, and Janell Wheeler. When the show is over people watching across America can call in, and cast their vote for their favorite contestants. You can vote as many times as you want, but you might not always get in because sometimes the lines are busy. On Wednesday night the top 12 boys performed. Once again the judges critiqued and once again America casted their votes. My favorite boys so far are Aaron Kelly and Joe Munez. Thursday was elimination night. 2 girls and 2 boys were eliminated from competition. Here are the names of the people that were sent home: Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munez, and Tyler Grady.

American Idol: Hollywood Week

This week was hollywood week on American Idol. Hollywood week is when all the singers who received a golden ticket during auditions, go to hollywood and sing for the judges a few more times. During hollywood week the compitition really begins to narrow down. Once hollywood week is over, we will have the top 24 (or 36). Since the auditions are over, they are no longer having guest judges every week. From now on Ellen the Generous will be the 4th and final judge along with Kara, Randy, and Simon.

Tuesday was the first day of hollywood week. Everyone sang solo and hoped the judges liked it. Many people have already been cut, and sent home. Wednesday was the 2nd day of hollywood week. On Wednesday night they had everyone sing in groups. Most of the groups were about 3-5 people. Having the group auditions always brings a lot of drama because someone doesn't cooperate, or someone doesn't agree with someone else. Sometimes the entire group will make it to the next round, sometimes nobody in the group makes it to the next round, and sometimes a few of them will make it, and a few of them won't. As hollywood week comes to an end, they have narrowed the competition down to 71 contestants. Next week those 71 contestants will all have to sing again, and then the judges will pick the top 24.

American Idol Week 2

As the season continues, the American Idol has traveled to more places for auditions. These past two weeks they have traveled to Arlington, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Los Angeles, California. On Wednesday night they showed a bunch of different clips from all the different audition nights. Some of these auditions were great, and some were not so great. There have also been more guest judges coming on the show. Their recent guest judges were Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, and once again, Victoria Beckham. This past week was the end of auditions. This coming week will be Hollywood week. All the people that received a "golden ticket" during auditions will be performing, hoping for their chance to be in American Idol's top 24 (Or if it's like last season, the top 36). All the people that made it to Hollywood week are the ones the judges thought were the best. From here on out the competition gets hard. Most of the contestants end up crying. Whether they turn out to be tears of happiness and joy, or tears of sadness and disappointment. I'll keep you posted this week, and let you know the results of Hollywood week!

American Idol

Each week my sisters and I watch American Idol. There is a new episode every Tuesday and Wednesday. The past few weeks have been auditions. They travel all around the country to big cities, were thousands of people audition for their chance to become a star. So far they have traveled to Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Orlando. There are 3 main judges. Their names are Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara Dioguardi. There are also guest judges that they have each week. So far they have had Kristen Chenoweth, Victoria Beckhem, Shania Twain and Mary J. Blige. Some people that audition are very talented singers, and others might think they sing well, but actually don’t. Others audition as a joke and dress up in a crazy outfit, and don’t actually try to sing well. On the TV you usually get to see the very best and the very worst auditions. You often only get to see 4 or 5 of the 30 people that make it to Hollywood because they can’t fit everyone of them into the 1-2 hour show. Personally I think they should leave out more of the “worst” auditions, and put in more of the “best” auditions. But that’s just my opinion. Anyways I like the show and look forward for this next season. I’ll keep you posted for the next few weeks as more and more auditions will be taking place.

First Semester Portfolio- Piece I'd Like to Revise

One piece of my work that I would really like to revise would be my 12 sentence story, “Home Alone with a Tub of Butter”. This short story takes place about 7 years back. My siblings and I were home alone, and my littlest sister wandered off by herself. We later found her sitting in the middle of a huge mess she made with a tub of butter. I don’t think this story is as good as it could have been, because I was concentrating on making it 12 sentences causing it to not have very many details. I really like the topic of this story, and I think it could turn into a really good piece. However at the moment I don’t think everything flows together very well. My smiley face tricks aren’t very effective, and I think parts of it aren’t very interesting. If I had the chance to revise it I would change a few different things to make it better.


Story:

Who would have thought that normal evening about 6 years back could have gone so wrong? We certainly didn’t. My 4 of my siblings and I were home alone, when my youngest sister Maren asked us to play with her. My brother and sisters and I agreed and went down the hall to her room. We were playing stuffed animals, are voices and facial expressions changing for each different dog or cat, and everything was going fine. Although Maren left to go to the bathroom, all of us continued to play without her. After about 15 min we realized she had been gone for quite a while, so my siblings and I began searching the house from head to toe for her. After checking a few places she was finally found lounging in the middle of our living room. My siblings and I stood in front of her with an oh-no-what-are-we-going-to-do, horror struck look on our faces. Maren had found a tub of butter on the kitchen table, dragged it into the living room, and covered herself and a fairly large portion or the living room in it. Since our parents weren’t home, everyone did their best to clean up, and we were still scrubbing the stained blue carpet with all the elbow grease we had when our parents got home. Let’s just say that they rarely left us home along after that.

First Semester Portfolio- Favorite Piece

My favorite piece of writing this year was my Cause and Effect Essay, “An Object I wasn’t familiar with”. It is an essay about the time I got my face skinned up on a treadmill when I was little. In English we were assigned to write a cause and effect essay. I wanted to think of something I could write a lot about, and when I started brainstorming ideas, it just came to me. Once I began writing I was able to get really into it because I can remember everything so vividly. This is my favorite piece because I think it is really well written. I have lots of smiley face tricks, and good sentences causing it to be more detailed than most of my other pieces. I also like it because everything really flows together well, and I think it is an interesting story.


Story:

Being at my grandparent’s house was always fun. There was just so much to do. Games, toys, animals, everything a little kid could want. One year the toys didn't seem to be quite enough. I wanted to try something else. An object I wasn't familiar with. The moving object all my older cousins used, the treadmill. I sat there mesmerized by the strange object. It just kept moving and moving. It never seemed to run out. I knew that I should have gone and gotten permission, but let’s just say my curiosity got the best of me.

After I was alone, I got it working. I knew how to get it started because I had watched grandpa do it many times. I found the key and jabbed it into the slot like I was starting a car. The treadmill began to move. I smiled as I began walking. The speed picked up so I began jogging. My smile disappeared as I raced as fast as I could, trying to keep up with the treadmill's speed! It seemed to be going as faster than the speed of light! I didn't last long. I tripped and fell hitting my head. Since I was an inexperienced kid, I held on to the sides of the treadmill with all my might, thinking that was going to help me. Little did I know that if I had let go, my injuries would have been much less extreme. As I held on with all my might, my face began to burn. The treadmill felt hot rubbing against my cheek. My face began to sting. It felt as though I had just gotten a million rug burns. I released my tight grip, rolled to the end of the treadmill, and fell onto the carpet floor. I reached up to touch my face. I didn't feel skin. I felt my raw flesh, damp with blood.

My face was burning, so I cried and cried some more. When someone finally found me, I was bawling my eyes out. My mom and my grandma got me all patched up. They smothered my skinned face with "Soothing" ointment. It made me cry harder. The company’s definition of "soothing" must be different than mine. My grandma placed a piece of cloth over my skinned face and taped it down with some band-aids. It felt better not having it exposed anymore.

Having a scraped face didn't allow me to do much without hurting. I spent the rest of my vacation at my grandparent’s house lying in a bed like a couch potato. Basically the only things I got up for were food, to go to the bathroom, and to relocate to a new room. I watched a ton of TV- movie after movie, show after show. I was always bored except for when my cousins stopped running and playing to watch with me. Don't get me wrong I got tons of sympathy, but I would have traded all the presents and special treatment in the world, to have been able to run around and play with my family.

As the years went by, treadmills became less scary, and now I actually go on them to exercise for fun. From the experience I learned that I shouldn't mess with things I don't know how to use. I also learned to always ask permission first, which is a good skill to have. I rarely think of the horrible experience, but to this day I remember everything crystal clear. Overall, getting hurt on the treadmill didn't turn out to be all bad, although it did have some drawbacks.
Key: Simile, Hyphenated Modifier, Imagery

First Semester Reflection

After the finishing the first semester of Language Arts, I think I learned a lot. One thing I learned that I didn’t know much about before is the different types of sentences. I knew how to write a sentence, but I never knew about complex, compound and compound-complex. Another thing that I got better at is sentence fragments. I knew about sentence fragments, but I never realized how often I was using them, and not noticing. One thing that I really enjoyed getting to learn about was all the different smiley face tricks. I liked learning about smiley face tricks because they were so fun to use. I really like imagery and similes. They make my writing more interesting. I also enjoyed the literature circle meetings. I liked be able to read Elephant Run at my own pace and then do the book project. I also learned a lot about different types of poetry elements.

During the first semester I also learned some new things about myself. When the year started I was really stressed tying to get everything done. I learned how to manage my time better and stay on task. I also learned that I often work better alone because I am very picky about how I want things done. I feel really nervous letting my group members take things home because I think that they might not get it done. I also learned to be more patient, and to be a better listener to those around me.

To be successful this next semester I need to work on a few things. One thing I need to work on is not procrastinating. I somehow manage to always get my work done on time, but there have been nights where I have stayed up late working on homework because I was too lazy to do it earlier. Another thing I need to work on is reading more. I really enjoy reading, but I never have any time to get it done. I need to work harder to make more time for reading.