LaKisha Jones ended her American Idol run by singing a slow funky version of "Stayin' Alive" but her chances were anything but alive. Under the mentoring of Barry Gibb, the contestants struggled to sing Bee Gee tunes, and the field is down now to the final three: Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle - and the eventual winner, Jordin Sparks.
Melinda could still pull off a win. Her flawless performance was solid as Paula observed: "It's hard to critique you Melinda you're vocals are spot on." The former backup vocalist impressed them even more with "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart." "A beautiful vocal...you're a throwback to Stephanie Mills," said Paula. "I think the second half of that song put you in the semi-finals," said Simon. It may not be enough though, as we've seen that the best singer doesn't always win American Idol.
Meanwhile, Blake seemed to struggle during his performance of "You Should Be Dancing." "It really didn't work," said Randy, adding that it was "corny.. "I thought it was absolutely terrible," said Simon, echoing what the rest of us thought.
Perky 17-year-old Jordin impressed with "To Love Somebody" for the most part as Simon observed, "Best performance so far." Barry Gibb was certainly on her band wagon, predicting that Jordin will become “one of our greatest female recording artists.”
Now that she's an ex-"American Idol" contestant, LaKisha says she's focusing on two goals: a record contract and a new home. As for being eliminated, she said she wasn't surprised, especially after Simon predicted moments earlier that she was going home.
"I thought, `Yep he's right. This is it. This is where it's going to end.' I kind of figured that me and Blake would be in the bottom. I just thought, `You know what? OK, my time is up.'"
