girls rock !!

American Idol regularly achieves over 20 million viewers, twice as many as most of its competitors. Allison Iraheta was easily twice as good as the other contestants in the second 12 sing-off.

Allison was so good that Paula Abdul compared her to Kelly Clarkson. Wow, said the 16-year-old: “I have to take that compliment, because that’s a big one. It’s Kelly Clarkson! She’s amazing. And I really admire her a lot, so I thought that was pretty great.”

Her power-packed version of Alone put Allison up with Carrie Underwood and other past Idols who performed the song: “I really focused on me and how I would do the song. And give it a little taste of what I can do.

What Allison can do is is, in her words, “rockish pop - something that can really show my style.” We love her style, and so do the public.

Another record number of votes - 25 million - for the pruning of the second 12 contestants. American Idol season 8 continues to show why it is the No. 1 TV show, and why the critics are so wrong when they try to put it down.

When Ryan Seacrest started the announcements with Allison, a chill went up the spine. So then calling down Jesse and Matt to join Allison was cruel. Randy Jackson thought it had to be Allison Iraheta, and it was! Yes, Yes, Yes!! God that girl’s got a set of lungs!

Photo, left, shows the happy smile of success for Allison Iraheta, one of this season’s surprise discoveries and more proof that American Idol is worthy

Shame about Jesse, while Simon Cowell was again proved right - Matt’s song was definitely the wrong one. Next up was Megan and Kris, the second Matt and Jeanine.

Paula thought Matt - why? Fortunately the public disagreed. Kara then said Megan Corkrey was unique and could be a big success - the public chose Kris instead. Doom!! Who is voting for these wimp boys? See our scorecard below for comparison.

Now that the better girls have been excluded, does that mean Adam Lambert will be the third one through if we go on talent?

Photo of Morgan Corkrey, left, raises questions about the voting - for singing talent Morgan was better

Mishavonna and Kai were both told they picked old-fashioned songs, and the public thought so too. No surprise, then, when Jasmine was also let go after her poor performance.

Which left Adam Lambert versus Nick and, praise be, the public answered Simon’s prayers to eliminate Nick.

But we are not happy. The girls have been the best all through this season and yet we have 4 boys and just 2 girls in the top 12 so far. What’s goin’ on?

Brooke White was the guest performance with her first single, a cover of a Heart song, which didn’t impress very much.

The second group of 12 are in for a rocky ride as just 3 will succeed, so nerves are high and some performances are way low. Kara DioGuardi emphasised there is no second chance at this stage in American Idol, and Simon Cowell told Ryan Seacrest it was too late for advice.

No pressure, then, as 17-year old Jasmine Murray steps up first. Choosing Love Song by Sara Bareilles could be a mistake. It’s not a powerful song, the melody is weak, and Jasmine was all over the place. Randy Jackson and Kara both agreed it was a mess.

Simon Cowell got the usual boo response to his comments: “I like you. You’ve got a great look. You’ve definitely got the attitude and the confidence. You just haven’t got a great voice.” Got to love a guy who tells the truth - even if it is unpopular.

Maybe the contestants didn’t pay attention last week. Jeanine Vailes fails completely with Maroon 5’s This Love, another weak song that even Paula was at a loss to describe. But said she had great legs. Completely the wrong song. Kara went further: “everything was wrong.”

In contrast, Allison Iraheta is a 16 year-old who takes Heart’s Alone into a great modern version. Regular readers will know I love a husky voice and Allison totally owned the song. Awesome and easily best of the night. Randy was wow! Kara saw a “serious” talent. Paula said “incredible”. Simon: “the competition just started, right now!”

Sometimes it is hard to understand why a talented 23-year-old like Megan Joy Corkrey is so shy and unsure of herself. There are plenty of other who have very minor talent yet believe they are brilliant. When singing Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Records On it was Megan who raised the roof with applause. Paula loves her and said she was hip and cool and beautiful: “the camera loves you.” Kara knows the music industry inside-out and believes the right song and right video would launch a terrific career.

A winning song is Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes - if you can do it right. Which Jesse Langseth came close on. Randy didn’t like it much, because he was expecting to be blown away by this stage in the contest. Kara like some moments, and Paula finds her “captivating” so let’s hope the public does too.

A much more contemporary approach was taken by Mishavonna Henson. But the judges weren’t feeling kind and Simon thinks she acts 50. At just 18-years-old that must have stung.

Mishavonna promised to bring “the crazy” if she gets through. As you can see from our American Idol scorecard, we reckon the girls did much better than the boys - again - but the public put through two boys last week. Just not fair.

In fact, there could already be trouble brewing. Randy Jackson has said he thinks a boy could win this year. After every televised show presents the girls as so much better, what does he know about the standards that we have not yet been shown?

Well, here’s our scorecard so far - results in tomorrow’s post.

According to Dan, too much of life in high society is “reading, writing and aristocrats” and perhaps that is true off screen as well as on.

In our favourite show we hate ourselves for loving, Blair is on the warpath and, as usual, will probably hit the wrong target. The vendetta against Jenny will bring long term bad karma - we hope.

Serena is off the rails again and will end up in the gutter again, but not before she wrecks more lives, again. Sigh.

Meanwhile, back on the catwalk, disaster is averted: “How handy is it that society girls are so thin.” Although the storylines are a bit cringeworthy, Gossip Girl still acts as a great mirror on the rather fine line between fact and fantasy in our modern world.

One of those girls, Poppy, may be bringing some common-sense to the mix, and certainly looks amazing on the runway, although I doubt she will last long in the same circles as Blair.

Speasking of, loved the Blair “mix-up” which totally backfired and gave Jenny her big break.

And love that Jenny finally told her dad that she may be more talented than him, and also is not afraid to chase her dreams. He has been a limp wimp all through - and definitely no match for Lily.

XoXo - Blogit Girl

Photo shows Serena (sorry Blake Lively) in the real world, wearing Oscar de la Renta.

Kelly Clarkson is gorgeous. Not in the heavy make-up and big fashion kind of way - although she can do that too.

The video for My Life Would Suck Without You is like all the best bits of a show with everyone smiling and happy - The O.C. maybe.

Her eyes are bright, her smile is huge, and there seems to be genuine fun going on. If that is all acting, then Kelly is a fantastic actress too.

But the impression is that Kelly is back to doing what she enjoys the most - letting her powerful voice explode with good vibes on a typical rocking song.

Welcome back to number one, Kelly Clarkson.

Madonna made the most money of all the music stars during 2008. Further, every one of the top 20 acts on Billboard’s Moneymakers list of 2008 went on the road with major concert tours.

Although Madonna achieved only the 50th-best-selling album, she made 4 times the income of acts like Coldplay or the Jonas Brothers. Further, Madonna made almost $100m (yes one hundred million dollars) more than numbers 2 and 3 on the list (Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen).

In other words, to make BIG money in music, go on tour. No matter the success of your retail sales or radio play, or even the music style, concert tours provide the biggest exposure and the largest earnings.

The top 5 money earners for 2008 for the girls may surprise you:

Madonna …… $242,176,466
Celine Dion ….. $99,171,237
Miley Cyrus …. $48,920,806
Taylor Swift …. $45,588,730
Mary J. Blige … $43,472,850

The message is clear - get your music together and hit the road !!

Leona Lewis has a fantastic voice and has topped the charts with singles and albums. Snow Patrol has moved on from its indie roots and become more of an alternative rock or, dare we say, “powerpop” band. However, the band really appreciate Leona’s cover of one of their songs.

When asked about the cover of Run one of the band members was quick with praise:

“She’s kind of done one over on us! Her voice is pretty astonishing and I think she sung it beautifully.”

There was also a bitter-sweet side to the success: “It went to number one here in the UK which is something we’ve never had in the singles chart,” was the comment along with a wry laugh.

Run was released as the second single from Snow Patrol’s third album Final Straw. It brought the band its first taste of mainstream success and reached No. 5 on the UK charts.

Leona’s version went to No. 1 in a number of countries and was a huge success as a digital-download-only single in America.

Alexis Grace is from Memphis, home of some fantastic music over the decades. However, the petite, sweet-faced blonde was advised during her first audition to “dirty up” her look. The pink highlights in her hair achieved a clever transformation - a bit more modern and funky, yet still attractive.

So is American Idol all about sexier wardrobe and hair. No, but it is about presentation alongside performance. Alexis has a fantastic voice and just needed to capture the eyes as well as the ears of viewers.

Asked about her change of image, she said: “I kind of like the whole ’60s soul, cocktail-dress kind of vibe thing.” At just under 5-foot-tall and weighing shy of 100 pounds, maybe the new look also helps her dominate the stage more. Her most recent performance also showed bags of confidence - “I think I might have a little alter ego on stage, maybe.”

Alexis also commented on how Idol helps form a singer as an artist. She explained that people in the show’s music department, including music director Rickey Minor, have worked with Aretha Franklin and other music greats.

“You’d be silly not to listen to them and take advice from them,” she concluded. We agree totally.

Despite having a heavy cold, probably courtesy of Britain’s worst winter in 20 years, Katy Perry scooped up the award for Best International Female in London last Wednesday night.

Other good news is Katy’s album One Of The Boys has gone platinum. So the Brit Award was icing on the cake for a very successful 2008 for Katy. Other highlights include Best New Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Favorite Pop Song at the People’s Choice Awards for I Kissed a Girl and International Album of the Year at the NRJ Music Awards.

Some other awards nominations show the impact of Katy’s clever and quirky style, including Most Addictive Track and a long list of Video categories: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Female Video and Best New Artist. Katy’s rise to fame has been built on solid hard work and some considerable skill at perfecting her vocal talent.

When Faith burst onto our screen in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, lots of us breathed a sigh of welcome relief. At last here was a character with some real grit. Much as we loved them, Angel and Spike were a bit cardboard, but Faith was the real deal.

Eliza Dushku played Faith and gained further exposure with Tru Calling on the small screen. Teaming up again with Buffy creator and director Joss Whedon for Dollhouse may be a great move. In episode one called Ghost we learn about the “dolls” who take on new personalities to undertake various missions.

Also known as “actives” they receive mind-wipes and then get reprogrammed with whatever talents are necessary for the new job. To help free a kidnapped daughter of a businessman, Eliza’s character Echo becomes a highly skilled hostage negotiator, with all the memories necessary to fulfil the role. Once the mission is complete, Echo returns to the Dollhouse to be re-wiped. But maybe the process is not complete?

In the background - so far - is an FBI Agent who has been chasing “Project Dollhouse” for 14 months with little result. How the two storylines will meet, and maybe save his career, could be an interesting feature.

There are other great series that have gone on to become cult classics, even if they do not achieve huge popularity. Jessica Alba played Max in Dark Angel and her career zoomed after that funky exposure. Maybe Dollhouse is the next rung up the star ladder for Eliza. We hope so, because Eliza’s husky voice and toned physique really appeals and we need to hear and see more.