Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Copyright 2006, Fox Broadcasting

Clockwise from top left: Becky O'Donohue, Bobby Bennett,
Patrick Hall, Stevie Scott

Last night revealed the results of the first audience votes was revealed on American Idol. The two men and two women with the lowest votes left the competition.

When host Ryan Seacrest was revealing the lowest vote getter among the women, he brought out Becky O'Donohue, Kinnik Sky and Brenna Gethers.

When he told Kinnik that she was safe, I think most people in the viewing audience assumed Becky and Brenna were going home. Instead, he told Brenna to sit back down. Becky, he announced was the lowest vote getter among the women.

Amusingly, when Brenna tried to give her a conciliatory hug, Becky backed off, giving Brenna a "go away" tap on the shoulder instead. Seems like Brenna must have annoyed her fellow contestants as well as the audience.

Of the guys, after making Jose "Sway" Penala wait for the results on stage with Bobby Bennett, Bobby was revealed as the lowest vote getter.

Neither of these two lowest vote getters was a surprise. Bobby's strange over-the-top performance and Becky's lackluster one doomed them. Ironically, Becky gave a much stronger, more passionate performance when she sang the song again, a performance that might have saved her if she'd delivered it Tuesday.

Then Ryan revealed the second lowest vote getters, who would also be leaving the show. He went down the rows of seated female contestants, pointing out the ones that were safe. When he got to the front row and revealed that Brenna was safe, nobody clapped, either among the contestants or the audience, until he urged them to!

The two people who had to sweat it out were Stevie Scott and Heather Cox. Stevie, it turned out, was the one going home. Again, her misguided operatic performance had left little doubt she'd be one of the lowest vote getters.

To announce the second lowest vote getter for the guys, Ryan paraded them on stage and told them, as pairs, which ones were safe. He kept Bucky Covington and Patrick on-stage to sweat it out and revealed Patrick Hall was going home. Similar to Becky's performance, his reprise of "Come to My Window" was stronger than it had been the night before.

As much as many people despise Brenna, she's interesting enough that we're probably stuck with her for a few weeks. As history shows, the ones who are most forgettable, or the ones whose performances are the weakest, are usually the first to go. Brenna has no chance of making the final 12, but as long as she stands out, she has a better chance to stay than those who aren't making an impression.

More on American Idol:

Musings on American Idol Season 5 (2006)

Musings on American Idol Season 4 (2005)

Musings on American Idol Season 3 (2004)

Last night my dog, Una, and I arrived at her obedience class early. We watched the instructor and her assistant get things ready for class. Una was a little barky at first, but she settled down by the beginning of class. I praised her every time a new dog entered and she didn't bark at them.

First we reviewed what we'd learned the previous week. Then we moved onto new material.

This week we learned how to heel. You hold your leash close to the dog's neck to give you more control. You give them the command, "Heel," and start walking. The dog is supposed to walk right next to your leg. If they try to move ahead or drop back, you pop the leash.

It took Una a little while, but she started doing really well after about one loop around the gym. She's definitely doing a lot better than some of the younger dogs in class. She responds really well when I praise her or talk to her.

Then we worked on "Down and Stay." Similarly to "Sit and Stay," you get the dog in a down position and then give her the command to stay. After a few seconds, you release them by saying, "OK."

One of the assistants gave me some pointers, suggesting that I praise Una before I release her so that she realizes she has to stay put until she's released. After one false start, she actually did it right in front of the assistant.

Then we got out longer 16-foot leashes, to work on "Come." This time we started holding the leash halfway down, which is twice as long as what we worked with last week. The process was exactly they same as before, just from a longer distance. The only other difference was how you were supposed to take up the slack of the leash as they come closer.

The hardest thing was getting Una distracted enough to call her, because she kept looking at me attentively, a smile on her face. "You need a distraction," the instructor said, and came over and greeted Una so I could give her the command.

Our problem topic for the evening was dogs who bark excessively. She filled the whole class in on the techniques she'd taught me the first night, using the water bottle to reinforce the "Quiet" command.

In a funny moment, she didn't want to demonstrate on her own dog, who wasn't barking. They had some equipment set up they were going to use in another class. She went up to a pole and said, "Let's say this pole is barking. 'Bark bark bark bark bark.' 'Pole, quiet.' If the pole doesn't get quiet, you spray it with the water bottle."

She also talked about a technique to use with leashed dogs when you're out on a walk without a water bottle. She said to have them turn away from the thing they were barking at and give them another command, such as sit. Then you praise them for obeying. She said you might have to do this several times as you get closer to the thing that's making them bark, such as a dog behind a fence.

When it came time for questions, I asked her what to do with Una at the vet's office, where she'd highly stressed. She suggested maybe contacting the vet and asking if I could bring her over to work on the barking when other dogs aren't around. It's a nice idea but I doubt I'll do it. Instead, I'm just going to work on barking in general, and plan to take a water bottle next time we go to the vet's.

More Musings on Una's Obedience Classes

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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