No American Idol season 10 thread yet?

[Ksyrup]

well....

Again, this is why I don't like him. Isn't this what we should expect until his voted off?

Yeah, I know. but even by these standards, that song is above and beyond cliche. I figured he might bring that one out later in the competition.

James Durbin did Maybe I'm Amazed and was said to have hit it out of the park. Apparently he got a haircut, changed up his style some. Should be interesting. Karen doing Selena... not so much.

[sabotai]

Man, this show really sucks without Simon. Might as well not even have judges anymore.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I'm totally unhappy with the judging - or lack thereof. Even the obvious bad performances are sugar-coated by all 3 of them. Just flippin' tell it like it is.

[Ramzavail]

Stefano was my favorite tonight. But maybe I’m just biased because I really liked that Stevie song. But I’ve never liked him prior to this at all.

James and Jacob are clearly the best. Both are ridiculous vocally.

Naima was entertaining and surprisingly, so was Scottie. I even found myself tapping to a country song.

Haley is too foxy and too groan-y and really so is Casey. Both are getting on my nerves.

I’m tired of Paul’s shtick.

Pia wasn’t as good as they made it seem.

Ashton was forgettable and Lauren didn’t start to show off well.

In a sidenote, I actually went to Best Buy to check out those Dr. Dre headphones (I’m more of a inner ear guy, rather than outer like I’m from Hollis Queens guy), those white ones that everybody was using in the studio, retail for $319.00.

Bottom 2: Karen and Thia

[mtolson]

This season had so much potential and it all just went out the windows. Judges decided they no longer wanted to be judges, live band was weak, more bad song selections and even worse arrangements. Can't say I really enjoyed anyone tonight at all. They are not a bad group of singers, just everything else around them makes for a bad set of performances.

[Ksyrup]

Pia could go home tomorrow and be in a Cover Girl commercial tomorrow and I wouldn't blink. I thought she was good.

Either that Stevie song was unrecognizable or I've never heard it before, because I just didn't get it. Stefano can sing, but I don't like his obviously choreographed stage movements. Way too stiff and pre-planned. Takes away the "in the moment" organic feel of the performance.

I thought Jacob was off and didn't really do anything different with that song.

Paul was terrible, but the song didn't help. The first 30-45 seconds of that song were as uncomfortable and painful as any I can recall in recent AI history. And his dancing brought to mind Elaine from Seinfeld.

Karen has no business being in this competition. Pageant quality. And Thia is just a younger version of her.

Liked James and Casey. Smart move by James dropping the tail for a week and singing restrained.

Haley thinks she's Betty Boop.

[Ramzavail]

LOL Elaine from Seinfeld good one.

[Ramzavail]

This season had so much potential and it all just went out the windows. Judges decided they no longer wanted to be judges, live band was weak, more bad song selections and even worse arrangements. Can't say I really enjoyed anyone tonight at all. They are not a bad group of singers, just everything else around them makes for a bad set of performances.

I can't disagree more. Tonight was very entertaining to me and I can't remember a year that all the contestants "got it" this early in the voting portion of the competition.

There wasn't one cringing moment for me (other than Paul's dancing) and there were so many performances that they tried to do their own twist on a popular song.

[Lathum]

Just got through Lusks performance. I can't take the judges already, Tyler is dreadful.

[mtolson]

I can't disagree more. Tonight was very entertaining to me and I can't remember a year that all the contestants "got it" this early in the voting portion of the competition.

There wasn't one cringing moment for me (other than Paul's dancing) and there were so many performances that they tried to do their own twist on a popular song.

WOW !!!!! Not ONE !!!! Jacob's version of I Can Believe I Can Fly didn't make you cringe even just a little. Or the house infused version of Stevie Wonder by Stefano didn't make you say WTF.

I actually liked Stefano the most of the boys from a vocal quality stand point but he and Jacob seem to seriously try to over sing their songs to the point they just don't sound right.

I don't think some of them get it at all, their song or arrangement choices show it. They all have some endearing music qualities but for many of them either the song or the arrangement seems to get in the way.

[Solecismic]

A tough one to judge, because there were serious flaws with all the performances, some more than others. I suspect I'm being a bit generous tonight.

At least until we cut out a lot of the chaff, I'm going to stick with the shorter commentary.

With all that producing talent in the office, I'm surprised those flaws weren't quashed rather easily. Not exactly a shining advertisement for these people. C'mon. Someone made Jennifer Lopez sound like a singer last week. Now, they would never dare let her sing live, she needs to be carefully processed like cheese from the Mad Cow Dairy. But her new single is almost catchy, in a Kylie Minogue meets Charlie Sheen kind of way.

What would happen if dear Kylie joined the land of Goddesses and Tiger Blood? No idea, but I'm sure we would read all about it on a Big Bang Theory vanity card.

1. Haley Reinhart. It worked for me. I think she's a savant at singing every note in perfect tune. Yes, a bit sleepy, but very complex. Let the poor girl establish what she can do - it was a lot better than hearing what she couldn't do naturally last week. 88.

2. Pia Toscano. Garden variety competent Idol diva. If I can remember her name two months after the competition, I'll be amazed. 85.

3. James Durbin. Lost at least 15 points by stinking up the falsetto part. He was doing great beforehand. 78.

4. Lauren Alaina. Nice job of stepping straight into the top country artist role. Some day she will pull a Pickler, starve herself into a 40-pound weight loss, attach a garish set of false siliconies, and have herself a right nice career. 77.

5. Naima Adadapo. Sure, it was full of flaws, because she tried everything and got about 80% of everything right. I don't think she knows where she's going, but if she figures it out, I bet she'll get very good fast. 76.

6. Thia Megia. The Karen Carpenter opening was magnificent. The rest, as the judges said, was a little girl trying to be older than she is. 75.

7. Casey Abrams. The only thing he was feeling tonight was the beginning of a seizure. OK, throwaway line, but what worked last week was tuneless this week. 73.

8. Jacob Lusk. I did not know he could miss so many notes and still get rave reviews. Corny and rather painful. 68.

9. Scotty McCreery. He started out with a nice imitation of basic country, but was quickly overwhelmed by the background music. I think I would blame his assigned babysitter more than the singing, but it wasn't that good. Let's go Scotty, give us Elvira. You know you want to. 67.

10. Stefano Langone. Tries too hard. I think there's talent in there, but no performance. 58.

11. Paul McDonald. He's going to do "It's Not Easy Being Green" by the time he's out of here, so please vote him off. He needs to stand still, both to save our eyes from the horrific bounce-dancing and because it throws his voice off. 56.

12. Karen Rodriguez. No idea why she's in the finals. Mediocre karaoke every time out. I think we found James's missing tail - it was attached to the back of her head. 51.

13. Ashthon Jones. Yeah, America voted her out because she sucks. Was any of those notes in tune? 47.

Expected Bottom Three: Ashthon, Karen, Paul.

Who Should Go: Ashthon.

Who Will Go: Ashthon.

Tune in next week for the most dramatic Seacrest ceremony evuh.

[CrimsonFox]

Jennifer did my biggest pet peeve by saying "Impor'ant" as in "No you di'n't!"
Learn to speak please. :P

Here are the singers in order of general groupings. THese are just who I liked/disliked.

Really Liked

Casey - Don't know why he started sitting should have swaggered on. More power. Still he nails it.
James - Almost went country with it. Good singing and great groove. I wanted to hear the soft McCartney Ooooo's and then he finally did it. Great song choice.
Stephano - Seemed dull at first in the opening, then the middle took off and it was great. LIKE! Great energy. Good finish.

Kinda Liked -
Scotty - I disliked his "true to me" = "be like everybody else" comment. If he wantes to stay on this show he's got to start making things his own instead of doing a copycat version. Like why doesn't he take a hard rocker song and turn it into a country twang song. THEN I'll be impressed. So I'm bored. That said many were worse.
Karen - Decent singing. Nothing really bad. Kinda bleh, but nice.. Liked her personality.


Disliked - (in no order)
Lauren - Very boring and bleh. The epitome of "country is the easiest career to have in entertainment" right down to the glamour streaks in her hair. Very textbook. Over affected.

Paul - Sounds like Nora Jones. Again out of tune. I really miss Simon. He would have exposed this guy.

Jacob - At first he sounded like a billy goat screaming. But the second half started to work. Good final note too.

Haley - Oi the yodeling. Ultra country for sure. Wondered if it was gonna be a cranberries kinda thing. But the thing is, the yodeling was the best part. Showed how much control she had. The best was slow and sleepy as Randy said and the steel slide guitar made it worse.

Pia - Aside from the weird cape...It was a yawn. Way too many runs and lots of oversinging.

Thia - Bad note...no, bad NOTES. all over the place. Crime was, it started REALLY soft and pretty, then she ruined it and lost the whole song.

Naima - A tune? Where's the tune? Fun song but seems all gimmicky. THe quick synchopated parts were better. She did redeem herself. That seems to be the theme tonight. Bad "halves of songs" for lots of people.

Oops forgot Ashton

Ashton - whispery. Stupid arms. Bad runs. hair. Great figure and dress but not impressed.


Bottom 3 for me: Lauren, Paul, Pia

okay bottom 4

Lauren, Paul, Pia, Ashton (Jacob, Thia, and Naima squeaked by because they had bits of their songs I liked)

[Ksyrup]

I don't think some of them get it at all, their song or arrangement choices show it. They all have some endearing music qualities but for many of them either the song or the arrangement seems to get in the way.

These people had world famous producers working with them. If you think they did anything other than nod their heads at every little suggestion, you are sadly mistaken.

[wade moore]

I got through about an hour and a half last night, will finish up tonight.

I haven't seen Scotty yet, but I completely agree with Crimson on him in general:

If he wantes to stay on this show he's got to start making things his own instead of doing a copycat version. Like why doesn't he take a hard rocker song and turn it into a country twang song. THEN I'll be impressed. So I'm bored. That said many were worse.

I'm not sure I get at all why Jim is so down on Casey. He is by far my favorite and I thought he killed it last night.

[Ksyrup]

Scotty is "staying true to who he is" - a copycat country singer. I don't get any sense from watching/listening to him that he's any kind of artist. He's simply a country music fan who can parrot country music vocalists really well. I think he said as much when Iovine asked whether he was willing to step outside his comfort zone. I think Scotty took that to mean singing an R&B song or something, when really, he could have been talking about interpreting a different style song as country. Scotty was having none of that talk. Jim's dead right - Elvira should be up next. Since they brought the choir out for lasat night's performance, maybe they'll fly in the
"mow mow" guy to back him up on that one.

Wade, I agree about Casey. I don't know that I see much commercial potential for someone like him (he continues to go with 40+ year old songs), but he's entertaining and, on the polar opposite side of Scotty, definitely feels like a real artist/musician.

If they don't start allowing instruments again, Paul could be in danger of missing the tour. That's kinda pissing me off. If you aren't going to allow instruments, why would you even pick someone like Tim Halperin for the top 24? Or Paul, for that matter? Strap a guitar around his neck, and last night's performance is still bad, but not nearly as distracting as him flopping naked all over the stage while he whisper/sings out of tune a song very few people have heard.

[Lathum]

I'm not sure I get at all why Jim is so down on Casey. He is by far my favorite and I thought he killed it last night.

He probably reminds Jim of those damn kids that run across his lawn.

[Ksyrup]

Ha! Jim Cantiello's reviews are always awesome.

There was a moment during Jacob Lusk's all-too-predictable "I Believe I Can Fly" where he blatantly ignored a key change. The song's second verse switched gears and he was all, "Talk to the hand. I'm staying in the original key because the Bible tells me so. If I open my mouth wide enough and tremble my lips, nobody will notice that this sounds like a rhino giving birth." He was wrong.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Naimi's "overstand" comment. She understands so completely, she overstands.

[Ramzavail]

Ha! Jim Cantiello's reviews are always awesome.



Oh, and I forgot to mention Naimi's "overstand" comment. She understands so completely, she overstands.

hahah yy

[wade moore]

Scotty is "staying true to who he is" - a copycat country singer. I don't get any sense from watching/listening to him that he's any kind of artist. He's simply a country music fan who can parrot country music vocalists really well. I think he said as much when Iovine asked whether he was willing to step outside his comfort zone. I think Scotty took that to mean singing an R&B song or something, when really, he could have been talking about interpreting a different style song as country. Scotty was having none of that talk. Jim's dead right - Elvira should be up next. Since they brought the choir out for lasat night's performance, maybe they'll fly in the
"mow mow" guy to back him up on that one.

Wade, I agree about Casey. I don't know that I see much commercial potential for someone like him (he continues to go with 40+ year old songs), but he's entertaining and, on the polar opposite side of Scotty, definitely feels like a real artist/musician.

If they don't start allowing instruments again, Paul could be in danger of missing the tour. That's kinda pissing me off. If you aren't going to allow instruments, why would you even pick someone like Tim Halperin for the top 24? Or Paul, for that matter? Strap a guitar around his neck, and last night's performance is still bad, but not nearly as distracting as him flopping naked all over the stage while he whisper/sings out of tune a song very few people have heard.

Right now I'm 100% with all of this.

Scotty will quickly fall with me if he turns out to just be a parrot.

[Solecismic]

I'm not sure I get at all why Jim is so down on Casey. He is by far my favorite and I thought he killed it last night.

I liked him last week, because I saw his humor and thought a bit of camp added to his interpretation.

This week, I thought he was trying only to imitate Cocker, and came out a bit tuneless. It crossed the border into the world of affected, and is not the type of song he'll be recording some day.

He's got a delicate balance to maintain. Like Bouncing Paul, he needs an instrument in front of him.

[CrimsonFox]

The thing about Casey. He's settled into one style so far. A little concerned about that. Yes he can nail a Joe Cocker song. He'll probalby do James Brown, maybe TOm Waits, all that passionate raspy soul stuff. Not sure if the judges will get tired of that. But so far he's one of the best of the bunch.

He and James really are the only ones "bringing it now, although I"m a huge fan of Staphano.

[CrimsonFox]

Maybe I'm too down on Lauren. She didn't really miss notes but her whole act really annoyed me. And being first that sets the tone I think.

[GrantDawg]

Paul was really disappointing this week. I agree that need to get him behind an instrument, stat. I disagree with Jim on this group being that bad, though. This is a much better top 13 than I remember in quite awhile. It seems like there are more polished talent here than in previous seasons. Mistakes? Sure. Some that shouldn't be there? Sure. But not like 6, which is commonly the case. A few might yet end up going flat (Paul looks to be in danger of flaking out and Lauren needs to snap out of her funk), but really only Karen is just a complete joke. The rest have some interesting qualities, even when I can't stand them (looking at Jacob and Thia).

[Ksyrup]

Karen must be getting the JLo demographic vote. That's the only explanation. She is terrible.

Glad to see Ashthon gone. Haley is about to pay the price for trying to sing every song like Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to the President. Most voters are women, and they don't like overly sexual singers. Only Katherine McPhee that I can remember really got far playing the sex appeal card.

[CrimsonFox]

Now I know why I was so down on Lauren. Cause all the Pickler references were accurate. She reminded me of Pickler, pulling all that "I'm a dumb naive blonde, ain't I cute?" crap. Her answers tonight, however, make me like her a bit more because I think reality is catching up with her. Maybe she'll work harder now and even wash that crap out of her hair.

[CrimsonFox]

If they don't start allowing instruments again, Paul could be in danger of missing the tour. That's kinda pissing me off. If you aren't going to allow instruments, why would you even pick someone like Tim Halperin for the top 24? Or Paul, for that matter? Strap a guitar around his neck, and last night's performance is still bad, but not nearly as distracting as him flopping naked all over the stage while he whisper/sings out of tune a song very few people have heard.


I KNOW! IIIIIIIIII KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!

I was saying that during the Beatles night. THey didn't let anyone play instruments. So if they're not going to do that then why allow instruments during hollywood week and WHY (Judges) KEEP MENTIONING HOW GOOD THEY WERE WITH INSTRUMENTS if they aren't going to let them use them?
And why pick them in the top 24/12 at all?

So agree here.

[Ksyrup]

I'm on the west coast, so I'm only up to Haley, but wow, has this been terrible so far.

[Lathum]

I'm on the west coast, so I'm only up to Haley, but wow, has this been terrible so far.

Where you at?

[Solecismic]

I think I must be sick with the same bug all the singers have, because I heard the theme for this week was "songs the year you were bored." And the twelve remaining contestants must have been bored quite a bit. Along with all that deathly ill music came a vast sea of mediocrity.

Steven was his usual unpredictable semi-sentient self, but he delivered his canned Charlie Sheenisms with far less zest than usual. "You are an archbishop warlock angel antelope," he randomly crooned at one of the hapless kids. I don't think he meant it.

Randy tried to bring gravitas to the event, but when he was booed mercilessly for daring to criticize an unusually poor version of Naima, he gave up and turned into a warlock antelope himself. At least he has the right wardrobe.

Week of 12, short version:

1. Scotty McCreery. Maybe I don't get country, but this sounded like something I hear when I'm driving through the vast country fields of Eastern Ontario. And then I change the station. Perhaps he has a radio from Ontario surgically attached to his larynx. It wasn't bad. 84.

2. Pia Toscano. Her radio is tuned to Whitney Houston. Eastern Ontario has yet to discover Whitney, but Pia seems rather consistent with her rangy diva ballady stuff. This is what advances you on Idol. 82.

3. Haley Reinhart. This week's version was a little affected, but there were a couple of moments there. Not shining score-a-90 moments. Little moments. Please let her do Nirvana next week. 81.

4. Casey Abrams. An A for effort. A C for cloying. It was OK Cobain. Nice they finally allowed someone to use an instrument. 79.

5. James Durbin. A decent imitation of Bon Jovi. The screaming didn't really work this time, though. 76.

6. Thia Megia. Superior tone, but she can't seem to build a performance around it. 75.

7. Jacob Lusk. Nancy Wilson just hired a hit man. You can't sing that song without nuance. 71.

8. Lauren Alaina. I have no idea why the judges raved. Sure, I get that she has talent, but a song is more than a bunch of disjoint, unpolished, uncontrolled riffs... deep breath. 70.

9. Stefano Langone. Again, no idea why they raved. It was pure lounge act. He has a decent tone, but he can't stop being cheesy. 68.

10. Naima Adadapo. Sadly, it just wasn't good. The sexy version of Tina Turner fell flat in more ways than one. 57.

11. Karen Rodriguez. Karaoke Karen did her karaoke thing. 48.

12. Paul McDonald. I've always wanted to hear Alvin and the Chipmunks do Elton John. Now that would play very well in Eastern Ontario. 43.

Expected Bottom Three: Paul, Karen, Naima.

Who Should Go: Karen, though Paul is starting to annoy me so much I might use the mute button on him next week.

Who Will Go: Karen.

[Ksyrup]

Where you at?

San Diego. I was up in Seattle on Monday but didn't have any time to meet, so I didn't mention it. I'm leaving tonight, taking a red eye back to KY. And here I am wide awake at 3am. GREAT.

[Ksyrup]

I thought Jacob was terrible. Horrible. He was mising notes all over the place, plus oversinging, plus taking on a song that required me to suspend reality to believe Jacob could sing a song with Alone's subject matter. The camera even panned to JLo at the moment he hit some painfully bad notes and she reacted immediately - and then barely stopped cheering for him when he finished. I guess being in the pimp spot make you immune fom criticism, since the show has set it up for the pimp spot to be the crowning moment of the night, so that person can't suck - even when they do.

The problem with the contestants this year is that the best vocals come from 2 people who have no personality and/or no ability to be a pop star - Thia and Jacob. Stefano seems better than he is simply because he stays on pitch most of the time. But I agree with Jim - I don't like the way he performs. Only Pia seems to put together a good voice and something to market - her looks. But she hasn't shown a personality either. Great for selling make-up on commercials; not so great for selling music/concerts.

Oh yeah, another reason not to like Stefano - the guy who the show played up for almost dying in a DUI accident...was arrested for DUI a year later. I guess they forgot that part of his backstory.

[Ksyrup]

Ha! Awesome, from Jim Cantiello:

Paul McDonald has a cold.
Eee-i-eee-i-oh.
He's got a frog stuck in his throat.
Eee-i-eee-i-oh.
With a bad note here.
And a glazed-eye there.
Here a cough. There a tweak. Everywhere a squeak squeak.
Did it sound any different from previous weeks?
Eee-i-eee-i-NO.

[GrantDawg]

It was a rough, rough week, no doubt. Give props to Casey (though Simon would have absolutely killed him for that performance being "self-indulgent"), it was cool to go off-script completely. Paul McDonald is failing badly. I still believe he might show something, but he hasn't yet. Pia can sing, but is a bit stiff. Stephano has market that I can see. Scotty can quit now and out sell everyone else combined (my 15 year-old daughter absolutely would stalk him if I'd let her/not shoot him first). Lauren needs to break out, please. Karen needs to go, but I think the exotic flower will wilt this week.

[Lathum]

I don't ever remember a season when they allowed the contestants to make references to having a limited choice of songs to choose from. I am wondering if it is an attempt at a slap in the face of Simon for always bashing people on song choice. Even though we all know they were limited in choices.

[Thomkal]

Steven Tyler lost what little credibility he had with me last night when he praised Naima's completely off-key, pitchy performance last night. Then compared the week to the very good Beatles week performances. None of them were as good except perhaps Karen and Scotty (and that's not saying much) as they have been in the past and Naima was the at the bottom for me along with Paul, Jacob, and Haley.

I've about given up on my pick to win it all-Thia-its hard for her to connect to any song she's done in the top 13 shows at least. I thought Colors of the Wind might have been a good choice given its animation Disney connection, but sadly it was not to be. At least she actually smiled this time and looked like she was trying to enjoy herself.

[Mota]

Thia is a good singer but she has no point of reference to connect to the songs. They're well sung but hollow and pointless. It just feels vapid.

Compare that to Jacob who is a complete vocal lunatic and pretty much insane, but he has such a connection to the music and lets you into that world. I don't like that type of singing and he is quite wild in his choice of notes, but you can feel the passion.

I don't know what Casey was thinking this week, he was my favorite but I could've sung that song as good as he did, it was just a joke performance.

I agree about Steven Tyler, he can appreciate a good performance and recognizes the greats, but he seems completely unable to critique a performance. He needs to learn how to be a judge and not just a fan of music.

I hate country, but Scotty is a mean singer. That guy is just great, I can really appreciate his performances. He knows himself better than anybody else there and is going to be instant money.

Paul was an early favorite in my household, but he needs to pick it up a bit because he is quickly going to be bracketed into the "quirky guy who makes it to #5 and then gets eliminated" slot.

[MJ4H]

Who was eliminated tonight? I'm at a place with no TV.

[Scoobz0202]

With the tournament on I actually forgot about this.

A little google-fu tells me Karen got the axe, MJ.

[CrimsonFox]

Just watched this week's episode. Have been too busy hunting werewolves to keep up. Here's the stuff...

The Good

Stephano - Once again shows great range, passion and chops. Loveit. Great soul song choice.
GREAT!

Thia - Haunting beautiful beginning. Very pretty. Love this song. So beautiful.
A++

Scotty - Your parents are horrible.Okay better than usual. LIke his soft side. Nice tone.
Good


The Mediocre
Naima - Hate that beat. Tries to take the Tina Turner belter and put weird African beat on it. Good she's trying to change songs, but that song does not fit her.
Mediocre


James - blech bon jovi. Bad note. Kinda boring song.
This song is boring. Even big note isn't good
mediocre

Casey - Starting weird.
love the song choice
Kinda funky but not enough energy and passion for me.
Mediocre


Pia - average. DOn't like drum beat



The Bad
Haley - Weird song. Pitchy
Bad. Bad notes. Forced.

Karen - Kinda mediocre. Not sweet like the other diva singers. She seems to struggle.
Bad.

Paul - Mangles Elton JOhn. He so sucks
He doesn't sing. Totally bad. They were crazy to let him get this far.
Bad


Lauren - MOst oversung karaoke song for women ever. This version is pure karaoke all the way.
She can't even hit the notes and doesn't hold out the long notes. This is NOT a hard song for gravely altos.
She is all over the place and gets tired halfway through.
BADBADBAD.

Jacob - This is weird. I was just THINKING of that song and how all the girls do it lately. He starts mediocre, then bounces all over the place making stupid faces, then gets mmore mediocre, then went totally out of pitch when he went up then went down and missed notes.
Was going to say mediocre but it just got worse.
Bad


Bottom 3: Paul, Haley, and Lauren

[MJ4H]

That ^^ is my favorite post in any American Idol thread to date.

I rolled at this bit:

"He starts mediocre, then bounces all over the place making stupid faces, then gets mmore mediocre, then went totally out of pitch when he went up then went down and missed notes.
Was going to say mediocre but it just got worse.
Bad"

hahaha amazing

[Solecismic]

Contrary to rumor, Idol has brought back the theme weeks this year, and they went with an old standard for the round of eleven: Motown.

The two new judges have packed it in for the Ellen approach and blindly praise everyone. J-Lo's twist is that everyone has to be "the best" at something in the competition. For instance, Lauren Alaina is the best at filling out a pair of jeans and Paul is the best at emulating a castrato from 16th Century Italy.

Steven Tyler is much quieter, but carefully prepares an unusual compliment for each contestant, likely with help from the writer's guild. Today, Lauren Alaina received the, "I'd gladly sing a duet in the shower with you, but I'd get arrested and jailed and would have to give up the $10 million or so I receive for doing absolutely nothing" award. Or something like that, maybe not as wordy. He has discovered that if he refuses to offer any criticism, J-Lo won't interrupt him and make his life miserable. And it's crystal clear that J-Lo is very good at assigning misery.

Randy is back in Simon's Shadow mode, where he listens carefully for the level of applause and prepares his remarks accordingly. Problem being, there's no Simon to disagree. It's getting really bad - I'm just thankful there isn't a fourth Ellen.

Ranking the round of 11:

1. Casey Abrams. Except for a riff of exuberance at the beginning and at the end, it was rather pleasant. 86.

2. Pia Toscano. Sailing through the early rounds with the big voice and taking no chances. 82.

3. Haley Reinhart. Tries to do too much, but insanely talented. Hopefully, if she ever records anything, she will find an adviser who can get her to stop the annoying stuff. 78.

4. Jacob Lusk. Fourth, huh? How did he get up this high? He's well suited to sing Motown, and he was OK. Others were less suited. 72.

5. James Durbin. Too much vanilla screech. I saw the Glambert comparison more than ever tonight, and it just wasn't working with this song. 71.

6. Paul McDonald. The guitar makes him less excruciating. 70.

7. Thia Megia. No stage presence. She will make wonderful albums some day. She should never go on tour. 68.

8. Naima Adedapo. Why not go up there with a loaded gun and shoot your foot, Naima? Poor girl can sing, so why choose a relatively tuneless song and then go silent for so long with a dance routine? 67.

9. Lauren Alaina. Country and Motown don't mix. She tried to get away, but it kept sneaking back and made the performance vanilla non-screech. 65.

10. Stefano Langone. Just a lounge singer with semi-decent tone. 62.

11. Scotty McCreery. Country and Motown don't mix, part two. He did not try to get away. It was painful. 57.

Expected Bottom Three: Naima, Thia, Haley (the teenage girls vote and vote, no one else does any more).

Who Should Go: Paul.

Who Will Go: Naima.

[Thomkal]

I actually thought it worked for the most part with Scotty this week-I mean he's never going to get rid of that low country voice, but he actually made a Motown song sound country to me tonight. Had some rough moments, but I was expecting a train wreck and didn't get it.

Paul needs to stay behind a guitar the rest of the way-he's almost bearable that way, but he did forget the words at one point. Thia actually looked like a 15 year old having fun tonight which was nice to see. I didn't mind Naima that much-dancing has often been a no-no on Idol so I'm interested to see how much that affects the vote for her.

I'd like James a lot more if I hadn't already seen it done mostly better by Adam Lambert last season so I can't really appreciate him like I did Adam. Haley sadly was the worse for me and likely to go home. I actually thought her country attempt (minus the yodel) was the best she's done yet-rather than this jazzy Janis Joplin stuff the judges keep pushing her towards. I'm glad the judges (Jennifer Lopez actually did try to critique and push some of the contestants tonight at least) challenged Pia to go away from the ballads. Will it be a disaster though?

[Ksyrup]

Wow, I thought Casey was pretty bad, actually. I seem to remember him having a strong voice, but he's burying it in favor of growling and screeching. He was not in control of his voice for most of that.

I think Haley's gone, or is a dead woman walking, anyway. Just too much Betty Boop in her performances, regardless of the genre, song, or subject matter. And that kind of stuff turns off women, who are the only ones who vote. But she sang it well, I just didn't like the performance.

Same goes with Stefano. Guy has a good voice and hits the notes, but his performances are like Shatner-affected bad and his phrasings are usually horrible, which makes his songs come off as a lounge act. We REALLY need a judge who will criticize. I can't believe JLo is the only judge at least half-trying to be a judge up there.

I'm not sure Thia will even make wonderful albums some day. Who's going to buy them? She has absolutely no personality and thus, no fan base. She's too young for the older crowd and acts too mature/bland for kids to think she's cool. She's Stephanie Tucker or that Paris Bennett chick (I think that was her name) all over again.

Scotty...wow. Putting aside the country aspect, the thing I'm starting to detest most about him is the fact that his performances are the exact same every week. Same way he holds the mic, leans his head to the right, ends the songs, and generally sings each song as if there's a machine that cans each performance and just adds the new words each week. And then you add in the kind of music he sings, and it's beyond painful for me. He's like a country music robot. He's no doubt got a nice low register, but I still don't think he's anything more than a parrot.

I actually thought Jacob was really good. Amazing that you can sound good without doing the vocal gymnastic olympics, huh?

I'm thinking this could be Thia's week to go - singing second, bland performance, been in the bottom 3 before. Either her or Haley.

[Ksyrup]

BTW, I don't know if anyone caught this from Bruce Feldman's blog last week, but this kinda blew my mind:

I just got back from a three-day road trip in Florida from FSU to UF to UCF. These offseason trips are invaluable for getting a better perspective on programs and players, grasping details and networking. And you also can pick up some really off-beat notes in the process. Weirdest one from this trip came when I was chatting Saturday afternoon with UCF receivers coach David Kelly, who had been the head coach at Dunwoody High in Georgia from 1984 to 1993. In his final season with the school, the team was a national powerhouse, going 15-0, winning the Georgia state title and finishing third in the nation, according to USA Today. One of the standouts on one of Kelly's great teams: Ryan Seacrest, the host of "American Idol."

No, seriously.

Seacrest was the starting strong safety, Kelly told me, and despite the TV star's slight appearance, he was much different in those days.

"Ryan was probably 175-180 [pounds]," Kelly said. "He was bulked up pretty good. Ryan was a good, good player. He started for me for two years. His body was totally different than it is now. He was a physical player. That was his deal. Physical. He wasn't a speed guy. He was a feisty guy. He would knock the crap out of people."

No, seriously.

I've interviewed probably thousands of people since joining ESPN. I think that last line might be the most startling line I've ever heard a coach utter.

Oh, and one more odd note about the Seacrest squad from Kelly: "The guy who backed him up was Kip Pardue, who played Sunshine from 'Remember the Titans.' I had a real star-studded crew."

Kelly said he doesn't get to talk to Seacrest much these days, but his wife and daughter still do.

[Ksyrup]

This is what I was saying. Spot on.

But Scotty really needs to practice singing into a mirror for the next seven days, so he can deal with his wonky, side-slanting mic technique and learn to cut back on the “seductive eyebrow” ridiculata (which, I promise you, is really going to feel old by the time May rolls around).

[Ksyrup]

So Nigel has apparently tweeted something about SHOCKING news tonight. My guess is it's someone who landed in the bottom 3, not necessarily going home.

Performing 1st and doing a pretty crappy job, for the 2nd or 3rd week in a row? My money's on Casey on the bottom 3.

If it's someone like Naimi or Stefano, I don't think that's shocking.

[mtolson]

I generally agree with Jim but Casey at #1 I don't get. i know part of liking someone is associated with your personal genre preferences but with Casey all I am getting is a angry sound. I really liked him before the top 12 but now its just seems like he's singing as if he's angry and it's getting old. And I am completely confused with the hate for Thia. She has a beautiful singing voice. Maybe she doesn't have a big personality or is Disney like but her voice has a very good quality.

[Lathum]

I thought Haley was terrible and deserves to go home.

A side not, we were out for the UW game last friday and the kid who waited on us at Fox Sports Grill was Stefano Leganos best friend and roommate. He had just got back from LA and one of the shows. Seemed like a pretty good kid, was telling us Stefano didn't even want to try out, etc...

[Solecismic]

I generally agree with Jim but Casey at #1 I don't get. i know part of liking someone is associated with your personal genre preferences but with Casey all I am getting is a angry sound. I really liked him before the top 12 but now its just seems like he's singing as if he's angry and it's getting old. And I am completely confused with the hate for Thia. She has a beautiful singing voice. Maybe she doesn't have a big personality or is Disney like but her voice has a very good quality.

More a factor of not much liking anyone this week - his genre is not in my usual listening range. No one's is this year. Brooke White and Katharine McPhee are the two who best illustrate the better performers among those I would seek out after the show.

A bit of a surprise with Casey losing and getting the save. I thought he'd get the cute teddy bear vote, but I guess his song choice is not accessible to teen girls.

I'm wondering if the loss of Simon has eliminated the trust the voters have previously had with the judging. In the past, once he got down on someone, their votes evaporated. Those he praised were safe for a long time.

Now that everyone gets praise, and it's kind of random, I'm having a hard time nailing down the voting. The first two were easy because they weren't good singers - didn't do anything particularly well. Wouldn't it be awful if the teens took us toward a James/Stefano final?

[Ksyrup]

The curse of going first strikes again, although I didn't think Casey would have ended up last. DialIdol nailed Casey being last and had Paul and Thia only ahead of Lauren Alaina, so they were pretty accurate this week.

[Lathum]

Casey being cut would have been a total joke. I get that he doesn't appeal to 14 year old girls but he is a far cry from the worst one left.

[Ksyrup]

He has been pretty damn bad since the auditions, IMO. The first week or two, it was still kinda fresh when he did his growly/screamy thing, but now people are wondering where the hell his voice is. He should be using his Shining facial expressions and growls as an accent to a stellar vocal, not as a be-all, end-all gimmick that lasts the entire performance, every week.

He may not be the worst one left, but he has absolutely no shot at winning, and that's really what the show is about.

[Ksyrup]

Instead of hits from the 80s, it'll be Elton John week.

[Ksyrup]

Hailey REALLY needs to stop the sex kitten thing. Singing Benny and the Jets while doing her best Marilyn Monroe was disconcerting. OTOH, if anyone is cleared to sing I Touch Myself, I hope it's her.

The rest were a tepid mix of mediocre, bad, and boring.

[Solecismic]

Last week, America watched as Casey Abrams received the coveted "save", then proceeded to wobble around the stage like Eric Lindros at a convention for doctors studying the effects of severe head injuries.

Nothing says "I Love You" better than a member of the Boston Bruins sending you head-long into the boards. Which is a good idea for the group sing tomorrow, but I doubt they take my advice.

Tonight was Elton John night. Instead of having Elton on the scene, advising the little Idols, they settled for in-house hire Jimmy Iovine, who is far more relevant than any of the judges. Unfortunately, they don't let him provide the critique, so you have to guess how he feels. Since his entire head is hidden under a baseball cap all the time, not so easy.

Randy Jackson, who has embraced his baldness, could provide fashion advice. Steven Tyler, who has embraced his irrelevance, could provide his quip-writer. And Jennifer Lopez could be shipped off to Dancing with the Stars, where presumably she can't do as much damage.

Ratings for the Round of 11, Part Deux:

1. Casey Abrams. I'm glad he was saved, and thought he was even better than last week. Hopefully, he will catch on with the teeny-boppers, though I think he needed to shave the entire beard to comply. Beards threaten teen girls. Girly soul patches do not. 89.

2. Haley Reinhart. Yes, a little silly-vampy, but she has such incredible tone and control over her voice. An A for execution, a Buh-buh-buh-buh-B for having no idea what to do with her skills. 86.

3. Lauren Alaina. I liked her for the first time all season. Comfortable country, and only one really bad bum note. If she had Haley's control, she could be a real contender. 83

4. Pia Toscano. A louder, sexier version of Kris Allen. Not in singing style - Kris could never put a little Mariah into Elton John. But in sailing so completely under the radar, voting-wise. 82.

5. Jacob Lusk. The first half was magnificent. The gospel second half, sorry judges, was decidedly not. 78.

6. James Durbin. No tail this week, right? He would have set it on fire. Now that would have been funny. I think he's auditioning to replace Tyler in Aerosmith, but that made for a rather flat performance tonight. 73.

7. Thia Megia. It was nice, but I thought her weakest performance of the season. She's getting lost behind poor song choices. 67.

8. Scotty McCreery. It's competent, but Elton writes rather bland country, and he missed the last note - tried too much there. 65.

9. Stefano Langone. He was trying so hard to enunciate that he lost all connection with the song. Contrary to the judges, I don't believe keeping your eyes open constitutes an automatic bond with screaming 16-year-olds. 61.

10. Naima Adedapo. Last week she was African, this week she's Jamaican. Next week, I can only presume, she will be an eskimo. The judges were right: reggae-ifying random songs doesn't make for an interesting performance. Reggae sort-of requires hours upon hours of the stuff, anyway. She's just not showing off her voice. 50.

11. Paul McDonald. Tyler seemed to think that missing nearly every note added character. I disagree. 48.

Expected Bottom Four: Paul, Naima, Thia, Stefano.

Who Should Go: Paul and Stefano.

Who Will Go: Thia and Stefano.

[CrimsonFox]

I missed last week's episode due to a pouting DVR but I saved the sendhome episode. I don't know why but I watched it tonight (which seemed stupid because I didn't see any of the singing). Now I think I got some bad tea, have severe hallucinatory food poisoning or am dreaming. Hulk Hogan sent two people back to the chairs. They can't be jumping THIS much of a shark. This must be a bad dream. They sent Casey home of all people.
This is actually the only time the save has been put to good use.

[Ksyrup]

Casey's performance would have been much better without the last 20 seconds. And I think Steven Tyler attempted to say that, then accidentally (I think) said just the opposite. He is clearly the biggest disappointment of the season. It's not that I want Simon back, it's just that I want someone who will tell the truth. They don't have to be mean about it, just be honest about what we're all hearing.

[Ragone]

Naima needs to go... although i gotta admit i was hoping she would sing rocket mon...

[Ksyrup]

You guys really ought to read Jim Cantiello's recaps of the performance shows. Not only is he funny, but he seems to make a few observations that are spot-on. For instance, he recognized, as I did last night, that when Pia got her makeover, there were a few angled shots of her in which she looked like Kara Dioguardi (and he pointed out that that's why Pia has no shot at winning this season!). For Thia's performance, he simply linked to a youtube video of paint drying. Also, Tyler Perry presents Jacob Lusk: Mary J. Blech. Ha! Dude's awesome.

‘American Idol’ Recap: Haley Reinhart Rules Elton John Week » MTV Newsroom (http://newsroom.mtv.com/2011/03/31/american-idol-recap-top-11-haley-reinhart/)

[CrimsonFox]

Another late review from me:
I unfortunately missed the first two songs. Or perhaps fortunately depending on who they were.

Good
Casey - Trying to change himself too much I think. He's no doubt scared stiff about getting tossed. He comes back with a vengence. Great chops. Great restraint, yet intense. He's got that voice. That perfect rock tenor. HIts perfect emotional notes in this (in addition to all the fantastic literal notes he hit). Loved the closing.

James - David Lee Roth kung fu kicks? I seriously wish they would not let people come through the audience. It's nothing but distracting and always has the potential for making things worse. He nails this song. Power. Energy. Force. I think he chose to sing TOO much of the chorus. All those "Saturdays" got a bit boring. An added thing I'm getting tired of hearing from the music director about what he thinks is wrong with everyone. Kind of hurts their chances when you point out their flaws.

Lauren - This is the first time I've liked Lauren. Finally got her away from country and she's actually doing some great things with her voice. Every now and then I hear a country gimmick in there but it seemed to suit this song and didn't detract from it. A couple wonky notes but still very happy to hear this from her.

Stephano - Really good. Great singing. Great nuance. Loved the middle section. Everything sounded clean and the emotion is there.



Average
Pia - Pretty voice and pretty good. She does runs and high notes and long notes really well. Probably the nicest voice . Yet there's no emotion behind it...with a song that's just full of it. OMG lose the gospel choir.

Scotty - Only saw the clip at the end for this one. Boring country twang.

Naika - Only saw the clip at the end for this one. Raggae I'm still standing. Really cool idea. But what I saw she wasn't in tune.


Dislike
Jacob - Don't know this song at all. At least this version. Oversinging again. Stop making that crying face. Way too much. His last tone was so bad. If he would pull back that could maybe be pretty. And that ugly face does not compliment him.

Haley - This is the worst version of this song I"ve heard. Horrible start to the song. Really cheesy pose. Her arm motions are so funny. Maybe this song is too gimmicky for an an Idol song. Really it was for Elton John too. Only reason he and Taupin wrote it was because someone said he hadn't written a song about a girl. The ssss is bad too. It doesn't work.

Paul - Pitchy does not begin to describe what he does to songs. He really shouldn't have made it into the top 13. He has potential but needs to actually sing the tune of the song and keep it in rhythm. He doesn't seem to want to do either. Lose the Mexican suit please.

Thia - Missed the first few notes. Kinda boring. Bland. Not a great song choice for her. This key is not right for this song either.



Bottom 4: Jacob, Haley, Paul, Thia.
Least favorite 2: um...Paul and Jacob.

[CrimsonFox]

Naima needs to go... although i gotta admit i was hoping she would sing rocket mon...

best line ever :lol:

[Ksyrup]

I guess this is one way (the only way?) for a start-up Idol/X-Factor clone to try to get viewers - bring back contestants from other shows that people might remember.



According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lukas Rossi, the winner of the second season of Rock Star: Supernova will be competing (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rock-star-supernova-winner-lukas-174235?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Ftelevision+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Television%29&utm_content=Google+Reader) on the new singing competition show The Voice.

Winning the top spot earned Lukas the role of front man of a new band comprised of Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, Metallica’s Jason Newsted, and Guns N’ Roses’ Gilby Clarke. But after a successful tour of North America, Australia and New Zealand, little was heard of the band and Rossi went on to pursue other projects.

Frenchie Davis, disqualified from American Idol Season 2 after it was revealed that she posed topless for an internet porn site, will also be competing (http://mjsbigblog.com/frenchie-david-to-compete-on-the-voice.htm) on the upcoming competition.

The Voice is set to premiere on NBC on April 26.

[Ksyrup]

Just started watching. And Jacob is a freaking idiot. I'm sure the opening singer lobbing insults/challenges at voters will do wonders for his chances. WTF?

[Solecismic]

"I have no idea," - Steven Tyler, when asked how the kids should make their voting decisions this week.

That would be a good title for American Idol 10. Because a critical piece of the show is missing, and it doesn't take a detective from Scotland Yard to figure it out. As a hint, the word appears somewhere in the previous sentence, and it's something Simon Cowell brought from his country of origin (no, not Scotland Yard itself).

So, let's recap the judges' opinions on the last nine contestants:

Steven: "You are being yourself, and that's wonderful" (boys) or "I would like to take you backstage and channel my inner Joe Namath" (girls).

Jennifer: "Oh... My... God... that was outstanding! The best song I have ever heard!"

Randy: "You worked it out. You got it going on." Missing, of course, are the ubiquitous "dawgs" from past seasons.

Poor Randy. He tried to be somewhat less than an obsequious driveling fool with Stefano, but J-Lo started beating him with a lead pipe and I believe (though I don't quite speak his language) Steven challenged him to a duel at 20 paces after the show.

This week songs were sung from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I don't know how songs are chosen for this Hall. I could probably look at Wikipedia and find out, but it would require more time than I'm willing to invest in knowing. Suffice to say we heard the requisite number of songs that were horribly overplayed on the radios of half a century ago. You know, before they had iTunes and iPods and iToasters and Don iMus.

Rankings, Week of Nine:

1. Haley Reinhart. The girl who didn't want to define herself finally allowed Randy to define her. She looked at Wikipedia and then downloaded some Janis Joplin to her iPod and said, "Eureka, I can do that!" Not bad. Not bad at all. It's nice to see someone who has remarkable control over her voice push that control to its absolute limit, and almost go over the top. Almost. I want her to win now. 83.

2. Pia Toscano. Remarkably, she managed to sing a duet with herself. There was ballad-diva Pia, who sang the verses. And there was speedy Pia, who sang the chorus. These identical twins did not sound much like each other. It wasn't that good, but really no one other than Haley was more than competent this evening. Her worst of the season is still good enough for second. 76.

3. Scotty McCreery. A pale imitation of Elvis. But he'll still make millions on the country circuit. 73.

4. James Durbin. OK, answer me this... if my guitar gently weeps, is it because I failed to bring it onstage tonight? Is it lonely? Why are my ears glowing a bright vermilion? 71.

5. Lauren Alaina. Didn't like her so much with the mullet, the diapers and the soul-less "Natural Woman" anthem. Sometimes her phrasing is so awkward that I wonder if she's reading the lyrics from a cue card. 67.

6. Stefano Langone. A couple of nice long notes didn't do enough to take the lounge act out of Stefano. Any of the last five here could be ranked last. What's strange is that when he's talking, not singing, he sounds like a nice, ordinary guy. 66.

7. Paul McDonald. He had the coveted last spot on the floor, but didn't do much with it. I've reached a point where his voice simply annoys me. And he always chooses tuneless songs - he's like Taylor Hicks after taking a nasty knee to the groin (maybe an improvement over Taylor). 65.

8. Jacob Lusk. He realizes he can't go full gospel every week. Unfortunately, when he doesn't, he invariably waters down his high range. I wouldn't advise the sanctimonious moralizing about not wanting to sing over-sexed lyrics, then choosing to throw more than a few suggestive groin-thrusts at his accompanist. Nor would I tell the voters that they're morons if they vote him off. Jacob is not long for this show, unless he receives a producer's secret save. 64.

9. Casey Abrams. Today the growling was cutesy and cloying and he sounded like an aggravated muppet. The judge-raving combined with the revival-style save a couple of weeks ago probably keeps him alive.

Overall: Disappointing. Haley was the only one who really sounded good tonight. Pia needs to go back to the ballads. Scotty and the Man with the Bright Vermilion Ears will be the finalists.

Expected Bottom Three: Stefano, Jacob and Paul.

Who Should Go: Paul or Stefano.

Who Will Go: Stefano.

[Ksyrup]

I thought Durbin was clearly the worst last night. He was so off-key that I thought he was singing in a different key than the band was playing. He sounded awful, like nothing about his performance was in synch with what it should have been. The only note that was half on-key was the wail, and of course that was completely wrong for the song.

I've really grown aggravated over the lack of any kind of judging. I know they are trying hard to separate themselves from Simon, and since being critical is what Simon is known for, they've apparently decided to add a couple more cheerleaders to the panel. Steven is completely useless - I think adding him was Nigel's way of making Randy look more serious and competent by comparison. That's the only explanation I can come up with. And of course, when you're pimping all of the contestants as "the best ever!!!!" it's hard to continue with the charade if 2/3s of them are getting a dose of reality from the judges.

The one thing I don't miss from the Simon days are the constant "you picked the wrong song" critiques. But that's been replaced with "you're the best, that was wonderful, you're a star" comments for everyone.

I still can't get over Jacob's comments. I have no problem with him changing songs, since I understand that a God-fearing gay man would have problems singing Let's Get It On with any real conviction. No problem. But then to say that if I'm in the bottom 3, it won't be because I sang the song poorly, it'll be because the voters refused to vote for a song with a deep message instead of a song about doin the NAZ-TAY... WTF drugs are you on, son?

I hope he goes home just for that.

[GrantDawg]

I still can't get over Jacob's comments. I have no problem with him changing songs, since I understand that a God-fearing gay man would have problems singing Let's Get It On with any real conviction. No problem. But then to say that if I'm in the bottom 3, it won't be because I sang the song poorly, it'll be because the voters refused to vote for a song with a deep message instead of a song about doin the NAZ-TAY... WTF drugs are you on, son?

I hope he goes home just for that.


With you. That was just crazy to me. He knows he sings so well. and is so liked, that he couldn't possibily be voted off unless we just couldn't take the message of the song? Really? You can go now. Buh-bye!

[GrantDawg]

I didn't read this thread last week, so I'm a little behind (watched the show late, and injury keeping me from sitting at the computer too long). I'm out of step with most everyone this year on the contestants (not unusual) but totally agree with the judges being almost worthless this year. I don't know if they really matter that much in the end, though. A great part of the past seasons shows was what was the judges opinions, but really what was that code for? It was code for "What did Simon say?" Randy sometimes voiced a decent opinion. People killed Kara, but I did actually think she added some "insider" knowledge to the judges table. Mostly though, it was Paula and gang giving the same platitudes, and waiting to hear what Simon was going to say. Whether you agreed with him or not, he was the only one that had THE opinion. By the end, he did get tired and played out. Still, his opinon was what added to the judges table part of the show its real reason for being.

They don't really have a lot of options now to fix that. I can only see two ways they can go to improve that section of the show. Either completely dump all three of them for new judges, or downgrade the judges table during the public voting shows. You can't just replace any of the three, because they all have weaknesses that will drag down the next panel. Steven is useless. Funny, entertaining at times, but useless as an actual judge of anything. Randy is burned out, warn out, and done. He shouldn't have been brought back in the first place. Jennifer is nice to look at, but can't take it to be too critical, and I don't think she could deal with working beside anyone else being too critical.

So, you replace them all with judges that can give critical input. You don't need a Simon replacement. You don't need a "mean" judge, just honest ones. Judges that aren't afraid of giving real feedback. Or, you downgrade the judges all-together in the voting phase. You can keep these three, but have them keep their comments short. Encourage them to be, if not critical, helpfull with suggestions. Praise, but not spend too much time cheerleading. Just marginalize the judging part altogether. I think it is pretty much what they are doing, but they probably could alter it just a little bit more.

[MacroGuru]

I have to say this...I hate the fact the judges won't beat down the contestants and challenge them to do anything.

Pia is a pageant girl through and through and her stiffness in performance yesterday was indicative of that.

I thought Casey did CCR perfectly and didn't stray from it...it was a safe song for him.

Haley did awesome with Janis..

Scotty will make a ton of money doing country, but he needs to learn how to hold the damn microphone.

As for the others...I went ho-hum...move on...

[CrimsonFox]

This time DVR was correctly set, but it wouldn't let me watch the show. :( GUessing HD glitch. :(

[Ksyrup]

LOL Jacob apparently reads the recaps and blogs. He looked like a puppy who had been caught pissing on the carpet when he got called up with Hailey and James.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pia is a pageant girl through and through and her stiffness in performance yesterday was indicative of that.

As for the others...I went ho-hum...move on...

She is a lot more talented than most pageant girls, and she looks stunning (especially tonight.) I agree with everyone about Jacob's comments - I want him to go home so badly just for that.

[Ksyrup]

I think we've reached the tipping point with this show, where the only people who care enough to vote are teen girls. And they don't vote for girls all that often.

Pia looks suspiciously like Kara from certain angles. I think that has something to do with it.

[MacroGuru]

She is a lot more talented than most pageant girls, and she looks stunning (especially tonight.) I agree with everyone about Jacob's comments - I want him to go home so badly just for that.

I won't deny the talent...but she had no presence up there, she stood belted out the ballad, made the customary arm motion to the audience, then away from the audience and down to her side.

She gets the proper training for the stage and she will hit it out of the park,

[Solecismic]

That was a bit surprising. Simon must be having quite the giggle-fit tonight. He knew something the producers did not know: without his asshattish commentary, they have very little control over the show.

They're going to have to move toward a one vote per viewer limit to get this train back on track.

[GrantDawg]

I think we've reached the tipping point with this show, where the only people who care enough to vote are teen girls. And they don't vote for girls all that often.


Yup. They can just call the season now. Unless he kills a puppy, Scotty will win. Every time he breaths, my 15 year old daughter squeezes. Stefano (who I think is useless) is likely to make it to the top 4, and we might just see Haley and Lauren might not make it past the next two-three weeks. This show might just have officially jumped the shark for me, because if it is just a male singing competition (and not a very talented one at that with Stefano and Paul lasting way past much more talented singers) then there really is no reason to watch.

[Ksyrup]

I won't deny the talent...but she had no presence up there, she stood belted out the ballad, made the customary arm motion to the audience, then away from the audience and down to her side.

She gets the proper training for the stage and she will hit it out of the park,

I read something very interesting in one of those "behind the scenes" recaps, and the blogger said that during a commercial break, everyone got up on stage to dance with Paul (I guess after his performance maybe, or it might have been dress rehearsal?) and Pia was VERY uncomfortable dancing around. She stayed off to the side, out of camera range, and someone pulled her up on stage and danced a little with her until she broke free and hid behind James until they broke up the party. I have this feeling she is extremely self-conscious about her dancing ability and refuses to budge an ounce on that. Perhaps she dances like Elaine or something.

[Ksyrup]

Aside from singing country, the thing that annoys me most about Scotty are his ticks - cocked head, smirk, and holding the microphone like he's playing flute. Annoys the ever-loving shit out of me.

[MikeVic]

So I haven't really watched this show since the first or second season. And I came back to watch this year because of the changes. Guess I'm done with the show again. Blah.

[Ksyrup]

BTW, Iggy Pop was unbelievably uncomfortable. I don't think anyone in the crowd even knows who Iggy Pop is. Ugly dude, shirtless, flopping around on stage like a dying fish. Yeesh.

I'm sure when Wild One skyrockets up the downloads chart, it will be worth it. I guess.

[Eaglesfan27]

Can't believe Pia went home - disappointing.

[BigDPW]

I am floored that Pia got voted off. I do not follow this thread or any blogs/recaps of the show. I never really vote due to always watching the singing on Thursdays (DVR). Reading the last few posts here makes me realize the teen girl voting block is a problem.

I personally think the only two people that deserved to go home this week were Stefano and Hailey (Stefano by a mile comparatively).

Scotty is a local kid and everyone here is rooting for him but I have to agree that his presentation, mic holding, etc are very awkward and drive the wife and I crazy...

[Mustang]

Reading the last few posts here makes me realize the teen girl voting block is a problem.


Me and the wife just made the same comment. You want lots of votes via phone, texting and internet, well.. for the most part a 35 year old guy isn't going to vote 200 times. A 13 year old girl sure..

Cap it at 10 votes and you won't see things like this happen that often.

Maybe once all the girls are gone and you have 5-6 guys all left they will pull their heads out of their asses.

[Ksyrup]

How many guys over, say, 18 really vote? I mean, ever, on this show? I've watched this show since season 2 and voted one time - one vote - for Bo Bice when he sang that Badlands song. And that was more of a vote for his song choice than actually wanting him to win.

I can't imagine I'm in the minority. Even if you enjoy the show, are there really 20-40 year old guys voting? I can see teens voting, but aside from a really small percentage of adult males who vote, it's got to be almost totally female voting population.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Although AI voter data has dribbled out in bits & pieces over the years, it's generally believe to be about 40%-50% heavier with women, with at least a plurality coming from W30-50. Contrary to what a few of my FB friends are wailing about tonight, the last time that teenage girls were a powerful voting block appears to have been Season 5 (according to a few seemingly informed bloggers & what not I saw while wondering about the demographics myself).

[FBPro]

Can't believe Pia went home - disappointing.

No question....

[TexasT]

+1 :(

[MacroGuru]

I am a little confused as to the shock of Pia going...I had her or Jacob going home tonight.

This is American Idol...we are looking for the best idol...basically for the next big thing that the teens are going to spend their parents money on.

It's not America's best singing voice....you have to have a personality and style that hits it with the voters and not be someone people hate.

As I have said, Pia has some serious pipes and can sing like crazy, but when you come across as a pageant princess (ok, I married into a pageant family and witness the state and Miss America, so I am jaded to this style) girls are going to hate...teen or as Jon announced women 30-50, I don't know of a woman that didn't hate the pageant girl they knew in H.S.

My major beef with Idol this season are the judges are not being real, they are not being true to the show and the most important thing, the contestants. If they would have told Pia straight up, back in Hollywood that she needed to be a personality, have presence she would have made a change. But the "Awesome Dawg!" from Randy, the "You are perfect" from J-Lo and the "I want to get in your pants" from Steve Tyler did not help this girl out.

Honestly, this is probably the last season I watch the show and the only reason I watch it now is to see the train wreck of what the voters do now.

[Ksyrup]

I don't think Pia had a chance of winning, but it was a shock to see her go so quickly when there are 3 or 4 others who easily deserve to go before her. Not that "deserving" has anything to do with this show. But still... Another issue is that she's from the NE, I think. She does have that bitchy NE woman look about her. And like I said, she bears a striking resemblance to Kara DioGuardi, which can't help things.

I guess I can see the demographic breakdown Jon is describing, since most of the people posting on blogs/message boards seem to be socceer mom types.

[Mustang]

But the "Awesome Dawg!" from Randy, the "You are perfect" from J-Lo and the "I want to get in your pants" from Steve Tyler did not help this girl out.


I LOL'd.

[Mota]

When it was Stefano and Pia in the finals, my wife was glad that Stefano would be gone. I just reminded her who the voting public was and then 10 seconds later Pia was gone.

I do think she is a possible star in the future as she has a great voice, but everything felt cold to me, she didn't connect to the crowd very well. Combined with the female voting block, it's not really a huge shocker.

[Lathum]

A side not, we were out for the UW game last friday and the kid who waited on us at Fox Sports Grill was Stefano Leganos best friend and roommate. He had just got back from LA and one of the shows. Seemed like a pretty good kid, was telling us Stefano didn't even want to try out, etc...

Still catching up on the results show, but when they announced Stefan was in the bottom three and panned to his family my wife yells "OMG, that was our waiter!"

It was pretty funny.

[Lathum]

This show has lost all credibility with me. I think the problem is the judges have become so absurdly wishy-washy that they aren't steering the masses to vote for the people who suck.

[Lathum]

I think this may be the biggest upset in Idol history and the judges should be kicking themselves for saving Casey now that they lost their most marketable persona.

[Ksyrup]

What persona? I think that was the problem with her - no personality. And she was from the northeast, which has yet to produce a winner and usually gets contestants like Mikaylah Gordon and Ayla Brown voted out pretty early.

Just because she was the best singer doesn't mean she was going to win, or even get close. I thought she'd make it to top 5 or so, but she never had a chance to win.

[Lathum]

What persona? I think that was the problem with her - no personality. And she was from the northeast, which has yet to produce a winner and usually gets contestants like Mikaylah Gordon and Ayla Brown voted out pretty early.

Just because she was the best singer doesn't mean she was going to win, or even get close. I thought she'd make it to top 5 or so, but she never had a chance to win.

Smoking hot with a great voice. Which contestant has more long term marketability?

[MacroGuru]

Smoking hot with a great voice. Which contestant has more long term marketability?

Thats where she will get picked up by some label...but as I said earlier...her lack of stage presence and connecting with the voters got her booted at this time.

[Lathum]

Thats where she will get picked up by some label...but as I said earlier...her lack of stage presence and connecting with the voters got her booted at this time.

That doesn't answer my question

[MacroGuru]

That doesn't answer my question

See I'm not denying your statement...Out of the others...

Scotty will get a country music contract and flame out.

Other than that, I do not see anyone else that will be Carrie, Daughtry or David Cook type style that they can take and run with.

[CrimsonFox]

I've never found this show a bastion of credibility. Quite the opposite. I think the voters often like to go against the show and the judges. When Simon was there they sometimes voted with him but often they did not (aka the Sanjaya effect).
Also, often, teeny boppers (teenaged girls) will vote through guys they think are cute. (being a teenager makes you immune to tone I guess)
I'm not seeing a lot of people get criticized this season though. The sheeple must be at wits end trying to decide who to vote for.

[MJ4H]

WTF. This show is becoming a joke eliminating the most promising talents way too early almost every year.

Fuck.

[Ksyrup]

I've never found this show a bastion of credibility. Quite the opposite. I think the voters often like to go against the show and the judges. When Simon was there they sometimes voted with him but often they did not (aka the Sanjaya effect).

It wasn't quite so simple. Often times (and this is all speculation/theory), it seemed that the judges would purposely say bad things about certain contestants to fire their fanbase up to vote for them. It seemed that they were doing some sort of reverse psychology on them, where they saw a softness in the voting. Remember, while all we know is who is bottom 3 (and I've said over the years that I'm not even convinced they tell us the true bottom 3, only the actual person with the fewest votes, and that can manipulate the voters by itself), they know how many votes each person got. So if they really wanted a girl to go far in the competition, but they saw that her numbers were low, they might pan one of her performances to fire up her voting base and save her from going home sooner than she otherwise would have.

That's the theory anyway. But there were several contestants who went from bottom 3 to sailing into the top 3/5 over the years. So there is some validity to it.

[GrantDawg]

It wasn't quite so simple. Often times (and this is all speculation/theory), it seemed that the judges would purposely say bad things about certain contestants to fire their fanbase up to vote for them. It seemed that they were doing some sort of reverse psychology on them, where they saw a softness in the voting. Remember, while all we know is who is bottom 3 (and I've said over the years that I'm not even convinced they tell us the true bottom 3, only the actual person with the fewest votes, and that can manipulate the voters by itself), they know how many votes each person got. So if they really wanted a girl to go far in the competition, but they saw that her numbers were low, they might pan one of her performances to fire up her voting base and save her from going home sooner than she otherwise would have.

That's the theory anyway. But there were several contestants who went from bottom 3 to sailing into the top 3/5 over the years. So there is some validity to it.


Yeah, and I don't think they can use this current panel that way. Reading this morning the TV critics views on what happened, and they all seem to be pointing the finger at the judges. Saw some great points on why this was probably the worst early vote off in history. The second worst was Jennifer Hudson in Season 3 (7th), but they mention (and I do sort of remember) she was not a very good contestant. Cute, but heavy, and very uncomfortable on stage, with a couple of weak performances the last two weeks she was on. She had a strong voice (that grew stronger with confidience that allowed her to be such a success), but she was not as great a shock at the time.

The other big "shockers" all came much later in the competition, when really anything could happen. Daughtery was voted out in round 3, but Tyler Hicks was just beating him by then with what I think was the prime demo at that time (Jon's 30-50. I don't think with texting and online voting that makes up the largest voting block now). Plus, if I remember it at the time, didn't he purposely pull his punches at the end? And everyone mentions Doolittle, but heck, she made it to third. She was a troll doll with a voice. It was a testament to how bad the season was that she made it to third.

Viewership has been up so far this year over last year, but let that slip and there will be changes. I won't predict that yet, though. The "shock" might even drive an increase next week as they usually do, as much as the internet is filled with "I am through" statements.

[Ksyrup]

The other thing I remember with Jennifer Hudson was that Fantasia and another black female singer all finished in the bottom 3 that week. I remember this because of the outrage among the black community that AI or its voters/viewers were racists. The fact is, the 3 simply split the R&B vote, all ended in the bottom 3, and Hudson was last. And yeah, here size at the time was probably one of the deciding factors. remember Mandisa? She didn't last too long in her season, either.

[Ksyrup]

I thought it was pretty funny that at the end of the show, Seacrest madea bizarre statement like, "Please stick with us for the rest of the season," as if Pia getting voted off was so bad that no one had a reason to come back.

And as people here and some reviewers have noted, if losing her was THAT shocking, then how the hell do you use your save at the top 11 on Casey?! Especially when it's a year you really wanted a female to win. I know they probably didn't expect to lose 5 straight females, but no one apparently studied the possible effects of adding FB voting to the mix, either. Dial Idol had Pia #3 and safe. It's beyond obvious that younger people using texting and FB are voting, and voting as many times as possible, and that's creating huge issues. Apparently Nigel should have hired Bill James to analyze it all for him...:p

[CrimsonFox]

Yeah, and I don't think they can use this current panel that way. Reading this morning the TV critics views on what happened, and they all seem to be pointing the finger at the judges. Saw some great points on why this was probably the worst early vote off in history. The second worst was Jennifer Hudson in Season 3 (7th), but they mention (and I do sort of remember) she was not a very good contestant. Cute, but heavy, and very uncomfortable on stage, with a couple of weak performances the last two weeks she was on. She had a strong voice (that grew stronger with confidience that allowed her to be such a success), but she was not as great a shock at the time.

The other big "shockers" all came much later in the competition, when really anything could happen. Daughtery was voted out in round 3, but Tyler Hicks was just beating him by then with what I think was the prime demo at that time (Jon's 30-50. I don't think with texting and online voting that makes up the largest voting block now). Plus, if I remember it at the time, didn't he purposely pull his punches at the end? And everyone mentions Doolittle, but heck, she made it to third. She was a troll doll with a voice. It was a testament to how bad the season was that she made it to third.

Viewership has been up so far this year over last year, but let that slip and there will be changes. I won't predict that yet, though. The "shock" might even drive an increase next week as they usually do, as much as the internet is filled with "I am through" statements.

I remember the Daughetry vote. Wasn't that the pity vote? That one Hawaiian girl cried while she was panned so EVERYBODY voted for her.

I was not terribly shocked about Jennifer Hudson's vote-off. At the time there was Fantasia, Latoya London, and Jennifer Hudson, who were somewhat all singing the same type of stuff. NOt enough votes to go around really and I do think the other two were picking better songs.

I think Latoya's 4th place vote-off was the real shocker of that season. She had the best performance of the night IMHO. Perfect choice, perfect delivery. ("Don't Leave Me THis Way" for disco night)

Oh yeah Melinda getting canned over Blake was definitely a shocker. Anyone heard of VoteFOrTheWorst.com? They sure think they have an effect on things but I don't think if they really do.

[CrimsonFox]

The other thing I remember with Jennifer Hudson was that Fantasia and another black female singer all finished in the bottom 3 that week. I remember this because of the outrage among the black community that AI or its voters/viewers were racists. The fact is, the 3 simply split the R&B vote, all ended in the bottom 3, and Hudson was last. And yeah, here size at the time was probably one of the deciding factors. remember Mandisa? She didn't last too long in her season, either.

Um, yeah this! :)
:lol:
(Guess I could have read your post before saying the same thing) :)

[CrimsonFox]

I actually think the country voters are steamrolling this season.

[Pumpy Tudors]

It would be shocking if a mongoose ran on the stage and ate all the contestants except Jacob. Losing any one of these performers is not shocking.

[CrimsonFox]

racist mongoose!

[Solecismic]

Looking back through my recaps, this is easily the strangest result. But I've only been doing this thoroughly for seven seasons now. I remember Jennifer Hudson going early, and being a little surprised. Obviously, she has made the voters look bad with her enormous success, but she wasn't doing all that wonderfully, and that was, IMO, the weakest season they've had.

I think a case can be made for strong black female singers and female rockers under-performing expectations. Mandisa Hundley was better than 9th, as one example, though she did fight advice by going with a heavy religious theme. Maybe any female singer who doesn't fit a strict typecast is going to go early. I think I was most disappointed, personally, with Lilly Scott going out in the semis last season. Pia does nothing for me.

But, yes, this one stands out even amongst the others. After six weeks, we "know" Pia. We can understand a slightly weaker performance because the judges were hectoring her to "speed it up" and "show her range," when it was fairly clear who she is and where her comfort zone is located (and it's not in anything that requires her to actually move a body part other than her jaw).

I agree that the judges are to blame. In fact, I think it's Jennifer Lopez who should shoulder most of the blame. She simply doesn't allow the other two judges to criticize anyone - she's a bully. Steven gave up early - I'm not sure he cares about anything other than his image, and his image requires him to avoid any disagreements with anyone who has strength. Randy fought back for a while, but he isn't Simon, and his fatal flaw as a judge has always been having confidence in his evaluations. He got better over time, but he can't handle J-Lo.

Together Randy and Simon were able to control the voting to an extent. Simon would give the verdict early, but his verdict would often produce a sympathy reaction. Then Randy would do the reluctant pan, Simon would agree, and it would absolutely kill the vote. Every once in a while, an Anoop-archetype would slip through and gain a following, but even Anoop only finished sixth.

All bets are off this year because we haven't had any judging yet. Maybe it's been enough to kill Stefano's chances, but to have someone as ineffectual as Bouncing Paul in decent position with only seven weeks to go is troublesome. There's no one to compare James to past competitors who were so much better at the same thing (Adam Lambert in one direction, Chris Daughtry in the other). There's no one with the sense to understand that Scotty has no cross-over value, unlike Carrie Underwood. There's no one who understands what to do with Jacob, who is thankfully destined to self-fulfill because he made the fatal mistake of expressing disdain for the voters.

Simon would understand how to maintain a strong female presence despite the demographic of the voters - that the Lauren Alainas out there have to be panned mercilessly so the Pias and the Haleys sail through when they're even competent (Haley is a danger to herself because she's not being handled properly, but she's the best they've got this year). He would give them a Rachel Zevita to sacrifice at 9th (quirky but very good one week out of every three doesn't get full voter support). He would ride Bouncing Paul out at 11th. He would know how to get the most out of someone like Casey. He would even understand that the Jordan Dorseys (talented, but beyond-comprehension ego) cannot even be allowed in the final 24, because they will self-sabotage and distract the viewers during that all-important first semi-final.

Ultimately, though, it's the ratings that count. We heard the audience reaction on Thursday. It was brutal. People are angry. If that translates to a million less viewers when the show should be gaining strength, we'll see changes. If not, then Nigel will be happy to try and produce Scotty.

[Ksyrup]

So, some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff going on since Pia left. Apparently Iovine/Interscope want to immediately record Pia and get a record out, and 19 is saying no way the first single is coming from a contestant other than the winner.

It certainly makes sense that 19 would stand in the way on this. Why even have a winner of the show if the contestants who get cut during the season have first shot at starting their careers and making money? It would be a race to get cut, or people would start dropping out the second they felt they had a big enough following and label interest to go it alone.

[JonInMiddleGA]

(Jon's 30-50. I don't think with texting and online voting that makes up the largest voting block now).

Caution: Don't miscalculate who is online these days. Remember, over 50% of the country now has a Facebook account & the average age of a Facebook user is somewhere between 38 & 44 (depends on which analysis you like better). Even the average age for a Twitter user is pushing 40 these days.

Every single FB friend (out of 300'ish) that I saw comment on Idol was over 40. Anecdotal, but it fits.

[CrimsonFox]

So, some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff going on since Pia left. Apparently Iovine/Interscope want to immediately record Pia and get a record out, and 19 is saying no way the first single is coming from a contestant other than the winner.

It certainly makes sense that 19 would stand in the way on this. Why even have a winner of the show if the contestants who get cut during the season have first shot at starting their careers and making money? It would be a race to get cut, or people would start dropping out the second they felt they had a big enough following and label interest to go it alone.


Hahahaha! Well, actually it's been proven time and time again that winning this show means nothing talentwise and nothing successwise. The people that are better than the people that win will have more success. It's hilarious all these powerplays going on. She should record "Fuck the Police" by NWA :) I hope she DOES record something before the show ends. Good for her. Would be great if Nigel pulled the plug on this show. And incidently I don't think this would work for everyone. LIke I said you actually have to be able to sing. Have talent. Have chops. Have originality. And I think the other element is have controversy behind your vote-off.
Granted I think the only thing PIa is missing is originality but she could do alright with the other things. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nigel Lythgoe: "Pia Toscano Was Never A Frontrunner" - Reality Rocks (http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/422461/nigel-lythgoe-pia-toscano-was-never-a-frontrunner/;_ylt=AoU47DDgIPjr8wPsNRiu0ZPNwSUv)

"I know the [voting] results, so I know she was never a frontrunner," revealed Nigel, adding: "The fact of the matter is, it appears that Pia didn't connect with the audience the way we maybe think she did."

[CrimsonFox]

Nigel trashing contestants! That's so full of awesome! To be honest even though I think she had a great, I was never stirred or moved by her performances. I think she was still getting to that. And as Ksyrup and Solesmic elegantly pointed out, the judges are doing shit to actually help these contestants get better. The thing that refutes Nigel's pile of shit is that it isn't about her actually WINNING this competition. It is about so many contestants who are just plain BAD still being on the show, while Pia is actually doing really well singing-wise.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It is about so many contestants who are just plain BAD still being on the show, while Pia is actually doing really well singing-wise.

And yet most of what I've read in the past few days as people around me have their knickers in a twist talks about how this is the strongest overall AI field in years. Something along the lines of a bunch of 7's but nary a 9 or 10 in sight but not many 4's either.

[Ksyrup]

So in addition to NBC's The Voice starting at the end of April, Bravo's Platinum Hit starts at the end of May. Judges are Kara DioGuardi and Jewel. One of the contestants is short-lived AI Season 8 contestant Jackie Tohn - she was the one who got voted off in the wild card round, I believe, after breaking out into scat at the end of her performance. People apparently mistook it for real scat, or that she had flipped out and was speaking in tongues. For some reason I recall Jim liking her performance, but I'm too lazy to go check.

Anyway, here are the bios for the contestants:

Bios - Platinum Hit Season 1 - Bravo TV Official Site (http://www.bravotv.com/platinum-hit/season-1/bios)

One of the dudes is named Blessing Offer. And he's blind.

I have no expectations that this is going to be any good, but what's different about this show is that it's focused on songwriting skills. Each week they will have a different genre/theme and have write a song and perform it. It may end up sucking, but at least it's not another attempt at creating the next AI/X-Factor. I'm hopeful they will actually spend a little bit of time focusing on the songwriting process, which could be interesting TV regardless of whether the songs or performances are any good. That said, the show info says they have to write lyrics not songs, so this could end up sucking big time. I'm also curious how this will work in a standard hour format. I guess they'll stand up and sing a couple of bars of their lyrics to that week's music given to everyone?

[Ksyrup]

Huh. So I watched a couple of the teaser/preview videos for Platinum Hit, and it doesn't look too bad. It appears that they are stealing a bit of AI's group performances from Hollywood week to create some tension/drama and having them form groups of 3 or 4 each week to collaborate on a song. Still can't tell if they are given the musical framework of the song and have to write lyrics and arrange the song, or what. But I see people with instruments sitting in a room trying to write a song, which is cool. And Jackie Tohn is obviously very comfortable in front of a camera. I just hope they didn't let Gordon Ramsay cast this group or something...

[MikeVic]

Why isn't there a competition (or is there?) for original artists? Seems like the show KSyrup is talking about could be it, but I always wondered with AI being so popular and there now being a ton of these shows, why there isn't one where a real rock band goes on and performs their original song. And competes against against same rap group or something. I don't know. I think I'd find that more interesting.

[Ksyrup]

There was one, way back when reality TV was becoming huge - Bands on the Run on VH1. They made them do a bunch of stupid shit like travel from city to city marketing themselves for that night's gig, but at the end of the day, it was several original rock bands playing their own music.

As far as why that show doesn't exist - the vast majority of people don't want to listen to music they don't know or like. People get voted off of Idol for singing lesser-known music, let alone their own stuff. There just isn't a market for it, unfortunately. If it could exist, it'd be on a Bravo-type station.

I won't get too excited about Platinum Hit until I watch it see if it's really focused on the music, or just using music as an excuse to start fights between a bunch of delusional, mildly-talented people with a few ringers thrown in to ultimately win (hence my Gordon Ramsay comment above).

[Ksyrup]

There are some preview videos on the website. The comments some of the contestants make when they are introducing themselves are a little troubling (delusional).

Platinum Hit - Season 1 - Bravo TV Official Site (http://www.bravotv.com/platinum-hit)

[Ksyrup]

They are going to have guest judges, too - Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, Donna Summer, Jermaine Dupri, Taio Cruz, and Ryan Tedder - which might give a hint about the direction of the show.

[Solecismic]

One of the contestants is short-lived AI Season 8 contestant Jackie Tohn - she was the one who got voted off in the wild card round, I believe, after breaking out into scat at the end of her performance. People apparently mistook it for real scat, or that she had flipped out and was speaking in tongues. For some reason I recall Jim liking her performance, but I'm too lazy to go check.


Oh, well, art imitates life. I've become quite used to reading people assert that I've said one thing or another (like mentors affecting your upper deck ticket prices), but it's rarely the case.

I had Tohn 9th out of 12 in her semifinal group with a 54. Embarrassingly enough, I placed Danny Gokey first in her group.

[CrimsonFox]

And yet most of what I've read in the past few days as people around me have their knickers in a twist talks about how this is the strongest overall AI field in years. Something along the lines of a bunch of 7's but nary a 9 or 10 in sight but not many 4's either.

Yeah, people always say that...every year, every show, every everything. It just isn't so. It never is.

[Ksyrup]

Oh, well, art imitates life. I've become quite used to reading people assert that I've said one thing or another (like mentors affecting your upper deck ticket prices), but it's rarely the case.

I had Tohn 9th out of 12 in her semifinal group with a 54. Embarrassingly enough, I placed Danny Gokey first in her group.

Ha! I remember reading a positive review of her somewhere. I do remember the scatting though, that was a pretty WTF moment, especially for AI.

[Solecismic]

I watched the TiVoed version of America's highest-rated television show this evening, and I found a philosophical debate. Well, that might be overstating things just a tad. Hegel and Nietzsche can rest easy in their respective graves. It was more a pompous celebration of ego. But I think it passed for philosophy as far as network television goes.

Is American Idol looking for an American Idol? Such a loaded question. We had jazz, we had metal, we had gospel, we had bubble-gum, we had latin, we had country, we had a weird version of r&b and we had Boop. None of it would ever be on the pop charts.

James Durbin perhaps summed everything up with his childish modern moralism while back-talking successful music producer Jimmy "The Ballcap" Iovine. He said there's no way to know a song is any good before it's on stage. This reminded me of the day my son, then six, came home from school to announce that nothing is truly good or bad. I resisted the urge to force him to watch 25 consecutive episodes of Hannah Montana.

And thus we have the final evolution in Idol's recovery from the loss of Simon Cowell: nothing matters anymore. Do you think Casey would dared have invoke the pretentious '50s with his mocking tribute to Nat King Cole when Simon was around?

Ranking the round of 8:

1. Haley Reinhart. Unlike the judges, I thought this was perhaps the weakest set of performances this late in the competition in the show's history. In fact, this is the lowest top score I have ever assigned. Haley seems to think her ticket to fame is to try and lose control, even though her pitch is so accurate she probably can't. She lost the performance a bit, though. I was disappointed she was the only singer panned by the un-judges, because she had a couple of phenomenal runs in there. Betty Boop met Debbie Harry, and it wasn't something I'd want to hear again. 78.

2. Jacob Lusk. Iovine was right, Simon and Garfunkel is a natural for a gospel singer. Lusk is as phony as you can get in front of a microphone, but that doesn't change what he does well. 73.

3. James Durbin. It was good. But a low degree of difficulty, and Zakk Wylde clearly upstaging him with a long solo (who has time to let the guitarist solo for 30 seconds when your song is a minute-forty) didn't help. The judges got carried away with a pretty good production, ignoring that the front man has less to do in metal-land. 71.

4. Lauren Alaina. If Miley Cyrus falls down, alone, in the forest, does she still make a sound? 68.

5. Scotty McCreery. He was a little overwhelmed by the backup singers, but that's probably on the production staff. They had a busy week prepping for James' finale, so it's understandable. 65.

6. Stefano Langone. I challenged myself to write up Stefano without using the word "lounge". Oops. 63.

7. Casey Abrams. A mocking tribute to a piece they were probably mocking on the many misadventures of Dobie Gillis a long, long time ago. Zelda frowned. Casey actually cleared his throat a couple of times in the middle. Not sure it was intentional. Not sure I care. The judges acted as if they had never heard a minor register change before. Maybe they haven't. 61.

8. Paul McDonald. The bland bouncing and bleating of a goat happily interrupted by a hot saxophone player. 52.

Expected Bottom Three: Paul, Casey, Haley.

Who Should Go: Paul.

Who Will Go: Casey.

[Ksyrup]

I thought Hailey's vocal was really weak. She was all over the place, and the screaming chorus for the second week in a row was less impressive this time.

I agree Durbin had a low degree of difficulty, but I was actually impressed he pulled it off as well as he did. I don't like giving contestants an unfair advantage by pairing them with established stars, though. He got the pimp spot, that should have been enough.

I have a hard time looking at Lusk when he sings. His facial contortions are disturbing and ridiculous.

My wife was reaching for the FF button quicker than I was once Stefano slurred and under-enunciated his way through the oddly-phrased first line of that crappy song. He is legimately terrible. I couldn't believe the slobber-job the judges gave him.

Not sure what to make of Casey. I don't even know that song. It's probably older than my parents.

[Lathum]

Jimmy should be a judge, he is the only honest one with the stones to give his opinion.

[Lathum]

I agree Durbin had a low degree of difficulty, but I was actually impressed he pulled it off as well as he did. I don't like giving contestants an unfair advantage by pairing them with established stars, though. He got the pimp spot, that should have been enough.
.

95% of people who watch Idol have no clue who Zack Wylde is

[CrimsonFox]

Casey - An original. An awesome jazz song. Really gets into the song. Loved his playing. He doesn't have to blast things to the back to have intensity. He knows that. Producer Steve doesn't. Very nice ending. The instrument break was a little unnecessary. WOuld have been nicer to have more vocal there as it IS a singing show. But this kid knows. He knows how to do it.
He's obviously having fun too.

Lauren - She has dropped the country. Alleluia. She's actually channeling Pia. One bad note but it was nivce and sweet. Very nice performance. Kinda boring song though. Above average and get better at song choice.

Stephano - Always thought he had a great voice and knew what to do with a song. And he's chosen great ones. This is the first week (granted I missed seeing last 2) that I haven't liked his song choice. His runs are really annoying too. I guess that means the audience will like him this time. Like his high notes. He kills those and from then on he rocked the house. Ended up really good altho I still didn't like the song.


James - Give Metal a chance. Hahahaha. Armbands. I want one. But Heavy Metal and most of the other crap from that movie was just that. Crap. Jimmy is just about making records, not about helping these guys. This song is bitg and bombastic. And surprisingly the one part of the song I recognized (the ""one way ticket to midnight") was kind of hesitant and listless. Sure he can headbang and scream. I'm sure he is going to be hired by a metal band when he gets voted out...which is going to be soon. Heavy Idol haha.

Haley - When I heard her song choice I thought, "oh no". It is a superstylistic punk thing. Only thing she will do is copy it. And she kinda does. I think she does a few nice things with it. But at the end it was really just a copy....a karaoke thing. You just can't do this kind of song on idol. It doesn't work. Average work but you can't expect anyone to vote off yet ANOTHER of the girls can you? CAN YOU?

Jacob - Oh no. Please don't mangle Simon and Garfunkel. But I know it's going to happen. At least I don't have to sit through Dream the Impossible Dream. I don't like this version. His big notes don't really go with this song. When he is quieter (something new), he is better. Very nice. WHen he holds long notes and high notes and big notes and runs. It's like a baby that has just come out of the womb.

Scotty - Funny. He said he was "going back" to his country roots. When did he leave them?
More country gimmicks. He sometimes does a nice Kenny Rogers thing, but that's kind of muddled in with gimmicks from like 4 other country singers. That's all there is to him. Song imitations. Artist immitations. He's got a great voice but it's hidden behind his gimmicks which often lead him astray.

Paul - Very very bad. I would like to know what he's smiling at. Tired of this phony schtick. He again can't stay in tune. Just shouted the whole thing. LOL Steven has nothing to compliment but the sax player and the suit.
Why is Randy and JLo so all over this guy?


Why are they giving that Steve producer so much airtime. Who cares what he has to say?

Bottom 3 - Paul, Scotty, Jacob

[Ksyrup]

95% of people who watch Idol have no clue who Zack Wylde is

It doesn't really matter - they know enough to know he is an established "star" in the world of heavy metal, or they certainly did by the time the episode was over. I just think that's unfair. And it's bad precedent. What's next? Garth Brooks "guesting" on a Scotty song next week?

[Ksyrup]

Jimmy should be a judge, he is the only honest one with the stones to give his opinion.

Yeah, but he's so monotone and boring that apparently the producers felt the need to attach a sidekick to him to make lame jokes and get us through his segments.

[CrimsonFox]

Am amazed one of the bad people finally went home.

[JonInMiddleGA]

95% of people who watch Idol have no clue who Zack Wylde is

I'd bet that's a number above 99%.

[Ksyrup]

Not any more!

[Ksyrup]

Didn't see the show last night due to an out of town softball game, but not surprised at all. That performance was so bad - honestly, it was similar to John Stevens doing Crocodile Rock several years ago - that I was hoping Simon Cowell was going to bust through the doors and bitch slap the judges. I believe that would have qualified, on Simon's scale, as drunk uncle at the wedding hijacking the karaoke machine-level awfulness. Plus, he went first and dressed, as one person tweeted, like The Fourth Amigo.

Good riddance. Stefano and Jacob - you're next on my list (I've given up wishing Scotty would go home, since he's going to win)!

[wade moore]

So.. I had vacation last week and as a result I had 3 performance episodes on my Tivo last night.

I watched them in about an hour.

It's amazing how quickly this show has fallen off for me.

I think it's the whole combo of judges, talent, etc. I think it has just run its course.

I'm curious to see what X-Factor is like at this point.

[Ksyrup]

I have no idea what to expect from X-Factor, since I know very little about it. But since they have groups and not just individual singers, it feels to me like it's going to be a cross between AI and America's Got Talent. I also don't really like the idea of judges who mentor. I'd prefer to keep them separate, but have judges who, you know, actually judge. I can't say I'm overly excited about that show. I'm definitely more curious about the songwriting competition on Bravo than X-Factor at this point (even though my guess is they will both disappoint).

[wade moore]

I have no idea what to expect from X-Factor, since I know very little about it. But since they have groups and not just individual singers, it feels to me like it's going to be a cross between AI and America's Got Talent. I also don't really like the idea of judges who mentor. I'd prefer to keep them separate, but have judges who, you know, actually judge. I can't say I'm overly excited about that show. I'm definitely more curious about the songwriting competition on Bravo than X-Factor at this point (even though my guess is they will both disappoint).


Yeah, I guess I should check the show on Bravo out. I tend to have little faith in a talent competition on a cable network.

[Ksyrup]

From TMZ:


It all started back in February 2009 — when cops cited Jacob for riding on an L.A. metro train without buying a ticket. Jacob blew off his court hearing and an arrest warrant was issued.

Fast forward to Nov. 2010 — a day after Jacob auditioned for “Idol” and got his golden ticket to <NOBR style="COLOR: #95181c" id=itxthook0w0nobr class="itxtrst itxtrstnobr itxthooknobr">Hollywoodhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif</NOBR> (http://mjsbigblog.com/#) — Lusk was pulled over for a traffic stop. The cop discovered the warrant and arrested him.

Jacob went to jail and then to court the next day and pled no contest to the train-hopping charge. He was sentenced to 3 days in jail and 2 years probation.
Jacob served his time and then went back to court, telling the judge “Idol” wouldn’t let him on the show if he was on probation. After his emotional plea, the merciful judge terminated his probation.

Fun Fact – On night one in the pokey, Jacob sang to 170 inmates, who liked it a lot. Thing is, the guard wasn’t a fan, screaming through the loud speaker, “This isn’t a f**king singing contest.”

Undaunted, we’re told Lusk sang over the next day-and-a-half, preparing for “Idol.” And on his last day, Lusk sang a farewell song, and another guard went on the loud speaker and said it was “bad ass!”

[MikeVic]

"PLEASE judge, I can't be on probation for a crime I committed because I can't be on IDOL!!"

"Ok sir, you're off probation."

Oh come on. The jail singing is neat, but getting off probation just for Idol is so stupid.

[CrimsonFox]

The thing about Bravo shows are, they have EXCELLENT production value and their editors REALLY REALLY know how to put a good show together, unlike FOX that seems to thrive on MTV rapid fire edits and chowing us the same clips 15 times in the fashion of "Coming up..." (these clips) and "Youve just seen..." (clips you've already seen) "but here's what's going to happen..." (clips they already showed, shown again). Bravo seems to have at least gotten it right when it comes to competition shows about actually having skills (Top Chef, Project Runway). It all hinges on whether it has a good host and a good judging staff. Project RUnway has Michal Koors and TIm Gunn. Top Chef has Tom Collichio and Padma Lokshmi (who got the job after the first awful host was fired). Of course then there's Top Design whose hosts and judges were boring and forgettable, not to mention having annoying contestants. Top Chef Masters hasn't found its way yet either. They already bagged the first host as well as one of their annoying judges (who to me looked like she was a corpse and was about that interesting).

I think Kara does have the goods to be a good judge. WHo knows about Jewel. And at least we know they'll get to use their instruments.

[GrantDawg]

The thing about Bravo shows are, they have EXCELLENT production value and their editors REALLY REALLY know how to put a good show together, unlike FOX that seems to thrive on MTV rapid fire edits and chowing us the same clips 15 times in the fashion of "Coming up..." (these clips) and "Youve just seen..." (clips you've already seen) "but here's what's going to happen..." (clips they already showed, shown again).


Ummmm.....what? Top Chief is the worst show on television on the "coming up" and then replaying the last 3 minutes before the break in the first 3 minutes after commercial. I agreed with the rest of what you said, but really most Top Chief hour long shows can be watched in about 25 minutes of actual content, with about 15 what is going to happen/replaying what already happened.

[Solecismic]

I'm not sure what the theme was this week on American Idol. Fast-forwarding to the first singer ate up about 11 minutes of TiVotape, which probably allowed me to survive the evening without hurling my remote through the screen. If I had to guess, it was songs from the 21st Century. Could be wrong.

The judging seems to have settled into a familiar 21st Century meme, however. It's all about anyone having a chance to win. Bring yer A-Game, boys and girls. Bullpuppies, of course. Scotty will win unless pulls down his pants onstage to reveal boxers emblazoned with the Union emblem. The judges are trying to sabotage him by hinting that he might want to leave his comfort zone. I'm sure he knows better.

I appreciated the attempt to bring 21st Century sexual humor on to the show, in the form of Seacrest making a "beard" joke with Casey Abrams and Jennifer Lopez. Marc Anthony is not amused. Sean "I can't remember what nickname he's giving himself this month" Combs is amused. Ben Affleck is oblivious. Ojani Noa was seen trying to interview Abrams on camera late tonight.

Rankings, Round of 7:

1. James Durbin. If only he could scream on key, I'd've given this a 98. It was damned good - the type of performance a rocker front-man can put his signature on. 87.

2. Haley Reinhart. For pure degree of difficulty, this was a great choice for her, and an appropriate challenge. She missed the same note in the chorus both times. No idea why - she is usually pitch perfect. I hope it doesn't cost her, because it completely changed the judges' attitudes toward what otherwise would have been the performance of the night. 84.

3. Casey Abrams. Some bonus points for kissing J-Lo at the end, even though it seemed rather cloying and rehearsed. This jazzy stuff isn't all that great, but Casey's clearly quite talented. When he takes himself seriously, it's not bad at all. 83.

4. Lauren Alaina. The judges desperately want someone to challenge Scotty. They're making the wrong choice by trying to prop Lauren up. She is a decent singer, competent in the country genre, unmemorable. She will never hit big notes. She will eventually discover a consistent stage personality and she will have a solid career, though she might die young if she obtains a nasty manager determined to starve her into a size-4 boot-cut pair of jeans. 74.

5. Scotty McCreery. He knows he just has to phone in the same stuff, week after weak, to win this competition and get on with his career. 68.

6. Jacob Lusk. The emotion felt fake. His whining over an ear-piece malfunction did not feel fake. I was expecting a little more chin-wobble, and maybe stronger vocals. He's starting to fade. 65.

7. Stefano Langone. Picking up the pace just emphasized what a disaster he is on the stage. He's not the worst top-seven contestant they've ever had (that's unquestionably Sanjaya Malakar), but he'd be in the discussion for second-worst. For most of the song, he was backing up the backup singers. 50.

Expected Bottom Three: Stefano, Jacob, Haley.

Who Should Go: Stefano.

Who Will Go: Stefano.

[Ksyrup]

I pretty much agree with that, except for Scotty I would have said, "weak after weak." That song was awful, and he performs every song the same damn way. I don't know how much more eyebrow raising, side-mouth singing, microphone flute-handling, and sexual innuendo/performance seemingly aimed at 14 year olds I can handle. Then again, I can't look at him without thinking of a mixture of Cletus from the Simpsons and Alfred E. Neumann, so...

[GrantDawg]

Scotty: Swinging? Really? All of the songs in the last 10+ years and you pick a remake (Leanne Rymes really redid that stupid song) of a stupid 80's novelty song? Really? It probably won't cost him a thing, and proves how is coasting, but it how in the heck did Jimmy not jump up and down on his head on that song selection. Swinging. Shoot me now.

They hit Lauren on the head, and I don't think Jim is giving her credit. The little girl can sing. She is playing scared. They all know it because they hear her without the crowds. We know it because we heard her in the early stages when she was more relaxed and having fun. Her voice was pure and powerfull. Now, she is pulling punches. She is totally in her head. It is immaturity, and unless she just gets a mental thing, she will grow out of it, but it is going to end up costing her a chance here. She the only girl that could compete, because she non-threating "one of us" to the teeny-boppers, sweet little thing to the moms and grandmoms. But she is under-preforming, and it will eventually kill her.

I predict two thing for Haley. She is going to be a great artist. She can sing Adele like Adele while not looking like Adele. If you can't market that, get out of the record business. What she showed this week was her lane, her market, and she can perform. And as good as the performance was, as marketable as she is, this will be the week she goes home. Which is why AI might still be entertaining (James Durbain alone gives me a reason to watch every week), it definitely is not even close to functioning well its stated purpose. Rename it "Teen Choice Idol." Or if we just want to stick to old demo tracking "American Women Choice Idol."

[MJ4H]

What was the deal with Scotty last night? It looked like he had set his mind to try to be country boy smooth or something and just looked like cartoon character or something. Really weird.

[wade moore]

Haven't watched last night's yet, but for the record in my catching up I've completely turned on Scotty.

He's a one-trick pony in his songs, and annoying in his performances.

[GrantDawg]

There was a reason Scotty went first and Lauren went last. My wife said the song Lauren had was a real power-house song that she pushed down on. There is no doubt the producers are trying to showcase her and hoping she'll pull out her voice and contend. They put Scotty first because they know he is cruising right now. He is never been in danger, it wouldn't hurt if they could put him in bottom three and wake him up a little bit. He doesn't listen to instruction. What he needs to do is not "rock out," and he definitely needs to stop this cutesy song crap. Get him some old country with some depth. Hank Williams Sr. George Jones. Jimmy was trying to get a guitar in his hands, and that would be a very good idea (get the mike out of his, he looks like an idiot). When he started "Everybody's Talking" last week, it sounded awesome, but then he changed his mind for some unknown reason. He needs a kick in the head.

[Ksyrup]

You can't sing songs with depth in any genre when the only performance mannerisms you know are the wink-and-nod, head-lean, and - for lack of a better term - Country Boy Barry White face. He doesn't want to be anything more than he's shown because he is nothing more than a copycat. He is probably the furthest thing from an artist this show has ever had - certainly at this point in the competition, anyway. It's like God gave him a voice but no substantive way to use it, other than to mimic his favorite country singers. That's literally all he is. He probably doesn't even understand what "what kind of artist do you want to be?" means.

[Ksyrup]

Viewer votes may be adjusted to correct for Idol voters’ bias toward singers with penises


Paul McDonald’s exit last week on American Idol marked the first exit of a male from the finals this season, unless you count Casey Abrams, who was saved by the judges. But considering that and the fact that a woman hasn’t won in three seasons, the show’s producers are considering adjusting the vote somehow to compensate for a bias against penis-wielding contestants, giving those with vaginas a chance to win.

“We are aware very much that the voting could quite possibly be skewed toward the boys. It is something we are going to have a long discussion about after we finish this season. We won’t be in the process of changing anything at the moment. It is going to go the way it goes,” executive producer Ken Warwick told reporters, according to Reuters (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42687120/ns/today-entertainment/), which notes that competition series “traditionally attract predominantly female viewers, who then tend to drive telephone, text and online votes toward male contestants.”

That is because, of course, women are incapable of voting for anyone except those who society assumes they are attracted to, because how can a woman not be attracted to someone with a penis?

Seriously, this seems like a terrible idea. For one, the producers have enough trouble convincing conspiracy theorists that the voting is fair and untainted, and screwing with the results to account for an ultimately unprovable bias seems like a bad way to go. Sure, some teenage girls might vote for boys they think are cute, but I hope that the majority of voters aren’t calling or texting just because they want to explore the contents of Jacob Lusk’s pants.

Second, isn’t the real problem that the women are very indistinguishable this year, at least compared to the men, who have much more distinct personalities and voices? Maybe start with stocking the top 12 with people who would get votes from people regardless of their genital configuration.

[JonInMiddleGA]

He's a one-trick pony in his songs

But if you can do that one thing well ... With country as much as any format, you find your gimmick & you hit it hard. The last thing country fans want is to not know what to expect from an act. Long term, it simply isn't a problem.

Look at a current country chart (http://americasmusiccharts.com/index.cgi?fmt=C1&rtmref=americasmusiccharts), even with the variety of styles represented for male vocalists, each is largely limited to a couple of basic formulas that they're successful with. There's the rebel (Toby Keith, Trace Adkins), the goofy cute guy (Brad Paisley), the pop singer and/or grown up boy band guy that makes women swoon (Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley to a lesser degree), the crossover guy (Darius Rucker, although he's harder to define than some), and the obligatory handful of guys who are career midcharters or hit-every-five-years guys.

There was a time when it was all pop country (Kenny Rogers), then we had traditional country (Randy Travis et al), then the hat acts (Alan Jackson, Clint Black), and so forth. Now there isn't a single dominant niche in the format so much as there are X number of slots available for each.

His job here is to do enough to win the contest. So far, he seems to be on track for that.

[Solecismic]

Viewer votes may be adjusted to correct for Idol voters’ bias toward singers with penises


Paul McDonald’s exit last week on American Idol marked the first exit of a male from the finals this season, unless you count Casey Abrams, who was saved by the judges. But considering that and the fact that a woman hasn’t won in three seasons, the show’s producers are considering adjusting the vote somehow to compensate for a bias against penis-wielding contestants, giving those with vaginas a chance to win.

“We are aware very much that the voting could quite possibly be skewed toward the boys. It is something we are going to have a long discussion about after we finish this season. We won’t be in the process of changing anything at the moment. It is going to go the way it goes,” executive producer Ken Warwick told reporters, according to Reuters (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42687120/ns/today-entertainment/), which notes that competition series “traditionally attract predominantly female viewers, who then tend to drive telephone, text and online votes toward male contestants.”

That is because, of course, women are incapable of voting for anyone except those who society assumes they are attracted to, because how can a woman not be attracted to someone with a penis?

Seriously, this seems like a terrible idea. For one, the producers have enough trouble convincing conspiracy theorists that the voting is fair and untainted, and screwing with the results to account for an ultimately unprovable bias seems like a bad way to go. Sure, some teenage girls might vote for boys they think are cute, but I hope that the majority of voters aren’t calling or texting just because they want to explore the contents of Jacob Lusk’s pants.

Second, isn’t the real problem that the women are very indistinguishable this year, at least compared to the men, who have much more distinct personalities and voices? Maybe start with stocking the top 12 with people who would get votes from people regardless of their genital configuration.

Simon understood this better than anyone. Or at least I'd like to think he had a hand in it and wasn't just the mouthpiece.

The key is selecting 24 semi-finalists who represent some form of a competition and using the semi-finals to build up a story-line for the five or six you want in the final five or six.

This season has been particularly directionless. So the voters go with who they remember.

Lauren is not Carrie Underwood. They'd like her to be Carrie Underwood, because she's cute and nonthreatening and has a distinct personality. The perfect daughter. The perfect friend when you were 14 and struggling with teen angst.

Certainly there's talent there. But we can't judge this thing on hope and perceived potential. These talent shows have to operate on what actually comes out of the mouths of these babes. And we don't know what she can do. I think she's getting good advice, but the promises from the judges are more intended to prop up her ego (Simon would have ridden her right out of the competition, because he knows how the voting works) than provide any kind of true insight.

[Ksyrup]

She's definitely more Pickles than Carrie. Yet, even less mature, which I didn't think was possible.

[CrimsonFox]

Yeah I see the pickler thing, especially at the beginning. But she's grown in this competition. Showing her range and less gimmicky than when she started. Half of the guys willl never change and never get better. And it is probably because the judges are telling them not to change, not to get better when they so BADLY need to. (Scotty, Jacob, Paul, etc)

[CrimsonFox]

Really everyone on the show has their own gimmick and instead of getting away from the gimmick as Simon would have directed, they are leaping head on into it more than any previous season.
I think the ones without gimmicks are the ones that have no hope this year....like Pia.

[Solecismic]

She's definitely more Pickles than Carrie. Yet, even less mature, which I didn't think was possible.

Pickles was a relatively polished act - designed to simulate an unpolished act. She is making a lot of money right now. That wouldn't be possible if she weren't so good at what she does.

Idol hasn't had a Lauren before only because the judges would destroy her chances early on. There are plenty of singers trying out, even reaching the Hollywood round, who show potential but aren't polished enough to handle the workload they throw at the kids during the finals (learning three new songs a week, plus innumerable press obligations).

Idol is essentially musical star boot camp. And that's part of the reason why the casting is so important. To make that entertaining requires a lot of direction. Allowing Lauren to reach the final seven is telling a very different story.

I don't think they would have cast a Scotty in past seasons. Someone who fits right in to an established niche, so he gains a huge following the instant he performs. Country is a bit different from other major genres in that live performance carries specific expectations. In the past, whenever they had a country performer, they either chose one who was obviously too flawed as a singer (Bucky Covington) to compete, or had huge cross-over potential (Underwood). They also were stricter about forcing them out of their comfort zones (which to me was a big part of the appeal of the show).

[Ksyrup]

Forcing them out of their comfort zones makes for a good TV show, I guess, but in years' past, I agreed with those who thought it was pointless to make a rocker sing disco or a teen R&B pop singer sing Bon Jovi. I'd be curious to know, from an insider's perspective, whether there is truly more song choice allowed this year than in years' past. I can't imagine the lack of specific genre/mentor weeks has been the sole reason for the uprising among some of the contestants where they basically ignore Jimmy or tell him to pound sand.

Of course, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Casey performing a Maroon 5 song the week before Adam Levine premieres as a judge on The Voice is more of a shot/tweak at NBC than merely a coincidence.

[TexasT]

My take on the boy vs girl vote thing is this. When they get to the top 6 boys and girls, one week a boy gets voted off and the next week girl. Just hve them compete against same sex until the final two.

[Ksyrup]

BTW, speaking of The Voice, NBC released a 12 minute trailer which is pretty interesting. I think I might check out the first week or two, since this is the point at which I get insanely bored with AI, plus AI should get down to 1 hour performance shows from this point forward (I hope - I FF'd through the Loser performance and hope we don't get anymore of those).

I'll say this...the country singer they preview towards the end is MILES better than Scotty. MILES. I dare say listenable, even.

EDIT: For some reason, the video won't show up. Here's a link:

The Voice - Extended Preview of The Voice - Video - NBC.com (http://www.nbc.com/the-voice//video/Extended-Preview-of-The-Voice/1321630)

[Thomkal]

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

[MacroGuru]

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

I was hoping Jacob was gone....have another week to put up with his smug ass.

[Lathum]

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

yeah, it's almost like she was trying to be Lady Gaga

[Thomkal]

yeah, it's almost like she was trying to be Lady Gaga

yeah that was my thought too Lathum. It's a shame really, I like her current hit Firework a lot-thought it was a real positive song-and then to follow it up with an almost disgusting song? very strange.

[Ksyrup]

We had softball and didn't get home until after 9:30 last night, so I missed this and just looked up the result online. So, I guess I saved myself about 10 minutes of actual viewing time. :)

[CrimsonFox]

Watching this week's ep now.

Haley - first time I've liked her. She kicked ass with this.
Casey - Like him a lot. I really hated him interacting with the crowd. But the song really rocked.

---
Lauren - Back to the same gimmicky country crap I originally hated from her. Twangs. kitchy smarmy looks. Karoke of the night.There is some good singing in there but it's hidden in the gimmicky crap.
James - Kinda average tonight. Just not as great as his previous stuff.
Stephano - Really really bad song choice. His tone is SOOO much better than Jacobs and they sing the same type of R&B stuff. But this song is horrible. It is boring. The background singers kinda dwarfed him a little.
-------
Jacob - Started out nicer than he has been. But there's something annoyingly billygoat about his singing. I don't find that tone attractive to the ear. And then he hits the screaming notes again. Yuk.
Scotty - hated him tonight more than any other night.

bottom 3: Scotty, Jacob, Stephano

[TexasT]

I'm in the minority, but I don't like Casey. He has been so pumped up by the judges that he thinks he's a music god already and his antics bore me. That said, after they voted Pia off I quit watching and just wait for the results. Too "boy" dominated thanks to the voting fan base, which has already been discussed at length!

[Ksyrup]

Carole King duets tonight, and the Iovine "Make-up with Miley Cyrus" tour continues as she makes an appearance while Lauren practices. Recall he said Lauren sang way better than her 2 weeks ago, then last week fumbled all over himself explaining his comment, and now she's on the show - a year after everyone made fun of AI for having her on as a mentor, no less.

[MJ4H]

I'm hitching my wagon to Haley this year. Scotty sucks, Jacob isn't good enough technically, Casey is interesting but not very good, Lauren is very good but boring.

I can't see how the rest of the season would change anything other than Lauren doing something interesting. Scotty isn't going to change, Jacob isn't going to get better fast enough and neither is Casey. For me, it is Lauren busting out and becoming interesting or Haley wins my personal yearly competition by default. She is technically very good (minor flaws now and then, more than I would personally be comfortable with, frankly) and always interesting with a very pleasing and interesting tone to her voice.

edit: lol James. Forgot he's even on the show. Doesn't do anything for me.

(that said, it's been obvious for awhile that James will win)

[Ksyrup]

James was stellar tonight. At least on the solo. The duet thing sounded like a disaster when I realized the pairing, and it delivered. They should have just gone into full blown Naked Gun mockery and at least been entertaining.

[Solecismic]

The house is shaking right now from just a tiny piece of the edge of a storm that has brought so much damage and destruction to the South today. Not a big show of lights or rain, but every lightning strike is that close-to-ground kind that rattles on for quite a while and probably has the kitten hiding behind a door, next to a bathtub. A reminder that this singing show is rather trivial. As are so many of our pursuits. For those of you affected (and who have power), I'm thinking of you and I hope the world is right again tomorrow.

Today was Carole King day and strange duet day on Idol. The cynic in me thinks the duets were arranged solely to keep the performance show at 90 minutes. And that the duets themselves were arranged about an hour before showtime, because no one had harmonies down.

The result was that each of the three duets was a battle of sorts. Who gets heard. Who is deemed "the lead" (sorry, Scotty). Who wins, because you have to take anything you can get with this set of judges.

For the scoring tonight, I mostly ranked the solo performances, but tweaked the numbers a little based on the duet. I wanted to give the kids a pass, because of the preparation issue.

I also kept the comments short tonight, because Carole King brings out pretty much the same thing in everyone. She's a genius songwriter - and part of that genius is she can turn any singer into a competent singer. Not much room for individuality, though.

Ranking the Top 6:

1. Haley Reinhart. The arrangement here was a bit troubling, but she was able to fight through it. Like Randy, I felt she finished much stronger than she started. She is becoming one of my all-time favorite Idols, which means she probably goes home this week. She also nailed her part of the duet, with Casey, which was the only one of the three that was even bearable. 83.

2. Casey Abrams. The throat-clearing needs to stop, but otherwise he found his mark well and provided a decent interpretation. 80.

3. James Durbin. I wanted to like this more, but I thought he over-sang his solo and was consistently sharp on many of the notes. He turned Jacob into a quivering mass of goo during the duet, which was funny. 79.

4. Lauren Alaina. She's good, but still showing more promise than performance. 78.

5. Scotty McCreery. I actually fell asleep during his solo. Just for about 30 seconds. I don't think I missed anything. He's still Scotty, even with less twang. He was Scotty on his duet. He will still be Scotty tomorrow. 73.

6. Jacob Lusk. Catch-22 for Jacob. If he doesn't stretch himself, he sounds like a cut-rate Bee Gee. If he does, he sounds like a cross between Adam Lambert and Fantasia (this is not a compliment). 72.

Expected Bottom 3: Jacob, Haley and Casey.

Who Should Go: Jacob.

Who Will Go: Jacob.

[Thomkal]

I'm getting a bit annoyed with the technical problems Idol seems to be having this season-or if its more the contestant's fault then annoyed with them. I think it rattled Haley as I didn't think she was any good at all until the last 20 seconds or so when she seemed her normal self.

I thought James was the best tonight-and I liked that Scotty tried to stretch. Let's face it he's never going to be a pop singer, but he tried to be serious with it, and put some emotion in it, and it worked to some degree.

I knew the James/Jacob duet was going to be a disaster, and I hope it signals the end for Jacob tonight.

[Ksyrup]

They put Jacob 1st, dressed him like...I don't know what that was, and then paired him with James on a bizarre duet to end the show, just to ingrain in everyone's mind how bad he is.

It will be a tremendous shock if he doesn't go tonight.

[GrantDawg]

Jacob did seem like the sacfricial lamb tonight, didn't he? Put him first, dress him like Urkle, make him sing a horrible duet. It was like the producers were saying "don't vote for this one."

[Pumpy Tudors]

I only saw the end of Jacob's performance and then I saw Lauren's performance. Jacob is amazing, and I hope he does great things. I'm not talking about his singing. I'm talking about his apparent destiny of playing Rerun in a stage revival of "What's Happening!" As for Lauren, I felt pretty bad for the guy she pulled up onto the stage with her. She brought him up there, sat him down, and left him there. At least she went back and sat down next to him to finish the song, but that must've been really unsettling for him at first. He's sitting there all by himself while she's prancing about the arena. Then after he admitted to being 19, I thought Lauren's mom was going to run up onto the stage and either beat him or molest him. Awkward.

It's comedy like this that makes me want to watch. The singing and the competition don't do much for me, but random guy sitting on the stage by himself? Loved it.

[MJ4H]

hahaha I loved when she plopped him down and ran off. At least give him a gameboy or something.

[Ksyrup]

I'm going to renew my years' long conspiracy theory about the "bottom 3." They way the results were given last night, it seems to me there was no official announcement of a bottom 3, so my guess is Scotty was put there to light a fire under voters. I think Scotty really impressed the judges/producers with his song this week and convinced them he has promise as a commercial singer (I wanted to type artist, but I just can't go there), so now they are using the tried-and-true method of "endangerment" (by implicating he nearly went home, when I bet that wasn't the case) to get America behind him for the run to the finale. We're only 3 weeks from the finale, and there's still no buzz about a real frontrunner/winner to come out of this season. So they are going to manufacture the buzz.

That's my take on it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

hahaha I loved when she plopped him down and ran off. At least give him a gameboy or something.
lol gameboy

[CrimsonFox]

I'm going to renew my years' long conspiracy theory about the "bottom 3." They way the results were given last night, it seems to me there was no official announcement of a bottom 3, so my guess is Scotty was put there to light a fire under voters. I think Scotty really impressed the judges/producers with his song this week and convinced them he has promise as a commercial singer (I wanted to type artist, but I just can't go there), so now they are using the tried-and-true method of "endangerment" (by implicating he nearly went home, when I bet that wasn't the case) to get America behind him for the run to the finale. We're only 3 weeks from the finale, and there's still no buzz about a real frontrunner/winner to come out of this season. So they are going to manufacture the buzz.

That's my take on it.


To create "buzz" you actually have to say something. And have like, you know, "thoughts".

[CrimsonFox]

Catching up on this week's ep.

Good

James - Bet thing from James in awhile. Nice opening and it gets better. Love the throwback performace. But it's different . His ssinging is spot on.

Haley - Sounds raspy tonight. Good presence. Strong opening. Very nice tone. Very nice eotion on the middle. LIke this a lot. My favorite Haley performance so far!

Lauren - Nice quality about her voice this time. Very strong opening. Her voice really fits Carole King's stuff. Great blast belt note. Is this whole episode going to be filled with overpowering backup singers? She des struggle with high notes. Ouch. Very strained. She needs technique badly.




Avg

Haley/Casey - NOt a great perfroamce. She started okay but he was weak coming in.I expected the groly twins to add extra growl and they sure did. Haley actually carries a lot of this song herself. Expected more from Casey.
One of my favorite Haley performances so far.


Casey - Nice blues song, although I'm not a big blues fan. I really doubt everyone else watching is either. The growling and shouting is getting a bit old. Great energy and really sells the song. But hmmm...


Bad

Jacob - weak opening - long note is sharp, again too many backup singers...and I really wish simon was here again. He would have made fun of that horrible cvlashing outfit he had on. Bad all bad.

Randy - So his mom made him a sweater with an R on it. How cute and made him wear a tie that doesn't match. Or maybe the costumer just doesn 't like him and jacob.

Lauren / Scotty - Lauren is a better singer. Scotty can't do harmony at all. Just boring and somewhat painful

Jacob/James - A herman's hermit song? Yikes. They can't sing together even when they are both singing melody. This sounds really bad. Just bad. Their voices don't fit together. This is the danger of gimmicks. GImmicks don't fit together with someone else's gimmick. Proof that singing talent is lacking in some of these contestants.

Scotty - He can't hold long notes. Just loses it. It actually was really interesting starting choice for him. Was intriguied where it would go. Where it went was the same boring twang and gimmick room with lots of flat long notes. Just terrible. It could have been good if he could sing better.



Summary rank
Haley
James
Lauren
Casey
Jacob
Scotty

[Mota]

Yeah James is growing on me every week. He's not just the token rocker of the season, he feels like the real thing.

Scotty also proved this week that he's really awesome at his low voice country thing, but he shouldn't stray out of that territory for long. His singing was NOT good.

[Ksyrup]

American Idol "undermines art in every way and promotes commercialism, I am sad people love it so."

Who said this? Why, it's this week's mentor, Sheryl Crow! What a difference 4 years makes, huh?

Contestants this week will be singing 2 songs, one from the 60s and one current.

[Solecismic]

It was the Sixties versus the ultra-modern era on American Idol tonight, and the Sixties won so thoroughly that the NHL playoff quarterfinals appear evenly matched by comparison.

So while the Washington Ovechkins lick their wounds from a quarterfinal sweep, and the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings will try desperately to avoid the sweep on Friday, I'll try and grade the idols in a week where they all had and had not.

1. Haley Reinhart. I have a great idea. I'm going to arrange to have one of my contestants perform an unreleased single from the hottest pop singer in America. Something that's certain to generate buzz. And then, after she does a credible job on a fairly difficult performance piece, I'm going to have the judges trash her for singing a song nobody knows. Why? I have no idea. It's not like little Haley could call up Lady Gaga on her cell and say, "hey, Steffie, I had this fantastic thought last night, what do you think?" This had to be arranged weeks ago. So you can forgive Haley for standing there after the judges ripped her for song choice with this "whatever, dudes, it's your idiotic show" look on her face. Anyway, she knocked House of the Rising Sun out of the park as she retreated to the Sixties - best performance by anyone this season. 80 and 95.

2. Lauren Alaina. Her Carrie Underwood modern piece was kind of blah, but I thought her rendition of Unchained Melody showed off subtlety in her voice I really didn't think she had. Her best of the season, too. 72 and 84.

3. James Durbin. I have no idea what the opener was, other than a vanilla version of what he's been doing all season. It had maybe, and I'm being generous here, three different notes to sing. He improved, but over-emoted and missed too many notes, when he sung Without You from the Sixties. I guess they want to pretend that James will challenge Scotty in the final, so they pumped it up like it was beauty personified. Jacob nodded his head and said, "oh, ****, that's what overly corny sounds like." But it was a good song for him, could have been so much better. 68 and 81.

4. Scotty McCreery. First he twanged it up with a Montgomery Gentry twanger that passes for a fast-paced song in the country world. It sucked the life out of him. Then he improved with You Were Always on My Mind, which might well have been his best of the season. 69 and 79.

5. Jacob Lusk. There was something about a duet with Jordin Sparks and Jacob, only Jordin didn't show up so he sung her part as well. It was awfully boring and it's a testament to Jennifer Lopez's complete and total tone deafness that she gave Randy a hard time for finally telling Jacob just how bad he can be. Jacob then went to the Sixties with Love Hurts, and it hurt my ears. I wouldn't call that love, though. It wasn't terrible, but we've reached a point where Jacob doesn't belong on the stage with the other four. 59 and 67.

Expected Bottom Two: Haley and Jacob.

Who Should Go: Jacob. Anybody but Haley.

Who Will Go: I'm really worried this is it for Haley, but I'll hold out some hope the voters get it right this week.

[CrimsonFox]

Lauren 2 - HAs some wonkiness but some legitimate singing. Very powerful. This song sucks. It is really oversung and overwrought and overdone and overeverything. But she made me like it. No...LOVE IT!

Haley 2 - I hate this move at the beginning. It has been done to death. Still holy shit she gets right down to the bone. Piercing and haunting and beautiful Fucking great pipes and emotion. Love this song! She kills this song. It is wonderful. And parts of it are totally her own interpretation.

Jacob 1 - Probably the best he's ever done. Starts out kinda boring as he can't sing low well and the billy goat is exposed. When he soars to upper register he finally hits it really well. I think it's the upbeatness that he was lacking before. He finishes well too. Finally he does well.

James 2 - This is nice. Very nice. Very soft. Very new side to him. I can do without the Ruben Studdurd "hand reaches out" move. Those last few notes were kinda painful.


Haley 1 - Pretty good. There's some gimmick in it but then she starts wailing. Wow what a wail. Reminds me of sexy Tia Carrere from Wayne's World. Wonderful sounds.An unreleased song that actually is better than lots of released crap these people choose.

Scotty 2 - Was he singing? He was actually singing more than usual this time. There were some good still moments here.

Lauren 1 - Corny opening and oh boy a country song with extra gimmick. Kind of a yawner. Doesn't do anything really great with it. By the end I kind of forgot she was singing and phased out.

Jacob 2 - Horrible song. And THERE"S the Screaming Jacob I know and hate.

Scotty 1 - *yawn* shit sandwich.

James 1 - The worst opening of the season I think. I didn't hear a single note in tune...or rather I didn't hear him actually SING a note. He just shouted the whole thing. It really didn't work. And the song isn't that good either.

Final ranking:

Haley
Lauren
Jacob
James
Scotty


oh yeah:
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Jennifer - Wow you ARE a bitch. SHUT UP!

[Ksyrup]

LOL, what happened to songs from the 60s? Two of those songs were from the 70s, two were best known from the 80s (one as a cover, one from a movie), and then you had House of the Rising Sun.

As a power pop fan, I gotta give props to James for picking a Badfinger/Nilsson song. Though it was recorded in the 1970s (by both).

I don't really have any thoughts on the songs last night. I'm kinda over this season at this point. The thought of any of these people being handed the chance to be a pop star is kinda ridiculous, IMO. Lauren's the only one who I could see growing into a legit country pop star. Jacob is just what we need - a gospel singer with a moral superiority complex; if you could combine James' rock attitude/sensibilities with Lambert's voice, you'd have a great rock/metal singer; Haley is destined for Playboy (or Maxxim, depending on how the career goes); and Scotty will probably end up President of the United States. If I could put my finger on what makes Scotty so popular, I'd run as far away from it as possible, because he makes me want to throw up.

[Ksyrup]

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?

[MikeVic]

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?

It was after Jacob's performance that J-Lo called it one of the best EVER on American Idol (not just this year, but EVER)... right? I remember that I stopped watching again after I heard her say that. Get rid of her, she's useless.

[GrantDawg]

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?


Amen. I couldn't believe how bad they killed Haley. The judges are just so bad. Jacob sucked, sucked, sucked and they praised him to no end, and Haley sang that unkown song well, and they killed her. Just useless.

[Lathum]

I made the point about Jimmy a few weeks ago, I would love to see him as a judge.

The thing I admire about him the most is he doesn't pull any punches, even though he will have to be mentoring them for the next week. His honesty is refreshing amidst the see of utter shite the judges have become.

[Lathum]

dola- the interesting thing is the segment with Jimmy has only come about the last few weeks. It is as if the producers realized they had to do something to get some credable music commentary.

[Ksyrup]

Haley is this year's punching bag. She is literally getting conflicting advice, gets shit on when she performs well, a standing O at other times, takes the brunt of criticism for someone arranging for a star to let her perform an unreleased song (which, by the way, Gaga performed yesterday on Oprah and she'll be on AI next week, so tell me this wasn't all a set-up!), Jimmy makes comments suggesting weeks ago that she should be getting ready to get voted off ... I don't know what they are doing with her. It's not like she's a joke contestant like Sanjaya where they are going along with a gag but want him to leave early enough not to affect the "legitimacy" of the show or anything.

[Glengoyne]

I've only seen two episodes this year, and I think this is the best crop of want to be idols I've seen...maybe ever. Haley has been amazing in my book. I guess that means she isn't long for the world. I went out and bought Rolling in the deep after her rendition, and House of the rising sun... That wasn't a fluke. She can sing with emotion like few others who have gone before her on Idol.

[MJ4H]

For the record here are my rankings for this past week. Late watching.

Haley - distancing herself more and more as the class of this group.
Lauren - fantastic second performance.
James - his first song was a horrific performance. I can't believe anyone liked it. One of the worst I've heard in awhile. Flat nearly the whole song, one note his voice fell at least a quartertone at the end. Just being loud and emotional should not be enough. Lots of people can do that.
Scotty - this year's joke contestant. Gonna go a long ways though. I know a lot of people that are voting for him because he's country. Luckily, Lauren will dilute that some.
Jacob - this year's joke contestant part 2

[MJ4H]

Also Scotty looks like Alfred E. Newman.

[Solecismic]

Due to being one of the unlucky people who has the lowest-rated cable system in America (I'm talking about you, Charter) since some teenager in Pennsylvania unraveled string between a pair of tin cans and forgot to cut holes in the bottom of the cans, most of Idol tonight lacked usable sound. Thanks to Youtube, I've been able to listen to what I missed, at least pick up the subtleties from the performances.

This is a rather odd season of Idol. Aside from the rather serious screw-up of seeing Pia Toscano go out at #9, the voters have done rather well picking a strong final four.

However, it's time for the teeny-boppers' final two - James Durbin and Scotty McCreery - to leave the show. Scotty will have a great career in country, and James will probably take an offer to make some money on Broadway when he should be fronting a metal band. Neither is a great singer. Unfortunately, they will be the final two and there's nothing we can do about it.

Depressing thought.

Anyway, here are the rankings for the round of four:

1. Haley Reinhart. It must be fun for the people around Idol to have a contestant who has a VOICE. Not just an ordinary voice. Not a voice that can do weird gender-bending tricks like the recently departed Jacob Lusk. Not a voice that can squeak loudly at octaves not even a piano can reproduce. Just a voice that can sing anything in tune. So I understand Randy wanting to smack Haley around for shouting the second half of the Michael Jackson song which inspired her. But it was a far better performance than what you'd ordinarily expect from a judge's pan. I think Simon would have defended her. But that much shouting did get tiresome. In her song written by two people only Carole King has heard of, she was almost perfect. For the second straight week, the best performance from anyone this season. 83 and 96.

2. Lauren Alaina. I liked her a lot better in her inspirational song, because she went out and hit her big notes very nicely and without her usual timid gesturing. I was puzzled by her choice of the Elvis Evils performance piece. She sung that self-consciously and rather weakly. 82 and 70.

3. Scotty McCreery. Oh the humanity. Everything is so carefully orchestrated with Scotty. He has the gift of being able do a radio country voice, which is what he chose to inspire him. The lyrics spoke to his voters. He's safer than Rickey Henderson stealing a base off of Tim Wakefield. His old songwriters song was a kitschy performance piece that did absolutely nothing for me. He was careful to roll his eyes appropriately regarding Lady Gaga's advice. That, too, spoke to his voters. 81 and 68.

4. James Durban. James pandered in a different way, singing Randy Jackson's former band's biggest song surprisingly badly to open the show. But how could the judges criticize it? I had high hopes that Tony Soprano himself would come back to life and execute a hit on James at the end of the song. But Tony's gone. He's not coming back. James was far better with his interpretation of Elvis doing a corny performance hit. That song better used his range and his band-leading abilities. 67 and 80.

Expected Bottom Two: Lauren and Haley.

Who Should Go: Scotty. Not that he isn't ready to hit the country circuit and have very real success. He's just not as good a singer as the others.

Who Will Go: Haley. This makes me sad. She argued with Randy, who used the opportunity to hit her even harder. She was petulant when Randy repeated the criticism at half-time. For whatever reason, the judges want Scotty to win, and Haley's recent knockout performances could threaten that with different criticism. This is, ultimately, the price of Simon's retirement.

[Ksyrup]

I got so pissed when Randy and JLo went after Haley that I left the room for 10 minutes. Luckily, Scotty was the next performance of the night, so that worked out well. I called him an Assclown the first time I saw him last night, and it just kept coming out over and over.

I used to love hating Idol because I hated particular artists. And that's still true, to some degree, but the manipulations and BS judging this season has me hating the show for how it's produced. There is no earthly reason why Haley gets the shit kicked out of her week after week by either the judges, Jimmy, or the producers (song choice, special effects, order of performance, etc.), other than the show wants her to go worse than Sanjaya. It's an embarrassment to a show that is already high up on the embarrassment meter. I really have no interest in watching this show for the rest of the season. I barely made it through last night.

You could tell Haley knew what was going on and started to get snippy and pissed off because she was getting tired of it week after week, which is what they wanted because it immediately turned my wife off, and that's what they are counting on. She knows they are trying to get rid of her, so she was going to go out on her terms, getting the last word in.

[Ksyrup]

Some comments from after the show:


Here's what Haley Reinhart had to say backstage (http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b241389_live_american_idol_will_haleys.html#ixzz1M6zOBfXi) after tonight's Idol taping about the judges negative feedback of her Michael Jackson cover, "Earth Song (http://mjsbigblog.com/haley-reinhart-everybody-else-gets-good-feedback-and-they-let-me-have-it.htm#)":

"Everybody else gets good feedback and they really let me have it. They don't feel bad for me. Never have, never will. I got a little upset because that song is downright inspiring and emotional. No matter what, that hit me to the heart."

According to the source, E! Online, Haley was still mad, even after the judges praised "I Who Have Nothing". Even Lauren Alaina thinks the judges are unfair to Haley,

"I wasn't a happy camper about that. [about the criticism of "Earth Song"] That made me a little ill. I'm sorry, but Haley has the best voice on this show and she gets the most criticism. I deserve a lot more criticism than she does. I'm Haley's No. 1 fan. I listen to her iTunes songs (http://mjsbigblog.com/haley-reinhart-everybody-else-gets-good-feedback-and-they-let-me-have-it.htm#) over and over and over."

On a side note, Lady Gaga freaked out James Durbin when she snuck up behind him to swivel those hips, "To sum it up in one word, for me: awkward," he said. "Unexpected and very uncomfortable. I didn't like it."

[Ksyrup]

A little more:

“I’m not going to crack,” Haley told a group of reporters backstage after the Wednesday night performances. “As much as they might want me to, or try to [get me to], or whatever it is, I’m not going to. I think they know I can be very strong-willed and everything else, and that’s why they gave [the criticism] to me. I mean, they did tell me, ‘We know what’s in you so we do this to you because we [makes grunting noise] you can take it, and we want everything that’s inside of you come out.’ You know, I take that in stride. I realize it, accept it.”

When someone noted that Haley looked downright mad after Randy and Jennifer questioned her decision to sing Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” as the song that inspires her, Haley didn’t hesitate to share her feelings. “Yeah, man, I mean, come on, everybody else gets good feedback,” she said, clearly a bit exasperated. “They really let me have it. They don’t hold back with me, never have and never will. Yeah, I got a little upset because that song is just downright inspiring and emotional, and it’s beautiful. So, no matter what, that [criticism] hit me to the heart. Got me a little bit. Hey, it’s a show. We’re doing what we can, and I’m staying strong here.”<O:p</O:p

[Solecismic]

I've been frustrated with the voting in the past. That's just the way the show works. Simon realized that as well and tried to control things the best he could. Sometimes a Taylor Hicks grabs the kids and there's nothing you can do about it.

Same with Scotty this season. He has two huge voting blocks working for him, and there isn't much chance anyone else will break through.

I am angry about this, though, in a way I haven't been in the past. Haley has been fine-tuning her performances from earlier this season. She's showing off her skills in different ways. She's probably the most talented singer they've ever had on this show.

And she's probably going tonight - just like Chris Daughtry did five years ago, fourth place to Taylor's first. At least Scotty will sell a lot of music.

I don't see why the producers are so determined to protect Scotty. Maybe it's money. Maybe they make more with the country stuff even if it doesn't cross over.

But the constant criticism in a season when no one else receives as much as a frown is more than frustrating. It exposes Idol in a way it hasn't been exposed in the past. Shame on Randy for sitting there for ten years, making a personal fortune, and going along with it.

The Gaga stuff is fascinating. For her fans, just having her there is a big deal - they love her anti-establishment shtick. And she's well-spoken and interesting, and Idol lets that come through.

But the editing is so negative. Showing the inappropriate James-touching, leaking the photos of her $4,000 platform shoes with the dildo heels, editing in Scotty's eye-rolling after her critique, probably encouraging her to wear the insect wig which made her look a bit frumpy. Getting her to allow Haley (of all people) to perform her unreleased new song, then panning the hell out of it.

They managed to capture the Gaga star without embracing it. That was genius.

[Lathum]

My wife and I actually got into a heated discussion over Haley and her reactions. My wife felt Haley was being childish and needs to grow up. I countered that I can hardly blame her. The whole show has been a joke of a love fest from the judges, they have quite literally given no negative feedback until last night. I felt it was so obvious they were trying to give Haley the shaft, and even if they weren't hard for Haley to not feel that way given the way the judging this season has gone. My wife and I agreed to disagree.

[Ksyrup]

My wife and I actually got into a heated discussion over Haley and her reactions. My wife felt Haley was being childish and needs to grow up. I countered that I can hardly blame her. The whole show has been a joke of a love fest from the judges, they have quite literally given no negative feedback until last night. I felt it was so obvious they were trying to give Haley the shaft, and even if they weren't hard for Haley to not feel that way given the way the judging this season has gone. My wife and I agreed to disagree.

Totally agree, had the same conversation with my wife. And then 2 of the secretaries here talked about what a snotty little bitch she is. I haven't been all that sold on her as a performer simply because she does the Betty Boop "come hither" thing on nearly everything she sings, even when the song doesn't call for it, but (a) she sings almost everything in tune, (b) she brings something new to the table in the way she interprets songs, and (c) she's gotten better as the season progresses. But the bottom line is, she is doomed because her fans seem to be mostly split down the gender lines, and there aren't enough gay men in America to make up the vote difference.

Speaking of which...Michael Slezak explained the whole thing perfectly in his recap article:


What’s got my blood boiling, then? For starters, hearing J.Lo act as if Haley’s vocal was subpar in comparison to James Durbin’s listless, uninventive “Don’t Stop Believin’” by declaring “James comes out — he sets the bar.” (Lady, that’s not setting the bar, that’s dropping a piece of pipe on the floor. ) Or how about having Randy once again cast aspersions on Haley’s artistic identity, then act as if Scotty McCreery’s intensely hokey “Young Blood” cover was the stuff of sold-out concert venues. Or listening to J.Lo give a free pass to Lauren Alaina’s junior-miss pageant rendition of “Trouble,” but tell Haley that she and her fellow panelists will “never” go easy on her.

Oh, and on the off chance you didn’t realize how much the judges hated Haley and her rendition of “Earth Song” (or the fact that you were supposed to hate it, too), they had Ryan Seacrest call all four singers back up to the stage at the halfway point of the telecast so Randy could declare Round One a three-way tie between James, Scotty, and Lauren, and J.Lo could not-so-subtly suggest Haley as unfit for Top 3 duty — reducing this confident young woman to the brink of tears just moments before her second performance.

The irony of the situation is that the lack of tough feedback for Lauren, Scotty, and James has resulted in the chosen trio beginning to flatline as the season finale approaches, while the vicious campaign against Haley by the “judges” has probably played some part in her sure and steady growth from early-round cannon fodder into the kind of potential artist that has Lady Gaga squealing, “You’re going to kick so much ass, little pony!”

But even if you’re willing to entertain the idea that the “judges” have played a role in Haley’s growth these past 11 weeks, Idol also has to succeed on a different level — as an enjoyable piece of reality television. And frankly, it’s no fun to watch a panel of overpaid celebrities tell you that the sky is chartreuse, the grass is fuchsia, the water is tangerine, and that Haley is a piñata filled with delicious candy. (You just have to hit her with a stick a few more times to get your pack of Rolos. HIT HER! AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!)

[CrimsonFox]

My wife and I actually got into a heated discussion over Haley and her reactions. My wife felt Haley was being childish and needs to grow up. I countered that I can hardly blame her. The whole show has been a joke of a love fest from the judges, they have quite literally given no negative feedback until last night. I felt it was so obvious they were trying to give Haley the shaft, and even if they weren't hard for Haley to not feel that way given the way the judging this season has gone. My wife and I agreed to disagree.

probably a smart idea. :)

[CrimsonFox]

Great commentaries again Solecismic and Ksyrup. Always look forward to reading :)

[law90026]

Wife and myself agreed that J Lo and Randy Brown were douches to Haley. Randy just kept going on and on about how it was screaming, to the point Haley actually had to say "ok I get it" at some point when he yelled above the crowd for a 3rd time to emphasize it.

I mean seriously, how biased can you get?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saw a random FB post that mentioned that Durbin just went out at the same spot as Daughtry. True?

[Mota]

What a crock.

Scotty came across as a complete loser this week, I could put together a more authentic performance than he did this week. I have no idea how he could have survived.

Ah well, America (the voting ones at least) will get the winner that they deserve.

[CrimsonFox]

Um guys, some of us haven't seen the show yet. West Coast...

[MJ4H]

Don't open the thread?



And James going home should have been obviously the right choice, if you have ears and heard him sing his farewell song. Good God, that was worse than some of the intentionally bad singers in the audition episodes. And it wasn't that much worse than he sounds most of the time.

Scotty should have at least been a close call with him though. The two girls are so obviously better singers than those two guys, at this point, it is almost laughable to suggest otherwise. For some reason it seemed that James seemed to have this in the bag for awhile (at least to me, since he was so similar to a couple of previous winners). I'm glad to see that wasn't the case.

[Lathum]

Saw a random FB post that mentioned that Durbin just went out at the same spot as Daughtry. True?

Um guys, some of us haven't seen the show yet. West Coast...

I agree don't come into this thread. I am in Seattle and don't come into this thread until I have watched. That being said, someone copied a FB post and put it into the FB post thread, where I did visit. That annoyed me a bit since the person who posted should know better.

[Lathum]

MJ4H, I hardly think it is fair to judge someone based on how they sing on their farewell song given their dreams were just crushed.

[Eaglesfan27]

MJ4H, I hardly think it is fair to judge someone based on how they sing on their farewell song given their dreams were just crushed.


Agreed. He was among the most emotional contestants to leave the show. Hard to sing with all of that boiling up.

[CrimsonFox]

Late thoughts on Wednesday's ep...not that it matters. :)

James 1 - Awesome job. I've never really liked this song. But James is on with this one. Doesn't have Steve Perry's whiney nasally voice. Best version of the song I"ve ever heard really.

Haley 2 - I remember when whatshername overdid this song and won somehow. Killer notes. Killer emotion. She's got Linda Ronstadt and Alanis MOrissette in her.

James 2 - Great performance. Thought the song was a bit boring as I know it, but Gagagoogoo really did open him up. A hard rocking version is actually really good.

Haley 1 - Odd song. Very emotion in a good way. Quiet and subtle. I'm fully onboard with you guys in how good she is. Excellent control. This song choice might bring her trouble tho.

Scotty 1 - An Alan Jackson song. What a fricking surprise. Fast Forward.

Lauren 2 - Simon would have flushed this down the toilet as way way WAY too musical theatre and he would have been right.

Lauren 1 - Really bad song. Just boring and fluffy. I really don't see why Randy is so up on this and down on Haley.

Scotty 2 - No words can describe this.



Jennifer - Choosing a hit song? That's the only goal? Choosing a good song for you sure but you're kinda mean.
Randy - Telling her to do runs? Runs are the thing people do when they are oversinging. Runs suck. And gee, pushy redundant...


Ranking:
James
Haley
Scotty/Lauren

Totally not surprised at Thursday's outcome. I think it speaks volumes of the demographic that most watches/votes.

[CrimsonFox]

Eh, since it's this show I don't really care about spoilers. It's just that it's been discussed before in other threads (Amazing Race, Survivor) about when it's opkay to post and discuss results. Just common courtesy is all. And others (not me) decided that once the show airs everywhere here then it's fair game. But really I just didn't expect results to be discussed yet. Just expected more singing analysis. Oooooh the facebook thing. Yes that REALLY annoys me. Someone blurted out the ending to Sixth sense once in a meeting. I've been annoyed by spoilers ever sense. :)

[CrimsonFox]

MJ4H, I hardly think it is fair to judge someone based on how they sing on their farewell song given their dreams were just crushed.

pretty funny and well said. :)

[wade moore]

Eh, since it's this show I don't really care about spoilers. It's just that it's been discussed before in other threads (Amazing Race, Survivor) about when it's opkay to post and discuss results. Just common courtesy is all. And others (not me) decided that once the show airs everywhere here then it's fair game. But really I just didn't expect results to be discussed yet. Just expected more singing analysis. Oooooh the facebook thing. Yes that REALLY annoys me. Someone blurted out the ending to Sixth sense once in a meeting. I've been annoyed by spoilers ever sense. :)

Not sure where you've seen this.

I think it's pretty accepted that if you don't want to see spoilers, don't click on a thread after start time on the East Coast.

[Ksyrup]

Only reason I didn't discuss the results is I didn't care enough to post about it. We didn't even watch last night, I just saw the "outrage" all over FB. This type of thread, the expectation should be that discussions will be had whenever people want to have them, unless the thread title specifically asks for no spoilers. That's been my rule of thumb here and elsewhere.

[wade moore]

Only reason I didn't discuss the results is I didn't care enough to post about it. We didn't even watch last night, I just saw the "outrage" all over FB. This type of thread, the expectation should be that discussions will be had whenever people want to have them, unless the thread title specifically asks for no spoilers. That's been my rule of thumb here and elsewhere.

Well, I think it's pretty expected not to just post spoilers BEFORE something is aired.. for instance if you get an advanced screening of a movie, or video game, or whatever.

Beyond that, yeah, I'm agree.

[MJ4H]

MJ4H, I hardly think it is fair to judge someone based on how they sing on their farewell song given their dreams were just crushed.

Oh believe me, I had passed judgement on him long before that. As you saw, I said it wasn't much worse than he normally sounded. It just magnified his deficiencies.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That being said, someone copied a FB post and put it into the FB post thread, where I did visit.

Out of curiosity, was the FOFC group the only place you hit on FB, I mean like didn't see your wall or anything else? Or is your FB wall virtually 100% western time zones?

I'm not picking at you or anything, it's an entirely genuine question. I mean, I don't watch the show at all (literally) but I know the results within a matter of seconds every week thanks to a dozen or more FB posts that hit my wall. Hell, that's the only reason I know who any of these people are. So it just struck me, well, off-guard that anyone could avoid it if they were on FB at all before watching. Is my friend's list unusually broad in time zones maybe (i.e. most PST's don't have a lot of EST's on their list)? As I said, not busting on you in the least, your comment just sorta started me wondering.

[Alan T]

Out of curiosity, was the FOFC group the only place you hit on FB, I mean like didn't see your wall or anything else? Or is your FB wall virtually 100% western time zones?

I'm not picking at you or anything, it's an entirely genuine question. I mean, I don't watch the show at all (literally) but I know the results within a matter of seconds every week thanks to a dozen or more FB posts that hit my wall. Hell, that's the only reason I know who any of these people are. So it just struck me, well, off-guard that anyone could avoid it if they were on FB at all before watching. Is my friend's list unusually broad in time zones maybe (i.e. most PST's don't have a lot of EST's on their list)? As I said, not busting on you in the least, your comment just sorta started me wondering.


I actually haven;t watched any American Idol this season either, and am in the same boat as Jon here. I probably could pretty easily list the last several people voted out in order thanks to a bunch of people on my facebook friend lists posting while the show was on.

Of course I'm east coast, so it doesn't effect me much, but I'm also curious to what extent people on the west coast have to virtually ignore the complete internet during the nights of their favorite shows (whatever they may be ie: American idol or survivor or whatever)

[JonInMiddleGA]

But really I just didn't expect results to be discussed yet.

Looking back, it appears that I inadvertently was the first last night.

My intention was to ask the question I asked, plain & simple. I don't follow the show beyond what I see mentioned online, it was something I wondered about & I thought of this thread as a logical place to ask and get a correct answer.

I even skimmed the thread briefly before asking (mostly to see if my question had already been answered), all I can figure is that I wasn't paying much attention to time/date stamps of the several posts above mine, saw what I believed to be a post-results comment immediately before mine & figured it the outcome was already under discussion. Honestly, the west coast thing never crossed my mind for a second, I'd have almost certainly been more careful about the phrasing or spoiler-tagged the question if I had.

Sorry if I screwed it up for anybody, it wasn't intentional at all.

[Ksyrup]

Well, I think it's pretty expected not to just post spoilers BEFORE something is aired.. for instance if you get an advanced screening of a movie, or video game, or whatever.

Beyond that, yeah, I'm agree.

Yeah, I agree with that clarification (and have been pretty careful to put spoiler tags around some of my early season posts). I was referring to the idea of posting along with the airing of a show or immediately thereafter.

[Lathum]

Out of curiosity, was the FOFC group the only place you hit on FB, I mean like didn't see your wall or anything else? Or is your FB wall virtually 100% western time zones?

I'm not picking at you or anything, it's an entirely genuine question. I mean, I don't watch the show at all (literally) but I know the results within a matter of seconds every week thanks to a dozen or more FB posts that hit my wall. Hell, that's the only reason I know who any of these people are. So it just struck me, well, off-guard that anyone could avoid it if they were on FB at all before watching. Is my friend's list unusually broad in time zones maybe (i.e. most PST's don't have a lot of EST's on their list)? As I said, not busting on you in the least, your comment just sorta started me wondering.

I actually haven;t watched any American Idol this season either, and am in the same boat as Jon here. I probably could pretty easily list the last several people voted out in order thanks to a bunch of people on my facebook friend lists posting while the show was on.

Of course I'm east coast, so it doesn't effect me much, but I'm also curious to what extent people on the west coast have to virtually ignore the complete internet during the nights of their favorite shows (whatever they may be ie: American idol or survivor or whatever)

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my initial post.

I avoid FB like the plague the night of AI results, survivor, or any reality show I watch that could be spoiled. I also avoid this thread, the survivor thread, etc...

My beef was someone posted in the thread about stupid FB statuses, copying a status a FB friend of theirs had posted that gave away the AI results.

[JonInMiddleGA]

My beef was someone posted in the thread about stupid FB statuses, copying a status a FB friend of theirs had posted that gave away the AI results.

You were probably clear, I just managed to misunderstand anyway. Somehow I thought you meant that it was mentioned on the FOFC FB group.

[GrantDawg]

I am very late this week. Just watched tonight. I really thought my head was going to explode when they carved Hailey like a Thanksgiving turkey. My wife was in agreement with me that they are idiots. Scotty just flat out sucked in that second song last night, and they treat him like he is a king. Hailey sang a song solid, and you would think she fell on her face or something.

Jim mentioned he thinks they are trying to protect Scotty, but that doesn't compute. James maybe(and to some extent Lauren), but Hailey is not pulling Scotty voters. She might be lucky, and get James' voters after this week (can you see them going to either Lauren or Scotty?). After that, though, she is doomed either way.

Scotty has it wrapped up. He is just coasting, and everyone knows it. Did you see James after it was just him and Scotty? They all know he has been the top vote getter every week since the begining. He has never been in the least amount of danger. James knew he was dead when Lauren and Hailey sat down. He was done. And if Hailey survives next week (and to my guess, it is possible with the formentioned James' voters breaking mostly her way), she has no chance against Scotty. Lauren voters will definitely break toward Scotty for the most part. And as proven by his craptacular performances the past few weeks, he doesn't even really need to try to get them.

[Ksyrup]

I would predict that Scotty winning this thing will make Taylor Hicks look like Kelly Clarkson by comparison, but I'm figuring that the demographic Scotty plays to will eat that shit up.

[Buccaneer]

This (final 4) is about the time I check on AI, not having heard nor seen anyone up until now, except by reading the posts here. Rock is the ONLY musical style on AI that I find tolerable, along the lines of Daughtry, Bice and Cook. Of the four, what a contrast between James and Scotty. I don't understand the appeal of Scotty, quite unlistenable and cringe-worthy. The females are the typical AI screachers but Hailey does have more control than most. Jon's observation about James leaving as #4 is apt.

[Buccaneer]

But then again, I realized how popular this show is in the South, where the musicality runs between twangy shit and HS Musical schlock.

[Mota]

Well I do apologize for posting the spoilers IMMEDIATELY after the show aired. I do think avoid show-specific threads myself if I haven't watched the episode yet (and that's most nights since I DVR everything to avoid commercials).

My pet peeve is when people post spoilers in their Facebook status. I've specifically asked one of my friends not to post show spoilers but she does it anyway.

For shows like American Idol it's virtually impossible to avoid. At my job we have digital signage that has news as well as work advertisements, and they always call out the result the next day. So it's either watch it that night or watch it over breakfast the next day before going to work.

Anyways my wife and I are SO sick and tired of Scotty. He appears to be a commercial success due to his voice but he's showing that he's a one trick pony during this show. He's been exposed, and it's not pretty. I really think his second performance this week was one of the worst AI Top 10 performances of all time, it was just a joke.

[Ksyrup]

It really was. That was John Stevens/Crocodile Rock kinda awful.

[JonInMiddleGA]

But then again, I realized how popular this show is in the South, where the musicality runs between twangy shit and HS Musical schlock.

You do realize that Urban is the leading radio format in most Southern markets these days, right? And that Rhythmic CHR is often a strong contender as well, right? That while country still has a top position in some markets (Charlotte most notably) it's also easy to find markets where it's not even a top five format at all, right?

[Ksyrup]

Southerners are by far the biggest voting block by geography on the show. And when you give the audience good urban/R&B vocalists, they'll get the votes (Fantasia, Reuben, Doolittle). When you give them country/rock singers, they'll vote for them (Bice, Josh Gracin, Bucky). And when you give them young southern females, they'll vote for them (DeGarmo finished SECOND! Then there was Pickles and Carrie Underwood and now Lauren).

This year, they gave the audience none of the first category.

[Buccaneer]

You do realize that Urban is the leading radio format in most Southern markets these days, right? And that Rhythmic CHR is often a strong contender as well, right? That while country still has a top position in some markets (Charlotte most notably) it's also easy to find markets where it's not even a top five format at all, right?

Understood.

[Ksyrup]

And then there's the opposite effect of NEerners. Ayla Brown, Mikaylah Gordon, and now Pia Toscano all got sent packing pretty quickly, or much eariler than people expected.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Southerners are by far the biggest voting block by geography on the show.

Show me the numbers, darned if I can find them.

Best I've been able to find is that
1)Southerners are more likely to watch the show
2) that eventual albums by artists with Southern connections typically sell significantly better than the rest, and notably
3) notably that callers in the East (including the South) have a much lower success rate at having their votes counted than those in other time zones (because of the busy signal problems caused by having larger total population voting at the same time).

Not saying they don't exist, just saying I can't find them.

[Buccaneer]

Southerners are by far the biggest voting block by geography on the show.

That has always been my perception, without any facts to back it up.

From wiki, fwiw

Geographical biasSince the show's inception in 2002, six of the nine Idol winners, including its first five, have come from the American South.[90] The three exceptions are Jordin Sparks who came from Arizona, David Cook from Missouri, (which is considered part of the "Upland South",[91] and Cook was born in Houston and was living in Tulsa at the time of his audition)) and Lee DeWyze from Illinois. A large number of other notable finalists during the series' run have also hailed from the American South, including Clay Aiken, Kellie Pickler, and Chris Daughtry who are all from North Carolina.[90] At the time of the 2004 finals, which pitted North Carolina's Fantasia Barrino against Georgia's Diana DeGarmo, their Southern character, or character appealing to the South, was cited as reason for their success.[92] Data from Nielsen SoundScan, a music-sales tracking service, showed that of the 47 million CDs sold by Idol contestants through January 2010, 85 percent were by contestants with ties to the American South.[90]

The show itself is particularly popular in the American South, with households in the Southeastern United States 10% more likely to watch American Idol during the eighth season in 2009, and those in the East Central region, such as Kentucky, were 16 percent more likely to tune into the series.[90] When asked about the appeal of Southern contestants, season five winner Taylor Hicks, from the state of Alabama said, "People in the South have a lot of pride ... So, they're adamant about supporting the contestants who do well from their state or region."[90]

and its source: 90.^ a b c d e Kevin Downey (January 11, 2010). "Year after year, 'Idol' has a Southern accent". MSNBC. Year after year, ‘Idol’ has a Southern accent - Entertainment - Reality TV - TODAY.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34611375). Retrieved April 15, 2010.

[CrimsonFox]

Was just watching the "Classic Albums" episode that focuses on Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers' 'Damn the Torpedoes'. Classic Albums is basically a show (now on VH1) that takes one album and interviews the band, producers, engineers, managers, etc and talk about it. The producer of that album was "Jimmy". Realized it is Jimmy Iovine, who does the mentoring on Idol. Definitely a "Oh THAT's where I've seen him before moment." LIke him even better now. Granted he fought with various Tom Petty band members too. :) (especially the drummer)

[Lathum]

Granted he fought with various Tom Petty band members too. :) (especially the drummer)

In Jimmys grizzled voice "you can't make great music without conflict"

[CrimsonFox]

In Jimmys grizzled voice "you can't make great music without conflict"

Well he got that right I guess. They fired that drummer, tried out others and they just didn't work, so two weeks later they brought him back again cause nobody else fit the band. Pretty much their best record.

[Ksyrup]

Song choices are leaking out - well, the judges' picks were released last week. But apparently Haley's mom and dad spilled the other two (one her own choice, one a producer's pick):

Judges' Pick - You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette
Producers' pick - Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Her pick - What Is and What Should Never Be by Led Zeppelin

Apparently LZ contacted her and offered her some of their songs after her performance of House of the Rising Sun. there's even video of her singing it, but I'm not sure how old it is. Sounds good, though.

[CrimsonFox]

Judges' Pick - You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrisette
Producers' pick - Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Her pick - What Is and What Should Never Be by Led Zeppelin

Apparently LZ contacted her and offered her some of their songs after her performance of House of the Rising Sun. there's even video of her singing it, but I'm not sure how old it is. Sounds good, though.


LOL I don't really buy that "LZ contacted her" story. Sounds like PR.
All three songs sound great although they will most likely change the words to you oughta know :) Didn't Crystal Bowersox do that one and they changed the words and everyone here got all bent outta shape about it? :)

Not sure if Rhiannon is a good pick. It's a little plain notewise, kind of a talky song. and relies a LOT on the guitar work and harmonies but I'm sure she'll get a solo type arrangement.

Overall I like her selections. They are a good "grouping". The judges are always bitching this year about finding "who you are". Well These three songs are all rock songs so she is definitely declaring herself the "rock chick". I like her chances. Well I mean really she doesn't have any competition based on voice alone. Unfortunately voice doesn't have much to do with it anymore.

[Solecismic]

Stark Country (http://www.radio-info.com/newsletter/html/sc-05172011.html?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=9f9cef57a5-Stark_Country_05_17_2011&utm_medium=email)

An excellent piece with quotes from people who know country. Unlike me.

[Ksyrup]

I was going to post that earlier, but work got in the way and I forgot. Anything that diparages Scotty, I heartily endorse.

[CrimsonFox]

:+1:

Like these quotes:

"where certain programmers have been turned off by his frequent Josh Turner impersonating performances and quirky mannerisms."

"I wish people would quit comparing this kid to Josh Turner. He attempts to sound like him, but the only thing he is successful at is looking like the kid on MAD magazines . . . "

[MJ4H]

<3 HALEY

[Ksyrup]

The verses on the last song were really weak, but everything else was stellar. She has twice the talent of the two others put together. The Led Zep song was great.

[GrantDawg]

The verses on the last song were really weak, but everything else was stellar. She has twice the talent of the two others put together. The Led Zep song was great.


The last song was a bad choice, but what did you expect from the judges? I joked to my wife they'd pick the Alphabet song. They hated on her so bad this whole season, there was no way they'd actually pick a song that actually had like "melody" to it.

[Ksyrup]

Did you notice what else they did to screw Haley? When they showed the other two revealing their judges' picks, they were surrounded by dozens of adoring fans. Haley? Alone in a car. She has no fans, obviously.

[MJ4H]

Thought the last song was a perfect choice for her.

[Ksyrup]

The verses were way out of her register. Other than the choruses, that song blew.