The American Idol Thread

[dws1982]

Don't feel like commenting in a lot of detail about who was flat and who was sharp, so I'll leave that off tonight.

Ace - The de-pimp from the judges is beginning, as the judges seem to finally have realized that he just isn't that good of a singer. I had him pegged to go around sixth in my predictions, but now I wouldn't be surprised to see him go earlier. Last season Mario (remember him) did a better job with this. 4.

Kellie - Maybe they've begun to de-pimp her too. She stank. 4.

Elliott - Kind of weak to start, but when he stood up it was a lot better. But a lot of times his song choices have me forgetting what he sang within an hour or so. 7.

Mandisa - Meh. I thought this was her weakest performance yet. 6.

Bucky - Only in a spot or two could I not understand what he was singing, although that could be because he kept repeating the same phrase a lot. But still, his best so far. 7.

Melissa - Other than forgetting the words, I thought this was a really nice performance. 7.

Lisa - So, the Lisa-bot isn't only programmed for ballads! But I disagree with Simon about her having some X-factor. Decent, but not overwhelming in either direction. 6.

Kevin - Probably his best yet. Not aggressively awful like Simon thought. But someone who's 16 going on 12 singing "Part Time Lover"? What the hell? 6.5

Katharine - To not be pregnant, she dresses more pregnant than my sister, whose baby will be here by next Thursday at the latest. It was busty at the top, but at the bottom, her dress might as well have been a tent. She sounded nice and all and...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 6.5.

Taylor - Probably the first time I can say that I "get" him. Still tries to reach notes that aren't in his range, but this was my favorite of easily. 8.

Paris - She really is getting to be annoying with her precocious little act. She did pretty well though. 7.

Chris - Is there any doubt at all that he's The Chosen One? Best of the night though. 9.

[Eric]

Looks like I'm gonna have to recap this episode on my blog or something. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm sure I can get a torrent pretty quickly. The mere thought of Taylor doing "Living for the City" makes me want to jam pencils in my ears, though. Paris and Mandisa both picked fantastic, not-at-all-played-out songs.

[anonymous1980]

I know I said I've sworn off Idol but I couldn't resist myself. It's like crack.

01. Chris ("Higher Ground") - Wow! The BEST Idol performance this season so far. Simply amazing. Loved it. (A+)

02. Taylor ("Living for the City") - Taylor is such an infectious performer whose love for music shines through all his performances. Another great one from him. (A-)

03. Paris ("All I Do") - Her best performance since Week 1 of the semi-finals. After two rather underwhelming performances in a row, she's back. (A-)

04. Katharine ("Until You Come Back to Me") - Flawless vocals and a great performance but the one problem I've been having with Katharine is that I can't seem to endear myself to her like I'm disconnected. I think I'm not alone in this and this quality will probably be her downfall. (A-)

05. Mandisa ("Don't Worry 'bout a Thing") - Not quite as great as last week's performance but it's still a highly entertaining one which I've come to expect from her. (B+)

06. Elliott ("Knocks Me Off My Feet") - Kinda uneven performance from him. Some parts of it were great, some parts of it were just okay. Good but not great. (B)

07. Kevin ("Part Time Lover") - I know what you're thinking: What the hell is Kevin doing so high? He wasn't out of tune, he didn't forget the lyrics. He actually injected more of his personality into his performance. Yes, it was bad. But it's the fun, cute, endearing and entertaining kind of bad. Like I've said before, I had the feeling that he picked this song because of the humor of it all and I was right. I sensed that "I-know-I'm-not-gonna-win-so-I-might-as-well-just-do-this" which I give him a lot of points for. (B)

08. Lisa ("Signed, Sealed, Delivered") - It's a good polished performance but very, very safe and very, very forgettable. Unlike Paris, who went back into being impressive, Lisa continues to underwhelm. (B-)

09. Melissa ("Lately") - I can't forgive her for forgetting the lyrics. Vocally, she was good. But this wasn't the best song choice for her, I'm afraid. (B-)

10. Bucky ("Superstition") - Not as bad as I thought it would be but it is his best performance so far. Still nothing to be "wow"-ed about though. Very forgettable. (B-)

11. Ace ("Do I Do") - Damn. I miss Mario Vazquez who did an excellent version of this before he withdrew from Idol last year. Ace's limitations as a vocalist and performer has been exposed for the world to see. I don't know if it's my bias talking but this one is just boring. (C+)

12. Kellie ("Blame It On the Sun") - "AAAAMMMM SAWWWWWRRRY!!!!" It's okay, Kellie just get voted off and pose for Playboy and we'll all be happy. She's not even bad in an entertaining way like Kevin is. She's just bad bad. (F)

WHO SHOULD GO HOME: Kellie
WHO WILL GO HOME: Melissa

[OscarGuy]

After last night's and the previous two weeks' performances, I will rescind my prediction that Ace will be in the Top 4...

Chris, Mandisa, (the one simon said was like a Kelly Clarkson at this stage in the competition) and Taylor possibly...

[anonymous1980]

I don't think his song chioces were any worse than Ace's (who chose ambitious songs that he couldn't possibly pull off) or Kevin's.

Bottom line is that the judges had it out for him.He was branded karaoke. He was accused of being too safe. The judges could just as easily have praised the same exact performances, and he would've gotten through. (Just like they could just as easily have ripped Kevin every time he sang.) The only people who get honest criticism are the ones who aren't percieved as threats to The Chosen One.

Things like this are why people support the Vote For The Worst movement.

Excellent point, dws.

I've also liked to point out that Kevin was VERY, VERY subtly pimped the past couple of weeks. From shout-outs from Ryan during Girl's Night, the jokes about him looking like Chicken Little and impregnating Katharine McPhee, the cheek pinching bit, the kinder comments from Randy and Paula (Simon criticized him but he was kinder to Kevin than he was to Will). Will received none of that. They didn't let him do his Chewbacca impression on the air, mentioned the fact that it was his birthday last week or pointed out his resemblance to Fred Savage.

Will was completely on his own. He had to give performances that were nothing short of outstanding to make it to the Top 12. It was the producer's plan all along because Will wasn't their Chosen One. I think this happened with Bo. Bo wasn't being pimped much. Before the semi-finals, we only knew him as "That Other Rocker". But Bo was wise enough to pull off a great performance and the producers and judges simply had no choice.

I just found out something about Gedeon that made me dislike him a little less: His father died last December but he chose to still remain in the competition. The fact that he did not use his father's recent passing to win more votes shows a lot of class in his part. Unlike some other people out there ("coughsKelliecoughs*).

Will and Gedeon were threats to their Chosen Ones. That's why they were booted.

[dws1982]

Will's problem has always been song choices though. I can sense he had the ability to wow with a great performance. But his song choices did not do justice to his singing and performing talents.

I don't think his song chioces were any worse than Ace's (who chose ambitious songs that he couldn't possibly pull off) or Kevin's.

Bottom line is that the judges had it out for him.He was branded karaoke. He was accused of being too safe. The judges could just as easily have praised the same exact performances, and he would've gotten through. (Just like they could just as easily have ripped Kevin every time he sang.) The only people who get honest criticism are the ones who aren't percieved as threats to The Chosen One.

Things like this are why people support the Vote For The Worst movement.

[VanHelsing]

seeing ayla cry just breaks my heart...

and then when for a brief moment, the cameraman took a shot at those two crazy gal palz, i felt like turning off the TV right away!! urghhh!!

[anonymous1980]

Ditto Will Makar, who, despite being one of the most marketable guys there, was sandbagged week after week by the judges.

Will's problem has always been song choices though. I can sense he had the ability to wow with a great performance. But his song choices did not do justice to his singing and performing talents.

It still, of course, does not explain why the judges were kinder to Kevin who is clearly inferior both in vocals and performance or that Ace barely got scratched for his middling performances the past two weeks.

[OscarGuy]

Notice Simon said similar things about her and Chris this week. Often the judges will get unnecessarily negative on a contestant. They know that it energizes the singers' fan bases and gets them to vote. It's the best way to get someone to vote for someone on the show. Either trash them or give them so much praise they're drowning.

[VanHelsing]

dang! my ayla is gone!!! so sad for her... :'(

thank god melissa made it! book a plane ticket home? sorry simon, you're wrong!

seriously, ayla's much better in terms of vocals than Katharine & Kellie who both like to act cute just to gain more votes... it's so unfortunate that ayla decided to do an upbeat, not-much-range song... if she had done another ballad (which she is very good at), she would have scored a hat-trick & secured a spot in the top 12... sigh...

[Eric]

I'm not going to say it was a completely successful performance, but Ace's song choice was the riskiest I've seen in awhile. I mean, a song that's almost three-quarters falsetto? Might as well go up and whistle for the entire duration for how American Idol audiences have been voting lately. The show's Justin Timberlake era is long gone and we're knee deep in what last season initiated (and what I complained about some months back): a regressive fantasy world in which pop music still stems from rock 'n roll and has never been "tainted" by hip-hop.

All I ask people is to compare Taylor against Gedeon. There's certainly no difference in raging self-regard. They both expend a lot of energy. But I'd argue the latter is by far the more accomplished vocalist, and to not hear it is to reward "range" (this elusive concept that I can't say makes any sense when no one was asking Bo Bice to sing disco or anything) over talent. It's like arguing over whether the '70s belonged to Marvin Gaye or whether they belonged to Michael MacDonald. And, forgive me this one overreaction, but that whole thing about Gedeon's "big grin" is just. plain. racist. (I'm not accusing anyone here of that, mind you. Seacrest & co. were the ones who started that meme up.)

[dws1982]

Sad that that performer-bot Lisa made it into the top twelve over Ayla, who at least tried to stretch herself. And I'm not shedding any tears over Gedeon getting cut (he wasn't very likeable), but he absolutely deserved to make it over at least three guys who made it. Ditto Will Makar, who, despite being one of the most marketable guys there, was sandbagged week after week by the judges.

[Sonic Youth]

I'm very sorry to see Ayla go. Because, yikes, is she hot.

I've fulfilled my quota of thirty minutes of American Idol this season. Carry on...

[anonymous1980]

That's it.

I'm quitting Idol cold turkey.

Although I love Chris and Mandisa, I can't stand a Top 12 where the overhyped, overrated Ace and the obviously fake Kellie makes it in over woefully underrated Will.

Bah! Good riddance!

Gotta tune into The Amazing Race this week.

[OscarGuy]

Something's telling me I should NOT vote for Will Makar.

Anyway...do you have a thing for the jail bait?

Are you talking to me, Oscar Guy?

Gee, I wonder.