Yeah basically. Here, listen to a short excerpt if you want.

Wow. That's one hell of a pure voice. Someone needs to get her away from the Disney music and put her in a band, though. :D

Disney music, indeed. Nella Fantasia is a song based on Gabrielle's Oboe from the movie The Mission, composed by a guy you may have heard of, Ennio Morriconne (recent lifetime acheivement award at the Oscars).

Honestly, she'd be perfect for a symphonic metal band like Therion. They use real opera singers and such.

Just looking for some way to relate an obvious talent to something I might actually enjoy, that's all!

Re: Suckjaya's sister... have you guys noticed her freakishly large forehead and reptilian wide-set eyes?!? I mean, I'm a tit guy too, but that face is a deal breaker for me!

Now you know why paper bags were invented.

So - are Melinda and LaKisha going to be in anyway pushed out of their comfort zone or forced to make a song out of their comfort zone in to their style? Seems like no, and I find that very dissapointing and discouraging personally.

a paperbag would not help

hxxp://slimtainment.com/idolblog/wp-content/photos/shyamalihooters.jpg

I hope so, and the AI producers should make it happen so they get knocked out. I believe a few weeks back we were talking about how bad the show would look if Melinda got knocked out, since she is 10x the singer than anyone else and could be a professional today. Well, my opinion has changed pretty quickly...the show will look bad once again when the winner ends up having a much worse career (or no commercial career) compared to the losers. And soon it'll be looking bad to not just the people like me who never watched a season like Ruben-Clay but know that the runner-up is more successful, but the core audience will start wondering why their winners aren't tearing up the charts like the ones they're going up against.

I mean, eventually it has to catch up with them right?

edit: Do you think people are going to end up going crazy over the Melinda-Lakisha combo during the Idol Tour?

It's a good question that I'm not sure the answer too. In reality, I think you can say that only two Idol Winners have had commercial success - Clarkson and Underwood. Reuban, Fantasia, and Hicks have all had mediocre commercial success. However, Daughtry, McPhee, Grayson have all certainly been more commercially successful than those three winners - and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting since last season was the first season I watched.

I disagree. I think people see this as nothing more than a game or a contest and really don't care who sells more. This is reflected by the fact that if it was all about selling records for the audience, then 30 million people would be buying American Idol albums, but those numbers are nowhere close.

I find it difficult to read anything nefarious into the Idol system. The voting rewards the power voices, which don't necessarily translate into commercial success.

We are conditioned by the format to recognize the strongest instrument. Sometimes, that is coupled with absurd amounts of talent, like with Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. And sometimes it isn't.

It's a subjective system, and that pretty much guarantees a lot of people won't be happy with the results. At least it's better than how we choose presidential candidates.

Please Please Please DO NOT vote Sanjaya off....

Andy Samberg did a pretty solid rendition of Sanjaya on SNL this past weekend.

Tonight's theme is Pop Songs of the '90s. Gwen Stefani, everybody's favorite gender unspecific singer, is guiding the proceedings.

As usual, many of the constestants are playing it fast and loose with the song choices. The divas are singing 1980s Donna Summer songs, the ballad-oriented guys are choosing 1980s Police songs. In fact, only the trio shamelessly sucking up to Stefani seemed to choose songs anyone would ever identify with the 1990s.

In order of performance...


Lakisha Jones - "Love Has a Mind of its Own" - Donna Summer

Randy says: "I liked it, I like you, what a way to open the show."
Paula says: "Murphl bloffy terrapin quaable"
Simon says: "It was a bit slow, a bit too much in your comfort zone. I'd like to see you try something a little more modern."

Expected Score: 80.


Blake Lewis - "Love Song" - Tesla?

Randy says: "I have no idea what it is, but I liked it."
Paula says: "Crunky blaffles!"
Simon says: "I didn't like your song choice this week. I thought it was too slow and a little odd. It was all Blake improvising, and I think you're at your best with more melody to work with."

Expected Score: 75.


Jordin Sparks - "Hey Baby" - No Doubt

Randy says: "It's good to see you out there, but I don't know that it was your best vocal."
Paula says: "Wizzle cranfl reskatootle blumpki."
Simon says: "You need to perform songs that show off your range and the quality of your voice. This is more an energy song, and it just wasn't a good choice for you."

Expected Score: 73.


Chris Richardson - "Don't Speak" - No Doubt

Randy says: "I like the song choice, I like the quality of your voice, I think it was a bit pitchy."
Paula says: (nothing, she's just drooling like a lapdog with a fresh bone).
Simon says: "I'm not sure it was a great choice for you, but I like you and I think you made your fans (glances at Paula) very happy."

Expected Score: 78.


Gina Glocksen - "Just Like a Pill" - Pink

Randy says: "I'm just going to frown at you, because you already know what I'm going to say."
Paula says: "You're you, and that's what I love about you."
Simon says: "The lower ranges were simply dreadful. I know you want to preserve your place here as the rock singer, but that seemed very forced. I think you're in some danger this week."

Expected Score: 52.


Phil Stacey - "Every Breath You Take" - The Police

Randy says: "I just don't know. That didn't really do it for me. I mean, it's good, but, uh, it's good."
Paula says: "Skibbie wooo furley rangerabbits."
Simon says: "You know what that sounded like? You know when your father has had a little too much to drink, and he meets a pretty girl, but your mother's there so he doesn't want to say anything overt, but he wants to let her know, and then he gets up on a table and sings. That's what it sounded like."

Expected Score: 57.


Haley Scarnato - "True Colors" - Cyndi Lauper

Randy says: "You know, I kinda liked it. Maybe not your best performance, but it was okay. I mean okay, you know."
Paula says: "You're Haley, and you're always going to be Haley, and I love that."
Simon says: "I don't think that was a very good choice for you. It just wasn't a very strong performance. I won't remember it tomorrow. I loved the dress."

Expected Score: 66.


Sanjaya Malakar - "Sunday Morning" - No Doubt

Randy says: "It's good to see you having fun up there. I'm not sure the reggae beat was a great choice for you."
Paula says: "Nilldy wanngrass flibby gerfunket."
Simon says: "I have no idea why you're still here. You have a good voice, but it wasn't a good performance."

Expected Score: 54.


Melinda Doolittle - "Sunset People" - Donna Summer

Randy says: "That was a hot vocal. I enjoyed the faster pace this week, you're in your comfort zone and it really shows."
Paula says: "Priyannamawgally!!"
Simon says: "Like LaKisha, I want to see you try something new and different. You really are a sweetheart, aren't you? Yes you are, Melinda. Yes you are, and that is just so rare."

Expected Score: 85.


Chris Sligh - "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" - The Police

Randy says: "That just didn't do it, dawg. It was kind of bad, you know."
Paula says: "I thought it was pitchy, but you know how much I love you."
Simon says: "You're going to have to step it up. There are three or four people here who want to be here, and that just wasn't good enough."

Expected Score: 61.


Overall... I'm not all that impressed with the song choices. I know the '90s pop scene was kind of a wasteland - grunge groups took off and the mainstream became a lot less cool. Still, finding a bunch of '80s songs that sort of fit in more reminds me why grunge was necessary in the first place. I see the LaKisha/Melinda combo dominating tonight even though they are staying firmly in their comfort zones simply because no one else will step it up. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not looking forward to tonight.

I think Sunday Morning is Maroon 40 and Love Song is The Cure. I am most curious about Blake doing that one.

Of the shakier contestants, I believe Haley has done the best picking a song to fit her voice/talents.

Just my opinion on what I've seen over the years, but it seems to me that people are more likely to vote for someone who sings a modern, popular song "well" over someone who hits an oldie out of the park. Melinda will not win this competition unless she starts singings songs that were written after the invention of indoor plumbing (or at least songs that sound like they were written after it). This week was her perfect chance to do that, and she blew it.

Can't......stop.....watching.....

I'm almost certain Sunday Morning is No Doubt as my roommate in college was a huge fan and played their music constantly.


Jim, that was hilarious commentary and so on point.


Edit: Per Google, Sunday Morning definitely is by No Doubt.

Maroon 5 has a song called Sunday Morning as well, but going by the category I would guess it's the No Doubt song tonight...

Makes sense. I will go crawl back in my hole.

I'm getting really tired of the divas escaping and getting good reviews for basically doing the same thing every freaking week.

Gwen Stefani is yummy

Gina picks awesome songs. This song fucking rules.

Gina is the Greg Luzinski of this competition. She swings for the fences and when she connects, the ball goes REALLY far.

dola

sunjaya

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

wow, she is extra hot tonight....

and I thought we'd have a courtney love moment there.

Haley=yummy!!!!(who cares what she sounds like).

I concur.

I just hope she sticks around just so we can look at her. :D

I give the week to Gina. It's the first week I think you can make an arguement that Melinda didn't do the very best. It will be interesting come vote counting time, because the performances I think were all around pretty strong. I never like Chris, but I liked him this week. Ditto Phil. Blake, Melinda, Lakisha were their usual strong selves. Even Svenjaya wasn't awful this week in my mind.

I didn't like Jordin near as much as the judges, I'd put her in my bottom 3 this week along with Chris and Haley.

I'd give the week to Gina with some order of Phil Stacey (to my surprise), Blake, and Melinda in the next tier.

Heh Jim, I liked your judges comments better than the real thing. :)

Well a pretty blah week for me, maybe because I'm not a Gwen Stefani fan and three of the people picked her songs. Other than one person none of them were my favorite performances from them. I think Gina wins hands down here.

The two Chris's are in the most danger I think, probably Phil too. That is if Sanjaya doesn't go after making himself an even bigger joke than he already is. My god everything about it from the hair to the song choice was awful. Loved Simon's comment about him being in his own universe though. Would that be "Bizarro Universe?"

1. Melinda - always technically sound, always emotive.
2. Gina - fantastic song. A few bobbles in the performance but I'm a fan of this song so I'm biased.
3. Lakisha - pretty technically solid, pretty boring. I can't really even remember it as I type this.
4. Phil - performed well, but tried to sound too much like Sting for me. Still pretty good.
5. Blake - yeah this was pretty rough pitch-wise in some spots, but Blake has style and is always entertaining.
6. Chris R - I'm amazed frequently that while Simon doesn't seem to get some of the technical music things, he almost always gets when someone has fundamental problems while Randy and Paula are frequently the opposite. Chris did struggle in the middle with his pitch and phrasing and Simon recognized it, but I'm not sure he knew exactly what he recognized--just that he was struggling.
7. Jordin - Yikes, I thought this was extremely hokey and completely missed the spirit of the original. Like Mary Poppins trying to sing Joan Jett.
8. Chris S - oof
9. Haley - Pretty girl who can sing ok.
10. Sanjaya - this isn't even worth a discussion.

I could not agree more.

Someone explain to me the point of a "theme" if Melinda and Lakisha can basicly sing the same songs every week.

I would fully support a Skinemax musical for Haley.

I'm officially bored with Melinda and Lakisha.. good singers but, if Blake gets the comment of 'You're doing Chris Daughtry and doing your own thing' not sure what exactly Melinda and Lakisha are doing. IMO, they have done nothing to be unique. At this point, I'd like to see a final of Jordin and Blake.

Unfortunately, my DVR screwed up when Sanjaya sang.. it is as though the finger of God scrambled it so I would not suffer.

Agree 100%

Anything to see more of her.

I think Gina and maybe Blake, if he had some really great songs, are the only two this season that I would be interested in seeing live or buying one of their CDs.

Pair her up with Sanjaya's sister, and I'd walk funny for the rest of my life...

So much for previews this week. Pay no attention to the man behind the spoiler sources. If you don't watch out, seven little monkeys will spring out from Sanjaya's hairdo, pick up brooms and launch an aerial attack not seen since the days when Peyton Manning was all about touchdown numbers and failure in the playoffs.

Speaking of reversals, Gwen Stefani is looking pretty hot these days. I guess she took her own vocal advice about not oversinging good melodies and applied that to her makeup staff. There's no doubt, no doubt at all I would have given her more a listen in the '90s had she presented this more feminine side. First Fergie, now this. What's up with that?

Tonight was songs by artists who Gwen considers an inspiration. Strangely enough, they include Gwen Stefani. Did you know that if you play her first album at 78 speed, it's the perfect soundtrack for the premiere episode of South Park? For you kids who are too young to know what 78 speed means, Google it or something, as I get to the ratings:

1. Gina Glocksen. My spoiler site had her mangling a Pink song with a difficult lower register. She had other ideas, fortunately. She took on a sincere Pretenders song and kept it very much under control. It was night and day from last week as she was able to show her power without losing her pitch. Score of 93.

2. Melinda Doolittle. We run the risk at this point of expecting perfection every week out. She picked up the pace with a faster Donna Summer song and really performed it well, hanging back for the first minute and letting loose in the final bars. A very professional approach, well done as always. Again, I'm wondering why a seasoned pro is kicking ass in an amateurs' competition. Score of 90.

3. Chris Richardson. I liked this vocal a lot better than I thought I would. His tune is very good and he can handle complex runs as well as anyone in the competition. His voice doesn't have the pure tone I think is necessary to win it all, but he's making the most of every week. Score of 84.

4. Blake Lewis. I had him singing the wrong Love Song. This was The Cure's version, and much better suited to his brooding vocal style. I think he made the right choice not to beatbox it up, but he had a bit of trouble with the higher notes. Part of this score is just enjoying that someone is doing a competent job adding a completely different performance style to the Idol repetoire. Score of 83.

5. Phil Stacey. He did a very nice job imitating Sting performing a difficult song. Usually, Phil is bad karaoke. Tonight, he was very good karaoke. Score of 82.

6. Jordin Sparks. Jordin clearly studied the hell out of old No Doubt videos. She had Gwen Stefani facial expressions down pat, mannerisms, even dressed the part, taking care to cover the less toned midriff. Jordin will be a phenomenal Broadway star some day. It was good to see her take a chance, but it wasn't up to her usual vocal level. Score of 81.

7. LaKisha Jones. Three through seven today were separated by a handful of points. This wasn't really a bottom half peformance, it's just that after Melinda and Gina, the next five were good but not great. LaKisha also picked up the pace with Donna Summer tonight, and did a nice job, but I could tell she was out of her comfort zone. Score of 80.

8. Haley Scarnato. Miles and miles of space between number seven and eight, though. It started rough, then she had a nice run that had me hoping she could finally break through, but then she crashed badly in the middle and could not retain her rhythm or tone. She just can't get past these Miss America competition level renditions. I think she should make the transition to Miss America. I'd vote for her there, not here. Score of 60.

9. Chris Sligh. From day one, I've worried he doesn't put in the work. He had some decent ideas here, and probably should have done a lot better, but the end result was just a poor imitation of Sting. Stacey flat out beat him like a rug tonight. Score of 57.

10. Sanjaya Malakar. Last week, he had a lot of energy, and sold a decent parody. I liked it. This week, he lacked energy, looked like an idiot, but still tried to sell a parody version of a song. It was pure amateur crap as a result. Score of 34.

Who's in the bottom three: Chris Sligh, Haley, Phil.

Who should go: Sanjaya.

Who will go: Chris Sligh.

Average Scores to date:

Melinda 92, Jordin 84, LaKisha 83, Blake 80, Gina 78, Chris Richardson 76, Chris Sligh 67, Phil 63, Haley 63, Sanjaya 49.

Where did you get that that was the order of performance? It was totally off.

I loved Gina tonight. She blew me away. Phil was second with Jordin third. Jordin is freaking awesome and I agree she would be terrific for the finale with Blake

I'm with you guys on the Lakisha/Melinda thing. I'm officially on an anti-diva platform. After we rid the world of Chris R. I don't think I've ever seen a singer after whose performances I've said - every time - "that was flawless, but awful." But that's basically my comment after Mellinda sings every week. Horrible music, performed professionally. But as often as Simon says that he's seen these performances on a cruise ship or whatever, I have to say the same about Melinda - except, maybe not a cruise ship, but Broadway or some high-end Vegas show. Woop-de-freaking-do.

I hate that music with a passion, and the fact that they can sing the same shitty-sounding songs week and week regardless of the theme pisses me off to no end.

Sanjaya's hair was what he tried to do last week for You Really Got Me, but the hair stylist couldn't get the gel to work, so he scrapped it at the last minute and came up with the individual ponytails to pull it off this week. I didn't think it was possible for him to be worse every week, but he managed it.

Chris S. was really bad too. I'll say it again - lose and go back to your band.

BTW, Jim, hxxp://mjsbigblog.com/ pretty much nails the spoilers every week - even down to the wardrobe (they reported the Sanjaya hair thing last week).

I mostly agree with Jim's rankings, but I would knock Chris Richardson down at least 3 slots to just above Haley and bump everyone else up 1 slot. Gwen looked incredible tonight. Haley looked even better. I hope she hangs around for at least a few more weeks.


Edited to add: I really loved Gina's look tonight as well as her song and had her first on my list. I see signs of improving confidence in Jordin every week which should carry her far with her talent.

Sorry, not sure what happened this week. I use a variety of sources and this looked reliable. Obviously whoever came up with it made up the order and only had about half the songs right.

Had I seen the differences before the show, I would have said something, but I didn't get to MJ's site today. I just went there, though, and they had most of the songs and the order. A couple they just knew the artist, but not song.

I thought Jordin was excellent, but again, that song was terrible. She was out of breath in parts and the song was light on actual vocals, I thought. The only ones I thought were downright bad were Sanjaya and the Chris's.

I've always like "Hey Baby", but even before she went on stage I felt it was the wrong sort of song for this kind of competition...

I just want to reiterate what everyone else has said. The diva bit is getting old, particularly that the judges do not call them out. Gina rocked the house and even got the Melinda lovers to see her as better this week. However, Gina is back into my not-so-hot list for looks after this week. ;)

I think one of the Chris's go this week.

I'd never heard the song before and hope never to again.

It's much better in its original format...

I think Chris S. is gone, he was really out of sync tonight.

dola- My fiance has serius radio and she said when she has the Howard Stern show on "vote for Sanjaya" scrolls across the display :)

I don't get what you all like about Melinda. So, she's got a good voice. This is a performance competition and she has half a package. No personality on stage frankly. With the repetition of songs added to that, I have one word that sums up her performance when she steps on stage --- BOOOOORRRRRING.

Gina won tonight. Chris S. sucked. So did Haley, but I'm hoping she can hang in longer for obvious reasons.

If this keeps up.. honestly at some point they are gonna have to step up and just eliminate sanjaya.. Clearly he's the worst of the bunch, shouldn't have made the final 12.. much less the show to begin with

By "you all" do you mean "the judges"?

More and more folks here are joining this club - is this also true elsewhere in america?

PERFECT summary of this performance for me.


Good summary by Jim. I'm glad he mentioned the Gwen thing. I was REALLY thrown off. If they hadn't told me that it was Gwen Stefani and just shown this woman up there talking, you could have bet me $1000 that it was Gwen Stefani and I'd take you up on that bet. COMPLETELY different look (read: better) and she seemed like she was as young as the contestants.

What I took from this episode was that Gwen looked freaking amazing. I have not been a fan of hers because I hate that over made up look she always has. She looked damn hot last night!!!

Really hope Chris Sligh doesn't go tonight. Have to say I enjoy his vocals more than any other of the contestants. He's just made some poor decisions with song choices/arrangements. He may be better suited for a band though rather than solo-I keep thinking he'd be good with Barenaked Ladies for some reason.

I have been outspoken on this board about my hatred of this Madonna wannabe, but I agree with what you said. Stripped of the makeup and faux-punk attitude, she came off as stunningly beautiful and nice. The funny thing is, I was convinced from seeing her last night that she was in her early 30s, but was shocked to see that she's older than me (37). I think she was the real winner last night.

Oh, and am I the only one who thinks they gave Chris R. the last performance of the night as a way of trying to prop up his chances of staying on the show given that he was in the bottom 2 last week? That's supposed to be the "show stopper" performance, but he certainly didn't earn that spot. I think that was the show's attempt to buy him some votes to keep him around. Just a theory.

Have you heard his band's stuff? I linked to it several pages back. It's radio-friendly, but pretty good. I think the BNL connection is his weight.

yes yes.

Interesting bit of info...


The New York Times (registration required) notes that out of the Top 11 American Idol contestants, 7 are from the South. Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred further points out that in the Top 24, the South was underrepresented–only 7 were from the South–including Florida, Texas and Virginia. In other words, Stephanie Edwards was the first Southerner to be eliminated since the public started voting.

Last year, according to Pursuent Research, 39% of Idol viewers came from the South, while 21% each came from the North and North Central regions and 19% from the West. This year, according to the Times article, ”…the two-hour season premiere had a 34.7 share in Atlanta, compared with 22.3 in New York and 18.2 in Los Angeles [from Nielsen Media Research].”

On the issue of Lakisha and Melinda's song choices, since both were from Donna Summer, I wonder if Gwen Stefani was coaxed into adding Donna Summer to her list of artists that inspired her. I guess anything's possible and certainly there are likely to be artists you wouldn't expect on many artists' "inspired by" lists, but that just stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

Police, Pretenders, Cure, Cyndi Lauper...and Donna Summer.

One of these things is not like the other ones, one of these things just doesn't belong.

I had the same thought.

And this is now two weeks in a row of "questionable" song choices to the theme were Melinda and LaKisha both picked the same artist.

It all just stinks to me.

I was thinking the same thing.

In addition, I have always been a fan of Gwen Stefani in the looks department, but I'm odd. :)

His physical appearance probably does have something to do with the connection, but I just thought ever since I first heard him that he would do a great job with a BNL song.

I keep meaning to check out that link, but I'm lazy. :)

America...your next American Idol!

I have to admit, Stefani looked pretty darned good last night (the brief glimpse I saw), and I have been less than enamored with her in the past. I was really taken aback. :)

I have always thought Gwen Stefani was hot, but I can see how folks find her unattractive when she has her stage-look going. She always looks pretty good when she is a guest on a talkshow or in regular interviews, though.

I don't get the Melinda backlash. You can quibble about the song choices, but she is heads above everyone else in the competition talent-wise. I think when the inevitable diva showdown occurs in the next few weeks that Lakisha will be the one who is gone.

Jordin is growing on me every week. She is just the epitome of the cute sassy high school girl and would be a fantastic idol for marketing reasons.

I think the problem with Melinda is that she's not really "competing" - in addition to being a pro, she's not being forced to choose, or willingly choosing, songs that fit the spirit of the themes in the competition. I don't care what Simon says, this is NOT a singing competition. Peter Noone was right - it's a voting competition. And I would much rather see someone like Blake win than Melinda because he "gets it" - he's 100 times more likely to be a successful AI winner in 2007 than the "technically proficient but sings songs from your mother's 8-track collection" stylings of Melinda, no matter how great a voice she has. Or heck, if I'm forced to choose between the remaining divas, Jordin wins hands down because she is much closer to what AI is supposed to be about than "Melisha" (for short).

Agreed. In addition there's an entertainment factor. I want an AI contestant to entertain me, not just wow me with a technically proficient voice. Melisha (I like that) does not entertain me. Part of that entertaining is to see what they do with the themes. Since what Melisha does is stretch as far away from the theme to pick another song just like the previous songs they've done, that does not entertain me.

And before people try to make the Blake/Daughtry comparison again - like it has been said, Blake takes a song from the theme and makes it his. Melisha takes a song that either really (imo) doesn't fit the theme or is on the outskirts of the theme that fits their comfort zone.

Would anyone here really pay to see Melisha (agreed on liking this, and I think this should be board mandate from now on) in concert?

There are two rules, as stated on air over and over:

1) Vote for who you like, vote early and often.

2) It is a singing competition.

It's up to us to determine how we interpret that. For me, Melinda is the best singer. Her performances have the subtlety of a polished performer.

You can see that reflected in the judging - especially with Paula, who has problems expressing herself and has taken on the public role of a cheerleader, but seems to have an unusual understanding of performance when she isn't making a fool out of herself. The judges know that Melinda is a pro, and the others aren't.

For others, the criteria might be who motivates them to want to buy albums - there was only one in the top 24, Leslie Hunt, who might want to put out albums that I'd consider buying. And I don't like jazz, so I'm not even sure of that. So that criteria doesn't work for me, but it might work for others.

Or is it star quality? Melinda doesn't have a lot of that, she just sings extraordinarily well. There are several others, including LaKisha, who probably deserve more votes.

It's hard to say what's fair and what isn't. I've come up with my own guidelines, and I feel free to bend them at times when I'm inspired.

I think Idol has only had one candidate who had everything, and that was Kelly Clarkson. I missed the first season, but it's being shown in syndication weekly right now on Idol Rewind. I'm amazed with how good she is, compared to everyone (including Melinda) in every season since.

Kelly gave Idol credibility. I'm not sure it would still be on the air today if not for her. Simon says he will quit if Sanjaya wins this season. I agree. That credibility would be permanently lost if someone who really can't perform consistently is promoted as a winner. I think Taylor winning last season was bad enough - at least he has a consistent stage presence, even though none of us will remember his name five years from now.

I would pay to see Melinda. I would not pay to see Lakisha.

As for Jim's post, I agree with pretty much everything he said. I will also add that I often have trouble remembering Taylor's name when talking to others about him/Idol last season.

I had this thought recently and meant to post it.

Simon Cowell, American Idol, Fox, Sony/BMG, everyone involved owe so much to Kelly Clarkson. If Justin G. is the winner of the first American Idol and Kelly isn't even a contestant, is it the machine that it is today? My gut tells me know.


As for the other points you make - it's definitely subjective to each person. I can see where an individual would view it as a singing competition for themselves (as you have), but I think to try and sell that the show as a whole is a singing competition I think is naive. Even Simon, etc. saying it is stupid to me - as they ALL comment on looks, stage presence, etc, etc as much, if not more, as actual singing ability. As others have said, there are contestants that make the top 24 that have no business being there on simply singing. This just is so much more than a singing competition and the idea that it's not is just silly.

Again, not to take away from an individual forming their opinion as it being about the singing quality - that's fair - but the machine that is American Idol is so much more.

I'll believe it's a singing competition when the top 24 singers are chosen to compete. Until then, I'll believe that they want a competent singer to win, but that personality, looks, backstory, demographic appeal, overall contribution to an entertaining TV show, and an apparent ability to sell albums are all part of what goes into selecting the group of people from whom we must choose. Saying it's a singing competition and putting Sanjaya and Antonella Barba into the top 24 are just not compatible.

The reason Kelly Clarkson was/is so good is because she is the entire package; Melinda has just a fraction of that. Just looking at the difference in the two of them demonstrates that this is not purely a singing competition.

yes yes.

The AI producers carefully control what we see on the show. I think there's a reason why we didn't see (or at least I don't recall seeing) Sanjaya perform before the top 24 show, outside of his audition. I think they put him through to be the lightning rod that he is. I find it hard to believe he wasn't exposed during Hollywood Week. I think they saw that he could sing, but they also saw that he had a Volatility Rating of 99 and figured that he would be useful as either a legit contestant if he got his act together, or as the buffoon he's currently portraying. Choosing him wasn't about being a great singer, but the way the show documented it, we are lead to believe that the judges/show was as mislead about him as we were. I call BS.

Basically, they're looking for a way to capitalize on a variation of the William Hung Factor, and each season I think you can point to someone who was in way over their head. Sanjaya's just elevated it to an art form.

According to one of the spoiler sites:

"Next week’s guest coach is Tony Bennett. Not sure if the theme is Love Songs or Standards.”


Greeeeaaaaaat. :rolleyes:

I will say this about Sanjaya.

If he had started the progress we have seen over the last couple of weeks in the initial 24 stage, he might actually be ok right now. In my mind, he has improved pretty substantially (relatively speaking) in the last two shows in some of his major flaws. However, he's just so far behind the curve now and was stagnant for so long.

I don't see improvement at all. If anything, I think he's given up trying to come close to singing in-tune at the expense of coming off as "outrageous." Early on, I thought his vocals wee pretty good, but the delivery and overall performance were terrible. As I said earlier, I think he's wrong in trying to compensate for that by acting/looking like an ass - that doesn't make up for the lack of aggressiveness in his vocals.

He's certainly more entertaining now, though, in a train-wreck sense.

I guess my thought is that his singing has gone down, but his performance is going up. If he did this at 24, 22, whatever.. then he could theoretically put the two together and by say 12 be a respectable performer.

The way I see it is I wanna see someone win who is going to put out a solid product after the show ( like Kelly, Daughtrey). I don't think anyone can argue Melinda is the best singer in the competition, but she has no originality. Watching her the last few weeks has been a snooze fest.

The flipside is I can't wait to see Blake come out or even Gina. I would love to see what original music they put out after the competition, I just can't see Melinda doing anything interesting/ unique after the show is over. I see her either on broadway or performing in Vegas, etc...

"


"


Absolutely not.

This is a competition to see who is the "American Idol" not who is the "technically best singer." If that were the case, we'd have a bunch of opera and classically styled singers.

I'm still bummed they cut the opera chick who sang Jeff Buckley at her audition.

The only thing I learned last night is that even if you lie down on the floor and stare straight up the TV screen, you couldn't get a peek of Haley's naughty bits. Pity.

Chris S. is done.

no surprise here.


To me the biggest surprise is that Sanjaya wasn't at least in the bottom 3, seems we will see alot more of him.

Crap. And Double Crap for Sanjaya not being in the Bottom 3 after that performance.

DialIdol had him 4th...he's safe another couple weeks...

This whole Sanjaya thing is turning the competition int a mockery

I disagree, because the people who are leaving aren't capable of winning either.

There is no way Idol allows him to win. If suckjaya wins, American Idol pretty much signed their death warrant. People that watch it wanting the best performer or singer to win will pretty much view the show as a joke.

they don't already?

Hopefully this means the "hunger strike" girl will die.