I agree. They're completely exposing each of these singers repeatedly and showing you all their flaws. Stuff like this doesn't drive people to the stores or Itunes to buy new albums. Let the singers show us what kind of album they'd record, and let us judge them based on that. If Mr. X is a great death metal singer, making him sing Abba songs does nothing towards letting us know that.

I don't mind the generic type genres (60s/70s/etc), but it is these singer specific genres that are just for shit. (Other than doing 1 week of the Beatles)

I won't think they would ever have complete control over what they could sing just given that I'm sure not everything is allowed, but they could at least get creative. Pick a song from a European, A song from the last year, a song from someone within 100 miles of your hometown...

I'll admit I tuned out Archuleta almost as soon as he started, but did anyone who was paying close attention notice that he flubbed the second verse? The dude from EW was all over it, and mentioned that the camera switched to the back of his head at the moment he had his difficulties. I completely missed that.

After Dial Idol completely blew it last week, I'm not sure what to think now, but I agree on the bottom 3, probably not in that order, though.

Yeah, definitely not that order, but that would be my bottom 3 as well.

I have no problem picking a bottom two, but the third is a toss-up to me. I really think there are only two safe people going into tonight's show.

That was probably my favorite Archuletta performance of the season... *shrug*

How could you tell?

Probably 'cause I actually knew the song, for once...

I'm just messing with you. It doesn't really matter the song, every performance he gives sounds identical to me. I couldn't tell any of his songs apart. I've never seen someone so young who can sing have such a limited performance/genre range. Randy said he can sing anything, which is technically true if he turns it into an adult contemporary song.

and Brooke turns everything into a Carole King song and Syesha turns everything into a Warbling Whitney song and Jason turns everything into a Stoner Ballad and David Cook turns everything into Daughtry Rock and Carly turns everything into a Shrieking Mess. Or like something, I dunno, Pat Benatar? Whatever. Yeah they all do that to a degree.

It's sort of strange because on one hand you have people complaining about how AI demands too wide a range, from singing ABBA to Cats to the Beatles to Disco. On the other hand you have people complaining that the performance don't have a wide enough range of style.

EDIT: It doesn't bother me that they adapt songs to their personal style or that they choose songs that are in styles they do well. I understand it can seem to get old, but that is pretty much what others are asking for. Just show us what you do well and we will decide if we like it. Some are put off by that, but apparently others are put off for singing ABBA one week and Bon Jovi the next.

or maybe they all just suck

I agree on Brooke and Castro. But I think Carly and Syesha and DC have all done different things this year, fairly successfully. DC last night was out of the ordinary for him, as was Syesha (and as an actress/singer, it's what she probably should have been doing all season - Doolittle Lite); and Carly's quiet song from a few weeks back was pretty good. Archuleta, the only time he has gone uptempo or even off of the adult contempary/inspirational sound was a trainwreck.

I agree they occassionally go outside their zones. I just think it is a little unrealistic and unfair to call out a contestant for doing what they do well when they all do it. Going outside of that can be a good thing to show a little range, but it is a risk. Judges do call them out for taking risks unwisely and for being too safe on occassion. I guess it is factored in.

I guess what I'm looking for is the contestant's own sound, not a homogenous sound they perform in every week. There are plenty of artists who have a "sound" but can do different things that don't sound at all alike, but the music is still recognizable as that artist's.

I guess my biggest problem with Archuleta is that he doesn't seem to have an identity of his own. Or maybe he has one, but it's so bland and out of the ordinary for someone his age that it's really perplexing to consider how he is marketable to anyone under 45. They stuff he's performing, and the style he's performing it in, taken out of the AI context, would be laughed out of a producer's office. The closest comparison is Clay Aiken, and he's obviously not selling to the young crowd. I think that's the fly in the ointment with this kid. He's young, but he doesn't act like it.

Eh. I like Clay, too.

EDIT: Should've won over Rueben, easy.

Don't ever tell that to anyone again. Ever.

Which is amazing that the judges don't call him out on this. They have routinely in the past jabbed at contestants for not being modern enough. David A is even trying to be modern.

What was that terrible song he did that he claimed was one of his favorite songs?

That in and of itself is ultra disturbing.

Yeah, that David Foster song somebody from New Zealand or something sang back in 1990. That was one of the worst songs I've ever heard. It was like South Park parody song, except it was totally serious.

Except he didn't last night which is part of why it was a great performance.

Eh, the end was going there a little bit.

The band who does that song happens to be one my favorites as well. Not generally one of the bands you would see on AI, but his rendition of it in the studio version was good.

Are you thinking of the right song? I think smurf's talking about You're the Voice, recorded by some Australian dude in 1985 and covered by Jeff Pescetto and David Foster in 1990. I am disturbed to see that Heart recorded a version of it, though.

Oh, I thought he was talking about Cook. I didn't care for that Archuletta song either. I don't really have a problem with contestants mostly sticking with their style though. Not that I'm specifically going to buy any albums from the contestants, but I obviously wouldn't buy a DA rock album or DC country album.

Hmm I hadn't noticed.


Oh yes I did.

I didn't think it was a great performance, incidentally. I thought it was quite passable and he made a decent stab at it, but nothing near what he usually does. I agree that going outside the comfort zone is nice. I don't agree it is horrible if they stick to what they are good at. After all, that is what they will probably be doing when they are making albums.

Concur with your latter point. Though I had no love for her, Amanda Overmyer was probably smart about it (so is Castro, coincidentally) - just keep doing the sort of song you'd want to record/perform and do your best to build a fan base around that.

Nobody except for possibly Syesha will likely ever do musical theater, so it's pretty pointless imo to make them do it for this week's dog and pony show.

Did anyone catch the comment from Randy about how this week would suit the big voices better? Well.. duh!

I can live with different genres I guess (though it doesn't make sense to me) but to have genres that are catered more to certain kinds of voices just makes little sense.

Also, Andrew Lloyd Webber is kinda creepy.

And Carly be gone.

Horrible choice. Even out of the two of them, Carly was miles better than Syesha overall.

I'm just glad that I won't have to look at Carly's flabby arm fat flapping ever again.

All because she dared to sing about Jesus.

I think she got voted off because it's *American* Idol (dammit!). She and Michael Johns were doomed from the start. :)

Plus the arm flab, of course.

The tattoos were way more offensive to me than the flab. Grody.

Boo! hiss. Carly was one of the best.

No way!!! Syesha looked hot as hell the other night.

Carly had great potential early on but has not gotten one bit better as the season has progressed. Syesha has been getting better each week and is easily above Carly at this time.

With that said... What the hell is dread lock boy still doing in the competition (other than being stoned out of his mind most of the time)?

Truth.


Don't underestimate the powers of a pretty face. My wife absolutely adores him and I suspect a strong female vote is saving him right now, especially since his voice isn't terrible (like Sanjaya terrible).

my wife wondered the same thing

Odd, I didn't think I was commenting on their looks?

After watching AI, then switching over to South Park and seeing a commercial for the new Mike Myers movie, I'm beginning to think Myers is the illegitimate child of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

That dude is fidgity as hell.

Castro is so freaking annoying! Yawning backstage, then continually humming while he stood next to Carly and Ryan waiting to find out if he was safe. That dude is just not right in the head. And I think it goes way beyond smoking pot. He's just bizarre.

Getting on stage probably makes you do odd things if you aren't used to it (maybe 10 times total since AI started doesn't count). I don't know if I'd be the coolest cat ever if I was up there

Disagree. Carly and Syesha have been about equal. They both screamed on songs. Syesha made adjustments but got dinged for other issues. Carly adjusted a bit, but not as much.

Both, however, were miles better than Brooke and especially Jason. How in the world he's still there is beyond me. Maybe he's getting the "He's sooooo bad, we're gonna vote for him" votes.

I'm shocked Syesha wasn't voted off, but not because she was worse than Carly. It's more because she doesn't seem to have the support to stay in the race. I don't think she'll win, but I'd like to see her make it through to the top 3. Contrary to many opinions on here, I've liked her performances. Her problem has been she gets dinged for doing popular Whitney songs, even though she changed the arrangement somewhat on the Dolly one, then gets dinged for doing a lesser known Mariah song. However, others redo songs and don't get dinged as much.

Oh, and someone explain to me why Jason Castro is still on the show? He has sucked for awhile now.

Chicks dig Castro. A few of the secretaries in our office love him. The explanation: "You'd have to be a girl to understand."

The difference between Carly and Syesha is the difference between in tune and out of tune. Also, Syesha's voice isn't quite big enough to pull of what she likes to try to do. It almost is, but it lacks that last little amount of punch to pull it off. Mostly it is the fact that she is out of tune way too often, though.

Carly clearly is shrieky, but she hits pitches by god.

That's the explanation my wife gave...something about the dreads make him look like a rebel or something. She thinks he looks feminine and the dreads help him to butch up and that he acts like a dumb blonde.

Either way, we both think he can't sing and have no idea why he's still on the show.

Neither of them (Carly or Syesha) were going to win, or should have won, so it really doesn't matter who goes first. Kinda like Michael Johns...yeah, he probably went too early, but who cares about number 4 or number 10? Next year, we probably won't remember half of the top 12, and certainly not which ones went out at what point.

We'll have to disagree about that. Syesha does have some out of tune moments, but overall, her performances have been good. Also, she hasn't tried to hit the notes she can't do as much in the past few weeks. Carly has been shrieky, but she has a big voice and tries to cover her shaky points by shouting over them. Early on, she was clearly the best woman on the show. As they've moved along, Syesha and Carly have evened out. Brooke, while good in her folksy element, just isn't as good as those 2.

Ksyrup: Yep, I agree with that. This one is between the Davids. It'd be nice to see the better singers stay around longer, but the show really does seem to be between the teens' favorite and the rocker.

Anyone else notice that Syesha mouthed, "crap" when she was told she was in the bottom 2. I thought that was a sort of humorous spur of the moment reaction. I think Carly was done in by the portion of fans that were against her from the start because of the issues that Ksyrup posted about weeks (or more?) ago. I still think Castro deserved to go, but I don't think it matters as it appears fairly evident that the final will be David vs David.

Poor David Cook. Not only will this year's This is My Now be a horrendous song, it will be a terrible song for him, AND it will fit his main competition like a glove. I think he needs to throw the competition and get knocked out early. Or maybe he can just concede, because the idea of him having to sing this year's Do I Make You Proud? could freaking kill him - even worse if people decide to vote for him based on the entire season, where he has to record that song and release it as the first single because he was the winner.

He's actually in a pretty bad place right now. I wonder if his likely place in the finals is going to have the producers looking for a song that's not the usual schlocky piece of crap rewrite of I Believe I Can Fly that they trot out every finale.

EF27: Yeah, she was pretty surprised when told she was in the bottom 2...as was everyone in this household.

I think it was an equal amount shock that Brooke didn't go, but also the realization that she just gave what was probably her best performance of the season, and it still didn't keep her out of the bottom two. That said, I wouldn't underestimate the power of performing first. That has been the death spot this year, even more than usual. And not just in going home, but bottom three as well. I remember several weeks back, Brooke ended up in her first bottom three performing from the #1 spot. It's a huge disadvantage.

This is a fairly humorous review of the 20 songs up for the AI songwriting competition:

hxxp://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/04/we-listened-so.html

well have to say that was a shocker, not so much Carly going home as the fact that neither Jason or Brooke were in the bottom 2 when they clearly deserved to be. Sad to see Carly go, for as much as she shouts at times, I like her, and thought her the most likely to make the final 3 with the two Davids.

Nah, Carly had too many things going against her to make it very far. Between her pro background, being Irish, the tattoos (both hers and her husbands), the fact that she didn't live up to the hype, her "demon possessed" look on any songs requiring emotion or range, etc., I'm somewhat surprised she lasted this long. But I guess this is as good a time as any. Castro is going to go (already has gone, IMO) beyond what he should on looks alone (as hard as that is for some/most of us to believe). I think girls like his look, his blue eyes, and mistake his goofiness for some sort of shy charm, when in fact the dude is jus awkward and bizarre. Some guy acted like he does and came up to a chick in a bar, they'd be looking for a protection order. On AI, he's a star. Go figure.

I disagree. It sunk Blake last year, but Cook - as annoying as he is - can actually sing. I think he'll do fine with the schloppy song.

My wife is one of the Jason Castro fans, and she told me that his goofiness on stage reminded her of me. I don't know what I did to deserve that slap, but oh well. Let's see what she says when I grow dreadlocks and plow her in the bleachers at a Pirates game. She won't be doing a lot of talking after that.

Castro is a turd.


Anyone notice Andrew Lloyd Webber's weird facial expressions right at the end of his interview with Seacrest? Right before the commercial he starts these strange contortions. I busted out laughing.

Needless to say, I wasn't surprised that Carly is now gone.

It's not whether he can sing it, it's whether it works for him. That crap song Bo Bice had to sing didn't work for him, either. Particularly if he wants to be a rocker, a lot of it is about credibility. David A. may have an "amazing" time singing such a "crazy" song (anyone notice these are the only adjectives he uses?), and I'm sure Cook will give a good effort, but it will be embarrassing for him to have to sing such slop.

I'm not really sure what to make of this particular bit of information:

Michael Johns is going to be ESPN’s guest at the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend.

I thought the results were crap. How Castro and Brooke weren't in the bottom 2 is beyond me. It seems AI is just a stupid popularity contest -- not based on actual performance.

thank you Captain Obvious

Brooke surprised me - I don't think that many people would give her the pity vote - but Castro disappointed me. He's got a strong female following, so not being bottom 2 didn't surprise me.

And yeah, this is mostly about popularity and not talent. In that way, AI closely resembles the Billboard charts, no? What makes this a uniquely AI problem?

Well, this is the first season I've semi-watched. I was hoping talent would play a bigger role. They should replace Paula with someone qualified, and then have the judge's opinion weigh in to some degree to stop the Castros of the world from advancing based on an idiot fanbase.

I don't listen to the radio anymore, so I don't know a thing about today's Top 40 artists. Other than they are crap.

Part of the success of this show is that it is totally voter-driven. Other reality contests allow the judges' input to matter in some respect, but not AI (although I still wonder abut how much influence the producers have in giving face time during auditions, song choice, who makes the bottom 3, what spot they sing in, etc.). When you do that, and all of the input/influence the show has is somewhat indirect, the show devolves into what pretty much any other vote becomes...a popularity contest.

Paula is there for a reason - each of them plays their part. They don't want another "qualified" judge. She's the good cop to Simon's bad cop.

But couldn't the good cop not be ... so... uh.

Your hair looks ... really... GOOOD! I think you're wonderful.

Paula has a hard time criticizing anyone. When she compliments their hair or clothes, or takes 20 seconds to utter a word, that means they sucked and she's trying to figure out how to say it without really saying it.

If you think she's bad this year, you should have watched last year. She's actually making a lot of sense this year compared to last year.

Paula has a hard time speaking in complete sentences. And english.

I am surprised Brooke is still around as I wouldn't think she would get the pity vote either. But that being said, her stops and starts add to her 'authenticity.' She seems to be much less of a wind-up David A. doll. Her screw-ups make her come across as more human and less of a puppet. I could see this being important to a lot of voters out there.

Ironic, since David A. actually flubbed the second version this week and no one seemed to notice or care. And to Paula, his performance was "perfect." I read in more than one review the skepticism about the fact that the camera quickly switched off of his face so you couldn't see his screw up, and with his mumbling through it, it wasn't as noticeable as his screw-up several weeks ago.

Mistakes are fine. They happen. Stopping a performance and restarting is absolutely unforgivable. The epitome of amateurish. Brooke has done it twice. Crush or no, she has got to go.

Eh. I agree she should be gone (both because she deserves to and because it would be best for her), but I don't think what she did in either instance was "unforgivable." It's one thing to stop halfway through a song; it's another to get 5 seconds in, realize you screwed up, and start over. I've seen professionals do that. Paula was just flat-out wrong - particularly since she thought Brooke was right to do it the first time.

'Idol' ratings dip exposes feet of clay

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

It had to happen sometime: American Idol is showing signs of mortality in its seventh season.

Ratings for TV's top show are down 7% to an average 29 million viewers for regular episodes and down 10% among adults ages 18 to 49, the main currency on Madison Avenue.

That marks Idol's first significant year-to-year decline, and it echoes similar falloffs for some other long-running reality series: CBS' Survivor is down 10%.

Fox isn't panicking. For the season to date, Idol still towers over the competition and remains bigger than it was in 2005. Because of it, the network will win its first season among total viewers, and its fourth among young adults.

But the show has been on a steady ratings slide in recent weeks. It lost 6 million viewers from the first top-12 episode March 11 to last week's low 23.7 million, which marked its weakest Tuesday since 2004.


"There are many shows that would actually kill for half those ratings," says Idol executive producer Ken Warwick. "I know very few modern-day television shows that are in their seventh (season) with ratings in the 20s-plus. It's unbelievable, really, so I'm certainly not losing any sleep over it."

Yet the effect of its eventual decline will be felt more sharply on Fox, which programs just 15 hours a week to rivals' 22.

Audience defections are most severe among women ages 18 to 34 — the core reality-TV viewer — and kids: Both groups are down 19% this season. Men are staying more loyal to the show than women, though fewer watch. And viewership among those ages 50 and older is stable, down just 1% after increasing last season.

The cause, say analysts and TV industry executives:

•Fatigue Every show declines over time, and younger viewers are especially fickle. Viewers might simply be growing bored with the contest, starting with the stretched-out four weeks of audition episodes, which are in line for a revamp. "It's like gravity in a way with TV shows — they all come down," says Carat ad buyer Andy Donchin.

•Competition. The writers' strike led Fox's rivals to use reality shows against Idol, which siphoned off a more similar audience. NBC's The Biggest Loser nicked Idol and ABC's Dancing With the Stars. With Loser gone, both shows improved Tuesday: Idol gained 1 million viewers and Dancing's results show hit a season high.

•The music. Fewer contemporary artists and a rigid, predictable format may be chasing away younger viewers. Recent song lists: Andrew Lloyd Webber, the '60s, The Beatles and Dolly Parton. Next week: Neil Diamond.

•Lack of controversy. This season's Idol also lacks the scandals that tainted the show in past years but may have boosted ratings: no nude pictures of finalists circulating on the Internet, and no train wreck such as Sanjaya overstaying his or her welcome.

hxxp://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-04-23-idol-ratings_N.htm?csp=1


I think a lot of it has to do with the older music and the fact that the show bogs down once they get the top 12. I think they ought to consider a shorter season next year and continue to eliminate 2 people per week up until the final 2.

But mainly, they need to inject some music that's from the last decade at least into the show. I'm shocked at how old the music has been this season, even by AI standards. After Neil Diamond, there are 2 weeks before the finale. I have to assume those weeks will have current/relevant music themes. They haven't had one week this season that I can recall where the theme was centered on something or someone current. Even Mariah was basically 90s R&B night.

I agree, while people like hearing music they recognize and enjoy, it is important for the contestants to be able to sing songs that they know.

They have also made the themes too specific. It used to be country week or show tunes or R&B, which gave everybody a bigger book to choose from. Even those who enjoy country music may not like Dolly and not want to watch a whole show of her songs, same for the other themes. And the Beatles 2 straight weeks?

It has to be the writer's strike. Every program's ratings are down.

During a time of the year when people were used to watching network television, it was on hiatus, like the summer. So they turned their attentions elsewhere.

Many of those people still don't know or care that network television is back. They've found alternatives, and might not ever return in full. But certainly, during the strike, there was less of a pie for Idol to consume.

Comparing year-to-year ratings this year is only relevant if you factor in the overall audience decline.

I hope the Idol people don't take out of this that they need more Sanjayas or have to manipulate the voting more than they already do.

:cool:

I think the overload of reality shows hurt AI, too. I know we were pulled in multiple directions, particularly on Tuesdays, which were ridiculous - AI, Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, Deadliest Catch, Hell's Kitchen, and Beauty and the Geek were all on between 8 and 10 on Tuesdays at one point...and a couple of those were more than an hour long, too.

Speaking of Hell's Kitchen, is it just me, or are all of the "cooks" not good enough to be Top Chef rejects?

It's not just you. That show is set up where there are only a couple legit people, and the rest are there to look like idiots so Gordon can yell at them. This year they lowered the standards to a whole new level.

I figured there would be a few good cooks and the rest are fodder...but who are the good cooks this season? Jen? Umm...and Jen?

Can those of you who watch the cooking shows please explain their appeal?

You can't taste the food on television... yet. How in the world do you get a feel for who is good and who isn't?

What exactly has Jen done to make you believe she's a good cook? Tell you she was?

Jim: For Top Chef, the dishes look good. A lot like watching shows on Food Network. For Hell's Kitchen, it's about the drama of watching them flop around the kitchen like they have a clue.

Matt: Nothing other than lead her team to victory and get complimented by Ramsey more than the others. She'll probably be gone next week.

HK isn't about cooking. I just like seeing idiots get embarrassed.

TC is a quality cooking show. Because I know pretty much all of the chefs are good, I don't really care about taste. It's just interesting to watch how they put together dishes within the confines of the show. I rely on the judges to tell me whether they were successful at it or not. I don't know why taste matters - that could be said of any cooking show on TV, reality or not. I can't taste those dishes, either.

We make some of the things from Top Chef from time to time. The recipes are published on bravotv.com.

I watch TC even though I have no idea what they are talking about half the time. When they did the "Tailgate" show, and they made things that should have been relatable (Ribs, Wings, Burgers, etc.) they still managed to use some French style, Asain style, fancy something or another on each dish to make me say "umm...what?" But it is the truth that there has never been a contestant on Hell's Kitchen that would have ever qualified to be on TC. TC is for chiefs that have a proven talent and want to take themselves to the next level in the proffesion. None of them would subject themselves to Ramsey's making a fool of them on national television.

The breakdown is:

1) The hottest looking chick.

2) There is no 2, if there is not someone to qualify for number 1 than number 2 is looking to see what else is on.


:D

That's the one thing missing from this season's TC...there's no hot chick. The quality last season, in that regard at least, was much, much better.

Mmmm, Casey.

Along the lines of what we were discussing last week about the song selection this year, look at this:


Quick: What do Dolly Parton’s “Travelin’ Thru,” Fantasia’s “I Believe,” Martina McBride’s “Anyway” and Our Lady Peace’s “Innocent” have in common? The obvious answer is that all are songs performed by the current “Idol” contestants. But there’s more to it than that. They also happen to be season seven’s only songs released in the last decade.


FOUR SONGS!!! Four out of how many have been performed this year? Unbelievable. I knew it was bad, but not that bad.

Psst. Nobody watching *knows* any songs from this decade. :D

One issue thus far is that the show seems to be catering theme weeks to specific mentors and I guess that would mean they program based on who agrees to be on the show. Gotta wonder how many current stars would be that keen to be a mentor in that sense.

I suspect though that there'll be a format change next year, since Idol ratings have been slipping, and the producers realise they need to make it more current.

The themes have been awful this season.

Basically 2 weeks of the Beatles, Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, freaking show tunes last week and now did I hear right and it will be Neil Diamond?

The only theme week I liked was the year they were born one (isn't that a regular one?).

Last year they had mentors almost every week, and a couple were semi-relevant as I recall. This year they scaled that way back, with only 4 mentors. Four old, crusty mentors. But the other theme weeks have all been old - 2 Beatles weeks, 70s week, 2 80s weks (one by itself, and the other was songs from the year the contestants were born), etc. Usually they do something to get some current songs in the mix. I suspect after Neil Diamond, they'll make the last couple of weeks more current. I think the final 3 get to choose a song they want (in the past they have), so that would allow someone to do something current. I know there were a few current songs performed during Hollywood Week that AI couldn't get clearance for, so maybe that isue was more widespread than they let on. Who knows.

What I would like to see is the final 12 be allowed to select 12 songs to perform, which they can re-work and choose the order in which to perform each week. Obviously not everyone gets to sing 12 songs but it's akin to the contestants performing a CD that they would put out if they were the winner.

If they couldn't sustain interest in their music over 12 weeks, they would then lose votes and probably get eliminated. This probably means a contestant couldn't do the same thing each week, which is realistic since most CDs have a mix of songs in there (not so much genres but the way songs are done).

I would love to see Cook do Holly Holy. I imagine Archuleta will do something schlocky like You Don't Bring Me Flowers or Love on the Rocks. If they go early to mid with the Diamond, then it would be worthwhile.

Two songs each tonight.

doesn't get any better than that

Three songs each would top it.