Maybe to someone that didn't read the 30+ pages I've written on exactly that subject.

Seriously, I just give up.

So your point is she's a great singer thus we should all worship her talents and be forced to be bored by her?

Now I'm confused.

I swear Wade didn't send me a "virtual tag team" PM over the weekend, MJ4H.

haha

No my point is you're an annoying troll and almost everything you post is painful to read.

don't get testy, doolittle lover.

It may be painful, but at least it's short.

Hey, that's my motto when it comes to love making.

OK, so on to something more productive. Like, our best guesses at what songs off the RnR HoF's top 500 list they should do this week. For Archuleta, I'm going with Like a Virgin and (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party).

I feel like you must not be explaining yourself well then - because every time you gush about Doolittle and Archuletta and bash on others, this is what I hear.

*shurg*

But for the record I will likely by Jason Castro's album - take that for what you will.

Dat boy ain't right.

Castro - No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley

Mercado - Chain of Fools, Aretha Franklin

Cook - nothing stands out to me. maybe he could mess around with Dream On by Aerosmith.

Archuletta - insert song here. it doesn't matter.

They'll be doing 2 songs each, BTW.

For some strange reason I'd really like to hear Cook cover "The Weight" but to do the version by Travis from the Igby Goes Down soundtrack.

Oh for crying out loud.

Maybe they'll each take a song off of Doolittle's new album. I have no idea.

Can someone link a copy of the list that these people are supposedly choosing from?

In all seriousness.

I would love to see Archuletta challenge himself this week and pull it off. Sing something a little rockier, a little more upbeat, and do it well. If he could do it just once - I'd turn a bit. In fact, be smart. Choose one song like this, do it first. Even if you go somewhat mild like Hotel California, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, or If it fails miserably, you have your shmaltzy ballad (Your Song?) to recover with.

This is a good point. I saw a "reality replay" of the first idol season and the shows were much more compact. The shows only went to and hour and a half for the early shows and cut down to an hour much quicker. Also, the "vote off" shows were just 30 minutes.

AI going to the 2-hour format for most performance shows, 1 hour for the vote offs and the numerous "Idol gives back" specials and promos has really started to bloat the show. You really need a Tivo to watch it now - so I could see a lot of viewer just not willing to invest 3 hours over two nights (and even more earlier on) to a show that hasn't changed in 6 years.

The vote off shows should be 30 minutes, IMO. The performance shows, though, should vary. Having 5 people sing 2 songs each and run through them like they did the other night in 60 minutes - at this point in the competition - is ridiculous. Seacrest was like the FedEx speed reader commercial dude with the numbers. Why wouldn't you devote more time to the performances at this stage, rather than spend 2 hours on 10-12 people, half of whom won't matter in several weeks? Makes no sense to me.

This is the list, but it's likely they don't have the freedom to choose from all 500.

http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs/

Agreed. I've always thought they should go to 90 minutes for the top 5 and then back to 60 minutes for the top 4. It is ridiculous how much they rush through the top 5 show every year.

DWtS doesn't seem to have a problem sticking with 90 minute performance shows all season.

Problem is, AI blows its wad on the auditions/Hollywood Week/top 24 every year. I agree that it's probably too much, but it's because of how much programming time the first 4 weeks take. Five months of 2-5 hours of programming a week is difficult for people to commit to.

Normally I try to stay out of these things (though you guys are keeping it more civil than most), but seriously? You're disappointed that people aren't automatically stuck in a rigid framework of organization that is governed specifically by their skill? Do you hate the underdog?

He's a band director, what do you expect? If Archuleta can sing the scales properly, that's good enough for him.

It is absolutely amazing how so many people can so spectacularly miss a point. And a simple one at that.

Well, upon consideration I think that it's more that you hate to see someone so talented go unrecognized by the masses...

...I think you could work on the delivery of your point.

It must not be that simple if practically everyone is missing it.

Well, it does require some reading. I don't think I could have made it more clear. I just spent an entire page of dialogue with Ksyrup over it. It is frustrating to work at making myself so clear only to have someone come back and repeat the misconception I just cleared up. If you think I only care about singing in tune and that kind of thing then you quite simply did not read what I said. It could not be simpler. I literally just spent many posts making this clear. Literally just did that. I don't think I could work on my delivery, I think people could work on reading what I'm actually saying and not jumping to their own obviously silly conclusions about what I think. It is actually quite insulting, frankly. I didn't go to school for 6 years and work in the music business for 10 years and not have a fucking clue about how music works, you know.

Is this essentially what you mean?


If it is, then clearly where you depart from others (including myself) is in relation to what "performance" means. Perhaps from a pure musical point of view, David A's performances could be viewed as good but, from a layperson's perspective like my own, he's just downright boring since he does the same thing each and every week. I can appreciate that he has a good voice but that's about it really.

That is my position on David Archuleta, yes. That is not a summary of how I critique the musical performances on American Idol.

As for your assertion that from a layperson's perspective he is quite boring, that is fine. That is where our opinions differ. I don't find him boring at all (especially in his better performances, such as "Imagine."). And I do value being able to sing with a solid, controlled voice in tune a lot more than many people here (which actually boggles my mind, but whatever floats your boat). That is clearly not to say it is all I value, and if you think that is all I value, then you just aren't paying attention, period. And that is not my fault.

Singing well is the equivalent of good defense in college basketball. You see it, you know it's good and there is a core group of people that will pound on the pulpit preaching the virtues of it, but in the end, most people just want to be oooh'd and ahhhh'd by Weird Al.

I'd pay to go to a Weird Al concert.

You'd have to pay me to see Celine Dion in concert.

Fine, but do you accuse people that actually enjoy Celine Dion of not understanding what performance is? That's the level of insanity that this conversation has sunken to.

No.. just a different level of performance catering to 2 different types of people. (for the most part at least, there will be a subset of people that like both) Arguing about it is no different than arguing about what Ice Cream flavor you might like or genre of movies.

In the end, I just realize that anyone that disagrees with me is wrong and I'm content with that. :D

A quite sensible post (aside from the last line, which is obviously a joke, but is essentially the way I feel people have been reacting to me--since I disagee with their opinion on David A I must have a huge misconception about music in general--no, I really DO enjoy his performaces on average, and some I have felt were great. As hard as that is for some people to accept, I do have different tastes than you do.).

This is basically it boils down to, though. I disagree with a lot of people who don't like David A' performaces (find them boring, stale, repetitive, sappy, whatever), plus I think he has obvious singing chops. These two things place him pretty high up in my book. It is really that simple. Thank you for being rational about the discussion.

Matt - I know you don't seem to like it, but if NO ONE is getting it then I think you may need to look somewhere than EVERYONE ELSE as being the problem for having the "wrong conclusion".

No, I'm fairly satisfied as to what the problem is at this point. And it isn't "NO ONE" and "EVERYONE ELSE." There are several here that have been quite rational about it and understood what I meant just fine. Most people that do simply aren't commenting, I'm sure. At this point, I'm quite fine with it if you don't understand yet. I could only ascribe it as a willful choice, though. But, really, that's fine, too.


Agreed.

Daivd Archaletta is teh SUCK

I'm not on the Archuleta bandwagon either but as a boss of mine used to say, that's why there's different color jellybeans in the bag.

Personally, I don't see how Castro moves on especially after the Entertainment Weekly article where he says he's 'kinda ready to go home'.

Way to screw Cook over with the sound issues.

Edit : Hmmm... HD audio on the band is soft.

Watching for the first time (nothing else is on). That first song was painful (Hungry Like The Wolf). It's good to see Paula Abdul is still insane.

Syesha is pretty damn good looking, though.

dola,

Is.....is Randy Jackson seriously sporting the sideburns look?

I think Castro is going home. And his song is not even over yet, I just can tell.

You need to be shot for doing Marley like that.

" I was thinking Bob Marley! "


Ahaha.. Man, Marley is awesome. Marley is one of my favorite musicians of all time, and watching that made me cringe... But that was funny shit.

That was HORRIBLE!

And Paula Abdul is on crack.

Man, I am on the anti-arch fanclub...

But damn.. He nailed it.

and when there were like 16 contestants left, there were like 5 whereI was like, damn, either of those could win and I would probably buy a cd.

But looking at the 4 left, I don't think I would even consider buying a cd of theirs.

I actually thought it got bad at the end. Maybe it was the song, but it doesn't sound like he has any range.

When you say end, do you mean very end? Because yeah, when he tried to reach high at the end he sounded like shit, but I meant he nailed 98% of the song :p