American Idol

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by ShaqFu

Never forget that Clay has sold more records than Ruben. That's who Federov is compared with and he has that same pure voice.

Clay's voice is much better than Feddy's. Clay has incredible pitch control. I never remember him singing off pitch. Federov does every night.

[Ksyrup]

Not only that, but Federov just comes off, to me anyway, as less than convincing. He's like a blank slate. He should be singing Disney tunes at MGM in Orlando.

[sabotai]

Every season people make a big deal out of the contestants. About how they will all get these record deals and sell their albums well....and it never happens. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Ruben are really the only that have made any kind of noticable impact on the music industry (And Ruben seems to be fading quickly). The rest have just pretty much disappeared. The same will be true for just about all of these contestants too.

[Ksyrup]

I can't believe John Stevens is putting an album out. He and Mikalah need to do a duet.

[tategter]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Every season people make a big deal out of the contestants. About how they will all get these record deals and sell their albums well....and it never happens. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Ruben are really the only that have made any kind of noticable impact on the music industry (And Ruben seems to be fading quickly). The rest have just pretty much disappeared. The same will be true for just about all of these contestants too.

Is this true because they have not been marketed well or because they do not have a real hook other than 'former AI winner/top contestant'?

[Critch]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Every season people make a big deal out of the contestants. About how they will all get these record deals and sell their albums well....and it never happens. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Ruben are really the only that have made any kind of noticable impact on the music industry (And Ruben seems to be fading quickly). The rest have just pretty much disappeared. The same will be true for just about all of these contestants too.

Josh Gracin has apparently had a no1 hit or two in the country charts and was up for some awards at the CMT awards, surprisingly. Surprisingly cos he was crap, in my humble opinion.

The Hawaiian female who stuck around for about 8 weeks too long last season is apparently also doing pretty well too. I guess if you've got your following you can turn the AI exposure into a career.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, that Hawaiian chick is huge there and overseas somewhere.

Jasmine Trias, I think.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by tategter

Is this true because they have not been marketed well or because they do not have a real hook other than 'former AI winner/top contestant'?

I think you have to understand what most of these people are. They are singers. That's it. Some may also be dancers, etc., but from a musical standpoint, all that many of them have to offer (professionally, anyway) is their voice. If they don't catch on with someone who can write good songs for them and/or market them, they have no way of "making it" as a pop star otherwise. If Bo didn't win, he could still hook up with a rock band and crank out original tunes that might (or might not) break him.

There are exceptions, such as Tamyra Gray, who writes her own songs (and songs for others), but she's in the minority.

[ShaqFu]

The thing with the rockers is that they seem to know more about singing than others, at least from a musical standpoint. Most rockers I know write their own music. Maybe their experience with instruments and writing music helps. Bo is the best of this group and one of the best ever.

John Stevens is able to put a record out, because there are enough people who like that style of music. Sinatra's dead, but his records still sell.

Every AI contestant will have their fans. And, with the numbers the show draws, I'm sure there are enough fans for people like Mikalah, Federov, JS, etc. to release an album.

Even Will Hung sold a a surprisingly large number of albums and even had a second album released.

[Ksyrup]

William Hung was a joke. People were buying it for the novelty.

I don't doubt people still enjoy Sinatra, but we're talking about John Stevens, not Sinatra. Style of music can only get you so far...

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by ShaqFu

John Stevens is able to put a record out, because there are enough people who like that style of music. Sinatra's dead, but his records still sell.

Damn. Just damn.

[ShaqFu]

http://www.maverick.com/johnstevens/

You can listen to the single. It's not too bad. I happen to like big band. My musical tastes are so varied. That's why I see myself enjoying and wanting to purchase the CDs of so many of the current AI singers. I could be in the mood for Bo one hour and Mikalah the next.

[Ksyrup]

That's interesting. I don't think I've ever listened to music according to the singer (as in, I think I'll listen to some Mikalah now, then Bo next). It's the music I'm interested in. Which would explain why I don't listen to any of these people, since they mostly regurgitate old songs or sing pap written for them by someone else.

[Joe]

tonights show is live. let's see if they fuck up this week.

[Ksyrup]

Parachute pants? The 90's? What the hell is Seacrest smoking?

[stevew]

Paula Abdul is a fucking stupid ho. That rendition of "I believe i can Fly" was god fucking awful. Simon is dead on way too often.

[NoMyths]

First time I've watched the show. Is Paula Abdul drunk?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

First time I've watched the show. Is Paula Abdul drunk?

[Ksyrup]

Anwar has gone from one of my favorites to crap.

Paula's being even more over the top so people will talk about that instead of her hit and run.

[TLK]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

First time I've watched the show. Is Paula Abdul drunk?

yeah.... it adds to the entertainment value...

[Eaglesfan27]

Nadia sounded good I thought. I really liked her performance the best so far tonight.

[ISiddiqui]

Hey, this Nikko has to do a backflip after one of his performances... He HAS TO!

[Ksyrup]

I must be hearing in some other key when Nikko sings, because I can't deal with him AT ALL.

Simon's doing a really poor job this season of explaining himself. His comment about Bo sounding like he's at a wedding...(a) he's used that one a thousand times; and (b) who the hell sings karaoke Black Crowes at a wedding? And then his comments about Anthony, he didn't really explain what was bad, jus that the whole thing was excruciating. I don't even like Federov, but that was clearly hyperbole.

[TLK]

damn.... just damn

[Ksyrup]

Scott should be gone. That was terrible.

[NoMyths]

Yeah, Paula is clearly on either a) booze, b) pills, or c) both (most likely).

I haven't really been paying attention to the karaoke.

[sabotai]

Scott should be gone. It was really bad.

[Eaglesfan27]

Vonzell is really beautiful.

[TLK]

I think Scott deserves one more week, based off his past performance. I'd like to see either Anthony or Jessica leave the show, and if you add Scott in... you have your bottom three.

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Scott should be gone. That was terrible.

Yep, he was bad.

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Vonzell is really beautiful.

Concur, what a smile(yeah I know I think I've said it before) but WOW!!!

[Swaggs]

I thought the two worst this week were (surprisingly) Federov and Anwar.

Paula is almost certainly on some kind of meds. She was about 100x more loopy this week than ever before.

[kurtism]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

First time I've watched the show.

Somebody's getting pretty serious with his girlfriend

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by kurtism

Somebody's getting pretty serious with his girlfriend

hehe...curse you, Columbo!

[kurtism]

*Attempts to straighten rumpled trenchcoat, walks offscreen*

[Cuckoo]

Not a great week this week. Three worst (in my opinion obviously): Scott, Anwar, Nikko

[sabotai]

I think this week was pretty bad. I'm getting bored with all of the song choices. Everyone seems to pick a slow, sappy song to try to show off their voice (and then it fails, because they didn't choose a song that fit their voice). I knew I should have just turned it off after Bo's performance.

[Ksyrup]

What I wouldn't give for an honest-to-goodness "battles of the bands" type show. Not that stupid Bands on the Run crap, where they have to run around do ridiculous things to earn money, but just a simple band vs. band show, where they are required to perform original songs. Bo is the closest AI has ever come to someone who could pull something like that off. I wonder what his original songs sound like?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Critch

Josh Gracin has apparently had a no1 hit or two in the country charts and was up for some awards at the CMT awards, surprisingly. Surprisingly cos he was crap, in my humble opinion.

Gracin's hits are DAMNED good songs, IMO. I guess if they let him sing country through the competition he would have done much better.

[Ksyrup]

He was clearly a one-genre artist, which isn't a crime. However, I just can't believe he's that good. He had very little personality and not that great of a voice.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

He was clearly a one-genre artist, which isn't a crime. However, I just can't believe he's that good. He had very little personality and not that great of a voice.

He's got a pretty decent country voice. And he's found a decent music choreographer. I like his songs.

[Ksyrup]

If you say so. "Good country voice" - there's never been one to my ears.

[Rizon]

1. I hate 90s music. Makes me want to shank my ears with flaming pencils.
2. Vonzell is so hot, that my wife made me put a picture of her over my face tonight when we had sex.
3. I was waiting for Paula to stand up and shout "do you like my booooooody?"

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by TheLionKing

I think Scott deserves one more week, based off his past performance. I'd like to see either Anthony or Jessica leave the show, and if you add Scott in... you have your bottom three.

I think Jessica has the absolute best voice of all the girls and would be extremely annoyed to see her voted off this soon.

[Schmidty]

Dola.

I also think that Vonzell is actually a cyborg.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What I wouldn't give for an honest-to-goodness "battles of the bands" type show. Not that stupid Bands on the Run crap, where they have to run around do ridiculous things to earn money, but just a simple band vs. band show, where they are required to perform original songs. Bo is the closest AI has ever come to someone who could pull something like that off. I wonder what his original songs sound like?

That's what I was hoping the Battle For Ozzfest was going to be. But of course, it wasn't.....*sigh*

[Solecismic]

This week was a step down from last week. Paula must have been on some sort of crack high, because she was just raving about everybody, deserved or not.

Here are the Solecismic rankings for week 3. Now, last week, the last-place finisher was eliminated, despite my campaign to save her. This week, I didn't vote, because I don't want to save the last-place finisher.

1. Carrie. She looked great, she sounded even better. She has the potential to win this competition easily. Yet she has absolutely no charisma. Even the funny anecdote story she told before she sang sounded wooden, like she was telling someone else's story. In high school, I bet she dated the quarterback, who would have gone to Alabama on a football scholarship, but he only scored a 390 on his SATs. Anyway, this is about singing and stage performance and such, not who would make the best girlfriend to someone who isn't clinically brain-dead, so she scored a 97.

2. Nadia. She out-rocked the rocker boys. Whatever she lost last week, she found again. I'm still going to hate it when she's final four, but if she's this good every week, it'll soften the blow. Score of 87.

3. Vonzell. She's finding her confidence, and the last couple of weeks she's been pretty good. She can be better looking than Carrie, even. I think her song range is very limited, so the theme weeks might give her trouble. Score of 80.

4. Scott. About 20 seconds in, for the first time in the competition, Scott forgot he was trying to pretend he grew up in some ghetto, and he sounded natural, unaffected and comfortable. I've hated him from day one, today I almost liked him. Score of 79.

5. Jessica. I like her potential. She's always good for flubbing a verse, but her big voice covers it up well. Score of 78.

6. Constantine. I thought it was a decent performance that showed off the clarity of his voice. He has some versatility. The song itself wasn't great. Score of 77.

7. Bo. His worst performance to date, which really wasn't bad. Three through seven tonight were very, very close. It was a poor song choice, and he was distracted by the stupid cow hat. Score of 74.

8. Nikko. Every week, he sounds exactly the same. I think he was better at it this week than last. He's the one I think of when they start talking about wedding singers. Score of 65.

9. Anwar. And every week, he sounds terrible for nearly a minute, then pulls it out at the end. This time, I don't think he pulled it out nearly as well. He's one more bad performance away from being at risk. Score of 58.

10. Anthony. It's time to go. He has a nice voice, but it's a deeper field this season, and he doesn't have the ability to pull off a memorable performance. Score of 55.

[Ksyrup]

I thought Scott was horribly out of tune tonight. He was missing badly all over that song. I also don't see how Bo doing Black Crowes was a bad choice - that's him to a tee. If anything, he was a bit too close to the original, but that's precisely the type of music he should be singing every week.

[HomerJSimpson]

I think this group is probably the best AI has ever had. Not exactly in singing talent, because none of them have a voice range of say Kelly, Tamara, Fantasia or Clay, but nearly top to bottom they do something better than anyone else has in any of the other seasons. They perform well.

I can't help but think AI hired a performance coach to work with the singers this year. The previous seasons, a good performance was not singing like you were in pain. If you actually moved you'd get some credit, but most of the time they looked stiff at best when they did that. Just about everyone this year (except Carrie, Jessica, and Scott) come off "natural" as they perform.

When will it go to far? If people start trying to full on dance while singing. That would be over the line (and not please the judges). This is still at heart a singing competition. Yet, This is also a competition that is produces people to perform live on tour. This group will be much better at it than groups in the past.

[TRO]

The problem with Bo's choice was that the band and backup vocals drowned out his voice. Certainly not a horrible performance, but not one that showcased his voice.