American Idol Season 8

[MJ4H]

Watching on DVR now but had to chime in and say that performance by Allison is going to be tough to beat. One of the best of the season overall ez.

[MJ4H]

k Danny came close. (and lol at the Matt love from Simon)

edit: ok for me it's Danny and Allison as top 2 tonight. Probably for whole season, too.

Kris, Adam, Matt, meh, whatever.

[lordscarlet]

I think, regardless of what we think, it's a race for 2nd place. Stranger things have happened, but it seems like Adam is cruising to winning this thing.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I think, regardless of what we think, it's a race for 2nd place. Stranger things have happened, but it seems like Adam is cruising to winning this thing.

Definitely don't think that. Overall I think Danny has been higher on dial idol and I see Danny gaining a higher percentage of Matt's/Kris' votes if they get voted out.

[MJ4H]

I would say it is Danny's to lose before I'd say it is Adam's to lose.

[Danny]

My favorites are still Danny and Kris overall though, I'd consider buying an album from both of them. Only other I would consider is Matt since he records better then he does live.

[lordscarlet]

I think the article about the iTunes sales accidentally becoming available say alot. According to the article about it, Adam was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

[Easy Mac]

I'm glad Kara's jaw drops whenever Adam is around... it makes me feel better that I think she is secretly a man

[MJ4H]

hey kara is hot

[MJ4H]

Well I really liked the top 2/bottom 3 division. I think the right person went home, quite easily. Wouldn't have been torn up if Adam went, but Matt needs to go first.

[Mustang]

Matt is the first person to get kicked off Idol 3 times. Congrats... dude is Rasputin.

[GrantDawg]

That shot of Danny and Allison when the top three was annouced was gold.

[lordscarlet]

3 times?

[Ksyrup]

I don't for a second believe Adam was 4th in the voting last night. Show's getting way too predictable - I called that Adam would be bottom 3 and that Kris would be the first to be saved as it happened. But I don't believe Adam was #4, I think it was Kris. Adam would be better off losing in the next 2 weeks, though.

Jamie Foxx should stick to acting. That vocal modulator thing is horrendous. Appaently that's the in thing now for R&B/hip hop singers? Lordy. A high-tech way of covering up bad vocalists, I guess.

Allison's enunciation is so bad it is bordering on distracting. The group sing, I couldn't understand a word she mumbled/slurred through.

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't for a second believe Adam was 4th in the voting last night.

Has it ever been confirmed or denied that the "Bottom 3" truly represents the lowest three vote-getters? I don't believe they ever actually say that. I think they take liberties with that for entertainment value.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

3 times?

From what I recall, he didn't get voted in during the 3 rounds and had to take a wildcard. Then he was voted off in the round of 7, then last night he was voted off again.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by tyketime

Has it ever been confirmed or denied that the "Bottom 3" truly represents the lowest three vote-getters? I don't believe they ever actually say that. I think they take liberties with that for entertainment value.

Yeah, that's another possible rumor/conspiracy theory out there. But I do know that they rarely, if ever, explicitly tell us that the bottom 2 got the fewest votes. Occasionally, they'll say something that could be construed as fixing the bottom 3 as the 3 lowest vote-getters, but rarely do they come right out and say that, either. It's always "your bottom 3." As in, "...as chosen by the producers." I still don't think they decide who goes home. although it wouldn't shock me to learn that they fix it with the consent of the person who gets the boot. That's how I think Daughtry went home.

[Arles]

On the balance of the season, Matt was the right choice (although it seemed he had been improving a bit of late). My hope is that Adam and Allison go in the next two weeks - leaving a Kris-Danny finale. Although, from an entertainment standpoint, an Adam-Danny finale would be interesting. Really, outside of Allison, I wouldn't be surprised to see anyone remaining win it. That said, the show is certainly pulling for Danny or Kris as they would certainly sell the most records. Adam would have more of a niche following and Allison clearly isn't ready to make a record.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Mustang

From what I recall, he didn't get voted in during the 3 rounds and had to take a wildcard. Then he was voted off in the round of 7, then last night he was voted off again.

ah, so you're saying the 4 that were taken in the "wildcard" were voted off.

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Jamie Foxx should stick to acting. That vocal modulator thing is horrendous. Appaently that's the in thing now for R&B/hip hop singers? Lordy. A high-tech way of covering up bad vocalists, I guess.

Jamie's singing is actually quite good (sans the vocoder). The song he performed was recorded with rapper T-Pain who uses a vocoder extensively, hense Jamie's use of it. I don't believe he has ever used it in any of his other songs. Search for him in Youtube, you'll see a huge difference.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Arles

On the balance of the season, Matt was the right choice (although it seemed he had been improving a bit of late). My hope is that Adam and Allison go in the next two weeks - leaving a Kris-Danny finale. Although, from an entertainment standpoint, an Adam-Danny finale would be interesting. Really, outside of Allison, I wouldn't be surprised to see anyone remaining win it. That said, the show is certainly pulling for Danny or Kris as they would certainly sell the most records. Adam would have more of a niche following and Allison clearly isn't ready to make a record.

Wow...I couldn't disagree more. Allison will sell more records than any of them. Perhaps not on their debuts but by the second record she will rise to the top of the heap.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by mtolson

Jamie's singing is actually quite good (sans the vocoder). The song he performed was recorded with rapper T-Pain who uses a vocoder extensively, hense Jamie's use of it. I don't believe he has ever used it in any of his other songs. Search for him in Youtube, you'll see a huge difference.

Uh...no thanks. I'll take your word for it.

Funny thing is most of the people who love that vocoder crap probably made fun of people who like Livin' on a Prayer at some point.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by rowech

Wow...I couldn't disagree more. Allison will sell more records than any of them. Perhaps not on their debuts but by the second record she will rise to the top of the heap.

I doubt that, but we'll get a chance to see. All of the top 4 will probably have some sort of record out by next year.

I guess if she could be molded into something by some producers, she could have a chance. I just don't really see her as much of an artist now. She's a nice technical singer, but I'd be shocked if she sold more records than Danny or Kris.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by mtolson

Jamie's singing is actually quite good (sans the vocoder). The song he performed was recorded with rapper T-Pain who uses a vocoder extensively, hense Jamie's use of it. I don't believe he has ever used it in any of his other songs. Search for him in Youtube, you'll see a huge difference.

I remember the Willie Beamon hip hop video.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I think the article about the iTunes sales accidentally becoming available say alot. According to the article about it, Adam was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

gay men have alot of expendable income

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Lathum

gay men have alot of expendable income

And 50+ year old women. He's got the same fan demographics as Rufus Wainright, from what I can tell. My mom's in love with him.

To go back to last week's vote-off, Nigel Lythgoe, the ex-producer, all but confirmed that they play games with the bottom 3. He said they never change the actual lowest vote-getter, but they don't specify the 2nd and 3rd-lowest vote getters, so you don't know who is actually the bottom 2 even when they make one of the bottom 3 safe. Also, that was the first time they've ever had a bottom 3 with 5 people left, so the thought is that Adam was 3rd in voting, but they wanted to create a "water cooler" moment, so they made it a bottom 3, told Kris, who was actually 4th, he was safe, and made it look like Adam almost got eliminated. Makes sense to me.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

And 50+ year old women. He's got the same fan demographics as Rufus Wainright, from what I can tell. My mom's in love with him.

My MIL thinks he's the greatest thing ever. Just one more thing about her that annoys me...

[Ksyrup]

Interesting:

After Slash got a look at the contestant’s song selections on Friday he twittered, “The contestants from AI picked some really cool songs for next week, thank god!”

More tweets on Saturday: “I had rehearsal for AI late last night, I mentor the kids this afternoon.” and then later, after his session, “Those AI kids can sing their asses off, especially Adam.”

According to the well-sourced, Top Idol, the song list is made up of classic rock hits from the 70’s and 80′. And because the judges can’t STFU, in a new twist, the kids will be singing solos and duets, rather than the typical two solos apiece.

Blabbermouth.net reports Alice Cooper guitarist Keri Kelli will join Slash for his mentoring role, whatever that means No other details are available about his appearance.

[Ksyrup]

Ugh.

Is Paula Abdul debuting her new single, “I’m Just Here for the Music” on this Wednesday’s Idol results show?
Popdirt reports that back-up singer Lucy Woodward may have spilled some news she shouldn’t have via Twitter…

Singing backup for Paula Abdul on American Idol this Wednesday. Rehearsing now….reeeeeally fun! Will be hot.

[MJ4H]

Awesome. Paula Abdul rulez!

What do you mean this isn't 1988?

My cousin actually sent Paula Abdul a HS graduation invitation. She didn't show up.

[Mustang]

Ohhh.. Duets.

Maybe Adam and Allison can sing Stumblin' In together.

[Arles]

Slash and Paula Abdul, let's party like it's 1988 - break out the DeLorean!

[Ksyrup]

Re-united No Doubt? I thought this was rock week!

According to rock blog, Blabbermouth.net, Slash will perform on Wednesday with a crew of hand-selected musicians:

Keri Kelli (ALICE COOPER, VINCE NEIL, SLASH’S SNAKEPIT, SKID ROW, WARRANT, RATT) will join VELVET REVOLVER/ex-GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash for this week’s “mentor” appearance on “Rock Week” on “American Idol”, the annual reality show and singing competition. Keri says, “The show will air rehearsal footage with all four remaining contestants Tuesday, May 5 and we will perform live on Wednesday night! Joining us will be Cooper alumni, drummer Tommy Clufetos [also of ROB ZOMBIE], and bass legend Chris Chaney [JANE’S ADDICTION].”

Slash will be mentoring the remaining contestants, Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Kris Allen and Danny Gokey. Also appearing on Wednesday’s results show will be Daughtry and a re-united No Doubt.

Rumors have Paula Abdul performing Wednesday (perhaps recording a performance?) but nothing is confirmed yet.

[ntndeacon]

thought Danny should had been at least in the bottom 3 in Disco week

[Ksyrup]

Danny should be shot for the warbling he shit all over Renegade. Lordy that was horrible.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Danny should be shot for the warbling he shit all over Renegade. Lordy that was horrible.

What the fuck was that?

[Alan T]

After Kris' performance I thought he was going home for sure this week. After Danny's performance I change my mind.. that was horrible... really bad.. Like if I was singing in the shower.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Alan T

After Kris' performance I thought he was going home for sure this week. After Danny's performance I change my mind.. that was horrible... really bad.. Like if I was singing in the shower.

No no no.. daddy make it stop.

[rowech]

1. Adam
2. Allison
3. Kris
4. Danny

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by rowech

1. Adam
2. Allison
3. Kris
4. Danny

Yep.

I thought the difference between Kris and Danny is that Kris had a clue of what kind of song he could do that would be passable, and Danny just tried to ram his style into a song he butchered. Neither were great, but Kris wasn't embarassing. At least he picked a song he could do a Mraz-style syncopated melody to. Danny just has no feel for rock music at all and it showed.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yep.

I thought the difference between Kris and Danny is that Kris had a clue of what kind of song he could do that would be passable, and Danny just tried to ram his style into a song he butchered. Neither were great, but Kris wasn't embarassing. At least he picked a song he could do a Mraz-style syncopated melody to. Danny just has no feel for rock music at all and it showed.

Agreed. I said to my wife I know it's not his genre but if he can't find a song to sing in that genre he doesn't deserve to win. Kris was decent with both of his songs...nothing special but decent. Danny was awful in my opinion.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, if others get crap for not being able to do disco or country or R&B, then Danny should get called out for not being able to do rock.

[MJ4H]

Agree with Adam, Allison, Kris, Danny, though Kris was terrible in the duet and Danny pretty good.

Kris or Allison will go home, and I hope it is Kris.

[Ksyrup]

Both Kris and Danny stunk on their verses in the duet, but Danny got the edge because his higher register overshadowed Kris on the rest of the song.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Both Kris and Danny stunk on their verses in the duet, but Danny got the edge because his higher register overshadowed Kris on the rest of the song.

I think you mean he yelled louder

[Easy Mac]

Oh, and I thought that when Adam wasn't trying to out-shreik Robert Plant in his solo, he sounded horrible. If Randy had a brain, he would have said it sounds pitchy dog

[Solecismic]

What happens when a television show begins to believe its own hype?

This week, Idols asked to join Slash for a jam session that challenged the all-time great performance songs of Rock and Roll. Not only that, the concept of a "duet" was introduced, where the Idols paired up and hit us with even more big performance songs.

One change worked. There are enough rockers left in the competition that the songs didn't suck. The duets, well, I'm not certain what to make of them. There wasn't enough there to give a separate grade. But it probably helps people make up their minds about who they really like. I liked it better in seasons past, when they each sung twice during the show.

Meanwhile, the stage itself apparently has started to fall apart, in protest of all the changes for the worse Idol producers have made this season. Symbolic and appropriate.

While he didn't seem to add much other than an awe factor to the mentoring, Slash was an interesting choice. I'm looking forward to Courtney Love and the ghost of Sid Vicious next season.

Oh, well, on to the rankings...

1. Adam Lambert. Yes, completely derivative Zeppelin. He's probably trained for this type of song his entire life, and the judges are right that a band like Zeppelin could form around Adam tomorrow and hit it big in the industry. Even though it wasn't particularly original, it's hard to penalize a guy for hitting a hanging curveball out of the park. Score of 93 (average of 87 for the season).

Note on duet: He was fairly flawless, continuing his rather accurate impersonation of a lead singer in a performance rock band.

Allison Iraheta. Allison struggled early in the song, having trouble finding the right notes. When she did, the performance picked up considerably. Like Adam, this is her genre. I don't think she should be criticized for song choice. She should be criticized for not getting her song down better. Still, she was very good. Score of 82 (average of 78 for the season).

Note on duet: Allison was quite surprising. I think she was playing with nothing to lose, going up with Adam. The result being a more lively, personality-filled performance. If she did this all the time, she'd be a finalist.

3. Danny Gokey. Idol contestants are constantly encouraged to go outside their comfort zones. So, Danny, to his eternal credit, sang Aerosmith, right down to the long scream at the end of "Dream On." Now Danny is a fairly well-trained singer, perhaps he even has a bit of a classical education. I don't think that scream is taught in any classroom. In fact, I think if he ever did scream like that in a classroom, Homeland Security requires that the building be evacuated with a SWAT team called in to respond to the disturbance. Danny might look back at tonight and wish a SWAT team had interrupted his performance. He did quite well, except when the song got loud, which it did a few times. The loud parts were laughable. And I think there's a good chance his voice is completely gone. Forever. Score of 65 (average of 78 for the season).

Note on duet: While this was the poorer duet of the two, Danny did show a decent almost-power voice. This is the Danny I liked early in the competition.

4. Kris Allen. Kris chose the Beatles. And he showed why Beatles songs are only sung by Beatles. They had an unusual sound and made rather plain songs work well for them. Kris mixed it up with a weird low-register piece that the Beatles hopefully would have exterminated quickly. It was low energy and it didn't work at all. Score of 63 (average of 68 for the season).

Note on duet: Kris seemed rather intimidated, lifeless, and ready to go home.

Expected Bottom Three: Kris, Danny, Allison.

Who Should Go: Kris.

Who Will Go: Kris.

[Raiders Army]

I think out of the final four, Kris is the best well-rounded musician. He is the weakest vocally of the four, so he deserves to go home since it's a singing competition.

[Arles]

I think Adam did very well tonight - best I've heard from him in a while. I even agree with what Simon said in that Adam might have done so well that he carried his duet partner through another week. Although, to her credit, I thought Allison did fairly well. Danny and Kris were marginal to bad, with Kris really struggling.

I think Kris goes home and Allison gets setup for a big fall next week. If the judges were lukewarm on her this week, they are going to be downright cruel to her next week as this was pretty much her ceiling.

[Mustang]

About how I felt