American Idol

mcullinan · « **Reply #20 on:** 21 Feb 2008, 09:22 pm »

YEah! Paula Abdul never really says I like it or I do/dont like it so Simon has been putting the pressure on for her to say so. Simon is just plain honest, and everyone gets their panties bunched up when he says something. I caught a lil last night before going to play Call of Duty 4 and wasnt blown away by any of the performances.

Its just hype when they say that these performers are better than any that have come before. I still look forward to seeing what the best can do.

Though I am appalled by the idea of picking a good singer then trying to make them creative. No originality. Think of all those bands that try new things and break new ground to get noticed or just have an original vision.

A.I. (hehe) (artificial intelligence) just creates a semblance of something great but never really is.

I do own ALL of Clay Aikings CDs... in my secret dark forbidden closet where special underwear must be worn to enter its holy sanctuary, ohh Clay awaits my longingness to press play on the remote over and over again.

Mike

nathanm · « **Reply #21 on:** 21 Feb 2008, 10:56 pm »

You aren't missing much Rob. I happened to see it last night and all those chicks sounded more or less the same. Everybody has that same affectation to their voices. Meh. Good looking, generally skilled, some better than others, but I wouldn't spend a buck on any of their records.

Bill O'Connell · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Feb 2008, 03:19 pm »

There surely isn't a Malinda Dolittle or even Lakessha or Jordan Sparks this year so far. I thought the talent was better last year so far. No pure singers in the bunch. For the guys I hope the young 17 year old kid is in the finals, seems to have a wonderful stage presence and his voice is not that of a young man his age.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #23 on:** 22 Feb 2008, 03:33 pm »

Quote from: Bill O'Connell on 22 Feb 2008, 03:19 pm

There surely isn't a Malinda Dolittle or even Lakessha or Jordan Sparks this year so far. I thought the talent was better last year so far. No pure singers in the bunch. For the guys I hope the young 17 year old kid is in the finals, seems to have a wonderful stage presence and his voice is not that of a young man his age.

I agree. I do think that overall the quality of singers are better this year, there are fewer/no standouts like Doolittle/Lakisha/Sparks. Last year, it was Doolittle/Lakisha/Sparks and then everybody else was a big drop down.

giantsteps · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 02:30 am »

Jordin Sparks....I miss you. You are in the wrong hands.
Anyway, tonight I liked Carly, Dave and Amanda. I missed the beginning of the show including Syesha.
And then there was the poor kid who made a poor choice of singing a country version of a Beatles song and had to battle a lousy, confused arrangement. What a mess. I was half asleep and to me she was singing against the beat. What's his name who forgot the lyrics has to go........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Frank

John Casler · « **Reply #25 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 02:08 pm »

Last week, I thought that Chikeeze (sp) was justified in being in the bottom two. This week he was in the top three. He smoked his turn this time.

Archuletta was a let down (but I guess that was to be expected since he looked like he was running away with it)

I agree, that on a given night most all of them can "nail" a performance.

Last year only Sparks and a couple others "involved me" in their perfromances. This year, I see that potential from most all of them.

I am afraid the little Asian girl with the beautiful face and voice is going to have trouble and the "male stripper" didn't show well last night so they are likely on the block.

The young country girl "did" have to deal with an overly "twangy" arrangement, but she is certainly a talent beyond her years, and there is a large "Country Music" base out there so I think she might be "safe".

And the other "rocker chick" (aka Janis Joplin) gave one of her best perfromances, but I still think she might have a chance of being on the block.

Maybe they should let TRUMP guest host and rather than saying "you're safe" and "you're going home" he can say "YOU'RE FIRED".

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #26 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 02:45 pm »

A couple thoughts about A.I.:

Regarding Jordan Sparks:.....Has anybody heard her album? Jesus man, It sucks horrible. suck suck suck.
I fell in love with her last year, only to regret spending money on her CD. What idiot thought synthesizing her voice should be shot in the head.

Regarding sound quality of A.I.: I watch the show on my HT rig, and have noticed "sizzling esses". Hard to convey my thoughts, but when the singer has a strong "S" sound it reminds me of throwing water in hot bacon grease. This ONLY happens when I watch A.I., nothing else I listen to has this "artifact". I can adjust all my solid state buttons to help "tone it down", but can't make it go away. Intersting discovery though, when I watched it last night, the 'sizzles' were nowhere near as bad. Now, two things changed that may have effected this.
#1 I installed the "White lighting cables" in my HT, replacing my Cat-5e speaker wires.
#2 Fox changed their stage the singers perform on. I assume they would have thought this would be a good time to play with sound quality, and possibly audio equipment?
Which one made the difference? Anybody else notice the sizzle?

Who I like: The little Phillipino girl rocks my world! I'd buy a CD of hers. Assuming of course a record company that can appreciate HER for her talents and lets them shine grabs her and not some top 40 "hot" studio 'f's her up like they did Jordan Sparks.

Bob

PhilNYC · « **Reply #27 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 04:04 pm »

I thought most of the performances were pretty good last night. Specific standouts to me were Carly, Chikeezie, and David Cook. Was surprised that I liked Brooke's Let It Be performance (early in the competition, I thought this girl had no chance to get very far, but her style as a very honest and heart-felt singer has grown on me).

Bad performances of the night were David Hernandez, Kristy (country-girl), and David Archuleta (the previous front-runner). All the rest were at varying levels of ok/pretty-good/decent for me.

zybar · « **Reply #28 on:** 12 Mar 2008, 06:13 pm »

I don't watch this show (no, really I don't), but my wife watches it, and I happened to come over while it was on last night.

Oh my god, most of the singers sounded pretty bad!!

I heard some woman butcher "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles and other Beatles' songs sounded equally bad. Heck, one of the guys couldn't even remember the words!!

How do you watch this crap??

George

PhilNYC · « **Reply #29 on:** 13 Mar 2008, 06:28 am »

Quote from: zybar on 12 Mar 2008, 06:13 pm

I don't watch this show (no, really I don't), but my wife watches it, and I happened to come over while it was on last night.

Oh my god, most of the singers sounded pretty bad!!

I heard some woman butcher "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles and other Beatles' songs sounded equally bad. Heck, one of the guys couldn't even remember the words!!

How do you watch this crap??

George

If those were the only two performances you saw, I can definitely understand why you'd think the show is crap. Those (plus the "I Saw Her Standing There" by David Hernandez) were easily among the worst performances of the last 3 weeks. But I think if you saw David Cook's goth-rock take on "Eleanor Rigby" or Chikeezie's version of "She's a Woman", I think you'd have a different opinion...

John Casler · « **Reply #30 on:** 13 Mar 2008, 06:52 am »

Quote from: PhilNYC on 13 Mar 2008, 06:28 am

Quote from: zybar on 12 Mar 2008, 06:13 pm
I don't watch this show (no, really I don't), but my wife watches it, and I happened to come over while it was on last night.

Oh my god, most of the singers sounded pretty bad!!

I heard some woman butcher "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles and other Beatles' songs sounded equally bad. Heck, one of the guys couldn't even remember the words!!

How do you watch this crap??

George

If those were the only two performances you saw, I can definitely understand why you'd think the show is crap. Those (plus the "I Saw Her Standing There" by David Hernandez) were easily among the worst performances of the last 3 weeks. But I think if you saw David Cook's goth-rock take on "Eleanor Rigby" or Chikeezie's version of "She's a Woman", I think you'd have a different opinion...

I wonder if Chikeezie had been watching Billy Preston videos, cause man he smoked it.

And I agree Cook's rendition was ready for recording. It might have been the best performance of the night with Chickeezie.

Tough calls tonight since I have seen Henandez "nail it", but this week he was amatuerish

Both Sayesha (sp) and Christy are talented, but they need to really grow in the next few weeks to stay in. Especially Christy, but she has the look and moves of a "tentative" star. Once she gets "IT" like Catherine, she will hit the top three.

Catherine McPhee (sp) Last years 2nd or third runner up was great tonight as a guest, but her first album was a Dismal Mess. I bought it at Costco and took it back for a refund.

Bigfish · « **Reply #31 on:** 13 Mar 2008, 12:08 pm »

I am adicted to watching American Idol and I also think that this year's talent is some of the best in the history of the show. Last night I was talking about the show with my wife and I asked her if she thought casting a vote for the worse performance instead of voting for your favorite performer would alter the outcome? At the end of last night's show I agreed with America's vote so I guess voting for the worst instead of the best performance would not change the results. Anyway, it is one heck of a show and Simon is a real hoot!

Ken

PhilNYC · « **Reply #32 on:** 13 Mar 2008, 02:30 pm »

Quote from: Bigfish on 13 Mar 2008, 12:08 pm

I am adicted to watching American Idol and I also think that this year's talent is some of the best in the history of the show. Last night I was talking about the show with my wife and I asked her if she thought casting a vote for the worse performance instead of voting for your favorite performer would alter the outcome? At the end of last night's show I agreed with America's vote so I guess voting for the worst instead of the best performance would not change the results. Anyway, it is one heck of a show and Simon is a real hoot!

Ken

Last year there was a big controversy, because Howard Stern was encouraging his audience to vote for Sanjaya Malicar (sp?) who was obviously the worst singer in the top 12. There are also a bunch of websites like www.votefortheworst.com that identify a particular performer and encourage people to vote for them...and last year, all of those sites ganged up on Sanjaya. Sanjaya eventually got booted off, but he lasted perhaps 5 weeks longer than anyone thought he deserved.

giantsteps · « **Reply #33 on:** 19 Mar 2008, 01:57 am »

Once again, thank you Syesha.

David Cook.... you were a close second.

Frank

giantsteps · « **Reply #34 on:** 19 Mar 2008, 02:01 am »

Jordin Sparks ....You blew me away singing "On a clear day". Break your contract and move on. I repeat....you're in the wrong hands.

Frank

Bigfish · « **Reply #35 on:** 19 Mar 2008, 02:36 am »

I just casted votes for contestant 3 (David) and contestant 6 (David) as I thought they gave the best performances tonight. My wife watched at home and I saw it in a motel room. She called me at the end of the show and was in agreement with my choices for the best performances of the night. I don't know how I would rate the worst performance but for me it was a close call by Kristy, Amanda and Brooke.

Ken

PhilNYC · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Mar 2008, 01:01 pm »

I wasn't all that impressed with David A (#3), certainly not as much as the judges were. He's a terrific singer, but I thought his performance was somewhat forgettable. I also didn't agree with the judges on Michael Johns' performance...asides from a rough spot here or there, I thought he was pretty good. David Cook remains my favorite, although I agree he's starting to get a little predictable.

Brooke and Kristy were definitely the bottom two. Ramiele needs to pick up her game (superb voice, but terrible song choices for her).

John Casler · « **Reply #37 on:** 19 Mar 2008, 02:06 pm »

Castro, Kristy, Armanda and Brooke could be in trouble tonight.

Kristy has the groceries, but never seems to bring home the bacon.

I think she could "blow Simon's sox off"

if she ever gets it together.

Same for little Ramiele. She too has not bloomed into her talent. Great voice, great face, and last night someone dressed her right. Now if she can just get some stage moves, like Kristy.

David, David, Syesha, the Irish Girl, Chikeezie, are up there.

Why didn't Chickeezie do a Billy Preston (the 5th Beatle) song like "That's the Way God Planned It". Man that could have been a stunner for his style.

ajzepp · « **Reply #38 on:** 22 Mar 2008, 04:19 pm »

Dang, I forgot about this thread!

I agree with most of what you guys are saying. So far, my favorite performances have been D. Archuleta's "Imagine", D. Cook's "Eleanor Rigby", J. Castro's "Hallelujah", and Robbie Carrico's "One".

I feel that while this may be the most talented group overall, they tend to be very hit or miss week in and week out. I also don't know that there is one clear star in the group, such as there has been in several past seasons. I really feel that Michael Johns is overrated, David Cook is underrated, and Kristy Lee Cook needs to GO! lol. I like Jason Castro to play the role of Elliott Yamin, the awkward guy who becomes more popular and likable as people get to know him better, and potentially ends up putting out a pretty darn good album. (I just bought Yamin's album and it's really quite good!) Yamin is a music lover (particular Donnie Hathaway's stuff) above all else, and I think Castro is the same way.

I've had an assful of Paula, but Simon keeps me laughing each week

I love it when the camera is on Paula while she's going off on one of her gooey, sensationalist, feel good, rants about one of the contestants, and Simon is off to the side of the image laughing hysterically trying to contain himself...classic!

reflex · « **Reply #39 on:** 26 Mar 2008, 01:29 am »

As much of a fan I am of Syesha, David Cook tonight was absolutely fantastic. No one else was even close...