Anyone watch "American Idol"?

[Jeff H]

I was surprised too that R.J. got the boot last night; I felt he gave the second or third best performance this week, doing the best he could with that lame Christopher Cross song and looking more confident than ever. (Although that dazed, deer-in-the-headlights look did return to his eyes during last night's "Up With People" Bacharach medley.)

I thought for sure Nikki was history, and I feel certain that the sympathy ploy of having the single mom's little boy deliver a rose to the stage bought her another week, but probably only one more.

Smarmy lounge singer Justin and his tumbleweed 'do will survive next week thanks to the teenybopper vote. But I think the contest will ultimately come down to Kelly and Tamyra, and I vote for Kelly only because Tamyra too often resorts to theatrics.

But what do I know? Marky...?

_________________
"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-08-15 09:46 ]</font>

[Outsider]

I wouldn't be surprised if Kelly is the winner. Of the remaining contestants, she would be my pick.

[DanceMan]

I agree with the "Kelly" choice...I am not betting money that she will come in first, but I think it is going to be extremely close as both she and Tamyra have a loyal base.....I was initially strong on Tamyra, but she has been resorting too heavily in the last couple of rounds on the theatrics and her song choices could have been better...I don't agree with Simon that it was the best thing he ever saw or hear....I think he has just zeroed in on Tamyra and has decided that she will be the one he will support, even if she hummed her way to the finale....I think a lot of the final decisions will come down to song choice as their voices' natural qualities are a given...if they pick a well-arranged, well-known tune and sing it like a vocalist from our era would do, then it will solely be judged by the amount of callers each one gets, and that is about as fair as it can get.

[Blaxman]

On 2002-08-15 00:13, Outsider wrote:

I'm pretty sure that Nikki won't win the contest, though.

I just did read about Nikki at the CNN's site (I never seen the show) and they called her "the deal-with-the-devil contestant" !! :lol:

I can imagine how "good" she is!! :lol:

Peace

[markydefad]

Access Hollywood had a report that there is some potential "scandal" involved with the phone voting. They showed a little machine which speed dials a certain number around 18 times in the space it take to actually manually dial a number. They suspect "shenanigans" or "tomfoolery" may be taking place each week. I stupidly never realized that the voting calls are "Free"; have any of you actually voted????

I assumed it was one of those there will be a charge-type calls--SO I never even thought of actually voting. I KNOW it says "toll free" on the TV screen. What can I say? DUH.

Producers are supposedly trying to figure out a way to foil the folks who may be using that speed-dialing machine. :razz:

[DanceMan]

On 2002-08-19 23:22, markydefad wrote:
Access Hollywood had a report that there is some potential "scandal" involved with the phone voting. They showed a little machine which speed dials a certain number around 18 times in the space it take to actually manually dial a number. They suspect "shenanigans" or "tomfoolery" may be taking place each week. I stupidly never realized that the voting calls are "Free"; have any of you actually voted????

I assumed it was one of those there will be a charge-type calls--SO I never even thought of actually voting. I KNOW it says "toll free" on the TV screen. What can I say? DUH.

Producers are supposedly trying to figure out a way to foil the folks who may be using that speed-dialing machine. :razz:

Marky...I was planning on voting in the last couple of show....a lady I worked with tried calling and she gave up...so perhaps those machines make up for more than 1 per cent of the tally....I saw that report too and heard other types of fanagling with the voting rumors...who knows? Either way, the ones who are up there are at least deserving to be so I am not complaining....but if Justin ends up winning? Hmmmmmmm...

[markydefad]

Well, I just saw the final 4 give 2 performances a piece and I'm underwhelmed to say the least. The judges were praising the performances, BUT I was quite disappointed tonight.

Some general observations.

Everyone's voice (except Nikki) seemed a little strained tonight.
They had awkward beginnings...
They chose songs that I couldn't help but compare to the original vocalist in my head; this cover didn't erase the memory of the original. (There were 2 songs I didn't recognize--that helped those performers, in my mind).

Tamyra: "New Attitude"
awkward opening; she had to start singing and then get the audience up and clapping at the expense of the song, I felt; it was the first time she seemed lost; seemed to lose her place once; too worried about the audience; lackluster & disappointing; not in control; paled next to Patti's version.

Tamyra: "Feel The Fire"
better than the first one; judges said "world-class; superb, brilliant"; I heard Stephanie Mills in my mind.

Nikki: "Mary Jane"
Looked great--hair & makeup were stunning; extremely photogenic tonight; her voice is not that strong in the lower register but she has power wheen she wails; good choice for her; I don't know this song; one of her stronger performances, I thought; Simon actually said "fantastic!!!!" to red-headed bastard step-child NIKKI!!!!!

Nikki: "I'm The Only One"
Melisa Etheridge song proved a good choice material wise; she sang strongly; Simon again said tonight she redeemed herself and proved she deserved to be there!!!

Kelly: "It's Raining Men"
Ryan Seacrest (closet queen) said her song was for West Hollywood!!!! Kelly sounded tired to me and this song was an awful choice for her, I thought. God bless Martha Wash!!! Kelly shoulda done something by Stevie Nicks or Bonnie Raitt or some other husky voiced rocker; awkward beginning again; seemed to sing the wrong lyrics in comparison to the background vocals???; judges were sorta complimentary, but I was very disappointed.

Kelly: "Surrender"
I didn't recognize this song (later found out it's by Celine Dion); Kelly had some of her old power back here; it was still an ill-fitting choice of song for her; she's a bluesy rocker--not a histrionic pop diva; judges said she was "world-class"

Justin: "Get Here"
Good song choice--why wasn't Tamyra all over THIS song or "Piano In The Dark", for that matter???? He gave it his all; I thought he sounded strained; judges said he was "fantastic"!!!!

Justin: "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
Doing his cutsey, Michael Jackson moves; he moved well--BUT sounded strained vocally; I do think he has a charisma and a great look; he's totally unique with that hairdo--so I think he has some star quality--BUT he's not that great a singer. The judges actually fought about this performance--Randy & Simon were thumbs down; Paula did her "you were great" routine.

Everybody, except the Devil's spawn Nikki, seemed vocally strained. When Kelly talked you could hear how hoarse she was. Why don't they give these kids a little rest instead of trotting them out to every damn supermarket opening in Hollywood??? Invest in your gold mine, Fox!!!!

Final tally:
1) Kelly
2) Tamyra
3) Nikki
4) Justin

But Nikki will probably get the boot unless she has actually made that pact with the Devil!!!!!!

And you??? Am I just crabby today or was this show sub-par??? Bring back the Big Band Show songs!!!!!!

[Jeff H]

I guess there was no theme to last night's show (unlike the Bacharach show), unless it was "Bad Song Choices From the '80s."

Quickly:

Tamyra was really BAD on "New Attitude"; she even sounded off-key occasionally. There are some songs that just shouldn't be covered and I guess this is one of them. Why try to top Patti LaBelle?! She recovered very nicely on "Feel the Fire" though. If you know the song, comparisons to Stephanie Mills are unavoidable, but I'll bet a lot of people are not familiar with this song.

Nikki really shone (shined?) this time out! Both song choices complimented her style and ability. A few jarring notes during "I'm the Only One," but she was (for better or worse) the most consistent performer last night.

What the hell was Kelly thinking??! "It's Raining Men" is a damn novelty song; anyway, there's no topping the original version (nor any reason to bother!). And she didn't seem to know the words! Dumb dumb dumb choice. But Kelly too redeemed herself BIG TIME with her second song: she delivered "Surrender" like a grand old show tune torch song.

Justin, oh Justin. He sang the crap out of "Get Here" (and I mean that in the best way), but "PYT"??! Talk about a stupid, lightweight throwaway! Clearly, this one was only so he could shake his ass for his teenybopper fans.

Personally, I'd rank them Nikki > Kelly > Tamyra > Justin (just because of that damn hair), but I think the popularity of Tamyra (deserved) and Justin (not deserved) will outweigh their bad performances last night, and Nikki is probably in danger (again).

So much for "quickly."



_________________
"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-08-21 10:46 ]</font>

[markydefad]

Ah, it wasn't just me. I guess we saw the same show, Jeff. I agree with everything you said. I still think that Kelly & Tamyra are the two best singers, even though Nikki actually was the most consistent last night.

Will it be Justin or Nikki who gets the boot tonight????

[DanceMan]

On 2002-08-21 00:40, markydefad wrote:
Well, I just saw the final 4 give 2 performances a piece and I'm underwhelmed to say the least. The judges were praising the performances, BUT I was quite disappointed tonight.

Some general observations.

Everyone's voice (except Nikki) seemed a little strained tonight.
They had awkward beginnings...
They chose songs that I couldn't help but compare to the original vocalist in my head; this cover didn't erase the memory of the original. (There were 2 songs I didn't recognize--that helped those performers, in my mind).

Tamyra: "New Attitude"
awkward opening; she had to start singing and then get the audience up and clapping at the expense of the song, I felt; it was the first time she seemed lost; seemed to lose her place once; too worried about the audience; lackluster & disappointing; not in control; paled next to Patti's version.

Tamyra: "Feel The Fire"
better than the first one; judges said "world-class; superb, brilliant"; I heard Stephanie Mills in my mind.

Nikki: "Mary Jane"
Looked great--hair & makeup were stunning; extremely photogenic tonight; her voice is not that strong in the lower register but she has power wheen she wails; good choice for her; I don't know this song; one of her stronger performances, I thought; Simon actually said "fantastic!!!!" to red-headed bastard step-child NIKKI!!!!!

Nikki: "I'm The Only One"
Melisa Etheridge song proved a good choice material wise; she sang strongly; Simon again said tonight she redeemed herself and proved she deserved to be there!!!

Kelly: "It's Raining Men"
Ryan Seacrest (closet queen) said her song was for West Hollywood!!!! Kelly sounded tired to me and this song was an awful choice for her, I thought. God bless Martha Wash!!! Kelly shoulda done something by Stevie Nicks or Bonnie Raitt or some other husky voiced rocker; awkward beginning again; seemed to sing the wrong lyrics in comparison to the background vocals???; judges were sorta complimentary, but I was very disappointed.

Kelly: "Surrender"
I didn't recognize this song (later found out it's by Celine Dion); Kelly had some of her old power back here; it was still an ill-fitting choice of song for her; she's a bluesy rocker--not a histrionic pop diva; judges said she was "world-class"

Justin: "Get Here"
Good song choice--why wasn't Tamyra all over THIS song or "Piano In The Dark", for that matter???? He gave it his all; I thought he sounded strained; judges said he was "fantastic"!!!!

Justin: "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
Doing his cutsey, Michael Jackson moves; he moved well--BUT sounded strained vocally; I do think he has a charisma and a great look; he's totally unique with that hairdo--so I think he has some star quality--BUT he's not that great a singer. The judges actually fought about this performance--Randy & Simon were thumbs down; Paula did her "you were great" routine.

Everybody, except the Devil's spawn Nikki, seemed vocally strained. When Kelly talked you could hear how hoarse she was. Why don't they give these kids a little rest instead of trotting them out to every damn supermarket opening in Hollywood??? Invest in your gold mine, Fox!!!!

Final tally:
1) Kelly
2) Tamyra
3) Nikki
4) Justin

But Nikki will probably get the boot unless she has actually made that pact with the Devil!!!!!!

And you??? Am I just crabby today or was this show sub-par??? Bring back the Big Band Show songs!!!!!!

Well, I did a post last nite and it somehow disappeared....probably forgot to enter the Password...

Anyway...I agree that it was Nikki's night overall, overcoming past mistakes...but I think it is a little too late...but I won't place any bets on her leaving tonite....if not tonite, next week for sure....never heard her first song, "Mary Jane," - is that about what I think it is about??....Great on Melissa Etheridge tho....she finally found her niche and her vocal couching has paid off....Justin did well on "Get Here," but too cutesy on "PYT" and although he had some nice moves, he is just tooooooo smug and I think he feels that he has the teeny-bopper vote all sewed up for a rush to victory...let's hope not....Maybe next week he will sing, "Hair."....Tamyra - get real with trying to do a Patti...no one can do justice to a Patti standard but Ms. Labelle herself...Ditto the Stephanie Mills' "Feel The Fire"..Tamyra was at an all-time low....She had a case of the jitters....I think she is realizing now that it is near the end, she is not exactly going to be able to breeze to a big win.....Although she will probably be in the final two for sure....Kelly better stick to the standards and the blues....she was way off last nite and I didn't like her performance one bit on either the disco or the Celine....

My order of best to worst for last night:

1) Nikki
2) Justin
3) Kelly and Tamyra (tie)

[Jeff H]

Hmmm... from the looks of the posters in this thread, you'd almost think "American Idol" was a gay thing too.

Oops, can open, worms everywhere...! :lol:

_________________
"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-08-21 13:17 ]</font>

[Blaxman]

Hey....I heard that, Jeff!!

Peace :lol:

[Jeff H]

Relax, Blax! I was referring to those long-winded gays... I mean GUYS who reviewed every detail of last night's show.

I didn't mean you. DID I??! :lol:

[markydefad]

Well, we know our place, I guess.

[DanceMan]

On 2002-08-21 13:37, Jeff H wrote:
Relax, Blax! I was referring to those long-winded gays... I mean GUYS who reviewed every detail of last night's show.

I didn't mean you. DID I??! :lol:

Gay?? Who's Gay? I demand names!!!

(See Jeff, that wasn't long winded - short and to the point