American Idol Season 7

[kirkland]

Lexi, I agree about Simon. During the try-outs, I thought he was unnaturally (for him) nice, but now that the season has started the eliminations, he is getting tougher. I haven't always agreed with him, but he has been right so far. C'mon, someone has to counter balance the schmaltzy Paula. I guess if Randy calls you "dog", you're in. Hate em or love em, you have to admit the judges are an interesting combination. Simon was on Regis and Kelly this morning, said he was offered more money not to be on the panel but still produce so in two years he will no longer be a judge and I think the shift in dynamics could hurt the show. He also said he thinks he knows who will win but won't say, but there is no doubt in my mind that he thinks it will be David A.

During the try-outs I liked Luke and Michael Johns but they both fell flat last night. I hope they can pick it up before they are eliminated. David Hernandez is promising...

Sorry to hear tonight was a bust. There were two girls I liked, the black one with the great voice and the little Asian girl. Itwon't be on here for another hour.

[lexi]

Oooh, only two more years of Simon? I agree - the show will likely suffer. What I find fascinating about a lot of these reality TV shows is that though they get amazing ratings when they're on and a gazillion people follow them, once the winner is proclaimed, no one gives a crap anymore. All interest wanes.

As for tonight, my comments were only my take. I'll be the first to admit that I'm all about the guys so my bias may be showing.

[Lori]

lexi said:

lori said:

David Archuleta: Ryan Seacrest says I can't adopt him, so I guess I'll have to settle with hanging him off my rearview mirror. His humble attitude is so charming, but (like Melinda Doolittle), the judges are surely going to start telling him 'stop acting so surprised'. Amazing talent, great kid.

But you know what, Lori? I think he is genuinely surprised. I said earlier that I don’t know that he knows he’s as good as he is. He’s had his struggles…especially when he thought he might never sing again. I think his confidence can be shaken. His humility is actually what I like most about him. Looking at other boards, it does scare me that some think he’s a faker. I don’t get that sense from him at all. Some people are uncomfortable with compliments…especially at the expense of others. I think he’s one of them. If he were to accept the compliments without any form of modesty, I can almost guarantee we’d be hearing that he needs to be taken down a notch.

You know, I almost edited my post to read 'stop BEING so surprised'. ACTING was a poor choice of words, 'cause I think it's genuine, too, and I love it. I also thought it was genuine with Melinda, but the judges finally told her to at least 'pretend' that she was All That! LOL!

BTW, I want to give my thanks to everyone for not giving away too much of the show before we see it on the West Coast. You're the best!

[linmiste]

Wanted to jump in and say something witty about the girls tonight, but there's just not much to say. I still think several of them have nice voices, but the songs just weren't working. I think the 70s and even the 80s must be hard for these kids... lots of them weren't born yet (scary thought!) or just so young. They're not familiar enough with the songs to even know what to pick. Anyone need some Air Supply? "I'm all out of love; I'm so lost without you. I know you were right, believing for so long...."

One thought on David A.: he has been so consistently good, but so far they've been picking a song from an era, as opposed to a genre of song. I am really interested to see how he'll do when he has to sing a song by a particular artist, or a country or rock song in the top twelve. I really want to see the David A. twist on these. And I agree with Lexi and Lori... I think he's completely genuine. I was reading some comments on a forum today, and one girl said she knew David when he was younger, and he really is as nice as he seems on TV.

[number1fan]

eww...amanda has got to go . ...and i don't know what the judges' see/hear in brooke aka carly simon .
ramiele was great but i think the judges' want more from her .
asia'h had a cold and you sure could tell...and i kinda like kady but she needs to 'bring it' soon.

[mtnme]

Well, that was a mixed bag. A bag with quite a few songs I never liked to begin with and would have been happy never to hear again. ('me and mrs jones' being on the top of my personal hit parade of songs I REALLY dislike)

And as so often happens with the song choices on this show, you often gain new respect for the original artists who recorded them. Especially when it becomes apparent how difficult vocally some of these songs really are. Tonight just reminded me what kick @ss pipes the Wilson sisters of Heart, Linda Ronstadt and Carly Simon were so unbelievably capable of.

...now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rummage around to see if I have any old, dusty tapes of these rockin' women lying around somewhere.

[number1fan]

linmiste said:

Anyone need some Air Supply? "I'm all out of love; I'm so lost without you. I know you were right, believing for so long...."

i can almost hear you singing it linmiste

[Ruff]

mtnme said:

Well, that was a mixed bag. A bag with quite a few songs I never liked to begin with and would have been happy never to hear again.

[maricorgi]

someone needs to tell the producers to stop changing these girls so much. no wonder they struggle with the songs when their look and style is so altered only to have Simon tell them they don't look or act like themselves. And then there are the song choices where they don't have the range. Sometimes it's so painful I quickly put on an old Youtube fave to occupy myself til the pain subsides. Generally I found them average.. and some disappointing. I have really enjoyed going back through David's early videos and seeing that talent developing. He sang Imagine years ago and nearly as well. He's the pick of the litter (can't resist the dog reference given who I am. )

[kirkland]

Who in sam hell recommended "me and mrs jones". Could there have been a worse choice? I'm not sure how much the stylists and consultants are involved at this juncture, I know they are heavily involved as time goes on, does anyone know? The kids must be given a list of hits of the era, someone has to help them for the interest of time if nothing else.

Lindsey, the majority of my emoties are red "x". Is it a website issue or my computer?

[number1fan]

kirkland said:

Who in sam hell recommended "me and mrs jones". Could there have been a worse choice? I'm not sure how much the stylists and consultants are involved at this juncture, I know they are heavily involved as time goes on, does anyone know? The kids must be given a list of hits of the era, someone has to help them for the interest of time if nothing else.

Lindsey, the majority of my emoties are red "x". Is it a website issue or my computer?

i agree, a horrendous choice by syesha......'we both know that it's wrong but it's much too strong...' whatever!...and now the whole viewing audience knows it was wrong.
regarding the red x's...it's the sites problem.

[lexi]

I totally get all of you about 'changing' the contestants. I usually like the transformations as far as image goes. Amanda for one desperately needs a makeover. Nothing appeals to me about her...her look, her style, her voice. I'm not sure how she made it as far as she did. She was painfully off key and out of her league last night. Worst performance of all. Ramielle remains my favorite among the ladies, then Asia'h. That's about it. Just not feelin' anyone else.

Kirkland - You'd asked about how involved stylists and consultants are. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I've read a few times that the consultants or coaches (Deborah Byrd?? for example) are not allowed to sway or assist the contestant in choosing their song. They're only able to advise once the song is chosen.

And you just know the stylists can't wait to jump on the contestants once it's down to the top 12.

BTW, I read this on Foxnews today. If we didn't think The Chosen One was The Chosen One before, this leaves little doubt.

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333428,00.html

While you could say that "American Idol" this week featured the top 10 boys on Tuesday night and top 10 girls on Wednesday, you could also say that 19 of them weren't really featured at all. Because, you see, the entire competition seems to — already! — be about only one contender.

I'm talking, of course, about David Archuleta — he of the cherubic face, the beatific presence and the prepubescent perfection. It's not just that he's a talented singer or that he almost seems too likable and innocent to even be surviving high school, let alone overnight fame. It's that he's managed to be elevated onto a pedestal.

The Archuleta love fest began during his taped interview. The "what America doesn't know about me" reveal tends to be fairly boring (something along the lines of "I'm a tomboy," "I race cars" or "I know how to hula dance").

But Archuleta, it turned out, had belted out "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" to the first season "Idol" finalists in a hotel lobby. While this brought on a series of questions — why, how, and was he born to be on this show or what — it also proved that people have been falling in love with the boy for years.

And this trend shows no sign of abating. You practically needed earplugs to drown out the sounds of adolescent shrieks in the auditorium when he took the stage. You might have thought, as a matter of fact, that the audience believed John Lennon had been brought back to entertain them, rather than a 17-year-old who was simply doing an excellent rendition of "Imagine."

Anna's blog Anna's Reality Remix Page Anna's Web site And the comments from the judges! When phrases like "destined to be a superstar" and "born to do this" are being bandied about, the expectations are getting pretty high. And that's the only thing that worries me about young Archuleta. I mean, where can he go from here? Is he peaking too early? And what, pray tell, happens if he has a bad week?

All the Archuleta love doesn't mean that no one else was good, of course. David Hernandez did an awesome job on "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," somehow managing to inject just the right amount of personality into it.

Chikezie (who's apparently dropped his last name) was also good — despite the fact that he's simply not funny enough to try sparring with Simon (his attempts at giving the Brit a hard time always just end up making him seem slightly bitter).

While I don't think the girls were particularly strong this week, sweet, curly-haired Brooke White sang the hell out of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain." The fact that she managed to do that while also playing the guitar made it all the more impressive.

Syesha Mercado, Ramiele Malubay and Alexandrea Lushington suffered from weak song choices this week but overall seem quite promising. Carly Smithson, meanwhile, has a powerful voice (Simon declared her the strongest girl) — but I think she could stand to inject a little of the stage presence that Kristy Lee Cook and Kady Malloy have into her performances.

Then again, maybe it doesn't matter. Because, with the way things are going, if your name isn't David Archuleta, it's looking like it might not even be worth bothering.

Anna David is a freelance writer. Her novel, "Party Girl," is in stores.




Interesting comment about David peaking too soon. That's not a concern for me. He just seems to get progressively better. And if he has a bad night along the way, so what? It will just make him that much more 'real'.

[linmiste]

I really hope people don't think this is a "one-horse" race. Viewers still have to vote; it's not the judge's call. And the others are fighting... if not for first place, then for their careers, because any of the top four could still have fantastic music careers, as we all know. And I wouldn't say David A. has peaked too soon. He is great, but he also has room to grow, since his voice will continue to mature and develop over the next few years. I think the best is yet to come. And I still think several of the other guys have top contender potential.

DialIdol has none of the girls safe tonight, though Amanda did have the most busy signals, at like four and a half percent. I was shocked. I really don't think she's a good rocker. She has a nice voice when she's not trying to sing like a rock star. Anyway, it's clear people didn't call in as much for the girls as for the guys. Interesting....

Have a great evening everyone!

[linmiste]

number1fan said:

linmiste said:

Anyone need some Air Supply? "I'm all out of love; I'm so lost without you. I know you were right, believing for so long...."

i can almost hear you singing it linmiste

Yeah, not quite in tune but with a lot of feeling. ;D Ah, Junior high...

[lexi]

linmiste said:

And I still think several of the other guys have top contender potential.

I honestly think David has this won by a mile. With that said, I agree that there are a few good contenders for second place. My guess would be Michael Johns, but David Hernandez, Jason Castro, Ramielle and Asia'h are pretty strong too.

David A. reminds me a lot of our 2nd season Canadian Idol Kalan Porter who had also just turned 17, but looked 12, when he competed. (He was carded at his own post-Idol celebration). He zipped through the competition never in the bottom 3. He was also referred to as 'angelic', 'cherubic' and much to his embarrassment "The Little Prince about to be crowned King'. As a matter of fact, the judges said on camera during his first audition the he would win. Not that he'd likely win, but that he would win. Lo and behold, he did. Funny enough, I don't recall anyone calling it 'pimping' or 'tongue bathing'. I guess we Canadians just don't read a lot into things. We just sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is how Long Train Running is supposed to be sung: (Kalan's version from Canadian Idol)
youtube.com/watch?v=dUrkeEPDITA