The Train Wreck that is American Idol

[getbent]

Originally Posted by emu!

I'm a gonna keep watchin as long as KLC is not sent home...then, it's Howie Mandel and Deal or No Deal on channel 6.

yup. except I ain't gonna watch Howie... I'll just go out to the garage and play my guitar.

[superchicken_VI]

Boy, last night was tough. Nobody came out trying to show what they had. I think Beatles week 2 was a bad idea...

The only clear win was put up by Syesha, and that was still just an okay performance.

David Cook was probably second, but wasn't amazing. His talk box solo was less than impressive.

Chikezie should have left the harmonica home, and the song was odd and uncomfortable, but he had some great moments. Overall, it was rough. The transition from slow to fast was ru-ufff. I liked the fast once they got to it, but it took too long and was hard to get there.

Carly was solid, poor song choice. Even if she identified with it, it didn't have enough presence. She looks like a younger, thinner Amy Wilson. I find it odd that their camera angles always do a good job of not really showing her husband with his tattoos all over his face.

Brooke was decent karaoke, but no ownership or real soul.

Amanda was predictable, but not bad.

Ramiele was better than last week, but still not great. She seems to be getting tired.

Archaletto was good, but just as predictable as Amanda, and to me more boring. He has an excellent voice, but he always sounds like he's about to go to sleep.

Johns was off, he's losing steam fast. He really sounds like he should be in an INXS tribute band, but he really looks like he's going for a Jim Morrison vibe. I don't know, he had the most promise in auditions, and has yet to put that out live.

Castro, man was that cheezy. He doesn't seem to have an identity, other than olive skin, blue eyes and dreads. I don't know who he is musically. He seems stuck between those who have chops and no soul, and those with soul and limited chops. He doesn't really have either, but he has kept out of disaster territory.

KLC, I thought was better than the judges gave her credit for. She really reminds me of Trisha Yearwood, because she just stands there and sings without connecting with the crowd. Great voice, but just doesn't seem to feed off of the energy.

This is the first week I have no idea who is leaving. My guess for bottom 3 is Castro, KLC, and Ramiele. My guess is that KLC will be safe, but I don't know who is leaving.

[Higgs F. Boson]

I don't understand the appeal of AI at all. It befuddles me that a recycled mish-mash of the Gong Show and Star Search is so @#%^&* popular.

[superchicken_VI]

I believe that was discussed about page 2 or 3 of this thread.

I, for one, don't get Survivor, The Real World, Fear Factor, Sex in the City, Oprah, Springer, soap operas, or a lot of other things on TV. I'm a musician, and my wife's a musician. We get enjoyment out of listening to other burgeoning musicians (regardless of musical style) try to forge a career in front of millions of voters who decide their fates.

[hekawi]

yep, last night (Beatles II) was a bad deal. for me, the only performance that was noteworthy was Syesha's "Yesterday". i actually made a list beforehand of the songs i thought each contestant should've done:

David Cook should've done "Norwegian Wood"

Brooke should've done "Long and Winding Road"

Chikezie should've done "Lady Madonna"

Jason Castro should've done "And I Love Her"

Ramiele should've done "All You Need Is Love"

Carly Smithson should've done "Don't Let Me Down"

Michael Johns should've done "Help!"

David Archuleta should've done "Yesterday"

Syesha should've done "Ticket To Ride" (although her Yesterday was good)

Kristy Lee Cook should've done "Hey Jude"

Amanda Overmeyer should've done "Get Back"

...if the kids had only taken my advice.

[Mark Davis]

I know this sounds crazy to us but those kids most of them had never even heard The Beatles songs. When you have never heard a song before or anyone elses version it turns into Kareoke really quick which it did last night.

Here is what Id like to tell the remainding people left in the contest. Dont sing a ballad unless you can sing it so good it makes people cry or you can make it your own like Cook did with the song Hello by Lionel Ritchie.

On Saturday around 7pm on Fox they have a show called American Idol rewind where they go back to the early shows. Right now they are on season 2 the one that Ruiben won and Clay Akin came in second. Every single person on that show is way better than this years group.

A couole people stood out as being better than the rest but if you ask me there are only 2-3 people this year that can even sing. The rest are no better than a local Kareoke show.

[Doug Matthews]

Mark, I totally agree. After last night's perfomances, I'm signing off for the rest of this season. I watched it every week when Rueben and Clay were competing. The singers in previous seasons were way better than those in the current group.

Two weeks of trying to deliver Beatles songs was also too much.

Doug.

[odiemann]

Tired, tired, tired!

Amanda should just quit, you can't shout that fake, Janice, worakaday thing through the whole competition.

David just needs some help with his mega-dome.

Chekezie rode the same horse too long as did the Carly Simon wannabe with slightly smaller cow teeth.

David's range has actually decreased through the weeks.

Kristie Lee is a minute and a half of eye-candy relief.

Jason Castro looks like he fell out of the wayback machine on a trip to several periods in recent history, most notably getting STUCK in the Jordache jeans phase for a while.

Mostly it is Randy, Paula, and Simon who are the most tired. They need celebrity judges soon.

[tboy]

Originally Posted by Higgs F. Boson

I don't understand the appeal of AI at all. It befuddles me that a recycled mish-mash of the Gong Show and Star Search is so @#%^&* popular.

I became embroiled in this controversy a few pages back. It ain't worth it, dude. This is a thread to discuss the pros and cons of the contestants, not the pros and cons of AI. A new thread discussing show value might be very interesting. I think the implications of it's monumental popularity say a lot about the current mindset in the music biz.

Anyhoo, I tuned in to the wrap up show on some cable channel for one of the Beatles weeks, not sure. Seems to me the guys are killing the girls, overall. Most of the girls would get vocally stampeded by 10 singers who live within 10 miles of my house. WHAT'S UP? Stage jitters? Bad advice from the AI vocal coach? They must have been darn good to make the cut. This is prime time TV we're talking about. IMO, a few of the guys really had something going on.

[jjz28]

...never watched five minutes of it....I don't get it. It's like gawking at a bad car accident. That goes for CSI-Where ever, Lost, Survivor, Big Brother, Moment of Truth, TMZ,etc. Right up there with Jerry Springer. To me it's just salacious crap that revels in the misfortune and indignity of others. Just my old man rant, to each his own. I'll shut up now and play my guitar as one of our esteemed members always says...

[jjz28]

[quote=tboy;1163259]I became embroiled in this controversy a few pages back. It ain't worth it, dude. This is a thread to discuss the pros and cons of the contestants, not the pros and cons of AI. A new thread discussing show value might be very interesting. I think the implications of it's monumental popularity say a lot about the current mindset in the music biz.

Gee, I thought the thread title was "The train wreck that is American idol" sorry.

I do agree with your last sentence, however I would change "mindset" to "mindlessness."

Methamphetamine is very popular these days too...Ok, I'm walking away from the computer now....flame away.

[daddyopapa]

This is just one more ingredient in the gumbo that is American culture. It's weird but ultimately tastey.

[hippietim]

This week was a bit weak. It's got to be tough to flip through a big catalog of songs you have no familiarity with and bang home a kickass performance. Not to mention you have to distill 5-6 minute songs down to under 2 minutes.

They've almost got enough kickass performances this season for a great record though: Imagine, Come Together, Hello, Halleluhah, Let It Be, Light My Fire, etc.

[singlecoilheaven]

While the weekly themes have produced a few unexpected gems, it mostly reinforces my opinion that the AI contestants need to be able to pick their own songs. Every contestant is more or less really strong in a particular niche; let them show it. Just once, when Simon says "That was absolutely the wrong song for you", I'd like for an Idol contestant to grow a pair, look him in the eye, and say "No Sh**!!!"

[Tony]

that know anything about the Beatles score higher in your book than those that don't? One of the contestants last night said she picked the song from the title. Others obviously knew the Beatles, picked their songs and were already working on their arrangements. How can you arrange a song you've never even heard before?

How can these kids not know the basic Beatles songs? Is this wrong of me?

I didn't grow up in Elvis' era, but I'll bet when I was 20-27 years old, If I had to pick from Elvis songbook, there would be at least 50 songs that I knew and maybe even knew some if not all of the lyrics to.

I guess I'm just an old fuddy-dud....

I'm still amazed at all the GREAT Beatles songs out there and then the songs they picked. I mean, far be it for me to criticize the Beatles, but even they had some "okay" or dare say "throwaway" songs. Why not sing the really good ones?

[crawdad]

I know this is all subjective, but I think I judge the competition based on who could actually have a real shot in the music business. Probably, I should just judge on who's best in that particular competition.

Syesha was the only performer who really moved me last night. And I haven't been a big fan of hers, so I was surprised.

The rest of the pack didn't do real well in my book. I thought Chikezie was on to something with the slow version of "I've Just Seen A Face" and I was buying that until they hopped it up. Brooks "Here Comes The Sun" wasn't too hot either.

And Amanda--its really time for her to sing a ballad and explore a couple of different genres. Her same old-same old is grating on me. David Archuleta has a great voice, but his comfort zone is the ballad. He needs to take a detour and surprise us.

If David Cook stays consistent, he might win it. He's the only one that sounds contemporary. Michael Johns seems to get worse with each passing week, and I thought he had a shot at first.

[tboy]

[quote=jjz28;1163383]

Originally Posted by tboy

I became embroiled in this controversy a few pages back. It ain't worth it, dude. This is a thread to discuss the pros and cons of the contestants, not the pros and cons of AI. A new thread discussing show value might be very interesting. I think the implications of it's monumental popularity say a lot about the current mindset in the music biz.

Gee, I thought the thread title was "The train wreck that is American idol" sorry.

I do agree with your last sentence, however I would change "mindset" to "mindlessness."

Methamphetamine is very popular these days too...Ok, I'm walking away from the computer now....flame away.

I'm with you amigo. Check my page 3 posts. IMO, it's a window into who gets to be called an artist, and why and how 4 conglomerates have managed to form an oligopoly that controls 80 percent of the music industry worldwide with bland mediocre product very much like what is presented on AI.

Real artists are having a hell of a time getting a chance because this mediocraty is the norm with the BIG 4. Mediocraty is easy to control and intimidate. It's easy to sell (witness AI) Artists are not. At the end of the day artists and listeners, lose. They've been given instead, MySpace and CDbaby to present art to the world while these kareoke singers get a 20 million audience. MySpace is big fun, but so are lotto tickets.
Some can argue, "but it's what the people want." Exactly my point. That is a stinkin' shame, IMO.

p.s. Not bringing anyone the news. Just venting. Everyone will (and should, of course) row in the direction they choose.

[surfoverb]

The pedal steel player is pretty good and that Jeff Beck guy has potential.

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by surfoverb

The pedal steel player is pretty good and that Jeff Beck guy has potential.

What shoiw are you watching?? LOL

There isnt anyone on AI thats even in the same universe as Jeff Beck.

[hotgoalie11565]

Please oh please let Jason be voted off. But you never know, he could be this year's Sanjaya. Ya know, the one who sucks but people keep voting for him anyway.

Oh and that eye candy Kristy Lee. I'll take that sugar all day.

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

What shoiw are you watching?? LOL

There isnt anyone on AI thats even in the same universe as Jeff Beck.

The guy in the pit that plays pedal steel...and the real Jeff Beck was on AI last year.

[hotgoalie11565]

I guess I'm surpirised it was Amanda, but not really. She is kind of a one trick pony, as some people here have pointed out.

BTW, why do they make the losers sing at the end of the results show? If it was me I'd probably tell them to go f*** themselves.

[ROADMAN]

some of you guys and gals need to....relax...AI is what we get in lieu of Ed Sullivan...Carol Burnett...remember the Gong Show...Smothers Bros....T.V. is crap these days , much like the popular music we are subjected to....hail the old days ..man we had some funny interesting shows to watch .


AI is what it is ... amusing and sometimes surprising entertainment..

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by surfoverb