American Idol 3/25

American Idol 3/25

I had to leave the house during the show and haven't had time to watch the tape, yet.

I thought Ruben had a good performance. I think his song choice was a 'how can I not sing this song' pick. It did help energize the audience and you could tell he was having fun. He was moving a bit to it, too.

Corey. Yeah, Paula (abdul) - his upper register was good, but he couldn't handle the song at the lower end. Decent energy, but don't think he's the Idol.

Julia She still can't move. She adjusted the song to her range which did not do the song justice. At least she appeared to enjoy the song more this week. As Simon said, Ruben makes it look effortless while she makes it look like hard work. I would really like to see her eliminated tommorrow.

Carmen: I thought she would do better this week since she's a country kind of gal. Wasn't impressed, but she wasn't the worst this week IMO.

Blond Kim She does have presence. Voice doesn't particularly stand out. Didn't like the skirt. Did you notice her scratch her butt when the camera was behind her?

Clay I agree with Simon - sounded the same as last week - which isn't a bad thing since he did well last week, but not a compliment either. At one point, it really seemed as though he was singing 'somewhere out there' again. Definitely should not be eliminated.

Ricky Nice. I think he's done better - perhaps it's just not his element. Was it Glady's who said his voice was pure? It is, but he needs to show some variation at this point.

Gotta go to the tape for big Kim, Josh and Trenyce.

I was so glad that they didn't show those little personality clips this week. I'm also glad that AI Reveal show won't start til 8:30 which means that I can just watch the last 1/2 hour after Survivor is over.

Re: American Idol 3/25

Josh -- 1. Garth Brooks rules... 2. JOSH RULES... he sang one of my favorite Garth Songs... and he didn't get caught up on the words! Amazing... I love him... and my Air Force friend in Korea thinks he's hot... keep him on...

Trynece -- What are Randy and Paula on? She was good???? She totally butchered the song! It sucked... she's good... but if she wants to give a half-hearted performance to a very powerful song she should get some harsh critisizim. I won't cry if and when she gets voted off.

Kim -- She totally impressed me... sounded exactly like the recording artist IMO... Jenni and Todd could skate to that and not know the difference

Ruben -- sigh... I have to say that Gladys and Olivia and I all have good taste... he's as smooth as butter... I'm going to marry him! :lol:

Corey -- you don't sit and use a mik stand... he so did not deserve to be there tonight... vote him off America!

Julia --another one who I'm surprised made it this far! No one can sing Faith Hill like Faith... it's practically suicide to try.

Carmen -- sad to say I don't remember her performance... but she didn't impress me last time so that's not shocker really

Blonde Kim -- sounds country... lukewarm felt performance

Clay -- Simon said America would get it right if he became American idol if he kept singing like that... and yes it DID sound similar tonight... but I LOVE Clay... omg he's amazing... if I can't marry Ruben let me marry Clay! If he doesn't win AI2 Broadway will definately want to give this guy a call... he has that sort of voice! GOOOOOOOOOOO CLAY!

Ricky -- I dunno DAD likes him... I'm not impressed... I don't remember his performance at all!

American Nashville Idol

Well, today is Carmen's birthday, and Simon & Co decided to give her a HUGE present with their ol' theme switcheroo.

Actually, this show seemed to be designed to give all of the underdogs a chance to make their big move, and to deliberately make at least 3 singers work in a genre that wouldn't show their best side. Thankfully, Simon seemed as confused by this theme as anyone - and what was up with Olivia N-J as guest judge for country/western? I know she got her start in country, but it's definitely NOT what she's known for. I'm wondering if their planned judge (whether disco or country) pulled out.

JOSH: This was his big shot. He was made to sing Garth Brooks, looked confortable, sounded good - a little TOO realistically country, actually. And I think going first hurt him overall

TRENYCE: Poor Trenyce. She is the only performer who really fell in the trap set with this theme. She was doing ok, using an unusual arrangement of "I Need You", but she hit a bad note and the whole thing unravelled. It was obvious she knew she blew it. I voted for her like crazy because it will be stupid if this theme ends her AI trip, but it could be close.

KIMBERLEY LOCKE: WOW! She's been on the bubble with me since the Top 12 began, for her obsession with the Wizard of Oz theme, and her less-than-sportsmanly behaviour when she's in jeopardy, but this was THE performance of the night for me. It started as a spot-on rendition of a Bonnie Raitt song, and halfway through she made a subtle change in the arrangement so she could let loose with her range. Good for her!

COREY: Sounded nice, even though the look was totally wrong for the genre. But really, I thought he cheated a little, relying on the easy-going chorus instead of actually singing the song. He's crafty though - as I said, he sounded good, and after last week, that's what he needed.

CARMEN: This episode was her birthday present, and she looked so comfortable singing country, and the song was a good one for her range......and she STILL sounded terrible!!! Tons of sharp and flat notes all over the place. As usual, Carmen is one of the few subjects on which Simon and I are completely opposite.

RICKEY: 2nd best performance of the night. Took a song and made it totally not-country, but it was gorgeous. He keeps getting better and better. ps - with all that raving about Corey's squeaky high register, where's the props for Rickey's??

KIM CALDWELL: Great performance - not a surprise, since wasn't she already a professional country singer? (hmm, another contestant they thought needed a boost, I guess). And the perm has calmed down too.

RUBEN: Good song choice, as we all know he's representing Alabama. Ruben sounded good as always, but he phoned this one in, which was surprising to me. I thought it would have a much bigger punch <em>because</em> it was "Sweet Home Alabama".

JULIA: Great song for her. She looked like she was enjoying herself, she sounded relatively good, she held the mic in a way that hid most of her facial tics. Definitely the best we've seen from her, but I think it's a day late and a dollar short. Still the weakest performer of the bunch (although not the worst voice).

CLAY: Sounded good, but rather restrained. Another surprise - I thought he would take to country a bit more. But maybe he's been trying to downplay that side and thus didn't go for it? Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Clay fan and want him to win, but this was technically good, but a little dull.

My rankings of tonight's performances:

Kim L
Rickey
Kim C
Josh
Clay and Ruben (pretty equal in my eyes)
Corey
Julia
Trenyce and Julia (had different problems but equal quality)

Who I think will be the bottom 3: Julia, Trenyce and....Carmen?

Who will go: probably Julia, I wish Carmen, pleez o pleez not Trenyce!!

guinevere

ps I still wish we could have heard Corey singing "Ring My Bell". Maybe next week?

Re: American Nashville Idol

I thought that both Trenyce and Julia had that Maria Butyrskaya, deer in the highlights, oh no I blew it again look on their faces. You gotta SELL it, ladies. Sell, sell, sell.

Biggest disappointment: I was hoping that Carmen would sing a cowboy song with yodeling.

Mathman

Re: American Nashville Idol

Josh - I wasn't crazy about it, but then I'm not a huge Garth Brooks or country music fan

Trynece -- I missed most of her performance so I don't really know ...

Kimberly Locke -- I loved the song and thought she did a great job - I was very impressed.

Ruben -- he's great and totally lovable.

Corey -- I still like him.

Julia --bloody 'orrible!

Carmen -- I don't really like her voice that much.

Kim Caldwell-- I thought she did pretty well, the best so far from Kim Caldwell.

Clay -- he has a nice voice, wasn't crazy about the song.

Ricky -- I wasn't crazy about his performance

Re: American Nashville Idol

I was unimpressed with the evening on a whole. I can handle country, I just didn't think the genre really let the contestants shine (and doesn't TNT have their own country American Idol thing going??).

Josh - I thought he did pretty decent. But don't we already have one Garth Brooks?

Trynece- Ouch, that was not a good performance. And she did not look too pleased with it, either.

Kimberly Locke - I really liked her performance this evening. But, for me anyway, she had to blow me away for her to move on, and I don't feel like she did.

Ruben - Great job. I wasn't sure if he could do country and he pulled it off. He really is contagious, such a smooth voice.

Corey - He really didn't shine tonight, for me. I think it was two shakey performances in a row. And his voice is starting to wear on me.

Julia - She must be struggling with her confidence, because she just does not look comfortable on stage. She did much better in the first round of 8. She's been on the bubble every week, so this could be her week to go.

Carmen - She did much better this week. You can tell she feels comfortable doing country. But she could still be in the bottom three.

Kim C. - This was definitely her best performance. And I did notice her scratching her butt (bet she didn't expect the camera to catch that!!). The last note she sang sounded awfully flat and her range isn't very broad. (Nice way to win votes with the skimpy outfit, though)

Clay - I thought he did pretty good. I liked that he didn't go all out, that it was a "softer" performance. Still love his voice.

Ricky - When he starts singing I think the judges are going to ridicule him, but they love him. Am I missing the greatness of Ricky. I love his personality and his voice is pretty good. I'm just not crazy about him.

My bottom three - Trynece, Julia and Corey (I don't think he redeemed himself this week).

I think Julia will go (much to the disappointment of my husband - loves her, um, form-fitting tops!!)

On a side note, I watched the Celine Dion special afterwards. The contrast between the AI contestants and Celine is so striking. Love her or hate her, Celine knows how to sell a song. Even the best performers on AI (like Kim C) can't hold a candle to a pro like Celine.

Re: American Nashville Idol

Funniest moment -- When Ryan told Carmen that Olivia Newton John looked liked she could be Carmen's sister. The look on Carmen's face was like, "Did he say my grandmother?" :lol:

Mathman

Re: American Nashville Idol

I was not impressed by last night at all but that might be due to the fact that I do NOT care for country music at all. I voted for Clay simply because I adore him and he sang well again. Ruban was great again too and I loved Josh. That song suited him quite nicely. I figured Julia would be the one to get the boot and I guess I was right finally. I thought she would have been gone last week actually. I feel bad though that she got voted off on the one night she actually did quite well even though as someone all ready mentioned, only Faith can sing a Faith song....LOL :rollin:

But wow, I was about a basket case when the top ten sang God Bless the USA! What a moving thing for them to do in this crazy time of war. I was completely speechless during that song.....both times! Release THAT song on a single for me please! One thing that this group has going for it that the last group did not is that these finalists can actually all sing together and sound really nice. I am tearing up again just thinking about how wonderful that song sounded tonight. Wow. Way to go AI for doing that tonight.

bye Julia

I agree that it's too bad Julia finally got the boot after she sang reasonably well. And the other 2 in the bottom 3 were quite a surprise to me! But ultimately, Julia was the weakest performer in the group, so it ended right.

- Anyone notice how PO'd Corey looked during the brief moment he was sweating it out to see if he was in the bottom 3? Especially compared to Rickey, who handled it very gracefully!

- Trenyce got a present and she knows it (and I helped give it to her, I admit! I voted for her like 50 times ) Can't wait to see her get back on track next week.

- I switched over from Survivor halfway through, right when they sang Proud to be an American the first time. I have also noticed that this group can actually sing together - a definite improvement from last time. It makes these schmaltzy group songs bearable!

- WHO is voting for Carmen?!? I continue to be amazed that she is not even getting close to being booted. I'm beginning to think Simon is slamming the lines after the show each week!

- Kim C is a very unself-conscious woman, indeed! She might want to consider switching to waterproof makeup for the rest of the competition.....

I'm looking forward to next week, when hopefully the theme will be more fun.

guinevere

Re: bye Julia

Having been in the bottom three every week, this could not have been a surprise for Julia. One thing struck me in the little review piece, when she said, "I'm the most normal person." She strikes me that way, not extreme in any sense, and that could be part of her problem. There's no "hook" to her. I don't mean somebody has to be extreme as in wild or gorgeous. One can be extremely genuine--as I think of in terms of Kelly Clarkson and Clay. Julia was perhaps too well-rounded to go any further without a great set of pipes, which she does not have. Good, but not great.

Can we officially ban the gesture of pointing or reaching forward while singing? During the group song, I thought people were going to get their eyes poked out. Notice the ones who tend not to do it (Ruben, Clay).

I liked Kim C. for the first time this week. She didn't seem to overwork or push the song or her personality in the performance. I think she has a lot of bad habits from all those years of big-hair performing in Branson (great experience, too), but was happy to see her settle down and be herself more, IMO. Perhaps Simon's "in any theme park" comment did the trick. Also, in the dumb little Mustang Sally piece (I HATE those things! Hated them last year too!) I must say that Kim C. seemed like a good actress--at least from the little she did. She could do well as an actress/singer.

Clay re the "identical to last week" comment. I love Clay but I hope he is able to do something with this feedback. Even before Simon said it, as I was listening to and watching Clay I got this image of one of those ads for one of those Joe Blow's Most Memorable Moments CDs, where the guy lip syncs a few bars from half a dozen songs and he looks the same and sings the same on every song. People love it, but it's not great singing. Clay, for me, first impressed me because he had the geek look with the beautiful voice and surprising sex appeal going on. Plus he totally remade himself from starting out as Howdy Doody. Now that the pleasant surprise has worn off and others are getting better, I think Clay has to take it up a notch. I think he's got to take some risks with his range and vocal interpretation. I liked what he did with the song, that it was quiet and that he didn't pull out all the stops in an effort to hammer home the "remember what a great voice I have" thing. And his quiet confidence and genuineness continues to be fetching. But vocally, I'd like to see him get a little dangerous.

Ruben: Mr. Natural. So far, the guy has hit the nail on the head every time. Anybody familiar with the card illusionist Ricky Jay? He did a show on Broadway about 10 years ago called "Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants." He does a lot of character acting now, but for his show it was just this overweight, not at all good looking guy and a deck of cards. Has a kind of nasally voice. I mean, nothing going on--except he did the most unbelievable, nothing up my sleeve, jaw-dropping, this-can't-be-possible stuff with a deck of cards you have ever seen. Ruben reminds me of Ricky Jay. Both have demeanors that are laid back. Both come on and wow you with the simplest things. I can see Ruben as becoming a kind of pop version of Pavarotti--and I don't mean in terms of weight, but I do mean in terms of being bigger than life, though of course in very different ways. "All warm inside" as Olivia Newton John said. Ruben, IMO, has been different from week to week, though of course he has a strong style. But it's like he walks out, blows everybody away, and sits down like, "Thank you. I'm gonna go watch the game now."

Trenyce: I was shocked that Randi and Paula said, "Great!" I didn't think Trenyce was capable of being that bad but she was howling dog awful. For Paula to call a couple of the others "pitchy" and not nail Trenyce for some notes that were off the score??? Anyway, good for Trenyce for knowing she blew it. Tamyra Gray got voted off last year for a performance that wasn't as bad as Trenyce's but just bad for her and a real clunker performance-wise, so I'm glad the audience didn't make that mistake again.

Carmen is still in because all of Utah is calling in for her every week. She's also young, blonde, and pretty with that fresh-scrubbed, milk-fed look.

I think Corey or Ricky will be next to go unless they do something special next week. I think the audience still has either the b**** thing going on with Kim C. or they reacted like I did until this week, which was to find her personality disingenuous. She turned me around with her performance this week and I hope she keeps going in that direction.
Rgirl (Apt. 41-B Idol )

Re: bye Julia

I wasn't surprised with Julia getting the boot. I don't think she was, either. I don't know what anyone thinks about Kim C.'s personality, but I don't feel like she is sincere. All the crying was a bit much. They may all think they are best friends, but in the end, its a competition. Its like the people on Survivor, they just get booted out by their teammates and they say "Love you guys". Please, you wanted the million bucks just like they did!

Oh well! I sure hope they pick a better theme for this week. I left feeling kind of disappointed by the whole country thing. Like Randy says, it didn't really do anything for me!

Re: bye Julia

I love the Country theme and I love the group numbers... the first round of Im Proud to be an American was sooooooo touching

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>But don't we already have one Garth Brooks?[/quote]

Yeah, but he retired... and Josh is totally up to the job...


anyone know what next week theme is supposed to be?