American Idol March 16/17

[mike79]

What a great night of singing! Here's my rankings:

1. Jasmine
2. Diana
3. George
4. Fantasia
5. Latoya
6. Camille
7. Jennifer

Gap


8. Amy
9. John S.
10. Leah
11. JPL
12. Matt

I think tomorrow we'll see a bottom 3 of Leah, Amy, and Camille. I hate to say it but it looks like Camille or Amy could go because their performances were alright but forgettable. Leah will probably stick around because of the Simon comment to pack her bags. It should get her fans to vote like crazy.

I can't wait until Matt gets eliminated. That was a trainwreck, as was JPL's song.

 

[show 42]

Loved most of the singing tonight.......here are my top 7...

1. Jasmine......blown away by her pure, clear voice
2. Diana.......can't believe she's only 16....she's got that it factor
3. LaToya.......total star quality, mature, amazing voice
4. George.....love his lower register, great personality
5. Jennifer.....what a transformation, she had it all together tonight, including her hair and clothes
6. Matt.......I liked his choice of song, although I would really like to hear his full range
7. Amy.....she's a strong personality, sort of sang out of her range a bit, but overal, a good performance....

Least favs......Fantasia........sorry, I just don't get the draw....she's got a strong, gospel voice, but her over-vocalizing turns me off, along with "Ya all"......the rest were a toss up and any of the rest could go and at this point, it wouldn't bother me......42

 

[guinevere]

I only saw the first hour, as I had to watch America's Next Top Model (which will have a 3rd season, whee!). But what a great hour!

LaToya, "Ain't Nobody": I love that she wore jeans. LaToya is clearly confortable on a stage. I thought at first that this uptempo song wasn't a good showcase for LaToya's voice, but by the end it rocked.

Amy, "You Make Me Feel Brand New": once again, a song that highlights the absolute lack of power Amy has in her upper register. Actually, this song exagerrated the difference in her registers, because she can really belt it out in the lower notes. Too bad she won't choose a song that would complement her strengths. (If she makes it further and they have a jazz week, I think she'd do great!)

Matt, "Hard to Handle" - OMG, Matt went to UW! How did I miss that before? This was a great song for him. I thought his voice sounded good, and I agree that this was his best performance ever.

Camille "Son of a Preacher Man" Can I just say how much I hate this song? But you know something? If I didn't watch Camille's feeble dance moves, this was a good performance for her! Her high notes sounded a little restrained, but I enjoyed this a lot - and considering just how much this song bugs me, that's saying something!

JP Lewis "Drift Away" At the beginning of this song, JP's voice sounded just like Van Morrison. The dancing did affect his vocals, but I do like him more and more. I picked JP to win this thing after the Wild Card round, and I stand by it (even though he's not my choice - that would be LaToya). The drawing was a stupid and cheap stunt after Simon gave JP an amazing compliment. If JP didn't have such a solid core of support already I would worry that he would lose a lot of votes because of it.

Fantaysia "Signed Sealed Delivered": Ooooh, a "c'mon y'all!" before the song even starts I looooove her suit!! I love Fantaysia a lot ("c'mon y'all"s excepted), the only thing I would say about this performance is that I felt the arrangement was "up" the whole time, instead of allowing any sort of build. Fantaysia's voice is so unusual that I think more variation in the song would have been a little better choice than belting it out the whole time.

Of the 6 I saw, I rank them like this:
1. LaToya
2. JP Lewis
3. Fantaysia (would've been 2 without the "c'mon y'all"s)

gap

4-5 Camille and Matt - I can't decide which one was better, they both had really different qualities I liked.

huge gap

6. Amy - It should be noted that I like Amy's personality a lot - more than some of the others mentioned. But this was clearly the worst performance of the first half

And what was up with the theme? Soul Night, indeed

guinevere

 

[RealtorGal]

Yes, Leah should pack her bags--unless she gets the sympathy vote as a result of Simon's completely accurate assessment. She was AWFUL. The voice is actually there--it really is, but she was completely out of tune and tried too hard to be sexy. I couldn't stand it.

The other mediocre performances were Matt, Amy, John Stevens. Matt & Amy have the words "karaoke" written all over them. I think of them as "pretenders'--they pretend to communicate with the audience but can't really quite get there. John is just so DULL in every respect. I don't think he CAN sing in any other style whatsoever.

I like Camille--this wasn't her night, but her performance doesn't merit the boot.

I still cannot stand JPL. He looks BEYOND RIDICULOUS with those stupid dance moves. He looks like a frat boy whooping it up in a college Talent Show. Vocally, he has a good voice with a couple of major fundamental flaws (which I could correct so EASILY!)

I stand by my earlier assessment of Diana: Big, Devoid-of-Any-Real-Feeling Voice. She just leaves me feeling impressed with the technique and the QUALITY of the voice, but emotionally cold. There is just nothing there--no heart, no soul. She's like a well-trained child robot who is just TOO REHEARSED in everything she says, does and sings.

I love Jennifer Hudson--I really do. Her voice is soulful, deep, rich. I thought it unfair of Simon to rag on Jennifer for doing EXACTLY what Fantasia and La Toya did--sing a soul song the way it should be sung. I'll tell you exactly what I think is going on here. Simon wants to make sure that La Toya and Fantasia stay in the competition and he sees Jennifer as an expendable "third black girl". He wants to make sure she doesn't divide that vote.

Besides Jennifer, I loved the performances of Jasmine, George, La Toya &, believe it or not, Fantasia. I don't love her voice but I thought her performance was superb. I want to qualify my feelings about La Toya--she wasn't as good as she was in the qualifying round, but that had to do with song choice.

 

[guinevere]

I'll tell you exactly what I think is going on here. Simon wants to make sure that La Toya and Fantasia stay in the competition and he sees Jennifer as an expendable "third black girl". He wants to make sure she doesn't divide that vote.

Besides Jennifer, I loved the performances of Jasmine, George, La Toya &, believe it or not, Fantasia. I don't love her voice but I thought her performance was superb. I want to qualify my feelings about La Toya--she wasn't as good as she was in the qualifying round, but that had to do with song choice.

ITA with you about Simon's MO on Jennifer, as well as LaToya's performance tonight!

guinevere

 

[show 42]

Comments about voting last night........I did try, dutifully off and on for an hour........got through to vote for George, Jennifer, and LaToya, but couldn't get through for Jasmine, at all........I hope this means she'll be in the top three tonight..........42

 

[NJSk8Fan]

My top 4 are:
Jasmine
Diana
George
Fantasia

Bottom 4:
Leah
John Stevens
Camile
Jon Peter

Matt may not be vocally strong, but there is something about him that I just enjoy....
I agree that Leah should pack her bags.
John Stevens has a nice voice but it doesn't seem he can step out of the Sinatra sound to do anything else...it didn't sound like he was singing soul to me. I think an "American Idol" needs to be able to step out of the box and not be so one dimensional.

 

[CB1AB2]

My top 5:
1=Jasmine
2=Latoya
3=Fantasia
4=Jennifer
5=Diana

None of the guys really thrill me. But out of all of them I'd say Jon Peter would be the one=if he learned to dance.

I like Camile=she looked so scared=I felt soeey for her. I do hope she stays in longer.

Leah is the one that I think should go home this week.

cb

 

[show 42]

Clay Aikens is suppose to sing tonight......I just picked up his new single....."The Way" which is on his CD and his version of "Solitaire" which in my humble opinion, is awesome.......42

 

[Tonichelle]

huh... didn't think Latoya was all that good...

thought John was amazing... so what if he can't "change his sound/style" he can take songs and make them fit his ala Michael Buble... and he does it with class way above most 16 year old American males... I voted for him and I hope he makes it through

George and Jon and Amy were also highlights of the night


Leah really needs to go, now!

 

[Rgirl]

THE RESULTS

Re Jennifer Hudson getting the next to lowest number of votes, I'll borrow a phrase from "A Mighty Wind": Wha' happen?!

ITA with Leah getting the boot. While agree with Rgal that the voice is there, she's just too young for this competition. I think she needs to be about 21-22 to handle the pressure of both AI and living up to family expectations. They said she was crying backstage before she went on. Not good. I can see her doing well eventually--though, and I hate to say this--I think she needs to get away from her mother's influence for a good long while. Her mother's got a good career in Europe but she's also got a pretty flimsy voice. I think Leah probably has the potential to be better than her mother and maybe... Well, don't want to get all psychobabbly. She's pretty now and will probably mature into a real beauty, and the quality of her voice is lovely. On Tuesday she was just so out of tune the whole song. A real howler. Wednesday she was much better, but still had trouble.

But the SHOCK was Jennifer Hudson! This just proves to me that much of the audience either can't hear or doesn't care what these people sound like. She didn't belong in the bottom three much less second to last. I'm glad Randy Jackson said, "I just don't get it" and that he thought she had one of the strongest performances of the night, which IMO, she did. I think Paula and Simon really skanked out by saying they "weren't surprised." What was with Paula's "You didn't really connect with the audience" and "Poor song choice" crap? "Baby, I Love You" a poor song choice for soul night? And with that performance?

And I think we're starting to see the cracks in Simon's ability to judge singing. When A&E did his "Biography" he was talking about Paula Abdul and said that what she brought as a judge was her ability to hear technical things such as pitch, which he can't do. WHAT?! You're a friggin' record producer and you can't hear if someone is on or off key? Okay, I'm sure he can hear if someone is way off, but if you're making record deals potentially worth multi millions of dollars and you can't hear pitch then all I can say is I wouldn't want you producing the records of anybody I know. At the time I thought he was working his own PR as "magic man"; you know, just goes by his gut reaction, which can't be taught and is so great, he picks winners 90% of the time. On Tuesday night, I thought his "I'm hearing a lot of oversinging" comment was warranted for about five people up to and including Jennifer, but it was understandable for the people who could really "belt" on their first night of real competition plus the fact it was "soul night." On Tuesday Simon made it sound like it was a trend he was hearing, but on Wednesday when Jennifer almost got booted off, he made it sound like it was just her. Even if you can't stand her style, her looks, her personality, or whatever, there is simply NO WAY Jennifer deserved to be in the bottom two. No way. You can criticize her performance, but Amy (aaaa-oooooooh! on those high notes) over Jennifer? Camille "zero power" over Jennifer? Any of the men over Jennifer? I say no way.

The only thing that doesn't surprise me about it is that we've seen in the last two seasons how people get caught up in the singers' personalities--including the judges, especially Paula. I would not have said Simon a year ago, although he clearly understands the importance of personality. And I would have said Randy a year ago, although maybe the weight loss cleared up his head because I thought his Tuesday night assessments were dead-on. The one thing Simon did say that I thought was quite valid was how different performances sound on TV vs. from the "in the lap" position of the judges. I have no doubt Simon is conniving, but I disagree with Rgal about the black vote thing only because I don't think Simon thinks about this stuff ahead of time. I think he says whatever strikes him at the moment. What I do think is that if he doesn't like somebody, no matter what the reason, he'll sabotage his own investment to prove to himself he was right. I think pride is more important to him at this point than money only because the record deals are not the major source of his income. Being Simon is the major source. I think it just might be that he doesn't like Jennifer.

Okay, everybody else:
--LaToya, "Ain't Nobody": She sure came bounding out of the gates! Great voice, great presence, didn't show much subtlety of phrasing, but like I said, these people are anxious to show the audience (not the judges) what they can do. When I looked back on it, the performance didn't seem to have the heart I remember from the first time I saw her, but that could be pure first night tightness. Speaking of "not like for no reason," LaToya is the spittin' image (or spit and image, take your choice) of a white girl I worked with about 20 years ago, though LaToya is prettier. This girl went around spouting about being "born again" while she was schtupping the married VP of the company, was a complete manipulative back stabber, and racist and stupid as the day is long to boot. (Wish I still knew her just so I could call her up and tell her that she looks EXACTLY like a black person.) Anyway, every time I see LaToya I have to concentrate on not associating her with the skanky girl. The point is, I can see how something that has absolutely nothing to do with the individual's real personality or singing ability could sway you, but as a judge and producer I think it's bad news if Simon has that problem. And I mean either way, because I think there are some people who are in the top 12 (now top 11) only because one or more of the judges liked their personalities.

--Amy, "You Make Me Feel Brand New": As I said, a real dog howl response to those notes in her upper register. Man, she sounded like she was breaking dishes. However, that said, it could be nerves and could be correctable. She's got to get past it though. And when are people going to realize how totally OVER Day-Glo hair is?

--Matt, "Hard to Handle": Not interested. And the "Caddyshack" golf hat just made things worse. I see him getting personality votes for a while and then gone. Would have had four or five other women from the Q rounds way ahead of him.

--Camille "Son of a Preacher Man": Again, not interested. Pretty girl, pretty voice, throw a stick in LA or NY and you'll hit 1000 of them.

--JP Lewis "Drift Away": I simply cannot stand to watch this guy. Nothing against short performers, especially since I'm only 5'2 myself, but what I think when I watch JPL is "Drunken Dancin' Hobbit Frat Boy." HOWEVER, I did my "close your eyes and just listen" test and the guy indeed has a GREAT voice and uses it well. I confess to being guilty of "lookism" in his case, though I think I could like him if he didn't dress like goof-ball and didn't dance again ever, anytime, anywhere. But even if he did spiff up and not dance like a fool, I think that overall--I mean total package--he's more short term novelty than sustained career--EXCEPT strictly as a vocalist. I mean, this guy could make big bucks singing commercials and fill-in leads on records. But as a solo live performer, I don't see it.

--Fantasia "Signed Sealed Delivered": I've been resisting Fantasia, but even with the "c'mon y'all" and her sibilant "S," she got me. I didn't even care that she did a "c'mon y'all" because I felt she would genuinely say that--just like, "C'mon y'all! Getchyo butt over here! Ah'm sangin'!" Even wonderfully gifted, totally wrongly voted off Tamyra Grey from AI-1 could not do a sincere "c'mon y'all." But Fantasia has the natural sass to do it. I just kept thinking, "She is the real deal"-- long before Simon called her "the real thing." I completely acknowledge that her quirks and individuality will alienate some, maybe many, but she reminds me of performers like Mick Jagger and Tina Turner (actually, I think she may be Mick and Tina's love child). She's something that comes up out of the culture and either the culture will either embrace her or it won't. I'm curious to hear her do something out of her style, which I think the best performers can do. Mick, Tina, and even Kurt Cobain can/could sing a great ballad, unplugged or even a cappella. But for now, she's one of my favorites.

--George "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay": To me, George is the Ruben Studdard of this year's competition, and I don't mean that as a compliment, though Ruben has a better or at least more interesting voice than George. I would love to have George as a neighbor; I would love to have George as one of my childrens' teachers (if I had kids); I would love...you get the idea. But as a professional singer, nuh-uh. His personality is 90% of the reason he's there. As an appealing singer/performer, I do not get George. I was not impressed by Ruben's singing, but at least with him I could see the appeal. With George, the whole wide-eyed, kid-in-a-candy-store thing just irks me, though I have no doubt it's sincere, that that's who he really is. But try listening to him with your eyes closed and ask yourself, "Would I pay any amount of money to buy a record by this guy? If this sound came on the radio, would I pay attention? Would I even keep the radio on?" For me the answer is always no.

--Jennifer "Baby, I Love You": Already covered.

--John Stevens "Say Goodbye": A lot of comparisons between JS and Clay because they seem to both be sticking to "who they are" and staying within one style. I don't disagree with that. But I think the comparison ends there, at least with what I've seen so far. Last week I complimented JS for NOT using vocal gymnastics to try to impress people, but this week I felt he at least needed to show SOME range. The difference I see between JS and Clay is that while Clay stuck to who he was as a person and had difficulty getting out of a certain style, when he was forced to sing soft and low, as he had to with his "pick a song out of a hat" choice, "Vincent," there was still power and a sense of "life lived" in his performance. Also, Clay was smart enough to let the image people mess with his hair, his glasses, and the clothes--all of which you can't see on a record anyway. And howdy doody (which we all get), look at and listen to Clay today! I think the biggest factor with JS is his age. Wasn't Clay something like 23 when he did AI? JS is 16, right? Huge difference in maturity there. I think JS may be another one who is just too young for AI right now. However, I would absolutely love it if he surprised me.

******BEFORE I FORGET: Why did Seacrest ask Clay if he was getting along with Kelly Clarkson on tour and put that little spin on "Miss Independence"? Do Kelly and Clay have "issues"? Any good dirt there?*********

--Leah: Already covered.

--Jasmine: This girl is great. She's got the voice, the looks, and above almost everyone else, great communication. When they did her little biography and showed her doing hula classes, I wondered if the emphasis on heart and meaning in good hula training would translate to her voice. I don't know if her hula dancing has anything to do with it, but she's one of the few singers out of all three seasons who has been able to tell a story with her singing (a) ever and (b) especially the first week. I watched Hugh Jackman on "Inside the Actor's Studio" last week, in which he talked about the process for the 1998 London Royal Theatre's revival of "Oklahoma!" When I saw it on PBS, I was hugely impressed by the way the songs were delivered and now I know why. Jackman said director Trevor Nunn made the cast do every song as dialogue until they understood the lyrics completely apart from the music. (I'm sure many good voice teachers use this technique, but apparently not enough of them.) He did a demonstration using the dialogue technique from "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!" and as Jackman said (paraphrasing), "If a line is repeated, you have to come up with a reason to repeat it." As he went along I thought, "They should make every contestant on AI do this." He also said what I'm sure great vocal teachers say, which is how singing is as much acting as it is vocals. I was also listening to Judy Garland recently and thought the same thing. She was singing "Embraceable You," which does not use any of the big belty vocals she's known for, and you could hear why she could transfix 20,000 people just sitting on a stool in the corner of a stage. I digress (surprise) but that's what separates Jasmine, Fantasia, and to a lesser extent, LaToya for me, or at least it did this week (thought LaToya was better last time I heard her, but understand this is the first "real" week). Right now--and I know a lot can change in the ensuing weeks--I'd love to see it come down to Jasmine and Fantasia because I think they're equally good but in virtually opposite ways.

--Diana: Great, big, powerful voice from a very confident 16-year-old girl that communicates no life experience whatsoever. On the one hand, I enjoy hearing her enjoy how good her own voice is without seeming arrogant and I enjoy, for the time being, her naivete that that's good enough. OTOH, I think that after the nonsingers are eliminated, she's going to be hit with the hard reality that she's not a 16-year-old singer the way Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand were, and that she can't hold people's interest (although she might with this AI audience) with nothing but fireworks. Also, I can't really fault her for communicating like a 16-year-old when she is 16. I guess I just hope she saw the episode of "Inside the Actor's Studio" with Hugh Jackman:lol: (BTW, if anybody reading this is in the NY area and can get tix to see "The Boy from OZ," which is Jackman's almost one-man show as Peter Allen, go, go, go! I generally hate musicals, but this is more like a play about an amazing singer and performer in which Jackman is phenomenal--and I mean once-in-a-lifetime phenomenal.)

That's it. My top three are Fantasia and Jasmine (tie) and LaToya. If any of the guys make it to the final two, I'm shooting my TV set Elvis-style--albeit with a squirt gun.
Rgirl

Twinnie--Tell me why you like George since, as you can see, I don't.

 

[show 42]

Hey RGirl, I'm guessing here, but maybe if there is friction between Kelly and Clay, perhaps it's because Clay is the bigger "Draw".........pure speculation here.........

Great singing voices aside, American Idol is about singing, but it is about personality too. If I can't stand how a performer acts, singing, or being interviewed, it won't matter much to me when the voting time comes........I go for the total package everytime, which is why I voted for George, LaToya, Dianne, (and tried to vote for Jasmine, but her lines were always busy) .......Fantasia may have a power-house voice, but her singing style just turns me off..............42

 

[Tonichelle]

Rgirl...

SIMON is on there to judge the "whole package" and the marketability. That's why last year he had a problem with Clay Aiken because while Clay was a "good singer" he didn't think Clay's package could stand the heat. It's still too soon to tell if Clay will last... I love Clay, but I still have my ifs if he can stay true to who he is and what he believes or if he'll try to bend over backwards, or if he'll give in. So far he's been really strong and I pray for him daily that he stays that way!

Randy and Paula are the singers that judge... they all bring something incredibly valuable to the show. This show is not JUST a singing competition... it's a stardom competition... just because you can flat sing doesn't mean you'll have what it takes... that's why there are stages of the competition bigger and bigger audiences, meaner comments... if you break then you will be voted off.

Also, Simon plays the audience... I saw him do it a lot last year with Clay... many people think Simon wanted him off early on, *I* don't think that's what he wanted, I think he wanted Clay to be in the top two, maybe not win, but he wanted him up there because he deserved to be... if fans think that their favorite is safe they won't vote half as hard as if they think their favorite might be in the bottom 3 and be going home... jmho but that's how I've seen it work.


I am so glad Leah's off... next week how about Fantasia? Her voice annoys me LOL and her personality is just too divaish for me... she ain't as awesome as she thinks

Wasn't Clay something like 23 when he did AI?

24 actually

JS is 16, right? Huge difference in maturity there.

Very true, but I think he can still sing get a record deal and continue to mature...

******BEFORE I FORGET: Why did Seacrest ask Clay if he was getting along with Kelly Clarkson on tour and put that little spin on "Miss Independence"? Do Kelly and Clay have "issues"? Any good dirt there?*********

The spin? I know that their tour is called "Independant" didn't hear any spin that Ryan put on there.... Kelly and Clay were on Ryan's show right before their tour started and they both confessed to being huge talkers and Clay joked that she is the bigger of the two and that he'll never get to talk(he was right both are on a strict no talking order as both are starting to get strained voices, which Clay proved Wednesday night ). So if anything that's what Ryan was referring to. Clay and Kelly have a good relationship.

 

[jenny12]

Fantasia IMO, is by far the best in this competition. She looks professional already and she's the only one I'd be interested in buying the CD. Everyone else sounds like lesser versions of the pros. Fantasia ROCKS!

 

[swannanoa54]

Jennifer so deserved to be in the bottom 3 along with Amy, John S and Matt. To me they are the worst out of the lot. Jennifer overpowered that song. There is no reason to overpower an R&B song like that. And her phrasing was off. Now I could (and would) watch her sing gospel because I think she gets into that more than anything. But Jennifer as an American Idol. Nope. Don't think so.

I love Jasmine, George, LaToya, Diana, Fantasia and JPL. I think they can all go far no matter what. I do think if JPL gets jumping around we will hear more of his voice. I have to agree with Simon that he may be the dark horse in this competition.

I know what's going to happen next week. Since it's country, Amy and Jennifer are going to try to sing power songs in the manner of Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, LeAnn Rimes and Faith Hill. Quite frankly, I'll hurl if they do. Neither has the voice or phrasing in their singing to do any songs by them. Jasmine could probably do some Patsy Cline or Martina McBride. I'd really like to see her do a Shania Twain song myself.

But you watch, Jennifer will try to do some song where she can try to bust a lung again. Ugh!:\

 

[Tonichelle]

Jennifer so deserved to be in the bottom 3 along with Amy, John S and Matt. To me they are the worst out of the lot.

That'd make it a bottom 4

 

[swannanoa54]

That'd make it a bottom 4

Thanks Toni. Duh on me!

 

[Tonichelle]

John Stevens Wallpapers

"AI Class of '04"
"Always an Idol to me...
John Stevens IV

Enjoy!