American Idol 10/02

I am really astonished that all over the net people are saying almost everyone in this group of 8 was as good or better than most of the final 10/12 in previous editions. Maybe AI1, but the only person who I thought was really weak in the top 12 last time was Carmen (followed by Julia). And what I've noticed this season from the non-stop preview shows and this group so far, is that there are lots of "good" singers, and no truly great performers that I have yet seen. I have a coupld that I'm rooting for, but no one that I'm really behind, in the way I was for Clay, Kim Locke, and Tamyra from the moment I saw and heard them.

I agree that Fantasia has a polarizing voice, but she is the only person out of the bajillions that we've seen so far who is truly memorable to me (in a good way). I look forward to seeing how she does in the top 12 - she may fade away as others come into their own, who knows?

one side note about Katie - everytime I've seen her, I've thought I wouldn't like her - I don't like her 'image', and I don't like her performance mannerisms at all - but I love her voice. And I think I'm in the minority about her song choice - I love "Orange Colored Sky", I think she did a great job with it, and she stood out for me because she did sing something different. I'm sorry she didn't make it through, and I hope she at least gets selected to vie for the Wild Card spot.

guinevere

JonnyCoop said:

I personally think Matt is CONSIDERABLY better than Josh. Who by the way, just got a recording contract. Scary, eh??

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no it's not scary at all! I can hardly wait to get his CD! WOOT WOOT!

From IdolForums.com
9-10 [whoever they feel is eligible] people will be called back for the wild card show. They will perform... and on Wednesday, 4 people will get through to the top 12.

America- chooses 1 [last yr, it was Clay Aiken]
Randy- chooses 1 [last yr, it was Kim Caldwell]
Paula- chooses 1 [last yr, it was Trenyce]
Simon- chooses 1 [last yr, it was Carmen Rasmusen]

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Twinnie!
So great to hear your straight and incredibly informed talk on singing! One of the reasons I look forward to AI is I know I get to hear Rgal's opinions on the singers. Plus, I know you've got the true musical chops and education (you just don't try to flaunt it) to be a judge on AI. I think your approach would be somewhere between Randy and Simon and that you should replace Paula Abdul. Enough with Miss Hardly Had a Career Miss Nice. Even when I disagree with what you say, I love reading you say it Speaking of which, several people thought Diane DeGarma was awful. I thought she was great and only heard her wobble a little on one note near the end. Can you explain a little more about what you found so bad about her singing? What am I missing?

Toni,
Thanks for clarifying how the Wild Card show works. Plus, I had completely forgotten that Clay was a Wild Card contestant! Just shows to go ya (no typo there, lol) that America can miss the best when it's right under their noses. I do recall that especially Simon was not at all keen on Clay last season until near the end--kept saying he sang every song the same, didn't have a "pop" voice, etc.

One thing about the results. IIRC, Fantasia won with about 23.8% of the votes (don't quote me on that, but I know it was 23.something%). Hopefully Mathman will jump in and correct me, but with eight contestants, I think that means everybody got somewhere between about 17% to 23% of the vote. So nobody really grabbed the majority of the audience. Nobody won with 30 or 40% of the vote. OTOH, depending on how many million people voted, a few tenths of a percentage point can mean hundreds of thousands of votes.

Also, with every AI, the first groups of contestants rarely tend to connect emotionally. Kelly Clarkson didn't start to connect until about the fourth or fifth show when she sang "Natural Woman," but she improved with every show. I never felt a connection with Ruben--love the guy, just wasn't moved by his singing. Even with Clay, who I liked a lot from the beginning, I didn't feel moved by his singing until he found a way to both be himself and let it go, which was pretty late in the game, like about the ninth week.

In general,
I saw a special on Clay on VH1 recently and now he's the consummate performer--genuine, technically pitch perfect, owning the stage, connecting with the audience, and even "gettin' down" if the song demands it. My point is, I think in the early weeks of AI it's unrealistic to expect great voice technique, a moving performance, and commanding stage authority all in any one person.

What I felt about this eight is not that they were heads and tails better than the final 12 of any previous AI group, but I did feel that unlike AI-1 (especially) and AI-2, there were no obvious clunkers who couldn't even sing most of their song on key or who you wondered, "Was this the best they could find out of 50,000 auditioners?" Every singer in this group of eight could at least sing a decent song. Not necessarily sing it with all the qualities needed in a pro, but with at least a couple of those qualities. Matthew, for example, although his voice was far too weak, he performed extremely well, had the moves, had the audience, had the charisma, etc., which is why I think he might get an agent who might get him some commercial or TV work. Compare Matt to Justin Guarini (I see them as very similar), all Justin had was a great face, great hair, and a barely passable voice. His performances were horrendous all the way up until about the ninth or tenth week and you knew he was getting voted through because of his looks. I think Matt at least had a strong performance quality and a voice that was more than "barely passable."

At least for me, last season nobody ever interested me throught the entire season except Clay. In this year's first eight, there were four singers I found interesting enough that I wanted to hear again. So that's the difference for me.
R

Just shows to go ya (no typo there, lol) that America can miss the best when it's right under their noses. I do recall that especially Simon was not at all keen on Clay last season until near the end--kept saying he sang every song the same, didn't have a "pop" voice, etc.

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After it was all over, however, Simon said several times that one of the reasons he was such a "jerk" to Clay was because
1. He knew Clay was in no trouble in getting to the top 2(which is also why he let America vote Clay as a wildcard, because Clay was going to get in... whatever that means LOL)
and
2. Because he knew Clay was a "big enough man" to take the criticism...

I think Simon is proud of Clay in that he took everything that was said, analyzed it, and took what was useful to heart... Clay grew throughout the competition and is a real superstar

now whether Simon is only saying that after Clay's success or not, it doesn't really matter LOL

RealtorGal said:

Twinnie, I just found Diana's performance to be soulless. The tone was not round and beautiful. Yes, it's a big voice, but it had no real depth. Jennifer, on the other hand, had so much soul and fullness to her sound. I am just not impressed by a big voice unless there is something honest, real and beautiful behind it.

As you may know, I missed the entire first season because I was teaching (singing!) on Tuesday nights at a local college. Having now heard and seen Justin, I can't believe that he was the second best America had to offer that year! I don't even find him attractive, so I don't understand the "got votes based on looks" theory.

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go to any American Idol board and you'll find millions of Justin fanatics *shudder*

Tonichelle said:

go to any American Idol board and you'll find millions of Justin fanatics *shudder*

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You know what I've noticed? That when the media (TV, print) mentions American Idol, they always mention "Kelly, Ruben & Clay" but NEVER Justin. I think that's because everyone knows that Justin's 2nd place finish must have been a fluke and his 15 minutes of fame are up for expiration in the near future!

Most people would agree that Tamyra Gray, who placed 4th in that first year, should have been in the finals against Kelly. Simon even said earlier in the competition that if Tamyra didn't win it would be a disgrace.

RealtorGal said:

You know what I've noticed? That when the media (TV, print) mentions American Idol, they always mention "Kelly, Ruben & Clay" but NEVER Justin. I think that's because everyone knows that Justin's 2nd place finish must have been a fluke and his 15 minutes of fame are up for expiration in the near future!

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I trully believe that Hollywood/the media would rather just say Kelly and Clay... because Clay is on the news 4/1 of Ruben's appearances LOL (though lately Ruben's been lots of places and Clay has been MIA!) but since Ruben won they have to say all three

Justin was a fluke first season... and Ruben was a fluke, in a way, the second... lets hope America/AT&T gets it right this year