American Idol (season 7)

[cabbageboy 0]

Keep him around for comedy gold if nothing else. He obviously won't win, just a slightly more disturbing Sanjaya for this year.

[Hawk 34 0]

He's better at playing along with and to the judges and the crowd. Sanjaya just had crazy hair every week.

[cabbageboy 0]

Doesn't really matter now, he's gone anyway.

 

It's funny that some of these so called ringers (Michael Johns, Carly Smithson) really haven't hit a home run yet or connected with their choices. If they do a 1990s week, Carly has to do The Cranberries.

[starvenger 0]

Doesn't really matter now, he's gone anyway.

 

It's funny that some of these so called ringers (Michael Johns, Carly Smithson) really haven't hit a home run yet or connected with their choices. If they do a 1990s week, Carly has to do The Cranberries.

I suppose that means that Johns should do INXS then, no?

[cabbageboy 0]

Johns doing INXS actually makes more sense than Carly doing Cranberries, since his voice sounds like it would fit the material pretty well. Carly has a much bigger voice than Dolores O'Riordan though. Are they even doing a 90s week?

 

INXS isn't really a 90s band though, I think of them more as late 80s.

[Hawk 34 0]

I'll be honest, I might miss that gay bastard.

 

So, how do you guys rank this top 12? I have this based on performance, potential and voter appeal

 

1. Carly

2. David C.

3. David A.

4. Michael

5. Brooke

6. Kristy Lee

7. Jason

8. Syesha

9. Amanda

10. Ramiele

11. Chikezie

12. David H.

 

[starvenger 0]

Johns doing INXS actually makes more sense than Carly doing Cranberries, since his voice sounds like it would fit the material pretty well. Carly has a much bigger voice than Dolores O'Riordan though. Are they even doing a 90s week?

 

INXS isn't really a 90s band though, I think of them more as late 80s.

Yeah, Kick was late 80s, and X was 1990, so right on the border. I think their library may be verboten because of the whole Rock Star thing though.

 

90's week would make sense given their progression through the decades... which probably means that it won't happen. They should do something similar to Canadian Idol where the first week of the finals is always "Canada Rocks".

 

My current Top 12 rankings based on what Hawk said:

 

1) David A ("the Chosen One", on top until people start getting tired of his "aw shucks" shit)

2) David C (the only singer so far who really "gets it")

3) Carly

4) Brooke

5) Michael

6) Syesha

7) Jason

8) Kristy Lee (needs to show more breast)

9) Ramiele (because America hates Asians... maybe Ramiele should just say she's Hispanic)

10) Amanda (will stay thanks to VFTW)

11) David H

12) Chikeze (good singer, no chance in hell)

 

In my opinion, only the top 5 in my rankings have any shot of winning. If Archuleta wins I promise you I will stop watching this show. And if Ramiele wins I will concede that America did, in fact, think Dat Phan was funny...

[cabbageboy 0]

The problem with doing the 1990s is that the stuff they would do on the show would just be the same pop stuff that was 80s. It would just be people doing Whitney Houston songs from The Bodyguard, or late 90s boy band and Britney stuff. In other words it would hardly be indicative of the 90s as a lot of people remember it.

 

Am I the only one who thinks the hideous shoulder/arm tattoo will eventually cost Carly votes?

[Hawk 34 0]

No. It looks fine and people aren't too bothered by tattoos. It's a portrait of someone (likely a grandmother or close friend), so people aren't turned off by that. Besides, she's wore full sleeved shirts on half the shows this season. Also, Amanda looked good as a blonde in that intro video, she should go back to that and abandon that white/black hair she had a couple weeks ago.

[4hartthreat 0]

In my opinion, only the top 5 in my rankings have any shot of winning. If Archuleta wins I promise you I will stop watching this show. And if Ramiele wins I will concede that America did, in fact, think Dat Phan was funny...

 

Then you'd better get ready to stop watching, because I think he is pretty unstoppable at this point.

[starvenger 0]

Am I the only one who thinks the hideous shoulder/arm tattoo will eventually cost Carly votes?

It never cost Blake Lewis votes. Besides which, wearing long sleeves makes Carly look too old.

 

Then you'd better get ready to stop watching, because I think he is pretty unstoppable at this point.

Which is why I put him at 1. However, one can always hope. But of course, Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks happened, so it's a small hope.

[Kinetic 0]

Christ, I hate that Archuleta guy. He looks like he's about 12 and he's got this nauseating showbiz kid quality about him. I don't know that I'd swear the show off forever if he were to win, but I'd hate to see this thing turn into a long coronation for that gushy little douche.

[Kinetic 0]

So they're doing Beatles songs tonight. This could get ugly.

[Hawk 34 0]

The first week should've been players choice since they eliminated that from the opening round.

[Kinetic 0]

They've been dying to get the rights to do Beatles songs for years, so it's not surprising that they're rushing it out there as soon as possible. I predict Amanda doing "Helter Skelter" and Archuleta doing "Let It Be."

[Black Lushus 0]

that Chikeze performance was pretty darn good, i have to admit!

[Hawk 34 0]

My take on tonight's show by performence

 

Brooke

Chikezie

Carly

David C.

Amanda

Syesha

Michael

Jason

Ramiele

David A.

Kristy Lee

David H.

 

Should be out: David H (I don’t think he has anything at all to offer)

Will be Out: David H (David A's fanbase isn't giving up yet, Kristy has a big niche and her looks might help for this week)

 

[Ravenbomb 0]

Good. Gravy. KKKristy was god friggen awful. It's like she took offence to being told to sing country so she did a charicature of the worst most twangy Branson tourist trap act as revenge on the judges.

[Kinetic 0]

Yeah, her performance was like something from "Hee Haw." Archuleta fucking up three times on "We Can Work It Out" was amusing. I found a lot of their song choices really odd tonight. Too much pre-Rubber Soul stuff for my taste.

[godthedog 0]

lots of people getting on the daughtry risk-taking bandwagon, and the results are predictably hit-or-miss.

 

when will the world learn? funky and/or r & b versions of beatles songs DO NOT WORK. doing weird-ass runs over and beyond the melody DOES NOT WORK. nothing you come up with off the top of your head could possibly sound better than what lennon & mccartney wrote it out to be, so don't even try. the impulse to "make the song your own" is obviously very powerful, but those dumb runs always happen in the same places and go to a very limited number of options--going to the 3rd or the 5th i think, usually. those are exactly the moments where the singers all start to sound like each other, and it's especially jarring on beatles tunes, whose melodies really aren't built for that kind of flexibility.

 

archuleta should be gone. that shit is inexcusable, and his lack of music history knowledge is only going to make it harder for him as the weeks go by. if you're out of your element on a fucking beatles week, where it's almost impossible to find something that DOESN'T suit your style, it's time to throw in the towel. of course, his fanbase is too strong and he'll be around next week. hopefully he'll fuck up then too.

 

david cook's version of "eleanor rigby" would've impressed me more if he hadn't done almost exactly the same arrangement with "hello" last week. i'm a little surprised the judges didn't pick up on that. if he's running on ingenuity, he needs more ideas.

 

chikezie was just balls-out awesome. great deep track-ish early song choice, very creative arrangement, great energy, hit every note perfectly and never lost his footing.

[Ravenbomb 0]

Speaking of Cook, was he wearing a Wriststrong bracelet?

[Kinetic 0]

In fairness, the Stevie Wonder interpretation of "We Can Work It Out" that Archuleta was attempting to mimmick is actually pretty good. He just sucks when doing anything other than a big, gushy ballad. It was odd that "Yesterday" was referenced so many times, but then never performed. Would have seemed ideal for Archuleta. After the fact, I was thinking of how much better "Mother Nature's Son" would have been for Castro than whatever it was that he ended up doing. All in all, I think the only people that really benefited from having the best group of songs ever were Chikezie and...what's her name. The Irish girl. Kind of disappointing.

[godthedog 0]

i think a lot of the contestants psyched themselves out because the occasion was hyped so much and went "oh shit! i have to do the best song ever, and i have to do really cool things nobody's heard before with it!" this was still easily one of the better single-artist weeks they've had.

 

archie would've done "yesterday" good (but he probably would've been criticized for doing the same kind of performance yet again). i was also thinking he could have done a mean "hey jude" (which i am SHOCKED nobody picked).

 

and why in holy hell did amanda not pick "oh! darling"? she was born to sing that shit.

 

what the hell, thoughts on the rest:

 

kristy cook - maybe when they said "country" she thought they meant "rootin tootin ho-down music"? she couldn't even stay on beat, it was so weird and fast. why not just do "rocky raccoon" in a nice drawly country style, then speed it up for the chorus?

 

david hernandez - judges sized it up pretty well, it's a simple song and he just overkilled it. great song for straight rocking-out to, but not good for much else. no excuse from somebody who took a damn class on the beatles. he should've stoled "got to get you into my life" from...

 

syesha (sic?) - singing was fine, but the arrangement somehow made her sound more white than the white guy who was imitating the black music in the first place.

 

brooke - i like her approach a lot--just sing the damn song, strong and simple--but she doesn't quite have the charisma or the chops to pull it off. not bad though, and she made it easy for me to sit back & concentrate on how great the song is.

 

michael johns - about as good a singer-centered live version of "across the universe" as you can get. which is not that great, since it's not a singer's song (the chief problem with a beatles week in general). very good voice.

 

ramiele - the most amazing thing about this song is that the beatles managed to not make it sound sentimental. their approach was stripped and free of syrup. ALL that restraint went out the window, and ramiele came off as the most insincere little kid imaginable. come to think of it, brooke should've done "in my life" with her simple approach & it would've come off great.

 

carly - nothing "different" about her approach, other than more funky slap bass (which sort of made it sound like michael jackson's version), and she fucked up the lyrics a little, but she did the number justice. sang it strong, sang it well.

 

jason - decent idea, but the interweaving 2-person harmonies are what make "if i fell" sound so pretty, and he didn't substitute very well. the syrupy strings didn't help either. "michelle" would've served him much better: it's gentle with just a little bit of edge, and girls would get all wet at the french words.

 

archie was by far the worst, with kristy & ramiele coming up behind him. i predict hernandez will go this week.

[Black Lushus 0]

no surprise

 

the ever so infamous "this isn't it for me" line.

[Hawk 34 0]

As I called last night, David H is gone and that's a good thing, as he offered nothing at all. At least Kristy Lee has a niche, looks and a personality. I'm not happy that they'll re-use the Beatles catalouge next week. I know it's supposed to be a big deal having the right to those songs but they clearly had to see that over half of the performers were below average.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah I had the same vibe about Kristy's goofy version of Eight Days a Week, even saying it seemed like something a once popular country singer on a Branson based label would do. Thing is, since those people at one time had some respect this sort of thing is overlooked.

 

With that said, Archuleta should have by all rights been gone. The bottom 3 were lethargic or even comical, but at least none of them forgot the words or generally blew it.

[justsoyouknow 0]

No one sang Hey Jude, they have to do it again next week.

[yankovic fan 0]

Was reading up on old video games today and it dawned on me.

 

 

 

 

\

 

 

[Black Lushus 0]

it's a shame this season isn't getting much love from TSM's regular AI watching crew...it's leagues better than that shit last season.

 

However this still isn't that great of a top 12.

 

Archuletta forgetting the words should have been an automatic boot. Now this week, they're back to sucking his cock.

 

How Kristy Lee Cook is still around, I have no freaking clue. She's not even cute, so you can't give her that vote. Amanda's act ran dry quickly, so I can understand her leaving, but she's not as bad as Kristy.

 

Archuletta will win, obviously, with David Cook coming in 2nd. Chikeze is my sleeper pick, dude's got skills (well, except for harmonica skills).

[starvenger 0]

How Kristy Lee Cook is still around, I have no freaking clue. She's not even cute, so you can't give her that vote. Amanda's act ran dry quickly, so I can understand her leaving, but she's not as bad as Kristy.

My guess is that people are still mixing her up with Brooke. Doesn't matter though, since she (Kristy that is) will be gone in due time.

 

Archuleta's victory was all but sealed once they announced that the songwriting contest was back, because fans will choose the most sappy, stupid, Idol-ish song there is - which suits David perfectly.

 

Amanda probably could've stayed longer if she had either frowned or smiled more consistently. That fake smile did her no favours. No big loss though.

 

I think I was confused by this week's theme, since I'd assumed it was Lennon/McCartney II but "Here Come the Sun" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are clearly George Harrison songs?