American Idol Girls Perform 3/5/08 *spoilers*

[Kamakzie]

Amanda better do better than last week. She should have went last week.

[jlb]

Amanda kicked butt.

So, no STYX yet, but Journey. I'm happy.

[Kamakzie]

Yeah Amanda was much much improved. Kristy Lee Cook not so much tonight but I think she will skate by on her looks. I thought Ramielle was pretty good. Kady is kind of iffy. Asia'h was pretty good. Carly did pretty good I thought. Brooke did pretty good in her adaption of love is a battlefield. Syesha she was really good. I'm thinking Kady is in trouble but not sure who else..

[jpwoof]

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/9060/danny0120080305ys6.jpg

[uncdrew]

Tough to say who goes home...

[TonyTheTiger]

I predict two from three...

A'sia,
Kady
Syesha

[Mr. Soze]

I would buy a single of Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield". Maybe my favorite female performance of the season.

[Lori]

I would buy a single of Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield".

Me, too! I *loved* it.

[jlb]

I always thought Pat Benetar did not do a good job enunciating on that song....it always sounded to me like "Love is a Fattlefield". Glad to see Brooke got it right.

[uncdrew]

A FiddleFaddleField?

Yumm-O

[erk48188]

what was with paula sitting on simon's lap all night??

[erk48188]

oh...i liked brooke's stripped down verson of love is a battefield.

i think kristy leigh cooke could be a country music sensation, not in a shania/faith pop-y style, but in a very authentic balladeer. but she'd be seduced to bouncing and flouncing too much.

[thudtrain]

what was with paula sitting on simon's lap all night??

I don't know, but all three judges were especially annoying and unprofessional tonight. They were acting like a bunch of kids. I think even Ryan was losing patience with them. Babbling on to each other and just ignoring the poor girl who's standing up there waiting to hear her fate.

[LeVich34]

That's what happens when you let Paula mix her meds before the show airs....

[Cainebj]

I always thought Pat Benetar did not do a good job enunciating on that song....it always sounded to me like "Love is a Fattlefield". Glad to see Brooke got it right.

oh no you didn't!
Brooke did a great job but Pat BenAtar owns that song.

[dkaz]

I thought Amanda was the only one worth watching this week.

I preferred the dudes for the first time.

[ewilts]

My prediction: Kady and Ramiele go home. Kady has been on the edge for at least a couple of weeks. Ramiele is normally really good and I liked every week except this time she murdered her song. Everybody else stepped it up a notch and I don't think that they all passed Ramiele.

[appleye1]

My prediction: Kady and Ramiele go home. Kady has been on the edge for at least a couple of weeks. Ramiele is normally really good and I liked every week except this time she murdered her song. Everybody else stepped it up a notch and I don't think that they all passed Ramiele.+1

I applaud Kady for attempting a Queen song, but she just didn't have the chops for it. (In fact, I think girls in general ought to stay away from Queen.) Ramielle is cute as a button but she's getting worse every week rather than better.

[AJRitz]

Kady ought to be going home for sure. She finally showed some ambition with the song choice, but she didn't have the skills to pull it off.

Amanda gave the best performance of the night - I never thought I'd say it, but, "Thanks VFTW!" :p

Brooke's "Love Is a Battlefield" was outstanding. I loved the arrangement, and she pulled off the vocals with the stripped down supporting music beautifully.

Carly was solid - professional - but unspectacular. She looks the most comfortable of any of the contestants on stage.

Kristy's found her niche with the country-fied ballad. She doesn't have the most powerful voice, and she doesn't hit all her notes. And she's hot, so she'll probably stick around a bit.

Ramiele and Syesha were both just OK.

Ramiele, Syesha or Kristy should be the second one headed home. Of those three, my guess is that it will be Syesha.

[MickeS]

I'm guessing Kady and Syesha too. Too bad, they were both easy on the eyes, but had the most boring performances.

I thought everyone did OK overall, Brooke was the best.

[Roadblock]

What's with the high pants/shorts? Grandpa is fashionable again? It's hideous.

[MickeS]

What's with the high pants/shorts? Grandpa is fashionable again? It's hideous.

I think it was meant as some sort of 80's retro fashion. Asia'h is normally hot, those pants looked horrible on her.

[timckelley]

For the last two days, Paula has been slurring words, and when standing, she seems unsteady. Has she been drinking?

[laststarfighter]

I think they should retire some songs so we don't keep hearing the same songs every season. I'm pretty sure there are more than 20 songs made every 10 years.

[appleye1]

For the last two days, Paula has been slurring words, and when standing, she seems unsteady. Has she been drinking?I think all three of them were drinking tonight. I told my wife while we were watching the show that they all must have hit happy hour before coming to the studio.

[Roadblock]

I don't know, but all three judges were especially annoying and unprofessional tonight. They were acting like a bunch of kids. I think even Ryan was losing patience with them. Babbling on to each other and just ignoring the poor girl who's standing up there waiting to hear her fate.

For the last two days, Paula has been slurring words, and when standing, she seems unsteady. Has she been drinking?

I think all three of them were drinking tonight. I told my wife while we were watching the show that they all must have hit happy hour before coming to the studio.

Yeah, they were bad today. Unprofessional, not funny, not entertaining.

My prediction: Kady and Ramiele go home. Kady has been on the edge for at least a couple of weeks. Ramiele is normally really good and I liked every week except this time she murdered her song. Everybody else stepped it up a notch and I don't think that they all passed Ramiele.

Kady has to be gone, but the second choice is harder. I'd probably say Syesha. I think she has a great voice and sang that song well, but I don't like her song choices at all, and that has done people in before her.

Asia'h was also not very memorable this week, and she went first.

[teknikel]

I think they should retire some songs so we don't keep hearing the same songs every season. I'm pretty sure there are more than 20 songs made every 10 years.
You understand, they can't pick any song they want. There is a limited list due to licensing.

[LoadStar]

I think all three of them were drinking tonight. I told my wife while we were watching the show that they all must have hit happy hour before coming to the studio.

I was just getting caught up... watched last night, and Paula actually seemed more lucid than I've ever seen her. Then came tonight, and the judges were all completely out of it. I think Simon might actually be part of the problem... he seems to take all of Paula's silliness and send it right back to her, like some evil feedback loop.

My thoughts on the contestants/performances:

Asia'h was much weaker than the judges (at least Randy and Paula) made her out to be. She hit some clunker notes walking down the stairs, I thought, and the rest of the performance was rather forgettable.

Kady did not have the pipes to tackle that Queen song. She probably picked it more because she liked hearing it than because she thought she could actually sing it, or at least that's my guess. It seems to be a favorite with many women I know.

I'm not sold on Amanda, personally. Definitely something different in the competition, but I'm not hearing a real star vocal from her. Tonight was particularly karaoke for me, actually... I imagine I'd hear ladies get up and do as good or better at that Joan Jett song in any karaoke lounge.

I agree with AJRitz regarding Carly. A very "workmanlike" performance. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't wow me. I think it's partially song choice in this case... "I Drove All Night" isn't a particularly exciting song, and Carly's performance was closest to the Celine version, which was the least interesting of all the versions.

Kristy was OK. I like that particular song, and her version brought just something slightly different to it. I'd say that if you're going to countrify it, then go all out... add in some fiddle, lap steel, or pedal steel. This was just barely country, and I'm not sure a "barely country" really works. (I'd actually be curious to hear what "Faithfully" would sound like really countrified like that... I think it'd actually work really well.)

Ramiele was utterly forgettable, and I think that's probably the most dangerous thing to be. She did a passable job at "Against All Odds," hitting a few clunker notes, and singing a step or so behind the band. Nothing worth voting for, in my opinion. She's probably gone.

I really liked Brooke's version of "Love is a Battlefield." I do hear what Paula is saying though. In a longer version of the song, having the band fill in later in the song would work, as long as they rearrange the band to remain more acoustic rock, instead of the original Pat Benatar arrangement. I do want to see Brooke doing more keyboard playing though... I think her first Hollywood performance was still my favorite performance from her.

Syesha brought absolutely NOTHING new to that song, and it's a song that's been done to death and then some. That song is one of many that should be banned from ever being played or sung for at least 20-30 years. She performed it well, but so what?

[JETarpon]

Much better representation of 80s music tonight, I thought.

[LoadStar]

You understand, they can't pick any song they want. There is a limited list due to licensing.

As far as I've heard, once the show enters the voting rounds, how it works is that the contestants pick a first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on. They can pick just about any song they want, within the theme chosen for the week. The show then goes and sees if they can get the rights or not. The idols also seem to have a "if all else fails" choice that they pick from the list of songs that the show has already obtained the rights to, in case the preferences don't pan out for whatever reason.

(There was a comment made earlier this season about a set list of about 200 songs, but that was specifically referring to the Hollywood weeks, before they entered the voting rounds.)

Even if there is a limited list, the show should be able to drop a few songs so that they don't get over done, and add a few never performed songs to replace them, without too much trouble.

[wprager]

I would buy a single of Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield". Maybe my favorite female performance of the season.

I liked it, but I can't help this feeling that I'd heard an acoustic guitar version somewhere before. The guitar chords were quite different than what's in my head, so this was definitely a different arrangement, but not so different.

Does anyone else remember an "unplugged" version of this song?

[wprager]

I thought Amanda was the only one worth watching this week.

I preferred the dudes for the first time.

[beat]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[wprager]

oh...i liked brooke's stripped down verson of love is a battefield.

i think kristy leigh cooke could be a country music sensation, not in a shania/faith pop-y style, but in a very authentic balladeer. but she'd be seduced to bouncing and flouncing too much.

"too"?

I was pretty much underwhelmed the whole night. The only one I enjoyed was Brooke. Amanda did much, much better than last week, but most of it was visual. She is still too one-dimensional. Syesha attempted Whitney, and my wife though she pulled it off. She doesn't read here, so I can disagree ... a little :) It's beginning to look like she thinks this is hers to lose; there is no humility left, and that's a shame. I think we may have seen the last of Asia'h and Ramiele.

ETA: Sorry, for got to mention Kady. I thought she was way pitchy, and was surprised that Randy didn't mention anything. Change that to Asia'h and Kady.

[appleye1]

(There was a comment made earlier this season about a set list of about 200 songs, but that was specifically referring to the Hollywood weeks, before they entered the voting rounds.)That helps explain why so many of them pick the same song during that time.

I wonder how the rights work for the initial auditions though? Surely they don't have the thousands of peoples pick from a list. If not, do they get away with not obtaining rights because the people are still considered "amateurs" or something? Or are they getting rights for all the various songs that that make it to air?

[ADG]

I wonder if the two shows (men & women) are taped back to back or if they are actually on two different nights. Anyone know for sure? I believe the only the results show has been broadcast live so far. I ask because it might explain the "state" of the judges if they had time to go out for dinner and drinks between the two shows.

[madscientist]

I wonder if the two shows (men & women) are taped back to back or if they are actually on two different nights. Anyone know for sure? I believe the only the results show has been broadcast live so far. I ask because it might explain the "state" of the judges if they had time to go out for dinner and drinks between the two shows.All the shows are live.

[ADG]

All the shows are live.

Are you sure? I used to think so, but the results shows are always announced as being live and I don't remember hearing Ryan say "LIVE" at the beginning of the performance shows. Could be wrong.

[firerose818]

Well, the "Live" banner does pop up throughout the show, but they could be lying, I guess.

Also, I didn't see the girls last week, so I can't make any comparisons. But, I'm really, really tired of Amanda. She can't sing, she looks uncomfortable on the stage, and she isn't going to get very far. Can she go home now?

Unfortunately, I think Kady and Asia'h go home tonight instead.

[ADG]

Well, the "Live" banner does pop up throughout the show, but they could be lying, I guess.

Just goes to show how much I pay attention to banners :o . Thanks. Let's just ignore my last couple of posts, shall we :( ?

[AJRitz]

The performance shows are live as well. Tuesday night, they were scrambling because they had a problem getting David Cook's guitar set up, and had to juggle the order of performances. Ryan was even unsure that they'd gotten the correct interview clip queued when they had to swap performance order.

[MickeS]

Also, I didn't see the girls last week, so I can't make any comparisons. But, I'm really, really tired of Amanda. She can't sing, she looks uncomfortable on the stage, and she isn't going to get very far. Can she go home now?

Count yourself lucky you didn't see last week - Amanda was HORRIBLE, and this week was a huge improvement.

I agree she needs to go, but I thought she did OK this week. But yes, she looks so uncomfortable, not just on stage, but even in the shots of the groups off stage. She looks as if she doesn't even want to be there.

At least this week she looked more her age, and not like she's 39.

[Jebberwocky!]

Also, I didn't see the girls last week, so I can't make any comparisons. But, I'm really, really tired of Amanda. She can't sing, she looks uncomfortable on the stage, and she isn't going to get very far. Can she go home now?

I with you on Amanda - one trick pony with no personality.

BTW, at the risk of getting Mr. Cheerdude after me, you avatar picture looks nice!

[Mishkin]

I really don't feel the love for Brooke. My initial impression is always that her voice sounds "good" but the praise pretty much ends there. She bores me.

Ramiele had some real phrasing problems. She was rushing lyrics in some areas and trying to stretch them out in others. When she got to the point of the lyrics, "you're the only one..." I think in her head she was singing "tri-pa-let tri-pa-let..."

[Grasshopper AZ]

I liked it, but I can't help this feeling that I'd heard an acoustic guitar version somewhere before. The guitar chords were quite different than what's in my head, so this was definitely a different arrangement, but not so different.

Does anyone else remember an "unplugged" version of this song?

I seem to remeber Pat Benatar doing an unplugged version in the early 90's.

[firerose818]

I with you on Amanda - one trick pony with no personality.

BTW, at the risk of getting Mr. Cheerdude after me, you avatar picture looks nice!

Thanks Jebber. :) :o

[brettatk]

I believe if Amanda had to sing every day she'd only last about a year with that voice. I agree with the others, she is predictable and always sounds the same.

My vote tonight for the bottom 3 would be the following:


Amanda
Kady
A'siah

[gossamer88]

I would buy a single of Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield". Maybe my favorite female performance of the season.

Link (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPreorder?id=275481506&s=143441)

[stiffi]

Amanda is HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, and COMPLETELY LACKING IN TALENT.

I can't understand the praise, at all. She's the worst finalist of ANY season. In my mind, she's not really even singing. She's just shouting and mumbling words.

I really hope she goes, but I fear, she'll be around much longer.

[jlb]

All I know is that I am really looking forward to the Lennon/McCartney catalog next week.

I wonder if Sir Paul will be there?

[TonyTheTiger]

I doubt it. I hear he'll be in the hospital witnessing the birth of his next wife!

Oooops, that's Keith Richards. Sorry.

:)

[bqmeister]

I'd watch/listen to an hour of just Brooke every week.

I hope she sticks around to the final 2.

[TAsunder]

Amanda is HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, and COMPLETELY LACKING IN TALENT.

I can't understand the praise, at all. She's the worst finalist of ANY season. In my mind, she's not really even singing. She's just shouting and mumbling words.

I'm not sure if I think she's the worst finalist of any season, but I really dislike her performances and I don't understand the praise by the judges or the folks here. She is definitely the worst finalist remaining if you go just by singing. Noriega is awful for other reasons (e.g. he seems to think he's a female burlesque singer performing on skid row). It's like she's doing a bad impression of a rocker whose jaw has been wired shut. Compare her to David Cook and it's not even close - and I'm not that big of a fan of Cook either.

[jwehman]

I'm not sure if I think she's the worst finalist of any season, but I really dislike her performances and I don't understand the praise by the judges or the folks here. She is definitely the worst finalist remaining if you go just by singing. Noriega is awful for other reasons (e.g. he seems to think he's a female burlesque singer performing on skid row). It's like she's doing a bad impression of a rocker whose jaw has been wired shut. Compare her to David Cook and it's not even close - and I'm not that big of a fan of Cook either.

Not to pile on (but I am), but watching Amanda just makes me uncomfortable. I feel sorry for her. She looks *so* like she doesn't want to / deserve to be up on that stage. I can't tell if she's pissed or embarrassed by the whole thing. I really want her to go, just for her own sake, not to mention she has a (subjectively) bad voice.

[tonestert]

Amanda is HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, and COMPLETELY LACKING IN TALENT.

I can't understand the praise, at all. She's the worst finalist of ANY season. In my mind, she's not really even singing. She's just shouting and mumbling words.

I really hope she goes, but I fear, she'll be around much longer.

I don't think she is horrible but she is a one trick pony. If anyone every wanted to do a Janis Joplin cover band she would be perfect !

[stiffi]

I'm not sure if I think she's the worst finalist of any season, but I really dislike her performances and I don't understand the praise by the judges or the folks here. She is definitely the worst finalist remaining if you go just by singing. Noriega is awful for other reasons (e.g. he seems to think he's a female burlesque singer performing on skid row). It's like she's doing a bad impression of a rocker whose jaw has been wired shut. Compare her to David Cook and it's not even close - and I'm not that big of a fan of Cook either.

I used to look back at Season 1 and laugh at the caliber of talent overall. The show was so new, they hadn't attracted the same people they do now. Remember Ejay Day? Nikki McKibbin? I'd pay to watch them sing a duet, before I would want to listen to Amanda again.

[TonyTheTiger]

Not to pile on (but I am), but watching Amanda just makes me uncomfortable. I feel sorry for her. She looks *so* like she doesn't want to / deserve to be up on that stage. I can't tell if she's pissed or embarrassed by the whole thing. I really want her to go, just for her own sake, not to mention she has a (subjectively) bad voice.

Funny, my wife said something similar. She said it looks like she was being forced to compete by someone in a "let's get this over with" kinda way!

[ADG]

Amanda said early on that she is not a very emotional person and I think that's what we're seeing. Personally I really enjoyed her performance last night (along with most of the girls), but it would be tough to take her long term. On the other hand, Joplin seemed to do okay (though clearly she had a wider range and much more talent) :)

[bruinfan]

Funny, my wife said something similar. She said it looks like she was being forced to compete by someone in a "let's get this over with" kinda way!

I'm thinking more like a "if you don't sing i'm going to hurt you or someone you love" kinda way.

someone is backstage with a gun to her husband's head...

it's almost like out of a naked gun movie.

[MickeS]

Amanda said early on that she is not a very emotional person and I think that's what we're seeing.

Unfortunately, I think that to be a good performer you pretty much HAVE to be a more emotional person. She looks like all she wants to do is leave.

bruinfan, :D :D :D.

[Cainebj]

Unfortunately, I think that to be a good performer you pretty much HAVE to be a more emotional person. She looks like all she wants to do is leave.

I second that - she doesn't seem like she wants to be there - I suspect she thought she was going home a couple of weeks ago and she resigned herself to not being there.

[marksman]

I must be on a different planet.

I watched the first 20 seconds of Amanda, and decided she was once again her one-trick-pony horrible self and fast-forwarded. Was she as bad as last week? No.

Then I got to the judges, I wiped my eyes, q-tipped my ears, and rewound and watched the whole thing again. Nope I was right. She was not good at all.

In hindsight, it is hard to justify how/why she has made it this far. It has always been pretty obvious she was a one-trick pony, and that trick is not even that good.

[Jayjoans]

Not to pile on (but I am), but watching Amanda just makes me uncomfortable. I feel sorry for her. She looks *so* like she doesn't want to / deserve to be up on that stage. I can't tell if she's pissed or embarrassed by the whole thing. I really want her to go, just for her own sake, not to mention she has a (subjectively) bad voice.


I think that when she finished her song she suddenly realized she'd have to participate in an "Up with People" song at the opening of the elimination show. That would make me throw up a little in my mouth too.

[aindik]

I don't get all the Amanda hate. I thought she did a good job. Yeah, she has a genre (a genre I happen to like, which might bias me, and which also might bias the people who don't like rock songs). So do lots of the contestants, including many from past seasons upon whom praise was heaped. Fantasia wasn't a one trick pony? Chris Daughtry? Bo Bice? Lakisha from last season? Most recording artists are "one trick ponys." They record in the same genre all the time. You pick what you do well and keep doing it.

I didn't like Asia'h this week. I don't get what the judges were hearing. Her voice is too deep to attempt Whitney Houston without changing the song much more than she did. We thought she sounded ill, but then the judges said last week she was ill, but this week she was better.

These shows are definitely live. If they weren't live, they wouldn't have so obviously run out of time like they did last night. It was clear to me that the judges were given a command to judge Syesha ("the girl that I never had") with one or two words because they were totally out of time (which was a shame for her, because I liked what she did). They didn't come back from the last commercial break until 56 after the hour.

[JohnB1000]

After reading page 1 I was worried, I thought Amanda was very poor, better than last week perhaps but poor. Glad page 2 and 3 mostly agreed.

Ramielle (sp?) is very forgettable

There wasn't a lot of great for me, some good I guess.

I can't believe someone said Paula was lucid on Tuesday, she was the worst I remember Tuesday. Wednesday was quite a lot better but I agree that the judges hi jinks were tiresome.

[dba62]

I can't believe someone said Paula was lucid on Tuesday, she was the worst I remember Tuesday. Wednesday was quite a lot better but I agree that the judges hi jinks were tiresome.

I totally agree, she was out of her mind on Tuesday.

In general the women don't seem that impressive to me, I think more than two should be sent home, but if forced I'd vote to see Kady and Amanda gone.

[timckelley]

It has always been pretty obvious she [Amanda] was a one-trick pony, and that trick is not even that good.Exactly.

Fantasia wasn't a one trick pony? Chris Daughtry? Bo Bice? Lakisha from last season? Most recording artists are "one trick ponys."Good point, but if you're going to be a one trick pony, you'd better be fairly outstanding at your one trick. I don't think Amanda is good, let alone outstanding.

I say she should be eliminated, though possibly not necessarily this week. I put Amanda in the bottom 3.

[TAsunder]

Yeah, she has a genre (a genre I happen to like, which might bias me, and which also might bias the people who don't like rock songs). So do lots of the contestants, including many from past seasons upon whom praise was heaped.

I like the genre too. It's not the fact that she has a limited genre, it's that she sucks at it massively.


In general the women don't seem that impressive to me, I think more than two should be sent home, but if forced I'd vote to see Kady and Amanda gone.

That seems like the likely outcome to me.

[MickeS]

Amanda might have a future if she started singing like Angela Gossow. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSPiOKLgI8Q

[danielhart]

There is a lot of one-trick posting in this thread..........can we come up with some other phrase to describe someone who displays a lack of versatility?

I seem to recall that the OTP label was heaped quite frequently on this board a couple of seasons ago when it came to critiquing Chris Daughtry....and yet has anyone heard anything from Kathy McBoobs or The Soul Patrol lately???

All of that said - Amanda was better this week - but still not very good IMO. She sort of seems like a caricature of the girl who auditioned, if that makes any sense. And her moves seem pretty robotic and forced...

Carly's voice blows all of these other girls away - but it was a pretty "meh" song choice. I agree with Simon - I am waiting for her to really connect with a song - when she does she will blow the roof off the place. In the meantime, I am really liking Brooke. She doesn't have huge vocal chops - but she has a great tone and a wonderful sense as to how to use it in a way that works and is pleasing. She is much more artistic in the way she performs than the other girls, IMO.

And a quick hello to my old friend from the rebel days, the hopelessly misguided purist libertarian Aindik. Still drinking that koolaid? ;-) ;-) ;-) Say hi to Regbarc for me!

[JLucPicard]

Scattergunning....

Amanda - seems to me the judges at one point wanted to see something a little different from Amanda that would show a little difference vocally (maybe something with not so hard an edge, to see if she really had a voice). I agreed, let's hear her do something that let's us hear her voice rather than just her growl. Still waiting, and I can see her going home before that happens.

Paula, Paula, Paula. :shakes head: If I were working that closely with someone who seems to always be completely out of it, I think I'd go a little nuts, too. I would absolutely be riduculing that person, and I think that's where Randy and Simon were last night. I mean, yes, Paula is a grown up, but can't the producers do SOMETHING to get her to show up "unaltered"? At least lucid??? I can't blame Randy or Simon yet for how they got last night.

Please, please, please - someone tell me we are done with the little round stage with all the morons surrounding it? I could certainly do with watching/listening to the performers without the jack-in-the-boxes jumping up at the sound of the first chord. And STOP ALREADY with the arm waving!!!

I can see Kady going tonight, and I would not be at all disappointed to see Amanda go.

When Ryan was walking down the steps at the opening, I was glad to see he put his hand on Ramiele's shoulder and didn't grab her boob. Then when he kept prodding her to talk about the elephant in the room after the judges were done with her; I was laughing (in kind of an uncomfortable way)!

[aindik]

There is a lot of one-trick posting in this thread..........can we come up with some other phrase to describe someone who displays a lack of versatility?

I seem to recall that the OTP label was heaped quite frequently on this board a couple of seasons ago when it came to critiquing Chris Daughtry....and yet has anyone heard anything from Kathy McBoobs or The Soul Patrol lately???

Yes. We recently heard that both were dropped from their record deals. ;)

Carly's voice blows all of these other girls away - but it was a pretty "meh" song choice. I agree with Simon - I am waiting for her to really connect with a song - when she does she will blow the roof off the place.

I don't generally like Celine Dion. So, why do I like that song when everyone else hates it? I don't know - something catchy about it. (Probably because it's a cover tune).

In the meantime, I am really liking Brooke. She doesn't have huge vocal chops - but she has a great tone and a wonderful sense as to how to use it in a way that works and is pleasing. She is much more artistic in the way she performs than the other girls, IMO.

I like her too. I'm glad someone bought her some conditioner.

And a quick hello to my old friend from the rebel days, the hopelessly misguided purist libertarian Aindik. Still drinking that koolaid? ;-) ;-) ;-) Say hi to Regbarc for me!

Hi right back. There's plenty of koolaid to go around if you're interested.

(This libertarian thinks Idol should base who leaves the show on iTunes downloads rather than votes ;)).

[marksman]

I like the genre too. It's not the fact that she has a limited genre, it's that she sucks at it massively.




That seems like the likely outcome to me.

:up::up:

I love rock songs myself. Amanda sucks at singing them.

And I agree with the projected losers. At least those are the two most deserving of going.

As for comparing Chris Daughtry to Amanda, that is silly. His range was not nearly as limited, and on top of that he is a good singer. Her biggest problem is she is a bad singer. If you want to have a limited range, you better be extremely good at it.

[marksman]

Fantasia wasn't a one trick pony? Chris Daughtry? Bo Bice? Lakisha from last season? Most recording artists are "one trick ponys." They record in the same genre all the time. You pick what you do well and keep doing it.

You are right. Most people who record music stick to one genre/trick. That being said, almost every single person who has every done well on American Idol has shown their ability to sing outside their comfort zone/preferred musical niche. That includes all the people above. I don't care what they do after they leave idol. I am judging them on their ability to sing. Someone who is capable of hitting a homerun regardless of song-type or song genre is going to get more credit from me than someone who sings the exact same song every single week.

I would say it is a bit off to list what Amanda has done with most of those people above.

[scooterboy]

I have to disagree with many of you (as well as the judges) and say that Amanda STILL sucked. Much better than last week, but still not good. Can't wait til she's gone.

Loved Brooke' s performance, loved Carly's performance. Everyone else was ok.

And when are these girls going to learn to leave Whitney's songs alone? Even if they do a good job, the judges already have a bias against those songs. They pretty much say it every time.

[gschrock]

The performance shows are live as well. Tuesday night, they were scrambling because they had a problem getting David Cook's guitar set up, and had to juggle the order of performances. Ryan was even unsure that they'd gotten the correct interview clip queued when they had to swap performance order.

I know in past years some of the rounds before they got down to the final 12 were not live, although they really didn't make a point of letting you know that. I haven't actually paid enough attention to notice whether there have been live banners in there lately or not. Part of it is so they have the additional time to edit it before it airs to fit. Although I did notice that with the last performance last night it seemed pretty obvious that the judges were told they really didn't have time to ramble on, and to keep it short, which does tend to lend credence to it being live. I'm not sure the guitar snafu is really conclusive proof that it was live (after all, they do have an audience, and I bet they don't want them sitting there a long time getting bored).

[aindik]

You are right. Most people who record music stick to one genre/trick. That being said, almost every single person who has every done well on American Idol has shown their ability to sing outside their comfort zone/preferred musical niche. That includes all the people above. I don't care what they do after they leave idol. I am judging them on their ability to sing. Someone who is capable of hitting a homerun regardless of song-type or song genre is going to get more credit from me than someone who sings the exact same song every single week.

I would say it is a bit off to list what Amanda has done with most of those people above.

If we're judging by "people who do well on American Idol," then yeah. But if we're looking past that, to see if that at all correlates to real life (i.e., the extent to which doing well on American Idol has any correlation to success in the music business)? Not so much.

Americans vote for people who can do lots of things fairly well. But it's not what they buy. They buy people who can do one thing really well. (And no, I'm not overstating the case by claiming Amanda is a rock star. She's not. I'm just combating the "all she does is sing rock songs" argument.).

Of the six previous winners, only two seem to have a lasting music career, (though it's too early to judge Jordin Sparks, her album sales are kinda weak so far). People who lost on the show, including one-trick ponies like Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry, and Jennifer Hudson, seem to do better than the "jacks of all trades, masters of none" who won.

I'd like to hear Fantasia try to sing a Joan Jett song.

[JohnB1000]

Another difference to Daughtry is that Amanda looks terrified and lacks confidence, definitely not a Daughtry trait.

Success is an interesting concept. I think 2/6 is a pretty good ratio considering those two are pretty close to superstars. I believe Rueben & Fantasia sold 1 million + which is pretty successful to me (I sold around 11 copies of my family CD to members of the public :))

[timckelley]

Didn't amanda look disturbed by something after the judges gave her the good review? I couldn't figure out what was bugging her.

[ADG]

Another difference to Daughtry is that Amanda looks terrified and lacks confidence, definitely not a Daughtry trait.


Wow, I think she looks anything but terrified and lacking in confidence. If anything, she seems to be among the most comfortable on stage - nothing fazes her.

[Johnny Dancing]

After Brooke's "Love is a Battlefield" performance - I paraphrase:

Randy: "Dude, it was ok, but you didn't really bring anything new to the song."

Paul: "I'm happy that you got away from the guitar but I wish you brought the band in more and filled out the arrangement."

Simon: "You completely made that song your own. Perfect."

Well maybe Simon wasn't that drunk.

[marksman]

In her season from the semi-finals on Fantasia sang:

Semi-Finals - Something to Talk About
Soul Week - Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Country - Always On My Mind
MoTown - Heard It Through The Grapevine
Elton John - Something About the Way You Look Tonight
Movie Soundtracks - Summertime
Barry Manilow - Its a Miracle
Gloria Estefan - Get On Your Feet
Big Band - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Big Band - What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
Disco - Knock on Wood
Disco - Holding Out for Hero
Top 3 - Chain of Fools
Top 3 - A Fool in Love
Top 3 - Greatest Love of All
Final 2 - All My Life
Final 2 - Summertime
Final 2 - I Believe

She finished in the bottom 3 a single time, and that was in Rod Stewart week. I defy someone to tell me that she did not demonstrate a good range throughout the competition singing a wide variety of songs and singing them well. I was never even a Fantasia fan, but to try and argue that she was as narrow as someone like Amanda is just ignorant.

[madscientist]

I'm with the Amanda-bashers. I couldn't believe it when the judges gave her a pass on that mess. OK, so maybe I have a little thing for Joan Jett but come ON! That was not good dawg!

[Havana Brown]

I thought Asia'h started off the show well. After that it went downhill. I used to like Ramielle's voice, but she sounds horrible these days. For an 80's night I was really disappointed that no one dressed the party. The only person who even came close in dressing and song choice, was Amanda. That to me was 80's. Someone like Brooke or Krisity Lee coulda done the big 80's hair and make-up. Kristy's right eye brow bothered me.