American Idol 2007

[Ksyrup]

I think Melinda's a much better Fantasia, and Lakisha not quite as good. Maybe not quite on the gospel line that Fantasia seems to be on, but pretty similar. Whoever said Melinda should be in the Color Purple and not Fantasia was dead on.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

That's fair. I'm not sure I agree that that is the entire point of the show, but I can certainly see that viewpoint. I think the entire point of the show is to be entertaining in and of itself. I can see your point of view on that, though.

Personally, I'd buy an album of hers in a heartbeat because I love great musicians. I agree that the relevant music issue you bring up is a concern, but I feel it is being a little blown out of proportion in this thread. I don't think it is the ultimate goal of the show, and it is certainly not a goal of mine. I do see how it is important to people, though.

I think you're naive if you think this isn't a large part of the ultimate goal of AI. This show was created for the express purpose (as Simon stated in his 60 minutes interview) as a vehicle for generating artists and an audience for those artists for Sony/BMG. It has become a huge success in and of itself, yes - but the core purpose is still to create popular artists. I'm betting that Kelly Clarkson has made a huge chunk of change for Sony/BMG.

In addition, even in the context of the show, Melisha is just not entertaining to me and I imagine a large segment of the audience. If the final two was Melinda and LaKisha, I'm not sure that I'd even watch. Notice how KSyrup has pointed out the voting and viewership is done - I would have no problem speculating that the pushing of these two and their lack of entertainment value is a large part of that.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I won't add to the recent discussion other than clarify two obvious things. AI's goal as a show is:

(1) first and foremost to get the best ratings as possible to pull in the biggest ad revenue. This means the show must "entertain" the greatest demographic of people.

(2) to provide a marketing vehicle for the sale of future albums and concerts of its performers

Melinda I don't believe adds anything to goal #2. I do believe however that by having an eclectic collection of singers (of which she is one) she contributes to goal #1 -- but not anymore than probably at least 5 other contestants.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I think you're naive if you think this isn't a large part of the ultimate goal of AI. This show was created for the express purpose (as Simon stated in his 60 minutes interview) as a vehicle for generating artists and an audience for those artists for Sony/BMG. It has become a huge success in and of itself, yes - but the core purpose is still to create popular artists. I'm betting that Kelly Clarkson has made a huge chunk of change for Sony/BMG.

I did not say that the goal is not create popular artists. I said I did not believe the ultimate goal is to sell "as many albums as possible." This is not the same thing. The difference is quite substantial. In other words, day to day decisions during the show are not made with the goal of selling a few more records in the end. That is my belief. If you think I'm naive, so be it, but I think production values of the show come first quite often.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

I won't add to the recent discussion other than clarify two obvious things. AI's goal as a show is:

(1) first and foremost to get the best ratings as possible to pull in the biggest ad revenue. This means the show must "entertain" the greatest demographic of people.

(2) to provide a marketing vehicle for the sale of future albums and concerts of its performers

Melinda I don't believe adds anything to goal #2. I do believe however that by having an eclectic collection of singers (of which she is one) she contributes to goal #1 -- but not anymore than probably at least 5 other contestants.

Agreed, though I think she will sell more albums than many here apparently expect. Not saying it will be like Kelly Clarkson, just that it won't be Fantasia level either.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by kurtism

Remember, it is good to have Haley in the "bottom" 3 (unless you are Easy Mac). I like to think that every time she is almost voted out, she decides to show a little more skin. I figure if she survives another two weeks, she'll be down to a bikini. This is a good thing (unless you are Easy Mac).

Reminds me of a Tane McClure movie.

(Lap Dancing)

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Agreed, though I think she will sell more albums than many here apparently expect. Not saying it will be like Kelly Clarkson, just that it won't be Fantasia level either.

Fantasia level would not shock me in the least, in fact, that's what I would expect. If she doesn't win (which I still think it's quite likely she doesn't win) I doubt it's that high.

[law90026]

In relation to the whole Melinda thing. There's a reason why some people are back-up singers and some people are stars.

I'm sure the back-up singers on AI have good voices too. I'm sure some of the back-up singers for some of the major stars have good voices too. There's a reason why they aren't stars though .. the lack of that special quality. Melinda doesn't have it, at least not in my eyes. She may sing well but she's not going to get people terribly interested in her music.

[Ksyrup]

I tihnk you're confusing/mixing her ability to sing/perform with what she's singing/performing. It's hard to separate, but I think she's actually quite talented. She just doesn't have wide-ranging appeal for any number of reasons - style, song selection, looks, you name it. She doesn't have anything that translates to "pop" appeal. But that doesn't mean she can't be a star in whatever genre she chooses. It's just that none of us will care enough to notice.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I tihnk you're confusing/mixing her ability to sing/perform with what she's singing/performing. It's hard to separate, but I think she's actually quite talented. She just doesn't have wide-ranging appeal for any number of reasons - style, song selection, looks, you name it. She doesn't have anything that translates to "pop" appeal. But that doesn't mean she can't be a star in whatever genre she chooses. It's just that none of us will care enough to notice.

Yes.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Arles

Off the top of my head:

1. "Being old fashioned" (criticisms of Haley, Gina, Jordin, Lakisha and Stephanie so far).
2. "you're in this Chris Daughtry zone right now where you're doing your own thing and it’s a little bit boring. " (Blake).
3. "Not taking chances and pushing yourself" (Chris R, Gina, Lakisha).

Exactly.

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

That is hardly everything. I do agree that she could make herself a little more modern. I don't agree she doesn't "make songs her own" (AI cliches get on my nerves). What this means is not completely change the song to a new style. This means not copy-catting a previous performance of the song. Musicians call this "interpretation" rather than using an AI catch-phrase ("pitchy" anyone?). If a performer is just mimicking a previous performance, they are not interpreting the music at all. Just copying. One of the thing Melinda does best, in my opinion, is interpretation. She really does interpret the music and lyrics, and perform them her own way. Yes it is usually not in a modern style, but the style she is using isn't really relevant to the interpretation. If she were to change the style of the piece to hip-hop/R&B, then we can start talking about arrangements. Here is where Chris Sligh and Blake sometimes get taken to task for doing an arrangement of a song that is not really warranted. Arranging isn't necessarily in a new style by definition, but it sometimes is. What Blake and Chris Sligh have done in the past by taking an old standard and trying to modernize it is arranging the song in a different style. This is not what the judges mean by "make it your own" (which is a very confusing phrase and one of the reasons it gets on my nerves).

Yes, I agree that Melinda's style is not very modern and that other contestants have been criticized for this very thing. No, I don't agree Melinda does not make songs her own (she is actually by far the best on the show at unique musical interpretation--if anyone wants, I can elaborate on why I think this).

Whether it's valid, the cliches are what judges say. They criticize people for being too old fashioned, for being boring, etc. Can you argue that somewhow Melinda's song from British Invasion week was actually a British Invasion song? I find that hard to believe. It was actually just a song from the same era, I believe composed by someone who was British, but fit to her showtune style. It was in blatant disregard of the competition, it's rules, and the sort of things that are supposed to exist to take people out of their comfort zone. This is exactly why Gina was voted off this week, because she did have to go out of her comfort zone and failed. If, however, a genre comes up that is outside of Melinda's comfort zone they simply allow her to sing a song that is irrelevant to the theme of the week. In addition she is "old-fashioned", boring, etc -- all the things that others are criticized for.

[Ksyrup]

This brings out the serious lolz...


Constantine Maroulis will join the cast of “The Bold and the Beautiful” this summer. According to Executive Producer, Brad Bell, Constantine will play a fictional version of himself. He’ll be involved in the Phoebe/Rick storyline as a possible music producer for Phoebe. Whatever all that means… According to Constantine’s My Space, his first episode will air May 14.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Exactly.



Whether it's valid, the cliches are what judges say. They criticize people for being too old fashioned, for being boring, etc. Can you argue that somewhow Melinda's song from British Invasion week was actually a British Invasion song? I find that hard to believe. It was actually just a song from the same era, I believe composed by someone who was British, but fit to her showtune style. It was in blatant disregard of the competition, it's rules, and the sort of things that are supposed to exist to take people out of their comfort zone. This is exactly why Gina was voted off this week, because she did have to go out of her comfort zone and failed. If, however, a genre comes up that is outside of Melinda's comfort zone they simply allow her to sing a song that is irrelevant to the theme of the week. In addition she is "old-fashioned", boring, etc -- all the things that others are criticized for.

I believe I stipulated that her song-choice and overall persona was old-fashioned. The cliches are what the judges say, yes, but the reason I am criticizing them is because they are vague and/or ambiguous and therefore not helpful. The bulk of my post was spent clarifying what the judges are actually trying to say.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I believe I stipulated that her song-choice and overall persona was old-fashioned. The cliches are what the judges say, yes, but the reason I am criticizing them is because they are vague and/or ambiguous and therefore not helpful. The bulk of my post was spent clarifying what the judges are actually trying to say.

And my point is that they're not using this cliches on Melinda even though, in the context the judges use them, they would be as valid toward her as they are toward other contestants.

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

And my point is that they're not using this cliches on Melinda even though, in the context the judges use them, they would be as valid toward her as they are toward other contestants.

I bet Phil Jackson didn't spend a lot of time criticizing Michael Jordan for carrying all the time either....

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

And my point is that they're not using this cliches on Melinda even though, in the context the judges use them, they would be as valid toward her as they are toward other contestants.

The "make it your own" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as I went through great pains to demonstrate above.

The "pitchy" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as she is only extremely rarely off-pitch (I can't remember a time, in fact).

Or were you referring to some other cliche? The make yourself younger line I don't really feel is as much of a cliche. It at least is not really confusing or misleading like the ones above.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

The "make it your own" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as I went through great pains to demonstrate above.

The "pitchy" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as she is only extremely rarely off-pitch (I can't remember a time, in fact).

Or were you referring to some other cliche? The make yourself younger line I don't really feel is as much of a cliche. It at least is not really confusing or misleading like the ones above.

He's talking about making yourself younger, hip, current whatever.. .the whole point we're all making is she doesn't get criticized for her a) song selection to the theme and b) feeling "old"... which many of the other contestants get criticized for.

[MJ4H]

As I said, I agree with that.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

The "make it your own" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as I went through great pains to demonstrate above.

The "pitchy" cliche is not valid towards Melinda as she is only extremely rarely off-pitch (I can't remember a time, in fact).

Or were you referring to some other cliche? The make yourself younger line I don't really feel is as much of a cliche. It at least is not really confusing or misleading like the ones above.

Originally Posted by wade moore

He's talking about making yourself younger, hip, current whatever.. .the whole point we're all making is she doesn't get criticized for her a) song selection to the theme and b) feeling "old"... which many of the other contestants get criticized for.

As Wade says, I haven't said she was pitchy.. I may have said she needed to "make it her own" once or twice. But the primary things are blatantly ignoring the theme and not being young and hip. The young and hip are things that others have been criticized for many, many times. And, as far as "making it her own", to a music guy like you there may be little nuances, but for the lay people like myself they sound just like the originals in style. Blake, Chris Sligh, Chris Daughtry... They "made it their own".

[MJ4H]

The main reason I was responding at all was the person that said *every single criticism* that is applied to other singers can be applied to Melinda validly. That is what I took issue with. I completely agree she needs to modernize her song choices.

Blake and Sligh rearranged their songs. This is not what the judges are referring to. They are referring to interpretation of an existing arrangement.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

The main reason I was responding at all was the person that said *every single criticism* that is applied to other singers can be applied to Melinda validly. That is what I took issue with. I completely agree she needs to modernize her song choices.

Blake and Sligh rearranged their songs. This is not what the judges are referring to. They are referring to interpretation of an existing arrangement.

I believe you're referring to me and what I said was: "And my point is that they're not using this cliches on Melinda even though, in the context the judges use them, they would be as valid toward her as they are toward other contestants."

That does not mean *every single criticism* it means the ones we discussed in regards to Melinda previously.

[MJ4H]

Actually it was you, but this is the line:

"Melinda does everything that the judges criticize others for outside of singing poorly."

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Actually it was you, but this is the line:

"Melinda does everything that the judges criticize others for outside of singing poorly."

Correct. So "pitchy" would qualify as "singing poorly."

[MJ4H]

But not making it your own. Which is the main issue I've been addressing. You alluded to the problem yourself when you said it means something different to a layman. This is exactly why I was criticizing the use of these cliches. They are ambiguous/misleading.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

But not making it your own. Which is the main issue I've been addressing. You alluded to the problem yourself when you said it means something different to a layman. This is exactly why I was criticizing the use of these cliches. They are ambiguous/misleading.

They are not, because they mean something to "us." Just because musically she does something different that "we" cannot understand, doesn't mean she's making it her own. "Making it your own" means recognizably switching up the style, not adding runs or inflections or mildly changing tempo. Making a true British Invasion song into her showtune style would have been interesting. Making a No Doubt song into something suited to her would have been interesting. What she's doing is not "making it her own" she is improving upon a previous version within the same framework in which it originally existed.

[MJ4H]

Yes, they are. The judges do not mean what you think they mean when they say it. That is why they are ambiguous/misleading. Making it your own does NOT mean recognizably switching up the style. That's exactly what I mean when I say it is an ambiguous/misleading phrase. It means adding your own personality to the song. Changing style means completely changing the arrangement. That is a different thing altogether.

What Melinda is doing IS making it her own, to use the judge's words. She is personally interpreting the lyrics and music and affecting the song in that way. Making a new arrangement in a new style is NOT what the judges are referring to.

This is precisely why I despise this phrase. I have to deal daily with people that think pitchy has something to do with the quality of the person's voice, too. The cliches are overused and people tend to formulate their own opinions on what they mean, and they are often wrong. Pitchy is being used by the judges to mean some notes are out of tune, either with the other notes in the vocal part or with the band. And make it your own has nothing to do with writing a new arrangement in a new style. Im sorry, but it just doesnt. Musical interpretation is an entirely separate issue.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I agree that Melinda makes each song her own -- her own shitty version of boring and outdated songs.

[Mustang]

*snicker*

Simon about Haley - "Can't sing so, wear as little clothes as possible". And Sanjaya wasn't the shittiest of the night. Amazing...

[adubroff]

My one man's rankings, may God have mercy on my soul for who I'm about to put second:

1) Blake
2) Svenjaya
3) Melinda
4) Lakeesha
5) Phil
6) Jordin
7) Haley
8) Chris

I thought overall a down week and you could shift the bottom 6 anyway you want, almost.

[sabotai]

That was one very boring hour.

[MJ4H]

Jordin gets better almost every week. She could win this.

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Jordin gets better almost every week. She could win this.

I think that out of the "BIG 3" she is the most marketable.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by FBPro

"BIG 3"

haha

Originally Posted by FBPro

she is the most marketable.

for sure.

[Solecismic]

It was Latin week on American Idol, and, according to the closed captioning, Sanjaya was singing in Latin. That's quite impressive, because according to my high school Latin teacher, it's a dead language in that no one in this world uses it for communication any more.

So, it was a week to bring back the dead. By and large, that's what it sounded like, as most everyone seemed outside their comfort zones. Latin songs require considerable practice (not to mention the dead language thing), and I'm not sure why the women made life particularly tough on themselves by going with the difficult pacing of the Miami Sound Machine.

On to the rankings:

1. Blake Lewis. He kept it simple, but he also put together a cohesive performance that showed off the singing talent he has. I was pleasantly surprised. While the women were busy hurting their chances, he was perhaps the only person in the competition to show off something new. Score of 90.

2. Melinda Doolittle. It was a dull song, hardly out of her usual repetoire. She looked aged, maybe even a little tired. Certainly not sexy. I thought it was her worst performance of the season, yet every note was in tune and there was a lot of subtlety to her voice. How do you penalize someone for sounding good? I could knock her down considerably for not branching out, not being an "Idol," whatever that is. I'll refrain from that, just a lower score for trying to sound sexy and missing the point. Score of 85.

3. Sanjaya Malakar. This guy gets the voting like no one else before him. If you don't think the teen girls were dialing their fingers raw before, just wait until this week. He has mastered the look of the non-threatening bad boy. He didn't sound too bad this week, either, picking a song that showed off what he can do with a limited range. Score of 79.

4. Chris Richardson. Credit for a very difficult song, which he messed up just a little. He didn't sound like he was braying as much as in past weeks. This may be a good genre for him, with practice. Score of 77.

5. Jordin Sparks. She suffered from Stephanieitis this week. Trying to do too much with a song, but not doing anything all that well. She had a few pitch problems, and it really wasn't a performance you could record in any way. I thought it was, for the second straight week, her worst of the season. She is losing momentum and could quickly find herself in some danger. Score of 70.

6. LaKisha Jones. Just a bad idea on her part. A dance song in a dress that showed back cleavage. A dance song that had her out of breath after only a few bars. She gets credit for leaving her comfort zone, but, aside from a few riffs near the end, it was a dreadful performance. Score of 67.

7. Phil Stacey. He looked and sounded like someone trying to perform an opera for a comedy troupe. I'm just not getting him at all. Score of 53.

8. Haley Scarnato. There were a couple of runs near the beginning that were quite nice. About halfway through, she completely quit on the song, was off pace, off key and visibly suffering. I have no idea what she was thinking, choosing to go in that direction. This was far and away her worst showing this season. And her makeup and outfit were all wrong as well, which might be more harmful to her chances than her poor singing. Score of 41.

Expected Bottom 3: Haley, Phil, Jordin.
Who should go: Phil.
Who will go: Haley.

[Danny]

I'm a big fan of Blake and Jordan, and am hopeful they are the final 2

[Ksyrup]

Yep, after last night it solidified that Jordin and Blake should be in the finals. Blake was the only one I actually liked. And Jim, you nailed Lakisha's performance exactly - before she even performed, my wife commented on the way her dress fit her and what it was showing on her back, and then about 30 seconds into it, I mentioned that she probably should have just stood still to sing that song, because the combination of moving and quick-paced lyrics had her half singing, half breathing the words. That was awful. And once again, the difference between her on-key-but-lifeless performance and Melinda's was made all too obvious by the show putting them back-to-back. They aren't doing Lakisha any favors with the sequencing.

I'd rant and rave about Melinda, but it was another been there, done that performance. Although Simon was somewhat critical of her, he waited until one or two people later to finally criticize her (indirectly, and not by name) for being old-fashioned. It's about freaking time! The attempt to make her come off as sexy...I don't care how many times they say it, that doesn't make it true.

Sanjaya finally performed the way I expected him to when we first saw him. That was good, except some of the low notes he was off on. He's still not idol material, of course, but he does have one element of the "idol" repetoire that I don't think many of the others have - screaming pre-teen girl fans. If he can come up with some respectable performances from here on out (ha!), I bet they could live with him placing pretty high and raking in the dough from his album sales. I think he'll easily out-sell anyone in this competition. The 14-year old mustache was a touch of genius - we're not giving him enough credit for outsmarting everyone else, if not out-performing them.

Haley was...legs...Nair commercial...what was I talking about? The makeup was terrible and she has an annoying habit of stalking the stage from mark to mark that makes her look like a beauty pageant contestant during the talent portion of the competition, but damn, we need more chicks like this in the competition in the coming years. Ideally, we can combine AI and Pants Off Dance Off on a limited scale (restricted to only certain performers, of course!). Someone needs to make this happen.

Phil and Chris...terrible. Really, I don't get Chris R. at all, I'll just chalk it up to the generation gap, because he seems to represent the worst of what singing has become these days and people apparently are eating it up. I can't stand to even listen to him, even when he's on key. Phil is irrelevant to the show and should be cut just to keep the show chugging along. I'm hoping one of these two goes home tonight.

[RedKingGold]

Phil should go home tonight. He cracked not once, but twice during that song. I'm surprised more people aren't hammering his performance b/c he was, far and away, the worst tonight.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, he had the double whammy of singing poorly and being deadly boring. Uninspired with good vocals is one thing, but he sucked in every way imaginable.

[Arles]

Back with the abridged version after the "sultry" latin week. Ugh, being sexy for most of this crew is akin to Pac Man Jones trying to earn the "Philanthropist of the Year" award - it's just not in character.

1. Blake Lewis. Should be the winner based on talent, performance, adjusting to themes and the fact that he seems relevant from a pop standpoint. Smart contestant that did another very good job.

2. Jordin Sparks. She is really the only other contestant that displays a pulse when performing. Has energy, sings well and has also adjusted well each week to the theme. If record sales and relevance after AI are factors, these two should be the final pair.

3. Melinda Doolittle. She was once again technically sound, but completely forgettable. She is reminding more of why she is a background singer. Has very little emotion, zero sex appeal and is like a robot performing. I have to believe that each female singing background in the band could give similar "on key yet bland" performances. She will be the biggest bust since Ruben if she wins.

4. Chris Richardson. From here on down it's the "dead man walking" crew. None really should be the American Idol and Chris just happened to be the best of the worst this week. Well done!

5. Sanjaya Malakar. Another extremely safe song with little vocal range - and he did fairly well. If someone was going to do a record encompassing songs like "Twinkle Twinkle little star" and "Itsy bitsy spider", he would be my top choice from the AI contestants. No one can nail these juvenille softball songs with little range like Sanjaya.

6. LaKisha Jones. What do you get when you take the biggest contestant and make her run the mile while performing? A mess - and I don't see the difficulty in anticipating this result.

7. Phil Stacey. Not very good technically and that's his only normal saving grace. Thankfully, Haley tried a song way over her head.

8. Haley Scarnato. Over her head and even over her 10-mile long legs. I agree with Jim in that she is a beauty pageant contestant and should understand/milk it. Mix up some cheesy ballads with the occassional mild up tempo song. But, whatever you do, don't try anything risky.

Haley goes with the bottom three being Lakisha, Phil and lady long legs.

[Eaglesfan27]

My take on the night:

Blake - Unless he starts messing up, he has shown that he should be in the final 2. I thought he had the best performance by far last night and he has been the contestant that has most consistently entertained me.

Melinda - Not all sexy and she didn't have her usual great passion and interpertation of the song. However, as usual, she was technically proficient.

Jordin - She did continue to improve ever week, until this week. I agree with Jim that this was a bad performance for her. However, I think overall she was still the 3rd best performer last night and she has shown the most growth and has a good chance of reaching the final 2.

Sanjaya - Paula or someone nailed it. He is playing it very smart with working the portion of the audience that votes the most - preteen and teen girls. His vocals didn't suck last night, but they weren't good either.

Chris Richardson - I can't stand him for some reason. But, his performance was the best of the rest.

Lakisha - My wife commented on it immediately.. terrible outfit for her. Like others said, she seemed completely out of breath very early in the song and her vocals certainly suffered as a result.

Phil - I think he may want to go home so he can spend more time with his new baby. Poor vocal and even poorer performance.


Haley - I disagree with Jim on the outfit as her body was as tantalizing as ever. However, the face makeup was badly done and even her great body couldn't distract me from a terrible vocal and poor performance overall.


Bottom 3: Haley, Phil, and in a shocker Lakisha.

Who goes: Phil.

Edited: I loved Simon's comment about Haley's strategy.

[path12]

I kind of hope Haley stays around because at this rate she should be in a thong next week.

[sabotai]

Actually, I would not be surprised if Sanjaya goes home tonight. Now that he's put together 2 or 3 "not the worst thing ever" performances, people might have started to forget about him.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Actually, I would not be surprised if Sanjaya goes home tonight. Now that he's put together 2 or 3 "not the worst thing ever" performances, people might have started to forget about him.

That would require a sizeable portion of his voters to be people trying to keep him on because he sucks, and I think it's wrong to think those people wouldn't still vote for him because (a) he still sucks, just not as much, and (b) I think his audience/voters are largely tweens who will love him even more after last night, not the anti-AI crowd.

But who knows...maybe he's provided all the entertainment we can stand and the people running AI are ready for him to hit the road.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That would require a sizeable portion of his voters to be people trying to keep him on because he sucks, and I think it's wrong to think those people wouldn't still vote for him because (a) he still sucks, just not as much, and (b) I think his audience/voters are largely tweens who will love him even more after last night, not the anti-AI crowd.

But who knows...maybe he's provided all the entertainment we can stand and the people running AI are ready for him to hit the road.

I think the Stern and Vote for the Worst factor is way overhyped.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That would require a sizeable portion of his voters to be people trying to keep him on because he sucks, and I think it's wrong to think those people wouldn't still vote for him because (a) he still sucks, just not as much, and (b) I think his audience/voters are largely tweens who will love him even more after last night, not the anti-AI crowd.

That's the thing, he doesn't suck as much anymore, and a lot of those people who were "Haha, I'm voting for Sanjaya" might not do it anymore. Even if he still sucked as badly, those votes trail off as the season goes on as they all go find something better to do or the trendy factor for doing it fades away. FWIW, and I don't listen to it all day, but I have not heard any of the "shock jocks" I listen to push for the Sanjaya thing as much lately (if at all).

I'm sure that his fans are more rabid then ever, but another thing is that each week, the people who have been voting for the person who just got kickd off, part of them will start voting for another contestant. Some of them might go for the "vote for the worst" trend now that their horse is gone, but now that Sanjaya hasn't really been "OMFG terrible" the past few weeks, he might not be gaining those votes.

So it's not only losing votes, but it's also gaining votes as the weeks go on. Now that he's not all over the place for being terrible anymore, he might not gain enough votes to keep pace the the real singers.

I'm not predicting it will happen, I doubt it will this week. We probably still have a few weeks of kicking off the rest of the people who have no chance in hell of winning, I'm just saying his "spotlight" has kind of faded the last two weeks with two "so-so, just not horrible" performances and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have forgotten about him and he didn't gain any of Gina's or Chris Sligh's votes, especially since I wouldn't guess either of them were getting votes from the demographic that Sanjaya is apparently tapping.

[Ksyrup]

I'm with lordscarlet in thinking that the anti-AI vote Sanjaya is getting is overblown, so I don't see how performing better would hurt his chances of getting votes. Eventually, it will simply get to the point where people who vote every week will have their favorite voted off, and those votes will go to the others and Sanjaya will be voted off. That is, if everything holds to form as it has in years past.

I guess it's always possible that his voters end up out-voting everyone else, but I don't see it. They can't stay up past their bedtimes to vote enough!

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm with lordscarlet in thinking that the anti-AI vote Sanjaya is getting is overblown

Overblown, yes, but not non-existant. Since AI doesn't release vote totals, and there's specualtion on if the "last 3" are really the "bottom 3 in votes", we have no idea how close Sanjaya is each week to getting kicked off. If Sanjaya is getting just 2% more than the last place person, and if 2% of his votes are "vote for the worst" and they forget about him, that's enough to do it.

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by path12

I kind of hope Haley stays around because at this rate she should be in a thong next week.

Not a bad thing by any means. I mentioned to my wife last night that the numbers are now getting down to the point where maybe "S-" may finally get what's coming to him.

[MJ4H]

That whole Ikea (or Acorn or whatever) guy performance was just weird. And 'pitchy!'

[sabotai]

No more almost naked Haley.