American Idol Season 8

[Poli]

This is for Group 2...

[Solecismic]

Just to take a stab at this... 8 or 9 will be invited back next week to compete for three wild-card spots, the winners to go on to face Pittsburgh and Tennessee in the divisional round.

So that means 5 or 6 of the 18 we've already seen dismissed will get a second chance. My odds for those invitations:

Anoop Desai 1-7.
Megan Corkrey 1-7 (need more women, plain and simple).
Jasmine Murray 1-3 (long lecture on song choice, though I liked her song, she just didn't sing it well).
Ricky Braddy 2-1 (Paula's favorite).
Stephen Fowler 5-2.
Jesse Langseth 4-1.
Mishavonna Henson 4-1.
Matt Giraud 5-1.
Matt Breitzke 8-1 (ticked off Simon).
Ann Marie Boskovich 15-1.
Jackie Tohn 20-1.
Tatiana Del Toro 25-1.
Anyone Else 99-1.

Definitely getting the pimp spot (singing last) next week: Lil Rounds.

Other favorites to advance (in order): Scott McIntyre, Von Smith, Kendall Beard, Arianna Asfar.

[Ksyrup]

Totally agree that Lil Rounds is hands-on favorite for the pimp spot next week. I really don't think Scott McIntyre is going to make it, though. Maybe people will vote for him solely because he is blind, but I haven't been impressed with his talent so far. His vocals are nowhere near strong enough. That performance they showed of him in Hollywood was not good at all. And since he can't sit behind a piano at this stage of the competition, I suspect his stage presence is going to be awkward and uncomfortable to watch. I hope I'm wrong, but I think he's more of a Tatiana/Normund/Nate/Kai storyline filler contestant than anything.

I also think Tatiana may get an invite, although I'm hoping not. The producers seemed to enjoy putting her through hell by switching her rooms in Hollywood and then by making her wait until the last second last week, so why not throw her out there one more time to see what kind of drama she'll cook up> Maybe this time she'll faint or something when she doesn't make it.

Very surprised Megan didn't make it through, but never underestimate America's hatred of tattoos. Carly Smithson dealt with it all of last season (among her many issues).

Also very surprised at the curious production decision, two weeks in a row, to quickly resolve the biggest question about who was going to make it (Michael Sarver and Kris Allen) halfway through the show, and instead end the shows with 2 slam dunks squaring off against 2 personalities. Seems to sum up the focus of this season, though, doesn't it?

[Thomkal]

yeah I'm with you Ksyrup, for a show that prides itself on its self-created drama, its been two weird results shows in a row. I mean you put Nick and Kris there at the end and I'd would have given Nick a good chance to advance, but Nick and Adam? Not.

A bit surprised Kris made it through, but I'm guessing a large female contigent is the reason. The girls aren't doing too well this season are they? Lil Rounds should get in next week, but after that? I'm thinking the judges might go with 2 girls in the wild card making it tougher for the guys that remain.

Next week is pretty predictable I think if they pick good songs of course. Lil, Scott, and Von. Could be wrong about Von and song choice will be very important for him. Scott's story gets him through no matter how awkward the performance because I think his voice is good enough. All bets are off if he chooses a lousy song though.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

yeah I'm with you Ksyrup, for a show that prides itself on its self-created drama, its been two weird results shows in a row. I mean you put Nick and Kris there at the end and I'd would have given Nick a good chance to advance, but Nick and Adam? Not.

What it pretty clearly shows is a disturbing trend towards steering the audience - even more than they've ever done, and we all know this has never been a fair competition for some people - to the contestants they want to see succeed. As if the amount of face time Danny and Adam have gotten since January isn't enough, they not only give them the pimp spot for their first performances, but also are willing to completely ruin any drama in the results shows just to let Danny and Adam close the show singing, once again. About all that is missing is a neon sign asking America to keep voting for Danny and Adam.

As little face time as Lill Rounds has had, if she's really that good, she actually needs all the pimping they've given Danny and Adam.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Next week is pretty predictable I think if they pick good songs of course. Lil, Scott, and Von. Could be wrong about Von and song choice will be very important for him. Scott's story gets him through no matter how awkward the performance because I think his voice is good enough. All bets are off if he chooses a lousy song though.

I don't think Scott or Von go through based on the vote.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll be surprised if Scott doesn't advance unless he sings very badly. America loves handicapped performers, and I think he'll get plenty of votes if he is decent. I think it was Josh Blue who won Last Comic Standing a few years ago, even though he was clearly a less talented comedian than his fellow contestants.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

America loves handicapped performers

I just took a quick glance at the Billboard Hot 100 and you appear to be correct.

But seriously, his voice isn't that great. I don't recall what he sang in Hollywood, but it was mediocre at best. I don't really pull for anyone on this show, but I hope he does well. I just don't think he will do good, which will make it even more uncomfortable if he still gets voted in.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'll be surprised if Scott doesn't advance unless he sings very badly. America loves handicapped performers, and I think he'll get plenty of votes if he is decent. I think it was Josh Blue who won Last Comic Standing a few years ago, even though he was clearly a less talented comedian than his fellow contestants.

This is probably true. I'm hoping Scott does really well, but he just hasn't sung that well to this point.

[Ksyrup]

As for Von, we already have Adam, why would we need another stage actor? That's like the welder and the oil rigger guys making it - no way that was going to happen. Demographics, people!

[Danny]

Von is a stage actor?

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'll be surprised if Scott doesn't advance unless he sings very badly. America loves handicapped performers, and I think he'll get plenty of votes if he is decent. I think it was Josh Blue who won Last Comic Standing a few years ago, even though he was clearly a less talented comedian than his fellow contestants.

Scott just isn't a good singer. Behind the piano he's supposed to be better, but even that wasn't very good. I think the handicapped story can take you to a point -- but I think this is the end of the road. Much like Nick, the story is interesting to a point -- but if you're noticeably less talented than the rest, you will go down at some point. Josh Blue was actually funny. Having said that, America is generally nowhere close to picking the funniest person on Last Comic Standing. Dat Phan anyone?

Having said all that, he's up against: Jorge, Nathaniel, Alex, Ju'Not and Von. I personally thing Ju'Not is the best of that bunch, but not by a large margin -- Scott doesn't have strong competition this week. Now that I look at the names, this may be the week we finally get two women. Certainly Lil Rounds should do well enough to go through, but I don't even know that I recognize any of hte other girls. OK, maybe you're right. But I definitely don't think both Von and Scott go through. Opinions could completely changed based on their performances next week, of course.

[Eaglesfan27]

LS,

I definitely think the weaker group helps Scott's chances at advancement. Like Ksyrup I don't believe anything that happens is unplanned, so I'm sure that was intentional as well. They set this up to give Scott a real chance at advancing. We've had less interesting/ less talented singers advance to the final 8 or so, and I think Scott will get about that far before his relative lack of talent will end his trip unless he shows some type of amazing growth as a singer.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Danny

Von is a stage actor?

I'm sorry, I left out "wannabe." Maybe we'll see something different, but the one performance they showed in Hollywood, Von's theatrics made Adam's Satisfaction look tame by comparison. That was the "indulgent nonsense" comment from Simon. But he seems like he has a really good voice. I just think he oversings to the point of UIC and there is a great opportunity fora crash and burn next week.

Put it this way...the VFTW guys are dying for him to make the top 12.

[Solecismic]

It's difficult to tell a lot from the auditions, and even the Hollywood episodes. This show is carefully edited. I thought the first group was loaded, and it turned out very weak.

I think they're definitely focusing on Lil for now. She's getting the quality edit. Not a huge amount of face time, but everything's positive and we've seen her here and there.

I wouldn't underestimate the power of a handicap in grabbing America's heart. Didn't Dancing with the Stars cast a woman with one leg? This is nothing in comparison.

If Scott is half-way competent, which he seems to be, he will sail through this round. And get him in front of a piano, channeling a little Stevie Wonder head-shake, and America will think he's fantastic.

Why? Because even Simon won't dare come down on him too hard. America loves the underdog. Doesn't matter if he's not one tenth Stevie's voice.

I think the producers will come to regret casting Scott if he's just good enough to get through next week, but paling in comparison to the others.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

I think the producers will come to regret casting Scott if he's just good enough to get through next week, but paling in comparison to the others.

I could definitely see this happening. The woman on DWtS you are thinking of is Paul McCartney's ex. So, regardless of how good/bad she was or how much sympathy or admiration people had for her, she still royally screwed a Beatle. And she got cut.

Then again, they also had a deaf woman on there, and she did advance pretty far, but America seemed to have enough sense to let her go before it became embarrassing for her to keep advancing. Maybe the same would happen with Scott.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm sorry, I left out "wannabe." Maybe we'll see something different, but the one performance they showed in Hollywood, Von's theatrics made Adam's Satisfaction look tame by comparison. That was the "indulgent nonsense" comment from Simon. But he seems like he has a really good voice. I just think he oversings to the point of UIC and there is a great opportunity fora crash and burn next week.

Put it this way...the VFTW guys are dying for him to make the top 12.

Ah, I vaguely remember that, I actually don't remember Von hardly at all actually.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

LS,

I definitely think the weaker group helps Scott's chances at advancement. Like Ksyrup I don't believe anything that happens is unplanned, so I'm sure that was intentional as well. They set this up to give Scott a real chance at advancing. We've had less interesting/ less talented singers advance to the final 8 or so, and I think Scott will get about that far before his relative lack of talent will end his trip unless he shows some type of amazing growth as a singer.

That's what I'm hoping for.

[zums]

so i'm confused.... the wild card round is next week, BEFORE the third group?! or am i misunderstanding...?

[law90026]

More importantly, Brooke is still hot.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by zums

so i'm confused.... the wild card round is next week, BEFORE the third group?! or am i misunderstanding...?

I'm not sure, but I think the 3rd group performs on Tuesday, results on Weds, and then Wildcard on Thursday.

[zums]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'm not sure, but I think the 3rd group performs on Tuesday, results on Weds, and then Wildcard on Thursday.

Ok - i guess i was wondering how it would work for people from the third group to qualify for the wild card. so those people could be singing twice in the span of two days then, could see that being both an advantage or a disadvantage...

[adubroff]

Very strong night I thought, Jorge, Lil Rounds, Felicia, Nathaniel and Scott were all voteworthy in my mind. I thought Nathaniel got a bit of a bum rap for singing a bad song but his performance was good I thought, maybe better than good.

I guess if pushed for a trio, I'd go with Rounds, Jorge and Scott, but I don't really know how the voters will go on this one.

[Raiders Army]

I really don't get the guy who sang Meatloaf.

The first guy was good, but his facial expressions are so over the top.

[Thomkal]

Scott and Lil are pretty much slam dunks. Lil's been heavily promoted through the whole season, and Scott did well enough that people will vote for him because of his situation. The third spot is probably going to go to one of the guys again, I had thought Von before the show now he's got a challenger in Jorge. I didn't like any of Jorge's performances before tonight-his accent interfered too much and song choice. But he wasn't over the top tonight and sang a song a lot of people know and like, so good for him. And Von sang first and people tend to forget the person in that slot.

I liked the girl in the horrid dress (Kristinne? Katherine?) but probably won't get through over the guys. Didn't like Nathaniel or Felicia-still don't know why they brought her back over one of the girls that lost the sing-offs.

[sabotai]

Am I the only that thinks 4 judges is just too many? Sometimes it just drags the show to a halt since all 4 need to get all of their thoughts out, even if they are all the same. Just takes too long.

My votes would go to Von, Kristen and Kendall

Who will probably get through: Scott, Lil Rounds and Jorge

[Scoobz0202]

I felt tonight was fairly weak overall, especially the first half of the night. There were three though that I felt sticked out and they are:

Lil Rounds
Jorge
Felicia

[Solecismic]

We slowly reached the end of our third week of listening to new singers. It's exhausting. I can imagine it's even worse for the judges, because by the end of the evening, they were raving, raving, crazy about the most mediocre of contestants.

Strangely, I feel we don't really know the contestants very well. By this time last year, we had a good idea who the final 12 were, and what they could and couldn't sing. With this new format, the final 12 is essentially the beginning of a new competition. With the exception of the three heavily-pimped singers who won, or will win, their rounds (pun intended) quite handily.

While I thought the judging was unusually spot-on the first two weeks, tonight it simply broke down. Maybe the ratings decreases, which show that the format change was a disastrous mistake, put a lot of pressure on the production staff. They want to get the right final 12 at all costs. Or maybe the fourth judge, Kara, who is proving to be little more than a slightly more acerbic version of Paula, has finally upset the group dynamic. Who knows. I just found myself shaking my head at their comments a lot tonight.

Perhaps that means you'll disagree with me more than usual tonight. I haven't been very controversial this season. I suspect I might be with these choices. Without further ado, on to the Solecismic Ratings:

1. Ju'Not Joyner. I liked his easy, soft, controlled rendition of "Hey There Delilah." He slipped a little in the second half as he tried to show off more of his range, but he has a command of even the softer tones that's rare in this sort of competition. I think he could be a force if he manages to grab the viewers. Really the only good performance of the evening, though there were many decent attempts. Score of 86.

2. Lil Rounds. She screamed the way an American Idol contestant is supposed to scream. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but then I remembered that this is what top Idol picks are supposed to do. It grabs the audience. Given that she had the pimp spot and the judges fell all over themselves loving on her, and she did a very credible Mary J. Blige, you have to give her a good grade and pass her on to the next round. Score of 78.

3. Kristen McNamara. The arrangement was odd. I was reminded of those endless Saturday Night Live sketches where a cast member portrays a mediocre lounge singer. It's slightly campy and the audience is into it, so you laugh a little and you realize at the end that you were thoroughly entertained. Kristen has a good bit of R&B in her, as much as she tries to hide it. And she probably has the best voice of anyone singing tonight. I'd like to see more of her. Score of 75.

4. Von Smith. A bit showy, Von likes to try the high notes. And maybe he's a bit sick, because those high notes were more than a little strained. Still, he's relaxed and polished, and I get the feeling he can do a lot more than he showed tonight. It wasn't a particularly good Marvin Gaye, but it was almost-good on an evening when most of the performances were almost-good. Score of 74.

5. Kendall Beard. I thought she started quite nicely in a low range that surprised me, given her cutesy little blonde appearance. It was a bland and easy arrangement of Martina McBride, a little too calculated an attempt to appeal to the vast numbers of country fans who watch the show. She had some serious pitch problems at the end of the song, which makes me question her staying power in this competition. Score of 73.

6. Scott MacIntyre. He made a solid choice that showed off his ordinary-plus singing ability. There's an excellent chance that if Jim Henson were alive today, Scott would be invited to take over a few of the muppets during those interminable musical numbers. The judges raved, I guess because of the blind thing. I don't know. What if he were a welder as well? Now a blind welder would probably have them spontaneously combusting all over the judges' table. Score of 71.

7. Taylor Vaifanua. I was disappointed. I think she won the Alicia Keys sing-off (most will probably disagree), but her pacing was off and she was clearly nervous as the song began. It was merely adequate. She is a talented girl, and she's loud enough to get the audience excited. I thought the judges were a bit unfair with her, and I didn't know why until Felicia took her turn later. Score of 70.

8. Nate Marshall. Last week, Nick Mitchell looked ridiculous, and his comedy routine fell flat. Nate can sing OK, but his appearance makes it impossible to see him as anything other than a novelty. His Meat Loaf imitation was soul-less, and reminded me a lot of what aerobics videos would sound like if sung in a karaoke parlor. Score of 52.

9. Arianna Asfar. I have one ABBA song on my MP3 player, "The Winner Takes it All." It's not a great song, certainly it's not a singer's song. But Agnetha Faltskog, for whatever reason, did a fantastic job with it, making it sound wistful and relevant. Arianna chose to mangle the song, as if Agnetha were singing in slow motion, or warming up to sing something later. She also missed the big note at the end. A very disappointing performance from someone who could have gone all the way. Score of 48.

10. Felicia Barton. There is an Idol formula, and Felicia embodied it. She received a second chance when Joanna Pacitti was declared ineligible after producers realized there is only so much favoritism the public can handle. Senator Roland Burris himself called a press conference complaining about the appearance of impropriety of Pacitti's selection. Felicia showed no range, was noisy, often unintelligible, and was very strained on the higher notes. I can not understand why the judges raved and raved, as if she were someone entirely different. It must be the formula. Score of 44.

11. Jorge Nunez. No one could do any wrong, according to the judges, in the second half of the show. I'm not sure Jorge hit a single note in his incredibly loud and poorly done Elton John imitation. He cried. I would cry, too, if I sang that badly and 30 million people heard me. Score of 40.

12. Alex Wagner-Trugman. Still, Jorge won the Elton John duel with Alex. We had bad dancing, and a contrived, growling, rambling and precocious attempt to make this song his own. He took a chance and he failed about as miserably as one can fail on this show. Score of 28.

Expected to Advance: Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Ju'Not Joyner.

Expected Saves by the Judges: Felicia Barton, Kendall Beard.

Deserves to Advance: Ju'Not Joyner, Lil Rounds, Kristen McNamara.

[mtolson]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Am I the only that thinks 4 judges is just too many? Sometimes it just drags the show to a halt since all 4 need to get all of their thoughts out, even if they are all the same. Just takes too long.

My votes would go to Von, Kristen and Kendall

Who will probably get through: Scott, Lil Rounds and Jorge

Not at all, at times it seems like they needed to cut them off just to keep the show progressing. How do you even split a 2 to 2 vote anyway ? 4 is a bad number for judges.

I think Lil, Felicia and JuNot should advance. Don't think JuNot will make it tough. Overall, Idol's in a tough spot here. The was by far the best week to me. I can easily see 6of them making it threw. However, I am sure that 1 or 2 need to be saved from the 1st and 2nd rounds. Really bad format this year.

[AgustusM]

I really loved Lil Rounds - I thought she was amazing and unlike most people I suspect I have never heard the song before.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

10. Felicia Barton. There is an Idol formula, and Felicia embodied it. She received a second chance when Joanna Pacitti was declared ineligible after producers realized there is only so much favoritism the public can handle. Senator Roland Burris himself called a press conference complaining about the appearance of impropriety of Pacitti's selection. Felicia showed no range, was noisy, often unintelligible, and was very strained on the higher notes. I can not understand why the judges raved and raved, as if she were someone entirely different. It must be the formula. Score of 44.

While I didn't agree with the judges' reactions, I could understand where they were coming from; they had to justify her coming back so they accentuated the positive.

[Alan T]

I thought the girls overall were really strong but the guys were for the most part horrible last night.

I thought only Scott and Jorge were halfway decent and probably give the edge to Jorge.

I think Lil Round was the best of the girls, even though they over-hyped her way too much. I liked several of the girl singers last night, the only two that were on the level of the guys horrid show was Felicia and Arianna as neither of them were good at all.

I'm suprised at how many people say they liked Ju'Not.. I hated him, hated the way he sung the song, hated everything about his performance.

[Raiders Army]

That Von Smith guy looks like Joey Lawrence.

[wade moore]

Some random thoughts.

Felicia - I didn't think she was as bad as everyone here is saying. I liked some things about how she sung and think she could do some other songs a lot better. I am a bit biased however, since I'm rooting for her as a local girl and a friend of a friend (i've never met her)

Kristen - I REALLY like her. I think she has a great sound to her voice and I actually thought this was a good performance. I think the judges are way too hard on her about her "look" at this stage. a) it's not that bad b) in the next stage she'll have stylists to fix that problem.

Ju'Not - I think he sang well. I HATED what he did to that song. I didn't like the arrangement at all.

Who I think goes through: Lil, Scott, Jorge

Who I think should go through: Lil, Kristen, ?Ju'Not?

I put the questions marks because I personally thought this was by FAR the worst guys night, I'm surprised everyone liked them so much.


Off to check dial idol now.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by adubroff

I thought Nathaniel got a bit of a bum rap for singing a bad song but his performance was good I thought, maybe better than good.

Uh, what?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Some random thoughts.

Felicia - I didn't think she was as bad as everyone here is saying. I liked some things about how she sung and think she could do some other songs a lot better. I am a bit biased however, since I'm rooting for her as a local girl and a friend of a friend (i've never met her)

Kristen - I REALLY like her. I think she has a great sound to her voice and I actually thought this was a good performance. I think the judges are way too hard on her about her "look" at this stage. a) it's not that bad b) in the next stage she'll have stylists to fix that problem.

Ju'Not - I think he sang well. I HATED what he did to that song. I didn't like the arrangement at all.

Who I think goes through: Lil, Scott, Jorge

Who I think should go through: Lil, Kristen, ?Ju'Not?

I put the questions marks because I personally thought this was by FAR the worst guys night, I'm surprised everyone liked them so much.


Off to check dial idol now.

Sounds like you and I are on the same page almost exactly.

[Mustang]

I found last nights episode just flat out boring.

Do these people not watch idol or get suggestions on what or what not to sing? Picking THAT Abba song? Are you trying to be 50?

And Nathaniel, Meatloaf? Really? I hope the Indian, Policeman and Navy guy weren't pissed at you for leaving them off stage.

[MJ4H]

Felicia - disaster

Kristen - okayish

Ju'Not - only okayish - too many pitch problems, but it is tough to control what he tried to do, so almost forgiveable

Lil - pretty darn good

Kendall - way too many pitch problems

Scott - He has gotten this far only because he is a likable story. His singing is not good, though he does try to make it passionate, which a lot of people enjoy enough to overlook the *obvious* flaws.

Jorge - Not as good as the judges think, but not awful.

Can't think of anyone else that wasn't a complete disaster.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

Felicia - disaster

Kristen - okayish

Ju'Not - only okayish - too many pitch problems, but it is tough to control what he tried to do, so almost forgiveable

Lil - pretty darn good

Kendall - way too many pitch problems

Scott - He has gotten this far only because he is a likable story. His singing is not good, though he does try to make it passionate, which a lot of people enjoy enough to overlook the *obvious* flaws.

Jorge - Not as good as the judges think, but not awful.

Can't think of anyone else that wasn't a complete disaster.

I completely agree with MJFH!

And on the issue of song choice, this comes up every year, and past idol contestants make the same comments over and over about what really goes on behind the scenes. So it pisses me off to no end that they aren't allowed to say anything about it now, and that the show continues to make it a major theme despite the fact that they are the ones screwing over the contestants (likely on purpose for several of the people who are nothing more than fodder). Here's yet another former contestant - Jason Yeager, from last year - saying what others before him have said:

About song choice, “The judges are always harping on song choice, song choice, song choice, but you’re given a very short list of songs they have paid the rights to air on television and you pick 3 songs off of that list and the producers tell you which one you’re going to do..”

Wildcard spoilers:

Spoiler

Ricky Braddy, Anoop, and Matt Giraud were spotted shopping with a couple of the contestants who already made it through. No question they will be in the wild card.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't claim to know a damn thing about singing, but when my wife and I heard what Ju'Not was doing to "Hey There Delilah", we cringed. Neither one of us likes that song to begin with, and it sounded like he actually made it slower than the original. I thought that would be impossible to do, like making boiling water "boilier." He proved me wrong.

And the name "Lil Rounds" makes me want to punch her in the face.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

And the name "Lil Rounds" makes me want to punch her in the face.

this

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I don't claim to know a damn thing about singing, but when my wife and I heard what Ju'Not was doing to "Hey There Delilah", we cringed. Neither one of us likes that song to begin with, and it sounded like he actually made it slower than the original. I thought that would be impossible to do, like making boiling water "boilier." He proved me wrong.

It was definitely slowed down. I like the original fwiw and as I said above did not like this arrangement at all.

[wade moore]

I'm still up in the air on whether I like this format.

As Jim mentions, we're really not "getting to know" the top 12, and that bothers me.

But at the same time, if I had to watch some of these people for what? 6 weeks in the old format? To get to the top 12, my god.

[Ksyrup]

Personally, I think not knowing these people before the top 12 is way better than knowing them, and then having to listen to them do the same thing over and over for another 10-12 weeks. I'd rather get to my "saturation point" with any particular singer by top 7, rather than at maybe top 11 or 12. I could definitely have done without 2 or 3 (or 10) additional David Archuleta performances last year, and I think we still would have known who he is as an artist.

If they want to go back to the truly unknown contestants who need time to find themselves as artists and improve in both performance and look, then I'd agree that the old format is better. But even Clay Aiken came out of a format like this one, and he needed about as much work as any contestant to transform into a passable recording artist. So even that isn't as huge an issue as it might seem.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I don't claim to know a damn thing about singing, but when my wife and I heard what Ju'Not was doing to "Hey There Delilah", we cringed. Neither one of us likes that song to begin with, and it sounded like he actually made it slower than the original. I thought that would be impossible to do, like making boiling water "boilier." He proved me wrong.

I thought Paula's attempt to cover herself for chastising a previous contestant for doing a Hollywood song and then letting this guy off the hook was pretty lame. We saw him do this song in Hollywood. Oddly enough, the first time I'd ever heard this song was during Hollywood week, when I heard roughly 75 different versions of it (or at least, 3-15 seconds of it). I don't even know what the original sounds like.

[Mustang]

Tatianna in the wildcard? What a f'n joke.

[MJ4H]

That was very disappointing, yes.

[Raiders Army]

So....what happened to Felicia doing so well last night? No wildcard? It's so surprising!!!!

Tatiana getting a wildcard spot was really surprising...her reaction was not.

[Solecismic]

I'm puzzled by the Tatiana choice. Not that she's all that far from deserving one, but that we've already seen far too much of her and she hasn't really grabbed the audience.

Seems like a stunt choice to me, no real chance of advancing to the final 12.

We now have six men and three women in the final 12. And none of the three are the typical eye candy with a semi-decent voice this show needs to grab the male audience. Megan is pretty enough, but she has an unusual style, and the sleeve makes her anything but wholesome.

It's likely that they will choose one man and two women to join the final 12. What makes this difficult is that they've drawn themselves into a corner with their choices.

For the male slot, I think they will decide completely based on tomorrow's performances. They have a good sense of what plays to the public, and all four are people the judges have liked from day one, but were somewhat disappointing in how they did in the semifinals.

I think Ricky has an edge as the best singer from the group, but any of the four has the ability to knock one out of the park. In that sense, they probably wish Jorge hadn't charmed everyone with his intensely mediocre performance along with the crying. If he had done that earlier in the show, without the undeserved raving and the tears, there's no way he'd be out there right now.

And Kris Allen over Megan in the voting was an example of why this format (3 out of 12) has its issues. Next year, if they go to expanded semi-finalists again, they will probably do four rounds, splitting men and women again.

Jorge and Kris will be out in the next four weeks, likely joined by Michael Sarver and Jasmine Murray.

There has been significant criticism in the press of the lack of African Americans in the finals. It was definitely a mistake not to put Lil in the first round, I think they expected Jasmine and Stephen to sail through.

After all, this is a show that has had three African American winners in seven seasons. To have only one in the entire finals would ramp up the criticism even more, and would threaten to overshadow the show as it tries to build momentum.

I was surprised Ju'Not didn't get a second chance, because this means Jasmine will get a finalist's spot even if she's absolutely terrible tomorrow. There's no question Jasmine has the commercial appeal, she's just not that good a singer.

That leaves Jesse and Megan battling for the final spot. That can be decided tomorrow as well. Jesse is the plant, of course, and has made the most of her talents. She's pretty, but forgettable. Megan is the unusual talent who has the ability to go all the way if she can gain a foothold. Jesse does not have that ability, so I think Megan has a significant edge here.

As for the rest, the 19 who are now eliminated, I'm disappointed only about Mishavonna Henson. The format has made it more difficult for the women, and she was good enough to earn another shot. I think they made a mistake not adding her in, maybe removing Matt Giraud, who is interesting and has talent, but really isn't right for this type of competition. I also would have given Kristen McNamara a shot rather than the stunt-casted Tatiana.

[Thomkal]

Tatiana being put in the wild-card is a joke because she is a joke, has been a joke all-season long. Took the spot of a more deserving woman like the two Jim mentioned in a season where the woman are already the weaker sex of the two.

I think Jasmine too is a shoo-in given just Lil in the Final 12, and I was surprised Ju'Not wasn't given a spot based on that too. But African-americans really have little to complain about. Lots of good black singers in season past, three winners. Just wasn't a good season for African-American talent is all. I'll be very interested in hearing what the judges say if Jasmine bombs.

I'm not overly enthusiastic about any of the four women they put through, but I'd very much like to hear what their last second decision was that put Jesse in. I wonder if they thought two girls would make it from the final group and had to rearrange when only one did. I probably like her the best of the four woman. Not very surprised by any of the boys choices-all either were judges favorites before they performed in this round (Anoop, Matt) and chose the wrong songs, or were a bit of a surprise in their groups with a good performance. (Von, Ricky). Sad to see the country guy (Brett?) didn't make it though.