No American Idol season 10 thread yet?

[Ksyrup]

Viewer votes may be adjusted to correct for Idol voters’ bias toward singers with penises


Paul McDonald’s exit last week on American Idol marked the first exit of a male from the finals this season, unless you count Casey Abrams, who was saved by the judges. But considering that and the fact that a woman hasn’t won in three seasons, the show’s producers are considering adjusting the vote somehow to compensate for a bias against penis-wielding contestants, giving those with vaginas a chance to win.

“We are aware very much that the voting could quite possibly be skewed toward the boys. It is something we are going to have a long discussion about after we finish this season. We won’t be in the process of changing anything at the moment. It is going to go the way it goes,” executive producer Ken Warwick told reporters, according to Reuters, which notes that competition series “traditionally attract predominantly female viewers, who then tend to drive telephone, text and online votes toward male contestants.”

That is because, of course, women are incapable of voting for anyone except those who society assumes they are attracted to, because how can a woman not be attracted to someone with a penis?

Seriously, this seems like a terrible idea. For one, the producers have enough trouble convincing conspiracy theorists that the voting is fair and untainted, and screwing with the results to account for an ultimately unprovable bias seems like a bad way to go. Sure, some teenage girls might vote for boys they think are cute, but I hope that the majority of voters aren’t calling or texting just because they want to explore the contents of Jacob Lusk’s pants.

Second, isn’t the real problem that the women are very indistinguishable this year, at least compared to the men, who have much more distinct personalities and voices? Maybe start with stocking the top 12 with people who would get votes from people regardless of their genital configuration.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by wade moore

He's a one-trick pony in his songs

But if you can do that one thing well ... With country as much as any format, you find your gimmick & you hit it hard. The last thing country fans want is to not know what to expect from an act. Long term, it simply isn't a problem.

Look at a current country chart, even with the variety of styles represented for male vocalists, each is largely limited to a couple of basic formulas that they're successful with. There's the rebel (Toby Keith, Trace Adkins), the goofy cute guy (Brad Paisley), the pop singer and/or grown up boy band guy that makes women swoon (Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley to a lesser degree), the crossover guy (Darius Rucker, although he's harder to define than some), and the obligatory handful of guys who are career midcharters or hit-every-five-years guys.

There was a time when it was all pop country (Kenny Rogers), then we had traditional country (Randy Travis et al), then the hat acts (Alan Jackson, Clint Black), and so forth. Now there isn't a single dominant niche in the format so much as there are X number of slots available for each.

His job here is to do enough to win the contest. So far, he seems to be on track for that.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Viewer votes may be adjusted to correct for Idol voters’ bias toward singers with penises


Paul McDonald’s exit last week on American Idol marked the first exit of a male from the finals this season, unless you count Casey Abrams, who was saved by the judges. But considering that and the fact that a woman hasn’t won in three seasons, the show’s producers are considering adjusting the vote somehow to compensate for a bias against penis-wielding contestants, giving those with vaginas a chance to win.

“We are aware very much that the voting could quite possibly be skewed toward the boys. It is something we are going to have a long discussion about after we finish this season. We won’t be in the process of changing anything at the moment. It is going to go the way it goes,” executive producer Ken Warwick told reporters, according to Reuters, which notes that competition series “traditionally attract predominantly female viewers, who then tend to drive telephone, text and online votes toward male contestants.”

That is because, of course, women are incapable of voting for anyone except those who society assumes they are attracted to, because how can a woman not be attracted to someone with a penis?

Seriously, this seems like a terrible idea. For one, the producers have enough trouble convincing conspiracy theorists that the voting is fair and untainted, and screwing with the results to account for an ultimately unprovable bias seems like a bad way to go. Sure, some teenage girls might vote for boys they think are cute, but I hope that the majority of voters aren’t calling or texting just because they want to explore the contents of Jacob Lusk’s pants.

Second, isn’t the real problem that the women are very indistinguishable this year, at least compared to the men, who have much more distinct personalities and voices? Maybe start with stocking the top 12 with people who would get votes from people regardless of their genital configuration.

Simon understood this better than anyone. Or at least I'd like to think he had a hand in it and wasn't just the mouthpiece.

The key is selecting 24 semi-finalists who represent some form of a competition and using the semi-finals to build up a story-line for the five or six you want in the final five or six.

This season has been particularly directionless. So the voters go with who they remember.

Lauren is not Carrie Underwood. They'd like her to be Carrie Underwood, because she's cute and nonthreatening and has a distinct personality. The perfect daughter. The perfect friend when you were 14 and struggling with teen angst.

Certainly there's talent there. But we can't judge this thing on hope and perceived potential. These talent shows have to operate on what actually comes out of the mouths of these babes. And we don't know what she can do. I think she's getting good advice, but the promises from the judges are more intended to prop up her ego (Simon would have ridden her right out of the competition, because he knows how the voting works) than provide any kind of true insight.

[Ksyrup]

She's definitely more Pickles than Carrie. Yet, even less mature, which I didn't think was possible.

[CrimsonFox]

Yeah I see the pickler thing, especially at the beginning. But she's grown in this competition. Showing her range and less gimmicky than when she started. Half of the guys willl never change and never get better. And it is probably because the judges are telling them not to change, not to get better when they so BADLY need to. (Scotty, Jacob, Paul, etc)

[CrimsonFox]

Really everyone on the show has their own gimmick and instead of getting away from the gimmick as Simon would have directed, they are leaping head on into it more than any previous season.
I think the ones without gimmicks are the ones that have no hope this year....like Pia.

[Solecismic]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

She's definitely more Pickles than Carrie. Yet, even less mature, which I didn't think was possible.

Pickles was a relatively polished act - designed to simulate an unpolished act. She is making a lot of money right now. That wouldn't be possible if she weren't so good at what she does.

Idol hasn't had a Lauren before only because the judges would destroy her chances early on. There are plenty of singers trying out, even reaching the Hollywood round, who show potential but aren't polished enough to handle the workload they throw at the kids during the finals (learning three new songs a week, plus innumerable press obligations).

Idol is essentially musical star boot camp. And that's part of the reason why the casting is so important. To make that entertaining requires a lot of direction. Allowing Lauren to reach the final seven is telling a very different story.

I don't think they would have cast a Scotty in past seasons. Someone who fits right in to an established niche, so he gains a huge following the instant he performs. Country is a bit different from other major genres in that live performance carries specific expectations. In the past, whenever they had a country performer, they either chose one who was obviously too flawed as a singer (Bucky Covington) to compete, or had huge cross-over potential (Underwood). They also were stricter about forcing them out of their comfort zones (which to me was a big part of the appeal of the show).

[Ksyrup]

Forcing them out of their comfort zones makes for a good TV show, I guess, but in years' past, I agreed with those who thought it was pointless to make a rocker sing disco or a teen R&B pop singer sing Bon Jovi. I'd be curious to know, from an insider's perspective, whether there is truly more song choice allowed this year than in years' past. I can't imagine the lack of specific genre/mentor weeks has been the sole reason for the uprising among some of the contestants where they basically ignore Jimmy or tell him to pound sand.

Of course, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Casey performing a Maroon 5 song the week before Adam Levine premieres as a judge on The Voice is more of a shot/tweak at NBC than merely a coincidence.

[TexasT]

My take on the boy vs girl vote thing is this. When they get to the top 6 boys and girls, one week a boy gets voted off and the next week girl. Just hve them compete against same sex until the final two.

[Ksyrup]

BTW, speaking of The Voice, NBC released a 12 minute trailer which is pretty interesting. I think I might check out the first week or two, since this is the point at which I get insanely bored with AI, plus AI should get down to 1 hour performance shows from this point forward (I hope - I FF'd through the Loser performance and hope we don't get anymore of those).

I'll say this...the country singer they preview towards the end is MILES better than Scotty. MILES. I dare say listenable, even.

EDIT: For some reason, the video won't show up. Here's a link:

The Voice - Extended Preview of The Voice - Video - NBC.com

[Thomkal]

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

I was hoping Jacob was gone....have another week to put up with his smug ass.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I feel so dirty after that bizarre Katy Perry performance. And the one time I was really pulling for Stefano to survive another Bottom 3, and he loses it of course.

yeah, it's almost like she was trying to be Lady Gaga

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Lathum

yeah, it's almost like she was trying to be Lady Gaga

yeah that was my thought too Lathum. It's a shame really, I like her current hit Firework a lot-thought it was a real positive song-and then to follow it up with an almost disgusting song? very strange.

[Ksyrup]

We had softball and didn't get home until after 9:30 last night, so I missed this and just looked up the result online. So, I guess I saved myself about 10 minutes of actual viewing time.

[CrimsonFox]

Watching this week's ep now.

Haley - first time I've liked her. She kicked ass with this.
Casey - Like him a lot. I really hated him interacting with the crowd. But the song really rocked.

---
Lauren - Back to the same gimmicky country crap I originally hated from her. Twangs. kitchy smarmy looks. Karoke of the night.There is some good singing in there but it's hidden in the gimmicky crap.
James - Kinda average tonight. Just not as great as his previous stuff.
Stephano - Really really bad song choice. His tone is SOOO much better than Jacobs and they sing the same type of R&B stuff. But this song is horrible. It is boring. The background singers kinda dwarfed him a little.
-------
Jacob - Started out nicer than he has been. But there's something annoyingly billygoat about his singing. I don't find that tone attractive to the ear. And then he hits the screaming notes again. Yuk.
Scotty - hated him tonight more than any other night.

bottom 3: Scotty, Jacob, Stephano

[TexasT]

I'm in the minority, but I don't like Casey. He has been so pumped up by the judges that he thinks he's a music god already and his antics bore me. That said, after they voted Pia off I quit watching and just wait for the results. Too "boy" dominated thanks to the voting fan base, which has already been discussed at length!

[Ksyrup]

Carole King duets tonight, and the Iovine "Make-up with Miley Cyrus" tour continues as she makes an appearance while Lauren practices. Recall he said Lauren sang way better than her 2 weeks ago, then last week fumbled all over himself explaining his comment, and now she's on the show - a year after everyone made fun of AI for having her on as a mentor, no less.

[MJ4H]

I'm hitching my wagon to Haley this year. Scotty sucks, Jacob isn't good enough technically, Casey is interesting but not very good, Lauren is very good but boring.

I can't see how the rest of the season would change anything other than Lauren doing something interesting. Scotty isn't going to change, Jacob isn't going to get better fast enough and neither is Casey. For me, it is Lauren busting out and becoming interesting or Haley wins my personal yearly competition by default. She is technically very good (minor flaws now and then, more than I would personally be comfortable with, frankly) and always interesting with a very pleasing and interesting tone to her voice.

edit: lol James. Forgot he's even on the show. Doesn't do anything for me.

(that said, it's been obvious for awhile that James will win)

[Ksyrup]

James was stellar tonight. At least on the solo. The duet thing sounded like a disaster when I realized the pairing, and it delivered. They should have just gone into full blown Naked Gun mockery and at least been entertaining.

[Solecismic]

The house is shaking right now from just a tiny piece of the edge of a storm that has brought so much damage and destruction to the South today. Not a big show of lights or rain, but every lightning strike is that close-to-ground kind that rattles on for quite a while and probably has the kitten hiding behind a door, next to a bathtub. A reminder that this singing show is rather trivial. As are so many of our pursuits. For those of you affected (and who have power), I'm thinking of you and I hope the world is right again tomorrow.

Today was Carole King day and strange duet day on Idol. The cynic in me thinks the duets were arranged solely to keep the performance show at 90 minutes. And that the duets themselves were arranged about an hour before showtime, because no one had harmonies down.

The result was that each of the three duets was a battle of sorts. Who gets heard. Who is deemed "the lead" (sorry, Scotty). Who wins, because you have to take anything you can get with this set of judges.

For the scoring tonight, I mostly ranked the solo performances, but tweaked the numbers a little based on the duet. I wanted to give the kids a pass, because of the preparation issue.

I also kept the comments short tonight, because Carole King brings out pretty much the same thing in everyone. She's a genius songwriter - and part of that genius is she can turn any singer into a competent singer. Not much room for individuality, though.

Ranking the Top 6:

1. Haley Reinhart. The arrangement here was a bit troubling, but she was able to fight through it. Like Randy, I felt she finished much stronger than she started. She is becoming one of my all-time favorite Idols, which means she probably goes home this week. She also nailed her part of the duet, with Casey, which was the only one of the three that was even bearable. 83.

2. Casey Abrams. The throat-clearing needs to stop, but otherwise he found his mark well and provided a decent interpretation. 80.

3. James Durbin. I wanted to like this more, but I thought he over-sang his solo and was consistently sharp on many of the notes. He turned Jacob into a quivering mass of goo during the duet, which was funny. 79.

4. Lauren Alaina. She's good, but still showing more promise than performance. 78.

5. Scotty McCreery. I actually fell asleep during his solo. Just for about 30 seconds. I don't think I missed anything. He's still Scotty, even with less twang. He was Scotty on his duet. He will still be Scotty tomorrow. 73.

6. Jacob Lusk. Catch-22 for Jacob. If he doesn't stretch himself, he sounds like a cut-rate Bee Gee. If he does, he sounds like a cross between Adam Lambert and Fantasia (this is not a compliment). 72.

Expected Bottom 3: Jacob, Haley and Casey.

Who Should Go: Jacob.

Who Will Go: Jacob.

[Thomkal]

I'm getting a bit annoyed with the technical problems Idol seems to be having this season-or if its more the contestant's fault then annoyed with them. I think it rattled Haley as I didn't think she was any good at all until the last 20 seconds or so when she seemed her normal self.

I thought James was the best tonight-and I liked that Scotty tried to stretch. Let's face it he's never going to be a pop singer, but he tried to be serious with it, and put some emotion in it, and it worked to some degree.

I knew the James/Jacob duet was going to be a disaster, and I hope it signals the end for Jacob tonight.

[Ksyrup]

They put Jacob 1st, dressed him like...I don't know what that was, and then paired him with James on a bizarre duet to end the show, just to ingrain in everyone's mind how bad he is.

It will be a tremendous shock if he doesn't go tonight.

[GrantDawg]

Jacob did seem like the sacfricial lamb tonight, didn't he? Put him first, dress him like Urkle, make him sing a horrible duet. It was like the producers were saying "don't vote for this one."

[Pumpy Tudors]

I only saw the end of Jacob's performance and then I saw Lauren's performance. Jacob is amazing, and I hope he does great things. I'm not talking about his singing. I'm talking about his apparent destiny of playing Rerun in a stage revival of "What's Happening!" As for Lauren, I felt pretty bad for the guy she pulled up onto the stage with her. She brought him up there, sat him down, and left him there. At least she went back and sat down next to him to finish the song, but that must've been really unsettling for him at first. He's sitting there all by himself while she's prancing about the arena. Then after he admitted to being 19, I thought Lauren's mom was going to run up onto the stage and either beat him or molest him. Awkward.

It's comedy like this that makes me want to watch. The singing and the competition don't do much for me, but random guy sitting on the stage by himself? Loved it.

[MJ4H]

hahaha I loved when she plopped him down and ran off. At least give him a gameboy or something.

[Ksyrup]

I'm going to renew my years' long conspiracy theory about the "bottom 3." They way the results were given last night, it seems to me there was no official announcement of a bottom 3, so my guess is Scotty was put there to light a fire under voters. I think Scotty really impressed the judges/producers with his song this week and convinced them he has promise as a commercial singer (I wanted to type artist, but I just can't go there), so now they are using the tried-and-true method of "endangerment" (by implicating he nearly went home, when I bet that wasn't the case) to get America behind him for the run to the finale. We're only 3 weeks from the finale, and there's still no buzz about a real frontrunner/winner to come out of this season. So they are going to manufacture the buzz.

That's my take on it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

hahaha I loved when she plopped him down and ran off. At least give him a gameboy or something.

lol gameboy

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm going to renew my years' long conspiracy theory about the "bottom 3." They way the results were given last night, it seems to me there was no official announcement of a bottom 3, so my guess is Scotty was put there to light a fire under voters. I think Scotty really impressed the judges/producers with his song this week and convinced them he has promise as a commercial singer (I wanted to type artist, but I just can't go there), so now they are using the tried-and-true method of "endangerment" (by implicating he nearly went home, when I bet that wasn't the case) to get America behind him for the run to the finale. We're only 3 weeks from the finale, and there's still no buzz about a real frontrunner/winner to come out of this season. So they are going to manufacture the buzz.

That's my take on it.

To create "buzz" you actually have to say something. And have like, you know, "thoughts".

[CrimsonFox]

Catching up on this week's ep.

Good

James - Bet thing from James in awhile. Nice opening and it gets better. Love the throwback performace. But it's different . His ssinging is spot on.

Haley - Sounds raspy tonight. Good presence. Strong opening. Very nice tone. Very nice eotion on the middle. LIke this a lot. My favorite Haley performance so far!

Lauren - Nice quality about her voice this time. Very strong opening. Her voice really fits Carole King's stuff. Great blast belt note. Is this whole episode going to be filled with overpowering backup singers? She des struggle with high notes. Ouch. Very strained. She needs technique badly.




Avg

Haley/Casey - NOt a great perfroamce. She started okay but he was weak coming in.I expected the groly twins to add extra growl and they sure did. Haley actually carries a lot of this song herself. Expected more from Casey.
One of my favorite Haley performances so far.


Casey - Nice blues song, although I'm not a big blues fan. I really doubt everyone else watching is either. The growling and shouting is getting a bit old. Great energy and really sells the song. But hmmm...


Bad

Jacob - weak opening - long note is sharp, again too many backup singers...and I really wish simon was here again. He would have made fun of that horrible cvlashing outfit he had on. Bad all bad.

Randy - So his mom made him a sweater with an R on it. How cute and made him wear a tie that doesn't match. Or maybe the costumer just doesn 't like him and jacob.

Lauren / Scotty - Lauren is a better singer. Scotty can't do harmony at all. Just boring and somewhat painful

Jacob/James - A herman's hermit song? Yikes. They can't sing together even when they are both singing melody. This sounds really bad. Just bad. Their voices don't fit together. This is the danger of gimmicks. GImmicks don't fit together with someone else's gimmick. Proof that singing talent is lacking in some of these contestants.

Scotty - He can't hold long notes. Just loses it. It actually was really interesting starting choice for him. Was intriguied where it would go. Where it went was the same boring twang and gimmick room with lots of flat long notes. Just terrible. It could have been good if he could sing better.



Summary rank
Haley
James
Lauren
Casey
Jacob
Scotty

[Mota]

Yeah James is growing on me every week. He's not just the token rocker of the season, he feels like the real thing.

Scotty also proved this week that he's really awesome at his low voice country thing, but he shouldn't stray out of that territory for long. His singing was NOT good.

[Ksyrup]

American Idol "undermines art in every way and promotes commercialism, I am sad people love it so."

Who said this? Why, it's this week's mentor, Sheryl Crow! What a difference 4 years makes, huh?

Contestants this week will be singing 2 songs, one from the 60s and one current.

[Solecismic]

It was the Sixties versus the ultra-modern era on American Idol tonight, and the Sixties won so thoroughly that the NHL playoff quarterfinals appear evenly matched by comparison.

So while the Washington Ovechkins lick their wounds from a quarterfinal sweep, and the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings will try desperately to avoid the sweep on Friday, I'll try and grade the idols in a week where they all had and had not.

1. Haley Reinhart. I have a great idea. I'm going to arrange to have one of my contestants perform an unreleased single from the hottest pop singer in America. Something that's certain to generate buzz. And then, after she does a credible job on a fairly difficult performance piece, I'm going to have the judges trash her for singing a song nobody knows. Why? I have no idea. It's not like little Haley could call up Lady Gaga on her cell and say, "hey, Steffie, I had this fantastic thought last night, what do you think?" This had to be arranged weeks ago. So you can forgive Haley for standing there after the judges ripped her for song choice with this "whatever, dudes, it's your idiotic show" look on her face. Anyway, she knocked House of the Rising Sun out of the park as she retreated to the Sixties - best performance by anyone this season. 80 and 95.

2. Lauren Alaina. Her Carrie Underwood modern piece was kind of blah, but I thought her rendition of Unchained Melody showed off subtlety in her voice I really didn't think she had. Her best of the season, too. 72 and 84.

3. James Durbin. I have no idea what the opener was, other than a vanilla version of what he's been doing all season. It had maybe, and I'm being generous here, three different notes to sing. He improved, but over-emoted and missed too many notes, when he sung Without You from the Sixties. I guess they want to pretend that James will challenge Scotty in the final, so they pumped it up like it was beauty personified. Jacob nodded his head and said, "oh, ****, that's what overly corny sounds like." But it was a good song for him, could have been so much better. 68 and 81.

4. Scotty McCreery. First he twanged it up with a Montgomery Gentry twanger that passes for a fast-paced song in the country world. It sucked the life out of him. Then he improved with You Were Always on My Mind, which might well have been his best of the season. 69 and 79.

5. Jacob Lusk. There was something about a duet with Jordin Sparks and Jacob, only Jordin didn't show up so he sung her part as well. It was awfully boring and it's a testament to Jennifer Lopez's complete and total tone deafness that she gave Randy a hard time for finally telling Jacob just how bad he can be. Jacob then went to the Sixties with Love Hurts, and it hurt my ears. I wouldn't call that love, though. It wasn't terrible, but we've reached a point where Jacob doesn't belong on the stage with the other four. 59 and 67.

Expected Bottom Two: Haley and Jacob.

Who Should Go: Jacob. Anybody but Haley.

Who Will Go: I'm really worried this is it for Haley, but I'll hold out some hope the voters get it right this week.

[CrimsonFox]

Lauren 2 - HAs some wonkiness but some legitimate singing. Very powerful. This song sucks. It is really oversung and overwrought and overdone and overeverything. But she made me like it. No...LOVE IT!

Haley 2 - I hate this move at the beginning. It has been done to death. Still holy shit she gets right down to the bone. Piercing and haunting and beautiful Fucking great pipes and emotion. Love this song! She kills this song. It is wonderful. And parts of it are totally her own interpretation.

Jacob 1 - Probably the best he's ever done. Starts out kinda boring as he can't sing low well and the billy goat is exposed. When he soars to upper register he finally hits it really well. I think it's the upbeatness that he was lacking before. He finishes well too. Finally he does well.

James 2 - This is nice. Very nice. Very soft. Very new side to him. I can do without the Ruben Studdurd "hand reaches out" move. Those last few notes were kinda painful.


Haley 1 - Pretty good. There's some gimmick in it but then she starts wailing. Wow what a wail. Reminds me of sexy Tia Carrere from Wayne's World. Wonderful sounds.An unreleased song that actually is better than lots of released crap these people choose.

Scotty 2 - Was he singing? He was actually singing more than usual this time. There were some good still moments here.

Lauren 1 - Corny opening and oh boy a country song with extra gimmick. Kind of a yawner. Doesn't do anything really great with it. By the end I kind of forgot she was singing and phased out.

Jacob 2 - Horrible song. And THERE"S the Screaming Jacob I know and hate.

Scotty 1 - *yawn* shit sandwich.

James 1 - The worst opening of the season I think. I didn't hear a single note in tune...or rather I didn't hear him actually SING a note. He just shouted the whole thing. It really didn't work. And the song isn't that good either.

Final ranking:

Haley
Lauren
Jacob
James
Scotty


oh yeah:
Steven - Are you reading phrases off of cue cards or what?!?
Jennifer - Wow you ARE a bitch. SHUT UP!

[Ksyrup]

LOL, what happened to songs from the 60s? Two of those songs were from the 70s, two were best known from the 80s (one as a cover, one from a movie), and then you had House of the Rising Sun.

As a power pop fan, I gotta give props to James for picking a Badfinger/Nilsson song. Though it was recorded in the 1970s (by both).

I don't really have any thoughts on the songs last night. I'm kinda over this season at this point. The thought of any of these people being handed the chance to be a pop star is kinda ridiculous, IMO. Lauren's the only one who I could see growing into a legit country pop star. Jacob is just what we need - a gospel singer with a moral superiority complex; if you could combine James' rock attitude/sensibilities with Lambert's voice, you'd have a great rock/metal singer; Haley is destined for Playboy (or Maxxim, depending on how the career goes); and Scotty will probably end up President of the United States. If I could put my finger on what makes Scotty so popular, I'd run as far away from it as possible, because he makes me want to throw up.

[Ksyrup]

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?

It was after Jacob's performance that J-Lo called it one of the best EVER on American Idol (not just this year, but EVER)... right? I remember that I stopped watching again after I heard her say that. Get rid of her, she's useless.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

OK, so Jacob's gone - can I get an amen?

Next week - oy. Leiber and Stoller, really?

"The duos heyday was the 50s-60s. They wrote many of Elvis Presley’s big hits like “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole”. They also penned “Stand By Me”, “On Broadway”, “Chapel of Love”, novelty tunes like “Love Potion No. 9 and “Yakety Yak”.

Should be perfect!

Oh, and I'm not enjoying the concept this year of 3 cheerleaders and a(n after-the-fact) judge. The "judges" tell everyone they are great, America votes, and then Jimmy plays the heavy by criticizing their performances the next day. Aren't the judges the least bit embarrassed to tell Jacob how great he is, only to have Jimmy confirm what the rest of America knows, that he was horrible?

Amen. I couldn't believe how bad they killed Haley. The judges are just so bad. Jacob sucked, sucked, sucked and they praised him to no end, and Haley sang that unkown song well, and they killed her. Just useless.

[Lathum]

I made the point about Jimmy a few weeks ago, I would love to see him as a judge.

The thing I admire about him the most is he doesn't pull any punches, even though he will have to be mentoring them for the next week. His honesty is refreshing amidst the see of utter shite the judges have become.

[Lathum]

dola- the interesting thing is the segment with Jimmy has only come about the last few weeks. It is as if the producers realized they had to do something to get some credable music commentary.

[Ksyrup]

Haley is this year's punching bag. She is literally getting conflicting advice, gets shit on when she performs well, a standing O at other times, takes the brunt of criticism for someone arranging for a star to let her perform an unreleased song (which, by the way, Gaga performed yesterday on Oprah and she'll be on AI next week, so tell me this wasn't all a set-up!), Jimmy makes comments suggesting weeks ago that she should be getting ready to get voted off ... I don't know what they are doing with her. It's not like she's a joke contestant like Sanjaya where they are going along with a gag but want him to leave early enough not to affect the "legitimacy" of the show or anything.

[Glengoyne]

I've only seen two episodes this year, and I think this is the best crop of want to be idols I've seen...maybe ever. Haley has been amazing in my book. I guess that means she isn't long for the world. I went out and bought Rolling in the deep after her rendition, and House of the rising sun... That wasn't a fluke. She can sing with emotion like few others who have gone before her on Idol.

[MJ4H]

For the record here are my rankings for this past week. Late watching.

Haley - distancing herself more and more as the class of this group.
Lauren - fantastic second performance.
James - his first song was a horrific performance. I can't believe anyone liked it. One of the worst I've heard in awhile. Flat nearly the whole song, one note his voice fell at least a quartertone at the end. Just being loud and emotional should not be enough. Lots of people can do that.
Scotty - this year's joke contestant. Gonna go a long ways though. I know a lot of people that are voting for him because he's country. Luckily, Lauren will dilute that some.
Jacob - this year's joke contestant part 2

[MJ4H]

Also Scotty looks like Alfred E. Newman.

[Solecismic]

Due to being one of the unlucky people who has the lowest-rated cable system in America (I'm talking about you, Charter) since some teenager in Pennsylvania unraveled string between a pair of tin cans and forgot to cut holes in the bottom of the cans, most of Idol tonight lacked usable sound. Thanks to Youtube, I've been able to listen to what I missed, at least pick up the subtleties from the performances.

This is a rather odd season of Idol. Aside from the rather serious screw-up of seeing Pia Toscano go out at #9, the voters have done rather well picking a strong final four.

However, it's time for the teeny-boppers' final two - James Durbin and Scotty McCreery - to leave the show. Scotty will have a great career in country, and James will probably take an offer to make some money on Broadway when he should be fronting a metal band. Neither is a great singer. Unfortunately, they will be the final two and there's nothing we can do about it.

Depressing thought.

Anyway, here are the rankings for the round of four:

1. Haley Reinhart. It must be fun for the people around Idol to have a contestant who has a VOICE. Not just an ordinary voice. Not a voice that can do weird gender-bending tricks like the recently departed Jacob Lusk. Not a voice that can squeak loudly at octaves not even a piano can reproduce. Just a voice that can sing anything in tune. So I understand Randy wanting to smack Haley around for shouting the second half of the Michael Jackson song which inspired her. But it was a far better performance than what you'd ordinarily expect from a judge's pan. I think Simon would have defended her. But that much shouting did get tiresome. In her song written by two people only Carole King has heard of, she was almost perfect. For the second straight week, the best performance from anyone this season. 83 and 96.

2. Lauren Alaina. I liked her a lot better in her inspirational song, because she went out and hit her big notes very nicely and without her usual timid gesturing. I was puzzled by her choice of the Elvis Evils performance piece. She sung that self-consciously and rather weakly. 82 and 70.

3. Scotty McCreery. Oh the humanity. Everything is so carefully orchestrated with Scotty. He has the gift of being able do a radio country voice, which is what he chose to inspire him. The lyrics spoke to his voters. He's safer than Rickey Henderson stealing a base off of Tim Wakefield. His old songwriters song was a kitschy performance piece that did absolutely nothing for me. He was careful to roll his eyes appropriately regarding Lady Gaga's advice. That, too, spoke to his voters. 81 and 68.

4. James Durban. James pandered in a different way, singing Randy Jackson's former band's biggest song surprisingly badly to open the show. But how could the judges criticize it? I had high hopes that Tony Soprano himself would come back to life and execute a hit on James at the end of the song. But Tony's gone. He's not coming back. James was far better with his interpretation of Elvis doing a corny performance hit. That song better used his range and his band-leading abilities. 67 and 80.

Expected Bottom Two: Lauren and Haley.

Who Should Go: Scotty. Not that he isn't ready to hit the country circuit and have very real success. He's just not as good a singer as the others.

Who Will Go: Haley. This makes me sad. She argued with Randy, who used the opportunity to hit her even harder. She was petulant when Randy repeated the criticism at half-time. For whatever reason, the judges want Scotty to win, and Haley's recent knockout performances could threaten that with different criticism. This is, ultimately, the price of Simon's retirement.

[Ksyrup]

I got so pissed when Randy and JLo went after Haley that I left the room for 10 minutes. Luckily, Scotty was the next performance of the night, so that worked out well. I called him an Assclown the first time I saw him last night, and it just kept coming out over and over.

I used to love hating Idol because I hated particular artists. And that's still true, to some degree, but the manipulations and BS judging this season has me hating the show for how it's produced. There is no earthly reason why Haley gets the shit kicked out of her week after week by either the judges, Jimmy, or the producers (song choice, special effects, order of performance, etc.), other than the show wants her to go worse than Sanjaya. It's an embarrassment to a show that is already high up on the embarrassment meter. I really have no interest in watching this show for the rest of the season. I barely made it through last night.

You could tell Haley knew what was going on and started to get snippy and pissed off because she was getting tired of it week after week, which is what they wanted because it immediately turned my wife off, and that's what they are counting on. She knows they are trying to get rid of her, so she was going to go out on her terms, getting the last word in.

[Ksyrup]

Some comments from after the show:


Here's what Haley Reinhart had to say backstage after tonight's Idol taping about the judges negative feedback of her Michael Jackson cover, "Earth Song":

"Everybody else gets good feedback and they really let me have it. They don't feel bad for me. Never have, never will. I got a little upset because that song is downright inspiring and emotional. No matter what, that hit me to the heart."

According to the source, E! Online, Haley was still mad, even after the judges praised "I Who Have Nothing". Even Lauren Alaina thinks the judges are unfair to Haley,

"I wasn't a happy camper about that. [about the criticism of "Earth Song"] That made me a little ill. I'm sorry, but Haley has the best voice on this show and she gets the most criticism. I deserve a lot more criticism than she does. I'm Haley's No. 1 fan. I listen to her iTunes songs over and over and over."

On a side note, Lady Gaga freaked out James Durbin when she snuck up behind him to swivel those hips, "To sum it up in one word, for me: awkward," he said. "Unexpected and very uncomfortable. I didn't like it."

[Ksyrup]

A little more:

“I’m not going to crack,” Haley told a group of reporters backstage after the Wednesday night performances. “As much as they might want me to, or try to [get me to], or whatever it is, I’m not going to. I think they know I can be very strong-willed and everything else, and that’s why they gave [the criticism] to me. I mean, they did tell me, ‘We know what’s in you so we do this to you because we [makes grunting noise] you can take it, and we want everything that’s inside of you come out.’ You know, I take that in stride. I realize it, accept it.”

When someone noted that Haley looked downright mad after Randy and Jennifer questioned her decision to sing Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” as the song that inspires her, Haley didn’t hesitate to share her feelings. “Yeah, man, I mean, come on, everybody else gets good feedback,” she said, clearly a bit exasperated. “They really let me have it. They don’t hold back with me, never have and never will. Yeah, I got a little upset because that song is just downright inspiring and emotional, and it’s beautiful. So, no matter what, that [criticism] hit me to the heart. Got me a little bit. Hey, it’s a show. We’re doing what we can, and I’m staying strong here.”

[Solecismic]

I've been frustrated with the voting in the past. That's just the way the show works. Simon realized that as well and tried to control things the best he could. Sometimes a Taylor Hicks grabs the kids and there's nothing you can do about it.

Same with Scotty this season. He has two huge voting blocks working for him, and there isn't much chance anyone else will break through.

I am angry about this, though, in a way I haven't been in the past. Haley has been fine-tuning her performances from earlier this season. She's showing off her skills in different ways. She's probably the most talented singer they've ever had on this show.

And she's probably going tonight - just like Chris Daughtry did five years ago, fourth place to Taylor's first. At least Scotty will sell a lot of music.

I don't see why the producers are so determined to protect Scotty. Maybe it's money. Maybe they make more with the country stuff even if it doesn't cross over.

But the constant criticism in a season when no one else receives as much as a frown is more than frustrating. It exposes Idol in a way it hasn't been exposed in the past. Shame on Randy for sitting there for ten years, making a personal fortune, and going along with it.

The Gaga stuff is fascinating. For her fans, just having her there is a big deal - they love her anti-establishment shtick. And she's well-spoken and interesting, and Idol lets that come through.

But the editing is so negative. Showing the inappropriate James-touching, leaking the photos of her $4,000 platform shoes with the dildo heels, editing in Scotty's eye-rolling after her critique, probably encouraging her to wear the insect wig which made her look a bit frumpy. Getting her to allow Haley (of all people) to perform her unreleased new song, then panning the hell out of it.

They managed to capture the Gaga star without embracing it. That was genius.

[Lathum]

My wife and I actually got into a heated discussion over Haley and her reactions. My wife felt Haley was being childish and needs to grow up. I countered that I can hardly blame her. The whole show has been a joke of a love fest from the judges, they have quite literally given no negative feedback until last night. I felt it was so obvious they were trying to give Haley the shaft, and even if they weren't hard for Haley to not feel that way given the way the judging this season has gone. My wife and I agreed to disagree.