American Idol Season 9

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by mtolson

OK, call me crazy but didn't Paige just sing that song 1000% better tonight ? Randy seemed to be completely confused by what he was hearing and kept throwing his hands up in the air. I do believe that if Simon would have let her sing before declaring her out they would have probably saved her.

She could have sang like Whitney Houston and they aren't saving her.

[lordscarlet]

No way she was worth saving.

[Ksyrup]

I appreciated the fact that AI, in a rare feat of self-restraint, didn't pretend to do some sort of faux-deliberation while she sang. It might have been because of what someone mentioned earlier, that this was the cut-off at who makes up the touring group and they pretty much couldn't save her even if they wanted to (although I assume if someone like Siobhan somehow ended up there, they would have found a way), but still, it was refreshing to see - although a bit embarrassing for Paige, I'm sure, as I don't recall them last year ever telling someone beforehand that they weren't going to be saved.

I believe this is the earliest point at which an AI season has been without a black female contestant in the show's history. I might be missing someone, but I don't think it's even particularly close. I don't know what it is, but the past couple of years, the producers seem to be bypassing better black female talent for pretenders. maybe they're getting fooled, or maybe there's a reason for it. Not sure.

[lordscarlet]

I'm pretty sure they did it at least once last year, but my memory is generally pathetic.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I'm pretty sure they did it at least once last year, but my memory is generally pathetic.

Megan last year was told before she sang that she wasn't going to be saved. Simon essentially said that 'If you don't care, we don't care'.

[Ksyrup]

Oh yeah, the Caw Caw Chick.

Acrtually, I wouldn't normally do this, but I need to check out what she's doing lately. She's apparently co-written some songs with Bleu, who is a great GREAT songwriter, so if she can sing, they might be worth listening to. Maybe.

[Ksyrup]

Here's one way to get me to remember who you are:

A finalist from season 6 of “American Idol” was arrested in Georgia last night — after cops say they had to rip her out of a ferocious girl-on-girl brawl.

The perp is 22-year-old Stephanie Edwards — who finished in 11th place behind Jordin Sparks back in 2007.

According to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Dept, Edwards was busted in Savannah around 10:00 PM after cops noticed the singer and another woman “fighting in the middle of the street.” Cops say they broke up the fight and arrested both women.

TMZ has learned Chikezie Eze did not pass the smell test with the L.A. County District Attorney, who has charged the “American Idol” castoff with the crime of attempted grand theft for allegedly trying to buy 2 bottles of cologne with fraudulent credit info.

Chikezie was arrested last February after trying to buy cologne at Neiman Marcus …. prosecutors say he fraudulently tried using credit information from a man named Willem Grandia.

And only at Neiman’s would two bottles of cologne constitute grand theft — the tab was $1,289.57.

In addition to the misdemeanor grand theft charge, the D.A. is prosecuting Chikezie for misdemeanor identity theft.

[JeeberD]

I had to Google Edwards, but Eze I remember...

[Ksyrup]

Stephanie Edwards was the beauty pageant-like teenager, like a more professional, better singing version of Katie Stevens. It's kinda funny to think she was in a fight, given how reserved and mature she seemed on the show. Of course... that was before she could legally drink!

[k0ruptr]

I repeat. worst season ever.

[Ksyrup]

Holy crap Siobhan is horrible tonight! WTF kinda song is that? Never heard it before, and I don't want to hear it again.

[Ksyrup]

Tim Urban has officially crossed into Sanjaya territory. He's the closest thing to an open joke of a contestant that we've had since then.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Holy crap Siobhan is horrible tonight! WTF kinda song is that? Never heard it before, and I don't want to hear it again.

Pretty much took a huge dump on what she has built up to this point. I was getting a feeling she was overrated, but damn that's a way to prove my point.

[mtolson]

Wow, this was a pretty bad week. R&B is my genre of choice so I was looking forward to this week. Sadly, only Mike and Crystal were even remotely close to singing good. Most song choices were bad. Stop picking songs from 4 decades ago, geez !

[MJ4H]

1. Crystal, 2. Lee, 3. Michael, 4. Casey Everyone else was forgettable. Katie was aight-ish.

[Solecismic]

The Fall of the House of Usher is a story about a woman who objects to being buried alive and in the process brings her house down. Sadly, even with R&B singer Usher providing effusive encouragement, a motley collection of ten American Idol finalists could not bring the house down tonight.

Instead, the audience was left to suffer the indignation of listening to a group of mainly pop singers try and belt out R&B classics, with predictable results. While the judges moaned and tried to make the best of a mediocre situation, all we could do was shake our heads and wonder why these same judges cast this particular group if they intended to have an R&B evening.

Those who watched live, without the benefit of TiVo, also had to suffer through the pacing of ten singers spread out over more than two hours. There was plenty of Seacrest chewing scenery. There were extended montages of Usher praising all ten singers in pretty much the same manner. They even added "reaction" shots of each Idol going back to the waiting room. Strangely, all the women were shown hugging Michael Lynche, on the verge of tears (hey, those hugs *hurt*), and all the men were crowing about how wonderful they felt after mangling their songs.

Since this is one of those days I don't feel like honoring mediocrity, I'm going to keep tonight's ranking relatively short.

1. Lee DeWyze. Lee had the brains to turn his R&B tune into a Daughtry-style rocker. I was worried at first, because Seacrest was talking about Lee having pneumonia. Since this is the most excuse-addled Idol ever, I figured Lee would croak out a few bars, pass out from exhaustion, and accept his accolades from the judges while attached to an IV pumping through a solution of cheez doodles and bourbon (Lee is of age). While Lee avoided his lower register like Edgar Allen Poe avoided sunny days and unicorns, he was actually on key and playing the modern Idol game correctly. It was pretty good. Score of 89.

2. Crystal Bowersox. She has a very rich and textured voice, and showed considerable versatility tonight, becoming the only performer who could probably sing R&B professionally if given the chance. Her piano playing was decent enough, but she was concentrating so hard on it that her voice didn't open up until she stood up and returned to her comfort zone. Score of 84.

3. Michael Lynche. Michael sat down next to the stage and opened with an oddly-phrased background vocal that seemed more appropriate for a sports competition. I was expecting Johnny Weir to skate on stage and perform a triple axel. It was hardly memorable, but he was consistent and had a nice-enough sound. Score of 81.

4. Casey James. Here we had some garden variety blues, opening with some absurd vibrato that had me worried that he would wrest the goat boy crown from Aaron. There was no star quality here. Nothing wrong with it, though. It got better and he was able to show off why he has been performing in smoky bars for the last 40 years. Score of 79.

5. Tim Urban. This really shouldn't be in the top half. It was a mediocre night. And I'm adding points because during the judging process, Tim got the giggles and ended up looking like a clown. If only he were ingesting helium, it would have been perfect comedy. He tried some Anita Baker, and, to his credit, wasn't terrible. His pitch was pretty good. He should have gone with a more modern arrangement, though. While he did start to get there by the end of the song, the beginning was a little painful. Score of 68.

6. Aaron Kelly. Aaron was fairly horrible at the beginning, but recovered enough to show that he has the ability to hold longer notes without losing pitch or tone. He was entirely forgettable, and wasted the coveted final position. The teens are going to be dialing for him, though. I suspect he'll be around for a while. Score of 67.

7. Didi Benami. Poor Didi. She had to endure at least 45 minutes (stretching ten singers into what seemed like six hours of air time will do that) of Seacrest badgering her about why she chose "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?" Apparently, she was singing about a dead friend, but didn't want to talk about it. Probably a good decision, as it was pretty bad, and there's no need to embarrass the dead friend's family. Didi's voice sounded strained, and, like last week, she wasn't singing in a style that fits her voice at all. Her pitch was far better than last week's disaster, but her energy was gone, and she did miss the money note at the end rather badly. A favorite during rehearsals and Hollywood Week, Didi's getting closer to the end. As the judges said, she is losing herself. Score of 65.

8. Katie Stevens. I don't get the praise here. She looked beyond ridiculous, playing dress-up, but wearing balloon shorts and tights that only accentuated the childishness of playing at being a real singer. Her performance was a weak copy of an original Aretha Franklin song. There was occasional head-shaking and a few bluesy notes, but it wasn't a consistent copy. She had serious pitch problems in the runs. The only enjoyable part of the performance was watching Kara, Simon and Randy make fools of themselves wondering what genre Katie belongs in. None of the Above, unfortunately, was not one of the choices. Score of 63.

9. Siobhan Magnus. What in the hell happened to Siobhan? It looked like she was on stage in a toga and sweat socks, and maybe the toga was too tight, as she uncharacteristically missed notes right and left. And she screamed runs twice, to the delight of the crowd, but not really in conjunction with the song she was trying to sing. It was awkward, and a bad arrangement of a song she should have been able to nail. This was the fall of the house of Siobhan. I wonder if she can recover. Score of 58.

10. Andrew Garcia. No, he is not back. I'm not sure what the judges were hearing, but surely, when the excitement of the live show is over and they're watching this on tape, they can't miss the tuneless, rangeless nature of this performance. It was, ironically, a song called "Forever." I couldn't wait for it to end. I would have awarded bonus points had his mother started swearing at Simon in Spanish during the critique. But she ended up smiling and accepted a kiss on the cheek, saving her son from a heart attack. Poor Andrew was definitely afraid of what mama would do. Maybe he knew she was carrying. Hard to tell. Score of 56.

Summary: Just not a good genre for this group, and a bland approach from Usher, who seemed overwhelmed by the mentoring job.

Expected Bottom Three: Tim, Andrew, Didi.

Who Should Go: Andrew.

Who Will Go: Andrew.

[Glengoyne]

Man, I'm not exactly following the season to date, but I felt like Andrew's performance was almost the top showing of the night. Second only to DeWyze. I think you're giving Andrew a career underachievement award. Tonight he was very good.

[Glengoyne]

Oh and Usher as montor wasn't the worst performance of the night, but really he was worthless. He only wasted the contestants' time, and made the commercials shorter for the rest of us.

[GrantDawg]

This the first week that I'm not on board with Jim. I thought Andrew was middle of the pack, and Tim was god-awfull (my wife said that Tim had a great voice for a mime ) . Siobhan and Didi had really bad nights. And I thought Lee was a good two steps behind Bowersox. My rankings from last night would probably be:

1) Crystal
2)Lee
3) Micheal
4) Casey
5) Garcia (he wasn't bad at all)
.
. -big plunge
.
6) Benami
7) Stevens
8) Mangus
9) Kelly
10) Urban

All in all a rough night.

[Ksyrup]

When I saw the recap, it dawned on me who Tim reminds me of - Greg Brady. He's Greg Brady trying to sing. Sitting on those steps, staring into nothingness while attempting to convey an honest lyric (and good vocal), it was comical. And then the yucking it up with Seacrest and the judges over how bad he is and yet he'll still get tons of votes...I'm telling you, he's Sanjaya. Next week, he's going to come out in a mohawk and scream through I Can't Drive 55 while an 8-year old girl cries hysterically in the crowd.

[Ksyrup]

I didn't think Andrew was bad, but his "good" performance showed just how limited he is. He didn't do anything differently last night than he's done the past X number of weeks, he just chose a better song that fit with the only thing he can do. I'm not sure that's worth praising, but at least he wasn't singing earnestly about someone rubbing him.

[Ksyrup]

Also, I find it quite comical that for the past two weeks, Simon has desperately advised Crystal not to stray too far from her roots, because I think he knows she's the only real deal left in this competition and he's deathly afraid she's going to get bored over the next 8 weeks or so, start experimenting just for the hell of it, lose the momentum she's got, and be less of a star in May than she is now. My guess is Simon will be making sure the producers/music arrangers don't give her too much rope to hang herself with.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

I repeat. worst season ever.

Far from the worst. Even with 1 or 2 good singers, seasons 1-3 were all worse.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Holy crap Siobhan is horrible tonight! WTF kinda song is that? Never heard it before, and I don't want to hear it again.

Definitely, her worst performance. First time I haven't enjoyed her.

[Thomkal]

I think Siobhan could be in the bottom 3 tonight-first one performing and an uncharastically off-key performance. And she was not happy at all when she was done and looked like she wanted to chew the judges heads off. She's a lot like Lily in that a lot will like her, a lot will hate her, and when she did a less than stellar job one night, she was gone the next.

I think it will be Katie or Didi who goes tonight, preferably Katie. I loved Simon's remark about Tim-you aren't listening to us, but you smile and it doesn't matter that you aren't listening so see you next week. LOL. I was actually ready for a train wreck of epic dimensions when I saw he was doing that Anita Baker song, but I think he almost pulled it off. Certainly better than I expected. Not saying it was good mind you.

Crystal, Lee, Michael, and Casey were the only decent ones last night. Probably would rank Michael slightly above the other three just because as Simon said it was the first time he was believable. Stayed away from the falsetto and showed nice control and emotion with his voice.

[Sun Tzu]

I'll echo most of everyone elses statements here. This is the first week I didn't agree with Jim on something. I thought Andrew was pretty damned good. He wasn't stellar, but Lee was the only one who really sounded stellar tonight anyway. On the second tier I would put Crystal and Casey who both looked and sounded very comfortable with this type of music.

Again, I don't get what people like about Michael. If he wasn't a yeti then he would have been eliminated a long time ago. Did anybody else notice this...in the green room after Siobhan's performance, he was just sitting there minding his own business. Then he looked up and as soon as he noticed the camera he bounced up and went over to Siobhan to "console" her. What a toolbag.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I think it will be Katie or Didi who goes tonight, preferably Katie.

Both could get signed by labels. However, Didi needs to get a vocal coach to clean things up and will always be limited in what she can do, ie see her doing R&B, but what she does is more than enough to get on the radio. Katie needs to get time to figure out who she is. She has broader range than Didi and she's an easy pick to be one of the few on this year's show who might put out new stuff that goes on the radio the longest. The same things simply can not be said for some of the guys on the show. They are who we thought they are. Those are the ones who need to go home first.

I'll probably forever think Tim Urban got the last pick for picking songs. I can't even remotely imagine that was a genuine pick from him. While he's limited, I thought he did it about as well as he could. He's still going home soon enough.

[Pumpy Tudors]

If I were Charles Barkley, I'd say Andrew was turrible last night. I thought Didi was worse. The others I heard weren't that bad, but I didn't get to hear Siobhan's apparent disaster. Generally, it was all ho-hum for me, but that's the case for all the people on the show this year.

And before anyone jumps my ass about Crystal, I recognize that she's a hell of a performer, and she's good at what she does, but it's just not a style I enjoy. She didn't look bad in the heels, though.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Both could get signed by labels. However, Didi needs to get a vocal coach to clean things up and will always be limited in what she can do, ie see her doing R&B, but what she does is more than enough to get on the radio. Katie needs to get time to figure out who she is. She has broader range than Didi and she's an easy pick to be one of the few on this year's show who might put out new stuff that goes on the radio the longest. The same things simply can not be said for some of the guys on the show. They are who we thought they are. Those are the ones who need to go home first.

I'll probably forever think Tim Urban got the last pick for picking songs. I can't even remotely imagine that was a genuine pick from him. While he's limited, I thought he did it about as well as he could. He's still going home soon enough.

I don't disagree with you about Katie and Didi. They both have a good voice to work with. Neither are ready yet, and we are at the part of the competition where the ones who are more comfortable with themselves and know the right type of songs to sing are the ones I want to see move on. People like Crystal, Casey, heck even Michael. I don't want to see people who are constantly struggling to find the right song at this point.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

And before anyone jumps my ass about Crystal, I recognize that she's a hell of a performer, and she's good at what she does, but it's just not a style I enjoy. She didn't look bad in the heels, though.

I'm still fearful that Crystal has a penis or, at a minimum, a strap on.

[MJ4H]

Don't be afraid, just relax and it is much easier.

Wait, what?

[Danny]

Lee continues to be my favorite and it's good to see him gaining that confidence. Frankly, he has as good if not better voice than most rock singers on the radio.

I actually thought Andrew did a good job, yes he has no range, but this performance worked for him decently well.

Crystal is very good, but not really my style.

Michael is actually a good signer, he's probably not a superstart, but he could have been a part of Boyz II Men or some other group like that.

Casey is always good, but never special.

Everyone else was bad or a waste of space this week.

[CrimsonFox]

This has to be the worst episode of Idol I've ever seen yet.

Seacrest is on some kind of hissy fit fest this season. I could even see him turning red and the veins popping out of his neck. He is just getting stupid. He usually picks on SImon sure but he's now getting so catty I feared he'd start hitting them with his purse. He's usually pleasant and funny. Now it's just scary and sad.

Ruben Stoddard (u?). He has not improved one iota in seven years. Seven years ago the only thing he did fantastic was Superstar and he did that 3 times in his season. Maybe Andrew Garcia should just do Straight Up every time he gets on stage because Ruben set the precedent for repetition. Because that song he sang was so boring I had to fast forward through it.

Usher - Only thing worse than listening to Ruben's mediocre song was listening to Usher. That's who that was right? How in the HELL does he have hits? Gawd awful.

Incidently I really liked Andrew tonight. I just think this is the worst top 20 ever. Or close. When it gets to top 6 we will actually have a competition. Another thing I'm liking is the chemistry between the judges. The fighting that Kara and Simon do is actually competitive fighting about who has the best advice which is pretty funny as opposed to the embarressing watching of Paula try to say how good every one looks, nice everyone is, and how they are all good and SImon trying to remind her who she is.

[Lathum]

It would be really nice if Seacrest and Simon gave their schtick up so the show ends on time.

I am assuming DiDi didn't get saved.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Usher - Only thing worse than listening to Ruben's mediocre song was listening to Usher. That's who that was right? How in the HELL does he have hits? Gawd awful.

SO WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WASHINGTON CROSSED THE DELAWARE

HA HA I AM JOKING THAT YOU MUST BE OLD

Edit: No, seriously, I don't have any particular love for Usher myself.

[CrimsonFox]

I don't refute any of this LONG LIVE ROCK!

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by Danny

Michael is actually a good signer, he's probably not a superstart, but he could have been a part of Boyz II Men or some other group like that.

Please don't insult Boyz II Men like that.

Motownphilly
It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
End of the Road
In the Still of the Night
I'll Make Love to You
On Bended Knee
Water Runs Dry
One Sweet Day

Comparing a gimmick singer who has gained some very temporary fame after a couple of months on an amateur reality show to the best R&B group of a generation is just silly.

silly silly silly silly silly. You silly king. I fart in your general direction.

[lordscarlet]

Please stop the fighting. Actually, maybe keep it going -- it gives me a lot to fast forward through.

[Ksyrup]

So it's Lennon/McCartney week on AI...gotta gear up mentally for this.

I'm hoping that Tim Urban comes out in a yellow tuxedo, top hat, and cane doing chorus line leg kicks as he sings "Yellow Submarine." Either that or Revolution #9. Most likely - a reggae version of "Act Naturally."

Even better - Katie and Tim duet on Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

Siobhan will probably take on Helter Skelter, right?

I'm betting Andrew does Here Comes the Sun - he could pull that off acoustic with his limited range.

Casey should double up on the weed intake today, go acoustic, and do Across the Universe.

Crystal's got to do something from Let It Be, maybe Get Back. That's the earthiest of their albums.

The others...I don't really care.

[Autumn]

lol, I was thinking of Tim and Yellow Submarine, but that's a Ringo number isn't it? That's probably why they kept Ring off the list, they knew Tim would search for the cheese.

[Ksyrup]

Yellow Submarine was written by (or credited to) Lennon/McCartney, though. Act Naturally is also a Ringo song, although I'm not sure who wrote it.

[Mustang]

If Aaron Kelly sings Imagine, I will personally drive to Hollywood and punch him.

[Ksyrup]

I'll do you one better (or worse) - rumor is that Archuleta will be singing Imagine on the results show.

Not that Imagine is a Lennon/McCartney song, of course...

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Not that Imagine is a Lennon/McCartney song, of course...

I was thinking 'or' instead of together so, thankfully I'm wrong.

I figured they would dig someone up to sing Imagine though.

[EagleFan]

Bah, one of their only songs that I can take and he ruined it. Last season had a MUCH better rendition...

[EagleFan]

West coasters do yourselves a favor and tape this to watch later so you can fast forward through. They are stretching this out beyond belief. Two hours for 9 songs...

[wade moore]

How in the world does Casey James not get criticized for sounding like a goat?

[Matthean]

Well, 2 if not 3 guys need to be in the bottom three after that episode. Andrew, Aaron, and Tim are good picks for it. Siobhan is getting close to being the bottom 3 though. While she showed restrain, that song was easily the most sleep inducing thing of the night. Crystal, Katie, and Casey I liked the most. Others were too much of a mixed bag of good and bad.

[MJ4H]

Crystal, Katie, Mike <-- fantastic

Siobahn, Casey, Aaron <-- fair to middlin'

Tim, Lee, Andrew <-- less than stellar

I didn't think anyone was awful, but all three of those guys were getting close.

[CrimsonFox]

Hmmmm Michael was the only one I'd say was awesome. GREAT song choice, Eleanor Rigby and the performance was original. I could see that as a movie song as credits are rolling.
There were some OKAY performances but as is typical the idiol people choose the dreariest and slowest ballads of any good artist and drain the life out of them. Yes, Simon, Randy, and Kara, they ssounded sleepy because they chose ballads from Let It Be, probably arguably the worst of the Beatles albums. Yes indeed, this is the sound of a band beaking up. This is the sound of an insane murderer chopping an album to bits (with sappy choirs behind it). To be fair one of my favorite songs of the Beatles is Harrison's I Me Mine, but other than that I can do without it. So it is no surprise that choices like Let It Be, and Long and WInding Road and such were met with indifference. Nicely sung, but also blandly sung. With a big group, you choose a BIG SONG. You don't do what big blond hairboy did and choose something so obscure off a Lennon and Plastic ONo band album even rabid fans have to remember if they've even heard it. OThers...um...All my loving was a good choice and did have some spunk to it. Can't Buy me love was kinda robotic. I was hoping for more from Siobhan on Across the universe. That song at its best is ethereal and she should have been able to make it that but she did not. Great voice still. THe worst of the evening was by far Lee. He missed the second note of the song and the whole first verse was trying to figure out what tune the song is in. PICK ONE PLEASE! hmmmm okay pick the RIGHT one please. Michael wins. I hope LEe goes home or the blond guy.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yellow Submarine was written by (or credited to) Lennon/McCartney, though. Act Naturally is also a Ringo song, although I'm not sure who wrote it.

"Ringo's songs" were usually written by the other too. John had commented that it was usually songs they didn't really like that they gave to him to save the good stuff for themselves. Was kind of a gimmick for ringo to sing a song. His only credit really was Octopus' Garden (abbey road) and "Don't Pass Me By" (The White Album) and cowriting credit on "What Goes On", "FLying", and "Dig it", although you could argue that he should have had far more credit at least with lyrics. He would just say things...weird and witty things that the others started calling RIngoisms which often found their way into the others' songs (without credit of course)

To answer your question, Act Naturally was an old country song written by Johnny RUssell and Voni Morrison for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in 1963.