American Idol 2008

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I agree. By far the best night for the guys. I think they just all made good song choices (except for one, but I have a feeling no one is going to agree with me). A true break-out performance by David Cook. He has a good rock-voice, but he is still a poor mans Daughtery. He just doesn't have the charisma he needs to really pull it off. I think he needs a band.

My first statement that will get me killed...Micheal just didn't pull that song off to me. He has been completely underwhelming to me. He would be in my bottom three (with Luke and Chikkie) and might actually be who I'd kick. His vocals aren't impressive to me at all.

Second Statement to get me killed...I really don't want to like Danny, but I do. He's just fun, or something.

100% with GrantDawg on all of this - so you're not alone!

I think my top 4 last night were David H, Jason C, David C, David A.

I think David A did very well, but I think he's already going to be hurt by not being "up to his standards". Being SO good early on can hurt you in the voting (right or wrong). He's not getting kicked off or anything, but he has to step it up next week and probably do something a little more "made for radio".

[wade moore]

DialIdol has been really disappointing this year so far. Maybe it's accurate, but it's essentially useless.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I agree. By far the best night for the guys. I think they just all made good song choices (except for one, but I have a feeling no one is going to agree with me). A true break-out performance by David Cook. He has a good rock-voice, but he is still a poor mans Daughtery. He just doesn't have the charisma he needs to really pull it off. I think he needs a band.

My first statement that will get me killed...Micheal just didn't pull that song off to me. He has been completely underwhelming to me. He would be in my bottom three (with Luke and Chikkie) and might actually be who I'd kick. His vocals aren't impressive to me at all.

Second Statement to get me killed...I really don't want to like Danny, but I do. He's just fun, or something.

I actually agree with all of this. My bottom 3 would be Michael, Chikieze, and Luke with Chikieze and Luke going. My wife thinks Jason C should go because "he ran out of breath twice during his song which is unforgivable."

[IrishHand]

I'm finding Noriega increasingly entertaining but less and less capable as a singer. It'll be interesting to see how long VFTW can keep him around.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by IrishHand

I'm finding Noriega increasingly entertaining but less and less capable as a singer. It'll be interesting to see how long VFTW can keep him around.

Agreed.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by IrishHand

I'm finding Noriega increasingly entertaining but less and less capable as a singer. It'll be interesting to see how long VFTW can keep him around.

Typically around 7-8 until the 'serious' voters catch up.

[IrishHand]

It's really a shame they don't release voting numbers. It would be very interesting to study them, especially over multiple seasons imo.

I know why they don't - it would largely kill the suspense/drama they try to create for their weekly one-hour, 5-minutes-of-content voting-off show. I suspect it would also butcher their beloved, gaudy "30 million votes this week!" if viewers realized (hypothetical example) that Archuleta was getting 15M votes a week and their "favorite" was getting 800k. Not much point in voting/caring at that point really.

I agree though - it would seem that it takes until final 8 or so before the real voters are able to overcome the VFTW crowd (at least historically - that seems about right).

[Mustang]

What in the HELL is Paula babbling about this season???

Put Jewel in the middle please...

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Mustang

What in the HELL is Paula babbling about this season???

Put Jewel in the middle please...

Her Vicidan is really kicking in. Or maybe it is Teamocil.

[GrantDawg]

Good night over all. The bottom three is hard to pick, but my safe guess is that Kady is going home. She just never really shined. A'shia is my second guess, but could be one of a couple of others as well. Loved Carly and Brooke. I would buy both of those songs.

[Lathum]

Carly has a great voice to do 80's music

[adubroff]

I think it's hard to pick the losers from tongiht. It was pretty evenly spread. I didn't love Carly and I normally do, I hope she's safe....

syesha - She closed the night like rivera in his prime. nothing really innovative here but the talent is clear and evident. I thought she nailed it.
Kristy - I liked this performance a lot. She owned the song and she has a lot of talent.
Remyel - she sung the heck outta this one and it was a tough one.
Brooke - gave it her own stamp. she countrified as well. I think this would have been even cooler a capella
Kady - good song choice for her. Doing Mercury is tough but it's sort of an operatic pop song and she showed the big voice we haven't heard yet.
Asia - solid performance of tricky song given original artist. She's talented but not Whitney.
Carly - a little flat in the choruses. I like Carly but I also expect more from her.
Amanda - better song choice. last week she was atrocious this week she's just bad.

[mauchow]

Wow.

Paula sounds CRAZY! She needs to be cut from the show two years ago.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by adubroff

I think it's hard to pick the losers from tongiht. It was pretty evenly spread. I didn't love Carly and I normally do, I hope she's safe....

syesha - She closed the night like rivera in his prime. nothing really innovative here but the talent is clear and evident. I thought she nailed it.
Kristy - I liked this performance a lot. She owned the song and she has a lot of talent.
Remyel - she sung the heck outta this one and it was a tough one.
Brooke - gave it her own stamp. she countrified as well. I think this would have been even cooler a capella
Kady - good song choice for her. Doing Mercury is tough but it's sort of an operatic pop song and she showed the big voice we haven't heard yet.
Asia - solid performance of tricky song given original artist. She's talented but not Whitney.
Carly - a little flat in the choruses. I like Carly but I also expect more from her.
Amanda - better song choice. last week she was atrocious this week she's just bad.

Were you high? Syesha and Remyel (sp for both?) in the top 3? Amanda at the bottom? Carly second from bottom?

Asia'h and Ramyel are in danger of going home.

I think it was more like:

Top group:
Brooke
Amanda
Kristy

Middle group but still very good:
Carly
Kady
Syesha

Danger:
Ramyel
Asia'h


I think tonight was one of the better nights of the season so far.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Middle group but still very good:

Kady

No.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Amanda at the bottom?

Uhhh yeah.

[korme]

I somehow missed tonight and am very pissed because I want to see what how in the hell AMANDA of all people made a 360 - I caught the end where Simon said she was his favorite! You gotta be kiddin

[MJ4H]

she sang a song where its ok to sound like crap

[Thomkal]

I think Kady is the only definite to go home. That was a Sarah Brightman version of that Queen song she was doing, and she just doesn't have that kind of voice. Amanda still should be going home, yes she found her niche, but it such a small niche. Anything outside of it is going to be bad as we've already seen.

Asia'h is another possibility to go home, she always sound hoarse to me, and her performance was pretty forgetable being first on. Remyel also is another possibility but probably has a large enough fanbase to save her. The first half of her song was pretty rough.

Brooke and Kristy get my top votes tonight. Both took songs that definitely did not fit their style and made them work for them.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

I somehow missed tonight and am very pissed because I want to see what how in the hell AMANDA of all people made a 360 - I caught the end where Simon said she was his favorite! You gotta be kiddin

are there two amandas on the show? was he talking about skunk-girl?

[MJ4H]

Why is no one talking about how red Kristy Lee Cook's tongue is? Last week, I thought maybe she just had a popsicle right before she sang. This week, it is super-red again. And I mean, holy shit red. RED.

WTF??

[Thomkal]

Yeah I saw that Matt, I think she was sick-Ryan made some comment after her performance. I'm thinking she had a cough drop or some kind of medicine before she went on.

[Solecismic]

Column posted on the Football Frontier:

http://www.solecismic.com/frontierblog/?p=239

Overall: An excellent night for the girls, raising the bar just a bit as we get into the top 12. I have a feeling this is going to be Idol's best year yet after all. Unlike the guys, however, we've yet to have the top performers truly separate themselves.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Why is no one talking about how red Kristy Lee Cook's tongue is? Last week, I thought maybe she just had a popsicle right before she sang. This week, it is super-red again. And I mean, holy shit red. RED.

WTF??

Heh - that's funny, because my wife and I noticed a few weeks back that Carly had a purple [popsicle] tongue.

I'd say Kady and Rameile should go, with Asia'h also being near the bottom. I thought Brooke, Syesha, and Carly were the best (though Carly not as good as the first two).

[Solecismic]

Is there some trendy new flavored and colored product singers are spraying in their mouths to save their vocal chords?

During Hollywood week, there was a day when several people seemed to have grey-blue tongues.

[Arles]

Nowhere as good as the guys, but they had some solid performances. What's disappointing is that David H (70s), David A (70s) and Cook (80s) all have had defining performances. I can't recall any real defining performances (save maybe Brook last week) from the girls. This leads to a lot of conjestion in the middle of the pack. Here's the rankings:

1. Brook - Nice performer and really knows what she does well. She takes some chances, but really doesn't leave here element which makes them safe risks. Her consistency makes her the best on the women's side so far.
2. Carly - She has a nice voice and wasn't in top form tonight. Still, she is a top 2 girl on talent and has been strong so far.
3. Syesha - Pleasant surprise, but it was pretty much a straight Whitney copy job down to the last note. She pulled it off for the most part, but it was a little robotic. I'd like to see a little more "making it her own" from Syesha.
4. Amanda - She was dreadful last week but got back in her element. Because she sounds so different, if she can simply be on tune with a little energy - she will always overachieve expectations. This is really the best she can hope for, though, and it's a middle of the pack finish.
5. Kristy - Nice work adding in a country style to Journey. I still feel nervious everytime she builds up to a note and I'm not sure why. You would think that would subside, but it really hasn't since her first night. She really needs to nail a song to be a factor - but she should be safe.
6. Remyel - She was technically better than Kristy and Amanda, but just was very Blah for me overall. She needs to get a little energy into her performances or just be technically brilliant to have a chance. She didn't do either tonight.
7. Asia'h - After Syesha, her performance looked pretty ordinary. It's never good when you get upstaged in the same night on a Whitney song. It's even worse when you were one of the bottom two before that performance. She's not a terrible performer, but will probably be going home.
8. Kady - Speaking of robots, she is like a statue on each performance. She hits most notes, but struggles on many others. To make it into the top 12, you need to have a unique sound, be a great performer or technically proficient. She struck out on all 3 and will be heading home.

IMO, only Brooke would have made the top 4 of the guys so the gals need to pick it up a bit.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Is there some trendy new flavored and colored product singers are spraying in their mouths to save their vocal chords?

During Hollywood week, there was a day when several people seemed to have grey-blue tongues.

I think it's packaged with the trendy sparkle lip gloss.

[Scoobz0202]

Brooke White is DA BOMB.

I have been watching the girls performances everytime just to listen to her. If she keeps it up, I would be extremely happy if she won.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Joe

Uhhh yeah.

Agreed. Completely unbearable.

[Rizon]

And the guys being better than the girls? IN WHAT WORLD. Scott Savol could run roughshot through the guys if he was in this season. The chicks are eons ahead of the guys.

[lordscarlet]

MJ4H and I can definitely agree on Amanda's craptasticness. Doing a pale imitation of Janice Joplin doesn't mean you can sing. There's more to a rock song than a raspy voice and a little attitude.

[korme]

BTW you guys are all retarded

She spells it Ramiele

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Rizon

And the guys being better than the girls? IN WHAT WORLD. Scott Savol could run roughshot through the guys if he was in this season. The chicks are eons ahead of the guys.

I think the issue is that the guys have clearly delineated themselves into the haves and the have nots, and the guys on top are clearly a cut above their competition. The girls, on the other hand, are much closer to each other in terms of talent. I tend to believe that the top guys ARE more talented than the top girls (Cook and Archuleta, specifically), but that in general, the girls have more talent overall. We'll see much better when they're all thrown together.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

I almost shit myself when that wham song came on. All he needed was the Choose Life shirt. Man these people are morons.

Some songs needed to stay in the 80's.

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Mustang

What in the HELL is Paula babbling about this season???

Put Jewel in the middle please...

Honestly, I believe that all 3 judges are completely played out.

Paula blathers on forever and never says ANYTHING.

Randy & Simon contradict themselves CONSTANTLY. And most often appear to be completely out of touch with today's music industry. I didn't believe this to be the case a few years ago, but I think they've been caught up in the whole audition process and it has warped their minds as to who they think would be successful artists.

One second they criticize you for playing an instrument, and the next week they criticize you for not playing it.

They talk about not needing the "Starsearch" moment in each song, but this year if you don't have the "big note", they'll trash you.

If you pick 90% of the songs you're being "safe", but if you pick the other 10% you shouldn't be taking on "Celine or Whitney" because it will always come across as a copycat performance.

I'd love to see this show with some new judges who aren't quite as bitter about the process as these 3. How many auditions / performances have they seen in the last 8 years? They've all become caricatures of themselves.

[wade moore]

I think the girls are very much up in the air.

For my personal tastes Brooke White is at the top right now with Carly and Kristy in the next tier.

If it was my choice Amanda and Ramiele would go home. Both of them for similar reasons - no matter how well they performed tonight, I know exactly what the next 5 performances of theirs will sound like. Amanda will pick the rockiest song she can in the theme and sing it like a poor man's Janis. Ramiele will find a ballad and try to show that she's a little girl with a big voice.

But anyway, as for what AMERICA will say. Like everyone else, I think Kady is gone. Outside of that I think that Brooke White may be the only one that I would call completely safe - but I think the likely victims outside of Kady are Ramiele, Asia'h, and Syesha.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Rizon

And the guys being better than the girls? IN WHAT WORLD. Scott Savol could run roughshot through the guys if he was in this season. The chicks are eons ahead of the guys.

If I had to rank the top 16 based on this week, it would be:

1. David Cook
2. Jason Castro
3. David Hernandez
4. Brooke White
5. Michael Johns
6. Carly
7. David A
8. Syesha
9. Amanda
10. Kristy
11. Ramiele
12. Chikeze
13. Danny
14. Asia'h
15. Luke
16. Kady

Again, this is all subjective, but having 5 of the top 7 being guys seems to indicate to me that this is a pretty strong guys group.

[korme]

Kristy Lee Cook is overrated in both the looks and vocals department

[NoSkillz]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

Kristy Lee Cook is overrated in both the looks and vocals department

+1 on the vocals, for sure.

I must be the only one who thought she butchered that Journey song last night.

The chest is rockin' though and will keep her from getting knocked off, most likely.

Brooke owned last night. I'd buy that version of the song right now - great stuff.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

Kristy Lee Cook is overrated in both the looks and vocals department

Obscure reference, but she reminds me a little bit of Tanya Beyer.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Why is no one talking about how red Kristy Lee Cook's tongue is? Last week, I thought maybe she just had a popsicle right before she sang. This week, it is super-red again. And I mean, holy shit red. RED.

WTF??

I noticed it and made the mistake of commenting on it. I figured it was safer than commenting on other body parts. My wife called her performance "disgusting."

Anyway, my only safe bet is that Kady is going home. I think Amanda should go as well even though last night's performance was her best in a few weeks (still a bottom 3 type performance in my opinion.)

My order from last night:

1. Brook - Great performance that played to her strengths
2. Carly - The best overall singer from the girls.
3. Syesha - Best combination of looks and voice last night.
4. Kristy - Maybe I'm biased, but I liked her performance last night and thought it was one of her best. She deserves to be back another week.
5. Asia'h - An ok performance, nothing special.
6. Amanda - Her best performance since joining the top 12, but nothing special.
7. Ramiele - She sounded bad last night, but she has had so many good performances that I think she is safe.
8. Kady - Another bad performance. I'll be surprised to see her last another week.

[Danny]

I would rate Kristy Lee Cook as the worst from this week out of the females. I love that Journey song and I cringed throughout her performance.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Vince

I think the issue is that the guys have clearly delineated themselves into the haves and the have nots, and the guys on top are clearly a cut above their competition. The girls, on the other hand, are much closer to each other in terms of talent. I tend to believe that the top guys ARE more talented than the top girls (Cook and Archuleta, specifically), but that in general, the girls have more talent overall. We'll see much better when they're all thrown together.

I agree with you about the guys. There are good ones, and there are really bad ones. As for the girls, there are good ones, and mediocre ones. I think some of the better guys fell off a little this week (a lot of pitch problems and missed notes).

Most dissapointing for all of them: there isn't anyone who stands out as a whole package (looks/singing/performance/personality). I don't remember seeing that in the three seasons I've watched (3,4,5), I remember someone really standing out before the top 12.

[EagleFan]

As each week goes by I really miss the Carrie / Bo season where you could expect a great performance from both of them almost every week.

[MJ4H]

Whew, I've never like Asia or however you spell it.

[wade moore]

I like her voice a lot, but her song selection has been TERRIBLE for her vocal style since the top 24 started.

So for that, no surprise or big loss.

[wade moore]

I think it says a lot for this season that we're heading into the top 12 and VFTW is pretty much hosed.

I'd say they could latch onto Amanda, but based on DialIdol she was doing quite well enough on her own.

[INDalltheway]

Proud of Luke Menard. He definitely made it farther than I thought he would. Hopefully something can come from this for him. I am just happy Norriega went too.

[Lathum]

Noriega was just to over the top

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

Proud of Luke Menard. He definitely made it farther than I thought he would. Hopefully something can come from this for him. I am just happy Norriega went too.

Luke was a very good vocalist imo - just not right for this competition.