American Idol 2006--Live Thread I

FOX ^ | 1-16-06

[silent_jonny]

for Tammy

[Wyatt's Torch]

If you don't think looks matter in entertainment, then you're pretty out of touch.

Tell that to Tom Pety, Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Michael Stipe, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, Rick Okasek, Edwin McCain, Lyle Lovett, Geddy Lee, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Problem is, the people voting are completely superficial and only care about looks. Artistic ability comes way behind. I'll offer up Britney Spears and Pussycat Dolls as exhibits A and B. Thing you need to realize is that those types are flashes in the pan. Good for them in proving P.T. Barnum right. Those that are true artists endure. See the above list if you need some reference points.

[Netizen]

You left out Mick Jagger, that gorgeous hunk! ;) You are so right, talent matters more than looks.

[smith288]

Just because you don't like his style, or the song, doesn't mean he doesn't sing will. Believe me, there are tons of people who don't like Taylor's style, but appreciate that he's talented..why can't you?

Like someone else posted earlier, he is a Gap ad and little else. His singing wouldnt get him anywhere if he lacked the GAP ad look.

I dont think Taylor is all that good either. His uniqueness is what is winning him votes which is fine. Personality goes a long way and thus far, Ace has shown none besides the fact he carries around a woobie in his back pocket.

[Wyatt's Torch]

You left out Mick Jagger, that gorgeous hunk!

Throw the entire band in as well....Keith Richards isn;t exactly the poster boy for Abercrombie.

talent matters more than looks.

It should...but it doesn't. Not on a show like this.

[smith288]

By the way, how do they know about the busy signals and how many someone gets? How can they figure that, realistically?

These stats are compiled by users of their application that uses your computer's modem to dial for your favorite. It records the result of the call and sends the data to their server for tabulation.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Just because you don't like his style, or the song, doesn't mean he doesn't sing will (sic).

I'm not sure if he sings to Will but I know he'd probably like to.....;-)

[Netizen]

I went to dial idol to see if I could get the numbers from when they had 20 contestants and 24 contestants. Found this disclaimer at dial idol:

Interactive page disabled due to high volume. These are the results from this week. Because of the high volume last night the guys scores are really not considered valid so don't judge DialIdol by them please.

[ChandyB71]

So, dialidol.com is based mostly on computer dialers, vs. actual phone dialers and cell phone users, which means their stats are probably not accurate, IMO.

[smith288]

So, dialidol.com is based mostly on computer dialers, vs. actual phone dialers and cell phone users, which means their stats are probably not accurate, IMO.

Exactly, it can give some evidence about where the votes are going but its a VERY small block of data and cant be relied on.

[EmilyGeiger]

That was one of the best ad campaigns, IMO. Bo doesn't know diddly. :) War Eagle.!

[Netizen]

They claim to have an 88% accuracy. I don't know if that is true or not. I do know that last week, for both the women and men, thetwo that went home for each, both came out of the bottom 4 of dial idol's stats.

That's why I wanted to check their stats for the 20 and 24 weeks, to see if that was true for them as well. But, as I posted, they now have a disclaimer up saying that their numbers from last night are not accurate and thus not valid. The ability to check the past two weeks is disabled.

Before dial idol got over loaded	Their latest stats that they say are not valid
Chris Daughtry 70 - 2 Taylor Hicks 67.5 - 3 Kevin Covais 60 - 4 Gedeon McKinney 42.8571 - 5 Ace Young 42.4242 - 6 Will Makar 41.7582 - 7 Bucky Covington 36 - 8 Elliott Yamin 34.0659	1 Kevin Covais 63.8743- 2Taylor Hicks 53.8574- 3 Bucky Covington 27.8788- 4 Chris Daughtry 27.6657- 5 Ace Young 24.4444- 6 Elliott Yamin 16.3606- 7 Will Makar 10.4881- 8 Gedeon McKinney 9.9617-

We'll have to see which are more accurate.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Not only were the four sent home in their bottom, the bottom 6 were all in their "could be going" list according to the margin of error.

[Netizen]

I think its fairly accurate. I would guess that a few others do also or their numbers wouldn't be getting posted so much. I also think that part of their over load problem might have been from those of us updating their page for the latest numbers even though we weren't using their software. They got heavier traffic. :)

[Wolfstar]

Hi Jonny. Getting my opinions in before the results show tonight.

Elliott -- I've decided that, to me anyway, going strictly by pure singing voice, he's the best of the guys. Too bad he has little charisma and stage presence. As I've noted several times before, an excellent voice, alone, does not make a star. The history of show biz is littered with people who had excellent singing voices, but who were not star material.

One example that comes to mind is Marni Nixon. Who? Marni Nixon, the woman whose voice you hear singing in some of the greatest musicals of the 1950's and 1960's. It's Marni Nixon's voice you hear for Debra Kerr's Anna in 'The King and I' (1956), Natalie Wood's Maria in 'West Side Story' (1961), and Audrey Hepburn's Eliza in 'My Fair Lady' (1964).

At this point, Elliott is to this year's AI what Marni Nixon was to those films. Excellent voice, but not a leading-man type. Maybe the makeover artists who work with the top 12 can do some magic with him.

Chris -- he showed his limitations last night. He's beginning to come across as a one-trick pony. The song choices he makes on the theme nights will make or break him. What he does, he does extremely well, though.

Taylor -- always interesting. We can't forget that this is SHOW business. Taylor usually puts on a good show. I don't think his voice is all that much, but he makes up for it with showmanship and the ability to project a sincere connection to the music he sings.

Ace -- I DO NOT LIKE FEMININE VOICES ON MEN. Period. Falsetto is like nails on a chalkboard to me. What Ace does, he does well, I suppose, but I'm incapable of appreciating it. However, the fact is that light, high-pitched male voices are what sells in the pop genre. Go figure.

Bucky -- he has something. Maybe just his very nice eyes and the way his smile lights up his face, but he has something. Too bad he comes off as such a clod. He's sort of the Gomer Pyle of this year's AI. If he makes it into the top 12, I hope the AI makeover artists do some really good work on Bucky, because there's a handsome guy with a good voice and some charisma hiding underneath the pony tail and grungy clothes.

Gedeon disappointed this week. He is ultra-limited. If he makes it into the top 12, I think he'll be one of the first guys to go home. PeeWee and Will don't belong in the top 12.

My unranked top 12:

Katharine, Mandisa, Kellie, Lisa, Paris, Melissa, Chris, Taylor, Ace, Bucky, Elliott, Gedeon.

[retrokitten]

Jimi Hendrix- not good looking.

Bono - looks like he should be living under a bridge scaring billy goats.

Actually, add all the members of U2 except the drummer.

Billy Joel- looks like he suffers from a debilitating thyroid problem with those bug eyes.

Looks help, but they aren't the #1 factor. Unfortunately, since it's a pop competition they will come in to factor more then they should. Whenever they divide up the groups for the final 24 and put different groups in different rooms you can always tell which is going home- the room with the less then attractive folks.

[Netizen]

Not only were the four sent home in their bottom, the bottom 6 were all in their "could be going" list according to the margin of error.

I think 'going home' from the bottom 4 is more impressive than 'could be going home' from the bottom 6. We all can figure out the top 2 performances. Chris, Taylor, Mandisa and Kelli. I put Kelli in there since she is consistent.

[Wyatt's Torch]

What I meant was that the bottom 3 girls were in the "could be going home" list from DialIdols.com according to the statistics. They got all three right in other words. Same for the guys. Again, this was from a statistical standpoint which says that anyone within 5% of the bottom person was within the margin of error and therefore "at risk".

This week, the girls statistics only show two at risk. The guys, same thing. They should be dead on if their model is worth anything.

[RedWhiteBlue]

Ace has shown none besides the fact he carries around a woobie in his back pocket.

I had been telling my dh that I found Ace to be too effeminate, and then when they showed the clip of Ace choosing which beanie he would carry in his back pocket it made me think of those signals that gay men use to try and pick up other men. They use hankies of different colors in their back pockets to signal what kind of guy they are looking for and what type of activity they prefer.

[Netizen]

This week, the girls statistics only show two at risk. The guys, same thing. They should be dead on if their model is worth anything.

As I mentioned earlier, they claim an 88% accuracy. This is another reason I wanted to see their past stats. Last week I think it was the bottom and the 4th from the bottom for the gals that went home and for the guys I think it was the bottom and third from the bottom.

[Netizen]

I had been telling my dh that I found Ace to be too effeminate, and then when they showed the clip of Ace choosing which beanie he would carry in his back pocket it made me think of those signals that gay men use to try and pick up other men. They use hankies of different colors in their back pockets to signal what kind of guy they are looking for and what type of activity they prefer.

Now THAT is interesting!