American Idol 2006--Live Thread I

FOX ^ | 1-16-06

[silent_jonny]

for Tammy

[retrokitten]

"gif-inator"

LOL!!

[mystery-ak]

I've been called worse...LOL

[silent_jonny]

What about, "They say I'm the next Clay Aiken, y'all..." man. He took gayness to new heights.

Or new depths :)

I have a bad feeling that he's gonna turn out to be this year's William Hung :-/

[retrokitten]

This thread is so much fun!

I'm off to watch the biggest loser and be mildly productive before bed.

See you all next week in Boston! It will be wicked-awesome!

[silent_jonny]

I'm gonna call you the gif-inator

That would make you the Crazy Squirrel Lady ;)

[retrokitten]

I sure hope so. ROTFL

[silent_jonny]

Night, RK :)

[mystery-ak]

See ya all next week....

[no more apples]

CSL is not a bad place to be! It's right up there with all the latest TV show; CSI, NCIS, OC...

[no more apples]

'Night See you soon.

[no more apples]

Sending you some mail soon.

[silent_jonny]

Okay :)

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Well, there are *some* advantages to Tivo-ing all this and watching it later. (I managed to sign myself up for classes on both Tues and Wed nights for a while. Duh.) At least I am NOT forced to sit through all the awful squawling that AI seems to find amusing (or worse, think that we-the-braindead spectators will find amusing). I've seen plenty of scary contestants the last few shows, yes, but most of the wretched singers were very, very serious about their "work" and were unhappy little campers when the truth was revealed. Their unhappiness takes most of the fun out of it for me. (That said, WHO has been telling these people they could sing????? Their delusional mothers? The voices in their heads? The squirrel that lives in the tree on the corner? Yikes!)

There may be a few keepers in the bunch. The Fred Savage kid has a lovely, mellifluous voice. I have no idea if he has range, power, or taste, but the quality of his voice is just lovely. Reminded me of a young Frank Sinatra. Paris (with the Butterfly McQueen speaking voice) could be a real contender. I also liked the excessively-straight guy (a couple of shows ago) with the Aussie accent who sang country. (I also liked the little cowboy from the town of 4 people who sang Elton John, but only because he was utterly adorable in his innocence. No music future there.) The reservist who swept Paula off her feet has style and a nice voice, but seems to be a bit of a cad. The "fit model" won't win because her voice isn't much, but she could string along for a while, with her personality and looks. (I'd pick her to show, not win. :)

Anyway, looks like another interesting season in store! I'm just bummed that I'm on the West coast here and can't play with you guys in real time. Kind of like showing up at the playground when all the other kids have gone home! :(

[EmilyGeiger]

Why do they hate Russell Crowe? Is Cinderella Man good? I haven't seen it yet. We usually wait for a movie to come out on DVD.

[kevkrom]

Is the talent pool drying up, or are the judges just getting pickier? 11 from Las Vegas, 12 from Austin... seems like a pretty poor showing, but then again, maybe they just don't want 190+ people in Hollywood this year.

Personally, I'm so ready for this stage to be over. I'd rather see more of Hollywood week and less of the initial auditions, but, I'm still watching, right?

So, those they showed who made it to the next round:

• Jason Horn - Looks good on camera, nice speaking voice... the ladies will like him. He has a decent pop voice, though he need to watch out for rushing. Probable top-12 contestant.
• Ricky Hayes - I wasn't as impressed as the judges. He has a good R&B voice, but his phrasing (where he was taking breaths) was terrible, it really interrupted any flow of the song.
• Ashley Jackson - I'm not sure why she made it through. There were pitch problems; her performance was borderline at best. The only thing I will say in her favor is that she has an unusual "smoky" quality to her tone.
• Ronnie ("RJ") Norman - Cocky SOB... I had to hate him from the second I saw him on TV. Which, of course, means that he's also good enough to go through. But not far. There's a very "closed" sound to his voice that will make him sound second-rate to the talent in the next round.
• William Makar - Hmmm..... my notes for him are blank. That can't be a good sign...

Finally... Boston. Then we can ditch the real losers and start narrowing down the ones with at least some talent.

[kevkrom]

Come on, Carolina girl. Damn! She still stinks.

The nerves got her, even after the extra time. Unfortunately, it's a reason, but not an excuse. If you can't conquer the nerves for the initial audition, how are you going to perform live (ok, for some, tape-delay) for tens of millions of viewers?

[kevkrom]

most of the wretched singers were very, very serious about their "work" and were unhappy little campers when the truth was revealed. Their unhappiness takes most of the fun out of it for me. (That said, WHO has been telling these people they could sing????? Their delusional mothers? The voices in their heads? The squirrel that lives in the tree on the corner? Yikes!)

Anyone who is even remotely serious about auditioning for AI (and not just trying to get on TV), should find someone who has a video camera, record themselves doing what they plan to do for the audition, and then watch it back. For most of these folks, that will weed out all but the truly delusional. For others, the nerves may still get them at the audition, but at least they've got to know that they had a shot...

[mystery-ak]

It's out on DVD...my son got it for me for Christmas....YES, it's very good....you must rent it...

[silent_jonny]

Their unhappiness takes most of the fun out of it for me.

But sometimes it's funny--like the Fake Jamaican from Vegas. He was in tears after he was rejected, like he really thought he had a chance. And Tessie Mae last night--somehow she had deluded herself into thinking she sings like Avril and Carrie! And then she couldn't believe it when the judges told her she was awful--unanimous NO, lol.

The only time when the rejections aren't funny, IMO, is when the singer has borderline talent or a nice personality (like Carolina girl last night) and it's just not enough to get them to Hollywood :-/

[silent_jonny]

See you on Exile Island tonight, buddy :)