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Posted on 03/24/2006 9:00:43 PM PST by silent_jonny
Mmm ... okay, I'll give you the worried look. Good enough. But the hesitance was in his singing, not in his portrayal (if that makes sense). I've seen him do better. (And I did vote for him! I like Elliott and think he has real talent. But I gotta call it as I sees it.)
Ditto ":^)
I was honestly so into the moment of his being into the moment, that it seemed just about perfect to me.
Tonight's show was just a mess. Horrible song choices, poor performances.
Taylor--Looked like he didn't even want to be singing that. The only thing positive I can say about that peformance was that it wasn't overtly offensive.
Mandisa--What the heck was she thinking in choosing that song? She has pipes, so what does she do--she picks a song designed for someone who doesn't have pipes. Shania has her good points but being an impressive vocalist isn't one of them. And on top of that, Mandisa sang it badly. Was better toward the end, but that didn't salvage it.
Elliott--Nice voice(that's always apparent). Did a decent job, but his phrasing seemed wrong to me at times.
Paris--Relatively good. Didn't compare well with Trisha Yearwood's(best) or Leanne Rime's(very good) versions of that song, but taken on its own compared to the other performances tonight it was okay.
Ace--Umm..err...I thought his performance was the best of the night(as uncomfortable as I am saying that.) That song fit Ace well and was the only good song selection of the bunch.
Pickler--Better than she's done in quite a while. Hate the song, but she did manage to show that she can sing a little. Still swallowing the ends of some of the lyrics though.
Chris--Decent job. Similar to Paris' problem in that he didn't sing it as well as Keith Urban or Rodney Crowell.
Katharine--Liked the performance. Didn't like the song. Good to see her coming out of her shell, but that performance didn't strike me as country at all--bluesy country or any other kind of it.
Bucky--Bad song choice. "Boring" being in the lyrics just drew attention to the fact that the song and the performace were boring.
Ranking them and gritting my teeth as I do so:
Ace
Paris
Kellie
Elliott
Chris
Katharine
Taylor
Bucky
Mandisa(Geez, never thought I'd be putting her there)
1 Taylor Hicks 60.714 1.764 -
Why is the worst singer of the night getting more votes or at least calls? This does not make sense. People sure are stupid. Chris should be first, eliott did well, even bucky did better than the old dude. In fact, I pray this is not right because the two worst are the top two. Pickle freak is number 2???????
I don't think Taylor was bad, I just don't think he had any FUN. I really don't think he gets into the country scene and last night was hard for him. Just listening to him sing the song was good but if you watched him there was no spark.
NO, he didn't do well. But I think he just is not into country... We voted for Taylor last night though and couldn't get through. The line stayed busy, for 2 hrs. Of course being in Alabama that's what will happen, hope it was like that for him everywhere else.
Did they choose the songs they did because they had to pick one that Kenny Rogers wrote? That may explain why they didn't have much to choose from.
"Old dude" "Pickle freak" -- you obviously can't stand either performer so you cannot fathom that one of them did very good and the other has a huge fan base.
Did you hear Beck today?? I wish he would have talked about "24."
I was hoping he would talk about it too, but he didn't. Do you know when and what time his show airs on CNN? i haven't been able to find him.
The good news for the contestants is that no one was really bad last night. The bad news is that the vote-off tonight will be strictly a popularity contest, and not reflect the actual performances. I'll probably take a lot of flak for my rankings this week, but let me try and deflect some of that by saying that the difference between 2nd and 9th wasn't very great.
I was going to have a lot of comments for each singer about diction, but it seems like everyone had problems being heard clearly. So I'm going to place the blame on the band and the sound crew for drowning out the singers. Hey, idiots, we're trying to hear the contestants, not the band!
Updated overall rankings:
Good point. Given the way some of the contestants have butchered the songs, I can understand why.
I think Randy and Simon worked out a deal where Randy could give Paris some (lightly) negative comments to shake off the accusations that he's been pimping for Paris, and that Simon would heap unqualified praise on her instead.
I'm just surpised Simon wasn't reading from a note card: "Yo dawg, that was the bomb. We have got a hot one in the house tonight."
I believe the old-fashioned phrase is "confirmed bachelor".
I still think the first season was the worst :)
Kelly and Tamyra were the only people that year who had any talent whatsoever (but I do give an honorable mention to Niki McKibbon because I think she really tried--and she's still trying).
This year's remaining nine have varying degrees of talent, but they all have at least some talent. And they all seem to know exactly what they want to do.
Bucky and Pickler, Country.
Chris, Rock.
Elliot, Jazz.
Taylor, Soul.
Ace, Pop.
And Mandisa, Paris and McPhee all want to be the next big diva.
This is the most focused group that AI has ever had, IMO, and if they were given the right material, each of them could produce a decent album. Even Ace :)
But I have to admit that this group is failing to connect with the audience. They don't seem as likable as past finalists. Maybe because they know the show isn't a joke, that winning means everything for their careers. But as far as just talent goes, I think this is one of the best groups that Idol has ever assembled.
ROFL!
Another very boring show with just a couple of barely luminous spots. I should say that I am not a country fan. I tried for a while but found it too boring and formulaic (current "country") for my taste. Anyway, on with the show:
Taylor - I got worried when I heard he was singing John Denver and that turned out to be accurate. He needs to get the microphone off the stand and do his thing. Don't listen to Simon about the dancing. That's part of his charm that people love. Decent vocal but a boring performance.
Mandisa - just did not pull that off. I know she was trying to play it up but it didn't work because she sang the song poorly. She could be in danger this week.
Elliot - once again, I just didn't get it. I listened with my eyes closed so I could focus on the vocals and they just are not strong enough. I don't feel any power with his voice. Good technically but there is not enough substance for me. The orignial version of that song has much more powerful vocals to support it. No good enough in my opinion.
Paris - pieces of the song were good but pieces were not good. All in all a decent performance though. She can certainly sing and she might stick around if her personality does not get in the way.
Ace - I actually enjoyed the first half of the song but the second half was a train wreck with missed notes all over the place. I think the game might be up with him.
Kellie - that insipid little interview beforehand was pointless. Does anyone actually think she would say, "Well yes Ryan, it's all an act." Just pure AI pimping. As for the song, I agreed with Simon in that I thought it was rather boring. The chorus brought it up a little but the verses were just plain and boring. Overall decent job though.
Chris - I thought it was a great performance. Hopefully this will quiet the folks who incorrectly say he just screams everything. Their complete misunderstnading of that genre of music leads to that sort of ignorant statement. I doubt it will change anything though. He showed he can sing and did a very nice job with that song. Simon continued his doubletalk however. I do believe Simon is also playing to the critics who say he blindly pimps his favorites knowing full well that Chris is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Katharine - Good vocal but her personality is wearning on me. That bubbly inappropriately timed smile seems very contrived. I just do not connect with her performances at all as they all seem very hollow. I'm not sure how much longer she is going to last.
Bucky - So, will anyone accuse Bucky of "cheating" by not singing a country song like they did Chris for not singing a "50's" song? Gary Allen did not write or perform the original. It was written by Matt Scannell of Vertical Horizon the alt-pop rock band and was on their major label debut record Everything You Want in 1999. Now, I have no problem with this just like I had no problem with Chris doing Live's version of I Walk The Line. It will be interesting to see who is consistent. Anyway, Bucky was Bucky. Not good. Not awful.
Best of the Night: Chris, Kellie, Paris
Bottom Three: Mandisa, Ace and Bucky
Who should go home? Bucky
Who will go home? Mandisa
That's true. They ought to invite both Kenny and Manilow back again next season--so far, they are the only two pros that have made an effort to actually help. I don't really like their music, but I do like their work ethic :)
I agree. And they need to shake them up somehow. They all act like they're in a trance.
"Old dude" "Pickle freak" -- you obviously can't stand either performer so you cannot fathom that one of them did very good and the other has a huge fan base.
True and I didn't even swear on the Bible. Yes I am ashamed that for whatever reason I can't stand either one of them. I guess Pickler is just acting so dumb that it would explain why I don't like her and Taylor twitches too much and acts so immature during the show would be a reason for him. In case you forgot, he keeps using rabbit ears to everyone...Is that really mature actions for the oldest guy on the show? But regardless of all that I don't hope any bad stuff to happen to them. If they win, good for them, if they don't than it was not meant to happen. Hopefully that is acceptable to you.
Re: McPhee -- I think the best word is "aloof". I don't think she's stuck up or a prima donna... she just seems a little disconnected. I also find it interesting that most men seem to like her, and that most women seem to dislike her.
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