Ok, I’m going to do MY thoughts later - I’ve been at work and haven’t been able to write like I had hoped and have to go back up to LA in an hour, so it may not happen till tomorrow...but I WILL do my full write-up and stuff.
This is what I was posting for some friends and it’s the “take” of the rest of my group (all conservative type folk so the Adam discussion was particularly interesting to me). One of them is good friends with a family Adam basically grew up with, and she actually talked to Adam for awhile after the taping in the parking garage with his folks.
This was done in the car – typing blind on the way home (had to cover it so the glare didn’t bother the driver!) and with very exhausted commentators (we left a bit after 8 and got home at 11:30!) so excuse any mistakes, etc. .
This first part are the perspectives of those I was with (my peanut gallery comments are in parenthesis in a few places, I think I opted out of any real direct commentary now as I wanted to get their thoughts) - the ones on each performance were not broken down by person and were the “thrown out” thoughts in the car on the way back.
Most interesting/surprising about the whole taping/show experience.
K: How Adam looked
S: How small the set was
J: How bad the sound is.
(It’s loud, but so hard to pick out anything in particular sound wise – that’s why Simon leans back towards the monitor behind him to hear – it’s very poor acoustics in there)
J: You can’t see anything on the monitors as far as the judges or certain aspects (while in the room)
S: How you can’t hear the judges well, especially if there is any reaction of any sort.
J: The different rules for different people – friends and family can bring/do/dress however they want. Shocking how many little kids were in there despite the age limit they restrict. LOL.
K: How good Ryan is – smooth, unflappable. Does his job really well and seems to genuinely like the contestants and his job.
I’ll just throw all the comments of the rest of the gang in here altogether and not saying who said what, and over the next day I’ll write a more extensive “trip report” of the whole experience and things that stood out to me.
Matt
Very good. Much improved. It was the first time I really liked him. I’d always liked his vocals, but now his performance was better and showing his performing abilities. His confidence was visible and he was great and the audience really liked him.
Kris
Really good. One of the best. Every song has been more similar and would like to see him do something up-tempo as opposed to mid-low tempo. Thought he was great. I was impressed. (Audience REALLY liked him)
Scott
Scott didn’t get the same degree of applause afterward that the others did. People did like his and were into it during the song, but his applause wasn’t as good. He was fair. That’s one that the group (here) would like to hear again on tv because the acoustics were very hard on that one in particular to know how he was singing, but it was hard to tell.
Megan
Thumbs down. Bad song choice. Very campy. She did look beautiful. She was trying to not do her Megan-chicken-dance, and she did definitely try something out of her comfort zone and she was struggling with timing a bit. Off-key in places. Sounded harsh. Sounded like she was screaming, but gosh she looked nice.
Michael
Didn’t like it. I thought his voice was powerful. Another thought he was yelling. The others overruled and though he was yelling. I didn’t understand or agree with what the judges were talking about on part of it. IT played differently live and the audience was VERY into his performance (About as much as several of the later ones). He was resigned at the end of the evening looking a bit like he thought he was probably in trouble.
Anoop
Not as good as last week. Good. Consensus seems to be “safe” and he doesn’t look or carry himself like a performer and he’s not fun or interesting to watch. No stage presence. He’s not a great natural performer. No one has much to say about him one way or another. Lounge-y. Not a star. Pleasant, but no star quality at all.
Lil’
Behind the music the entire song, couldn’t spit out the words fast enough. The arrangement was not the right speed for her. She was behind. She was VERY shouty and screamy. The audience booed the judges but were NTO into her performance like Kris and Matt earlier. She LOOKED lovely and the difference in appearance was great. She didn’t show any real personality, and considering how moved she said she was, she really didn’t show much heart through it at all, and that was a disconnect
Adam
What can you say? It was Adam. I liked seeing him in more of a mellow kind of setting. He sang it beautifully. HE just looked polished. It was perfect. I didn’t think It was that great. The person who liked it last week did NOT like I t this week (and this one surprises me – totally NOT who I thought would say that!). Some cringe-worthy notes at the beginning. He’s definitely a performer and confident. Thought last week was so odd, but didn’t seem like as off in spots as this week was, but was watchable differently. I thought Matt was better (that was NOT the person who also said that she wasn’t crazy about Adam this week). Not sure the regular person would want him in the end. . Adam will be fine without this and better off not winning. He definitely provokes a response. (I’ll differ from a lot of them on this one and from the judges – but I’ll save it)
Danny
REALLY got the crowd into. REALLY worked the stage. Vocals weren’t as good as he has been, but he still was really very good. All the stuff he did on stage was great and cool, but may not have translated to TV as well as it did in person. The audience was WAY into him. Tone and sound of his voice was great, good phrasing, wasn’t his best, but was very good and fun performance. Really liked him. Really liked his voice – has his own sound. Recognizable. Not a thin, nasally voice, but it has depth to it.
Allison
Thought she was great. Great performance. Confident. Outstanding. Great stage performance/presence. She just did really well. She was “dope man” (LOL) Shockingly good. Pleasantly surprised. Better than last week by far. Looks like her mother (she was sitting right in front of us in the audience until right before her performance and they moved her family up front)
Bonus tapings we saw afterwards which will be used over the next weeks.
Ruben
Too sweaty. Didn’t like. Didn’t care for his voice. (I hated his jacket thing). None of them watched when he was in it, I think it wasn’t a Ruben-esque song at all (that was me saying that latter part). He didn’t do bad but wasn’t bad.
Jennifer Hudson
She was really good. She hit amazing notes. Spot on sound wise. She was singing incredibly. Didn’t engage the audience (this was only her second live performance since the death of her family) – but she sang incredibly, scarily, awesomely well. Just was really, really good. (Audience had been there a very long time, we’re thinking that factored in)
Overall
Long day. Would do it again. NOT tomorrow. (Ha ha) Fun to see how it all works. Commercial breaks, etc. Shocked the judges get up at every commercial (going into the back – getting powdered, or just walking off – it’s not the people coming to them like other reality tv shows). They do some greeting of people, etc. but they NEVER stay in their seats. Just a lot of fun. Good company.
Liked watching camaraderie among contestants. Kris practically barreling over Allison after her performance. How they took care of Scott.
None of them look particularly nervous. Kris has a quiet confidence and we were all bugged by Simon’s comment about needing to be conceited. He carried himself very well – it’s obvious not how Danny and Adam are, but he’s very good and comfortable in his own way and has a very different style. His worship leading background seems to help him in a different way than someone like Danny, with the same background, does.
A terrific report and a good read.
I’ve been complaining about thei sound systemall season. You’d think with all the production bucks they have,they would manage to have a superior sound system.
NOW I know why Simon is always leaning back in his chair! I always thought it was because he was bored or antsy.
So, they get up during each commecial—much like the home-viewing audience! Those commercial breaks ae at least 5 minutes every time, and they squeeze in 10 30-secondcommercials each time. I hate it, because it breaks up the flow of the show.
According to your carpool commentators, Megan Joy should get the axe tonight.
Jennifer Hudson—I know I will cry real tears when I watch her performance. How she can even stand up and sing after the horrible tragedy of losing her mom and other family members. That is courage!
Very interesting commentary. You always think you’d like to be there in person, but you made it sound like we could probably hear the singers better in our living rooms. I don’t think Jennifer Hudson made it onto the actual show.
If I can offer a suggestion for a follow-up, I assume you recorded the show, and will watch it at some time. It'd be fascinating to see what youir impressions are of that, vs, what you saw live...