Posted on 05/26/2004 5:05:16 PM PDT by Howlin
If someone doesn't get Ruben on a SERIOUS DIET soon he's not going to be around let alone singing!
Heh, heh. More like close your ears.
I like John Stevens potential, but he's no Sinatra. A Tony Bennett if he develops his stuff, maybe. But it would be a lot of work for a pretty narrow market.
girrrrrl. I have heard some excuses but that one is... well, spectacular. :) Seriously, I hope everythng is alright now. Is the tree salvagable ?
Agreed - I think he's a candidate for gastric bypass. But I guess he won't be physically able to eat normal quantities of food. I worry for his health.
Your right on the bypass...you would think some of his handlers would at least make an effort to get him to lose some weight but he just seems to be getting bigger. Doesn't seem to have anyone to help him.
How Kewl !
That is just sad. NOw that his one year reign is over, does he enter into a different contract? I wonder if they could work an incentive clause in there.
I'm not sure how the contracts run...will be interesting to see. I just saw him on American Idol as I am on the West Coast. I think he is bigger than even the last time I see him. I just don't see much of a future for him if he doesn't get the weight down to something reasonable.
Clay's still my favorite - when he sings, he's got that "listen to me!" quality. Diana, for instance, when she sang Enough is Enough, made me do what I often did with Clay's performances: rewind the tape to watch them again. She's a bit away from matching his performance quality, but she's shown that she is very coachable and will go far.
Good comments! They must be good, because I agree with everything you say ;-)
To me, Clay Aiken is the only true star produced so far. And he didn't even win the competition. And the song writing and arrangements on his album are awful. But he has presense. And he has talent. And he developed the former in front of the cameras, and learned how to use the latter along the way.
Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard are both good and talented performers. But ultimately forgettable.
Interestingly, I can't figure out which category I'd put Fantasia in.
Diana is defnitely in the second (forgettable) group for me right now (Though at her age, she may yet surprise us. I have never heard a 16 year old with pipes like that.). But like you note, even now there are moments in her performance that you want to rewind and hear again.
Fantasia has given a few performances that absolutely won me over. And it wasn't necessarily a single moment, it was the whole performance (like the first time she sang Summertime - better than the version she sang in the finals). I was one of the many who just didn't care for her personality at first, and had an inclination to dislike her. She really didn't fully win my support until she was left against Jasmine (yikes, did she ever outlast where her talent justified) and Diana. I loved Diana's potential and raw talent. But there was just no way I could see Diana as being in the same league as Fantasia at this point. Not really even close. I reluctantly agree with Simon - her lack of life experience robs her performances of much depth.
Personally, I was sad to see Geroge Huff leave. He's a lousy pop star for today. But did you hear the way he sang Otis Redding, and "Me and Mrs. Jones?" That guy is going places.. even if they're places Motown went 30 years ago. And us old curmudgeons who hate the pop scene will appreciate it when he does.
( P. S. The final two should have been Fantasia and LaToya in my opinion. And I would have voted for LaToya.)
Your answer to bootless hit the nail right on the head. Couldn't agree with you more. LOVED George Huff and don't think we've heard the last of him either.
Ha! A Freeper of uncommon discernment! :-)
I loved George's Dock of the Bay. I rewound that performance several times, too. He has that sparkle, and really throws himself into his song. Didn't see Me & Mrs. (Mrs.) Jones. (grin - can't forget the original, but it looks like it's on tonight.)
I did have high hopes for Matthew Metzger, who looks like Vaughn on Alias and has a really nice smile. When he sang Walking in Memphis, there were glimmers of what he could do, but he's just not there yet.
BTW, I did see the AI2 cast tour as well, and my gosh, what a difference in command and presence that Clay has achieved between the two tours! I agree about his album ... there are a couple of songs on it I really like, but I am pretty sensitive to how the audio tracks are mixed. So often, the music bed is pulled up front, and it's hard to get the singer's voice through. This happened to Clay's CD. I do like Invisible, Measure of a Man, and the single he sang on the AI2 finals. If he could get a decently mixed CD, I would be a happy gal! Looking forward to hearing Solitaire - THAT was rewound a lot after Neil Sedaka night. But he just seems like a nice, decent guy. After years of thug rappers, it is so refreshing.
Do you remember the night when the AI2 kids sang "Proud to Be an American"? They had tears in their eyes. So did I.
I really appreciate singers who take that leap of faith in their performances. I missed Fantasia's original Summertime, which I'm sorry about. Sounds like that performance was one of the really rare ones. LaToya's performance on Gloria Estafan night was quite good, although the lighting crew should be fired for shooting that white light in our eyes.
:-) I will be in line to buy George Huff's CD the first day it comes out. I don't know about Fantasia ... I was never a real Macy Gray fan, although I appreciate her talent. I just don't know if I could hear that style numerous times ... it's just me.
But George's smile and enthusiasm and gratefulness for making it back in just won me over.
Did you notice that there were people who tried to recreate the Clay Effect, first with that guy from Henderson, NV (I was shocked that he didn't make the cut), and then JPL and John Stevens. Then there was that guy with the sideburns who was actively gunning for the Clay vote. You can't force that - it just IS.
My mother ran into the den wondering who that was singing *LOL* She kept screaming at me to vote for him hehehe.
I voted for George right up to the bitter end...lol. I'd buy his CD's but doubt I'll buy any others. I'm more "Classic Country"...lol.
Actually, LaToya's biggest flaw might have been peaking too soon.
I think it was the very first night of the final twelve. Pretty much every performance had been either awful or dull, and the judges were in a generally foul mood, with Randy occasionally outdoing Simon for bluntness. Latoya was either the last or next-to-last performance out of twelve. She started her performance, and I remember grabbing my wife's arm and telling her to watch this. Something really good was happening.
She sang "All By Myself" and brought the house down.
I don't think she ever matched the emotional power - the way she gripped the audience by the throat - the way she did that night ever again. Even though she probably gave better technical performances a couple of times.
>>LaToya peaking too soon<<
I think you nailed it. She's a local girl, from Oakland. However, there was some Oakland insanity when she left the competition. But I'll leave that for another night. It was just nuts. LaToya, thank goodness, was a grownup about it.
Not only did I vote for George but my grandson Obadiah age 3 voted for him too. Had his unworkable cell phone right handy to text vote. Then he would have to call me to see if I voted for George too. This is with his parents voting for 2 different people also but there was no changing his mind.....lol.
Oh no! Ruben is singing that stupid song about 2003. It is fit only for 12 year olds (you'll never guess who loves it!)
LaToya was total class from beginning to end. She should have won, hands down. Talent, beauty, brains and class. What more could you want?
Probably Obadiah........lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.