Posted on 03/15/2005 5:53:32 AM PST by silent_jonny
Ahhhh...didn't know that
Nothing modern? That explains it. I'm also surprised that no one did "Summertime, and the Living is Easy" since it could be turned into a real R&B spectacular.
So, Fantasia is introduced and...[drum roll please]...out comes a headless body! I think the body is singing, but am too fascinated by the sight of a headless body walking, that I don't really notice. Then the director switches shots and I discover that the headless body is none other than Fantasia -- a much heavier Fantasia stuffed into tight clothes and high boots.
I'm still mulling over her weight gain and wondering who messed up the opening of her act. Did she miss her marks? Or did someone screw up the intensity and/or placement of the lights behind her? In the meantime, she finally comes all the way out of the lights and is making noise.
Now Fantasia is into her typical schtick -- shoulders shaking up and down (not in time to the musical beat, but whatever), hopping up and down (harder to do with boots and extra weight, but good exercise), and bending at the hips like she has cramps or something.
The noise coming out of her mouth reinforces my thought that she must have cramps, because she's screeching and growling, hopping and spinning. While she turns her back to the audience, I notice her undies are showing, which just proves she's really into the latest fashions. This move made me lose my train of thought again.
My mind wandered to thoughts of the old vaudeville shows, where they would literally give the hook to a performer in such obvious distress. Heck, back then audiences, expecting to be entertained rather than screeched at, would have booed, hissed, and thrown rotten tomatoes at the stage. Sigh. Some things about the old days really were good.
But my mind snapped back to the present as Fantasia caterwauled her way to her -- dare I say it? -- climax. And, as is to be expected from modern-day audiences who wildly applaud any face they see on TV these days, everyone in the theater goes nuts. Fantasia is out of breath. And Ryan Seacrest breathlessly gushes, "Fantasia! That was fantastic!"
In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out if whatever Fantasia was bellowing had any lyrics. Not a single word penetrated my brain, although I'm sure I'll remember the headless body thing forever.
So, there I am, catching my own breath, settling back into my pillows and thinking great, that's it for Fantasia. But instead, this paragon of musicality is asked to give this year's contestants some advice. Well, I've got to hand it to the girl. She reaches real deep into her soul and comes up with...[another drum roll please]..."Act ugly."
OOOO-kay. I'm too tired to wrap my mind around that one, so I go get a bottle of water. I return to the TV hopelessly depressed because I'm so out of touch with what so many of my fellow Americans obviously think is a superb musical performance. But as it turns out, all is well, because AI is ready to give the bum's rush to this week's bottom three. Fantasia (and commercials) took up so much of the half-hour, that the bottom three are hustled on and off so quick there was no room for the usual dose of weekly tears and false sorrow from the safe contestants.
Vonzell, you're safe. Scott, you're safe. Nikko, you're outta here. And backstage, they are loosening Fantasia's corsets so she can breathe again.
Clay has the voice to do almost any Broadway musical.
I had an inelegant thought about Fantasia last evening when the background behind her spelled out her name in a split fashion: FANT on one side, ASIA on the other. It was a trick of the mind, but I read it as FAT A**.
I haven't see Clay act, yet. If he were coached by a top-notch acting teacher, he might do very well.
I'm not sure it's due to the advice of anyone. Even during the contest last year, Fantasia showed she was pretty stubborn about sticking with her own sense of style and performance.
For as much as I dislike Fantasia, I don't think anyone wanted the comparison, as she nailed that one last year.
I'm not. I see her has the dark horse to win it all. Not likely, but possible.
LOL! A very appropriate trick of the mind.
She's certainly my outside contender right now. I think with her talent, if she can just show consistency and improvement, she could go very far. She's probably the best candidate for a "pop" star out of the whole lot of them, the others are all better suited for other genres.
Yes, I think you're right about that. Of the eight left standing, the ones most likely to make it to the top 4 are Carrie, Bo, Constantine, and Vonzell. I don't know why she was in the bottom three this week, except perhaps that she and Nadia are splitting the same slice of the audience.
I think Vonzelle's problem this is week is that she chose such a difficult song, that many of the voting-age audience did not give her enough credit for how well she did it. I can't say that I have any liking for Streisand, but in her younger days, the gal could sing some seriously difficult stuff, and do it well. I just think it was too big of a chunk to chew off for only 6 days prep time.
Oh...that was wicked good on Fantasia.
She bent and crouched as if she were severely constipated.
Those who defend her try to say that she was singing gospel music. Here's a typical example, copied verbatim -- bad spelling, all upper case "shouting," and all -- from one of the discussions.
------------
From: blackkat21 11:34 am
To: ALL 1 of 295
Message # 402303.1
I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN FANTASIA TO SOME PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE HER FOR SOME REASON OR ANOTHER. FANTASIA'S BACKGROUD IS GOSPEL. IF YOU HAVE EVERY BEEN TO A BLACK CHURCH YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF "GET UGLY".......ALL THE GREAT GOSPEL PERFORMERS (THE CLARK SISTERS, TWINKIE, JACKIE, DORINA, AND KAREN, YOLANDA ADAMS, KIM BURRELL, SHAUN PACE) GET UGLY AND ARE JUST LIKE FANTASIA .....IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HER MUSIC THEN DON'T BUY IT OR LISTEN TO IT. WE LOVE FANTASIA IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND LOVES HOW SHE WORKS THE STAGE...SHE TAKES US TO CHURCH EVERYTIME NO MATTER WHAT SHE SINGS. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN PATTI LABELLE PERFORM (NOW THAT A SHOW) AND FANTASIA REMINDS ME SO MUCH OF HER. MARY J BLIGE IS ANOTHER GREAT PERFORMER.....WE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY CAN APPRECIATE RAW EMOTION ON STAGE......AND IF YOU DON'T GET IT....THEN THAT'S YOU .....SO PLEASE STOP HATING AND DISRESPECTING OUR MUSIC........WE DON'T SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE SO BORING AND UNEXCITING....AND LOOK LIKE A STEPFORD WIFE
------------
The, ummm "STEPFORD WIFE" referred to in this poster's parting shot is, of course, Carrie.
It was a pleasure to read—and worth the wait :)
out comes a headless body!
Wasn’t that odd??? You’d think they would’ve adjusted the lights during rehearsal, if they even had a rehearsal. Judging by Fantasia’s performance, I kinda doubt it.
Now Fantasia is into her typical schtick -- shoulders shaking up and down (not in time to the musical beat, but whatever),
LOL!
hopping up and down (harder to do with boots and extra weight, but good exercise), and bending at the hips like she has cramps or something.
ROFL!
While she turns her back to the audience, I notice her undies are showing, which just proves she's really into the latest fashions.
Normally, I’m all for seeing undies, but not in this case :o
My mind wandered to thoughts of the old vaudeville shows, where they would literally give the hook to a performer in such obvious distress. Heck, back then audiences, expecting to be entertained rather than screeched at, would have booed, hissed, and thrown rotten tomatoes at the stage
Sadly, screeching apparently is what passes for singing these days. I mentioned this last night, but don’t you think it’s strange that she sang a song that’s nearly a year old? Other returning contestants have taken this “homecoming” opportunity to premier a NEW single—in fact, all of them have done this, even poor Justin Guarini. But not Fantasia. Makes me wonder if her CD is so horrible that they had no choice but to dig up “I believe” and hope she could repeat her excellent post-victory performance from last season. Pffft, not even close.
And Ryan Seacrest breathlessly gushes, "Fantasia! That was fantastic!"
Well, it’s not like he could say, “Fantasia! That sucked!” :)
She reaches real deep into her soul and comes up with...[another drum roll please]..."Act ugly."
We have to give her credit there—she practices what she preaches. My advice to Fantasia, however, would be to hold on to all your money, because if you keep singing (screeching) like that the paying gigs are going to dry up—fast. Next thing you know you’ll be guest starring on some half-ass sitcom like “Life On A Stick”.
I return to the TV hopelessly depressed because I'm so out of touch with what so many of my fellow Americans obviously think is a superb musical performance.
If it’s any consolation, nobody on this thread thought it was good. And I seriously doubt that Fantasia has actually sold a “million” CDs. I bet that AI bought most of them in bulk just to boost record sales. They’re probably sitting in a warehouse somewhere right now, collecting dust.
Excellent (and hysterical) summary, Wolfstar. You’ve earned a Paula Abdul standing-O!!!
Check out my response to Palladin and TonyWpi in 2,176. It will illustrate for you exactly who is buying Fantasia's stuff. Although her album did hit the top 15 or so on the Billboard 200 chart, it pretty much dropped like a rock afterwards. She is about 40th this week and still falling. Her sales are a paltry 24,104 this week (it helps to remember that we are a nation of around 300,000,000 people). However, she has been holding steady in the lower half of the top 10 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
To give you a point of comparison, Kelly Clarkson's 2nd album is still going strong, 18 weeks after its debut. There were five new releases this week, which pushed Kelly down to #12. Even so, her album sold over 48,485 for the week and is already on it's way to triple platinum. Two singles from the album are already double platinum, and Billboard has already projected her third single from it to be another top 10 hit.
As I've mentioned before, so-called black urban music (R&B, rap, Hip-Hop, etc.) is the hotest genre out there right now. So Fantasia has the luxury of running with the popular tide, while as a pop/light rock artist, Kelly is fighting against it.
I lurk on a few music boards (rarely, if ever post on them). Nowhere have I come across any info about when Fantasia will be doing a second album. I think they've released all the songs on her first CD that could be marketed as singles. Even so, most people have not heard her modest hits from her album, "Baby Mamma" and "Truth Is," so I thought she might do one of them. Maybe AI management didn't think they had enough cross-over appeal outside R&B/Hip-Hop.
Unfortunately, Carrie's still underdeveloped stage craft is the one thing that hurts her in this competition. Complaints like the example I posted are common among those who favor other contestants this year. Personally, I like the charm and simplicity of her performances -- and yes, Simon, I even like Carrie's somewhat old-fashioned quality.
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.