American Idol 2006--Live Thread I

FOX ^ | 1-16-06

[silent_jonny]

for Tammy

[ken5050]

AP has a story that Becky and her twin did a photo-spread a few years back for Maxim.com..no nudity, just wet t-shirts..they are supposedly on the web..your assignment..for tonight..

[EmilyGeiger]

Yep Chris did the best, then Elliot, then Taylor. Based on the performances I hope one of them wins the whole thing.

[EmilyGeiger]

Elliot sounded just like STevie Wonder. He was really good.

[Wyatt's Torch]

My non-professional, music loving opinion of last nights "guys" show:

The Best: Ace, Chris, Taylor, and Will (alpha order)

Ace - he has a decent voice and the "look" the teeny-boppers who run the show are looking for. Is he the "best singer/performer"? Hell no not even remotely close. But this is NOT a singing show. It's a marketing show. The song choice was a good one for him as it matched his voice and the song is androgenous enough to get by with despite the original singer.

Chris - Spot on performance of that song (one of my favorites from the 80's). Brilliant. Strong, soulful, rocky voice. Song selection will be key for him. He could be this years Bo.

Taylor - I just love listening and watching him perform. I truly enjoy watching people do what they were born to do and he was born to be in music. It's in his soul. Period. I hope he goes far enough to get something out of it but not too far so that he wins and has to put out the crap records/songs that 19 wants (see Bo Bice's record as exhibit A - dreadfully formulaic)

Will - simply a pure voice. He's a singer. Period. He'll be around for a while.

Not quite ready for prime time:Bucky, Elliot, Sway

Bucky - good lord I wanted to like him. Simple Man from Skynyrd is just a classic that, if done well, could have propelled him to the front. But it wasn't strong enough. Ronnie Van Zandt's vocals on the original are just so strong that Bucky fell way short. Too much growling and not enough singing.

Elliot - Song coice will be key for him. He does have a smooth voice but it has to be the right song. He could be good...

Sway - he's a very good, very contemporary entertainer. He butchered that song last night and I have no idea what Randy and Paula heard. The falsetto was simply horrid in some (most?) places. Might have been my crystal clear Dolby Digital surround sound though...:-) He can be good if he sings properly. He can perform.

Not good enough: Bobby, David, Gedeon, Kevin, Patrick

Bobby - big goofball who just can't sing. Not even fun to watch.

David - I wanted to like him. Love young folks who are into the old standard singers. But he's not ready. And he knows it. He has no confidence and it showed. I felt sorry for him as it looked like he wanted to cry. A few more years and he'll be okay.

Gedeon - something about him bugs me. Good performer but I just don't like his voice and style. And that was a weird, weird song choice. It's "fun" but does nothing to show any vocal ability.

Kevin - He's Josh Groban without the looks and voice. He's poised but his voice is not mature enough. See you in 5 years...

Patrick - probably the best of this group but just a cut below the others. He might get better, and off the list, if he sticks around. He just needs to be himself.

Predictions - I think Bobby, David, Brenna and Stevie go home tonight.

I think the final 12 will be:

Guys - Ace, Chris, Elliot, Sway, Taylor, and Will

Girls - Ayla, Katherine, Kellie, Lisa, Mandisa, and Paris

Early Finals Prediction - Ace and Katherine.

[SunnyUsa]

And Paula all but said that he would get the gay vote (((shudder)))

yea! (shudder) is right!

I thought that was a gross comment by her and maybe their (AI's) attempt to show they're not homophobes (lol) ugh...

He's doomed if that's the intention

[maggief]

"AP has a story that Becky and her twin did a photo-spread a few years back for Maxim.com..no nudity, just wet t-shirts..they are supposedly on the web. ..."

Here ya go. :)

http://www.maximonline.com/maximtv/497/TwinstoWin.video

[Netizen]

Glad you started an AI thread.

Very sorry to hear of Tammy's passing.

[Netizen]

I think your assessment is pretty accurate. I missed the ladies, so can't really comment on them, but did see the guys and I think Bobby will go and possibly Kevin.

[kevkrom]

After last night, I feel safer reiterating my comments that the girls are stronger than the guys. They're certainly a deeper bunch -- I think we may have the opposite case from last year, where it should have been 8 guys/4 gals in the final 12... this year, it may be more like 4/8.

That said, there were some good performances, but they'll need to step it up to match the girls.

• Chris - Excellent song choice, and as a high compliment, it compared well with the original. While I'd like to see more versatility and subtlety in later performances, he did exactly what was required of him out of this song. Of course, he's got the "Bo Bice" microphone stand thing going on, but he's OK anyway. My Grade: A-
• Will - It's not so much that it was a great performance, as this was exactly what Will needed to do to show that he's not just a "crooner" -- this helped him clearly separate from David (and, as a mea culpa, I had the two of them reversed/confused in my initial rankings). He showed excellent control and had good command of the stage. I was thinking "Donny Osmond", though, and this was before Paula said "Bobby Brady", which probably fits better. My Grade: B+
• Gedeon - A very safe choice, and despite the energetic performance, he managed not to go "over the top" with it. (Becky: learn from the energy; Paris: learn from the control) An interesting arrangement of the song to manage to hit all of the varied sections in such a short time without feeling choppy. My Grade: B
• Patrick - I wasn't crazy about the song selection, especially the slowed tempo, but he did pretty good with it, especially after a shaky beginning. My grade: B
• Ace - The song choice did a great job featuring his "breathy" voice, and he showed good control. Honestly, I'm not as sold on Ace as everyone else, so I can say he was surprisingly good vocally, but I still thought that the performance was unconvincing. My Grade: B-
• Taylor - I liked the song choice to fit his style. Not his best vocal effort, but still OK. He's still somewhat painful to watch. My Grade: B-
• David - On the plus side, he went for something outside the "safe" zone. On the negative side, it sounded like a (bad) Vegas nightclub act. Too affected, too goofy. While he knows his "style", it was too much for this song. My Grade: C+
• Elliott - What the heck were the judges listening to? This version does not compare well with the original at all, and both the beginning and ending were pretty muddled. The middle, slower, section was spot-on, but the rest was pretty dull and average. My Grade: C
• Bucky - Interesting gravelly tone, but no control of range or pitch -- flat on the high notes, sharp on the low notes. Not a very good first impression. My Grade: C-
• Jose - Is he really doing the entire song in falsetto? Oh, wait, he drops into natural voice -- with a very jarring contrast -- for a grand total of about two bars. Bad choice, bad way to use the first live performance, I did not like this at all. My Grade: D+
• Bobby - He has a very unusual, old-school tone that I don't think will fit this competition. He was way over the top, and looked extremely goofy out on stage. As for song selection, I have to ask: even if he nailed it (and he didn't, by a long shot), would it have helped him? My Grade: D
• Kevin - Deer. Headlights. Do the math. The tremor in his voice, whether from nerves or not, made him hard to listen to. He had a hard time finding the pitch, "sliding" into a lot of the notes. He had to do much, much better than this at this stage. My Grade: F

Kevin may be saved from the pity factor, and "Sway" may have a dedicated voting block holding onto him for a while, so I'll tag Bucky and Bobby as the most likely to stop befouling our TVs.

Overall rankings for the guys after semifinal #1:

1. Ace Young (NC)
2. Will Makar (+2)
3. Patrick Hall (-1)
4. Chris Daughtry (+3)
5. Taylor Hicks (NC)
6. Gedeon McKinney (+3)
7. Elliott Yamin (-1)
8. David Radford (-5)
9. Bucky Covington (-1)
10. Jose Penala (NC)
11. Kevin Covais (NC)
12. Bobby Bennett (NC)

[Netizen]

Simon made one comment that made me cringe: telling #08 Gedeon that he hated his smile. The implication I read into it was, that big-lipped smile. I thought someone could read a racist implication to that comment.

I didn't get that impression at all. Matter of fact, I had just mentioned to my spouse that there was something about the guy's smile that didn't seem right.

[Netizen]

Taylor Hicks was awesome!

I agree and I liked the song he did. Could he have picked a better song? Probably, but I wanted to hear him do something i na different genre. And he did, and I liked it! :)

I also agree about Brenna. In my opinion she is this years Mikalah Gordon.

[ken5050]

Bless yer heart, darlin'...

[Wyatt's Torch]

In my opinion she is this years Mikalah Gordon.

Except without Mikalah's personality and voice....I cannot find a single redeeming characteristic of Brenna.

[Netizen]

Mikalah's voice grated on me. Couldn't stand listening to her sing or talk.

[ken5050]

Paraphrasing the classic line from the Mikado..."men come from miles away to touch my left tushee.."

[Always Right]

Chris, Taylor and Ace will be the only guys make it to the final eight. The guys will drop like flies once they start going against the girls. Ace is the only guy that has a decent chance at winning, although he is going to have to stop picking George Micheal songs.

[Always Right]

Mikalah's voice grated on me. Couldn't stand listening to her sing or talk.

She made the Nanny sound good.

[silent_jonny]

Hi, Net! Haven't seen you in a long time. Good to have you back :)

[Netizen]

Bobby Bennett: Okay, he was channeling Jimmy Durante AND Jackie Gleason at the same time, which made for some rough going! But he made me laugh with him, not at him. Fun number, despite the numerous and obvious drawbacks. I'd like to cast this guy as the singing nightclub comic in some b&w film noir.

I just had to comment on this because I though of Jackie Gleason, while watching him, too!

[silent_jonny]

Matter of fact, I had just mentioned to my spouse that there was something about the guy's smile that didn't seem right.

I agree. And he won't stop smiling!