American Idol 2006--Live Thread I

FOX ^ | 1-16-06

[silent_jonny]

for Tammy

[Collier]

That's so funny that you said that. Hubby and I have been singing that song all week too.

We even commented on why was that awful song stuck in our heads.

:)

[Senator Goldwater]

McPhee did a forgettable number, but she still charms the hell out of me. Same with Pickler.

McGhee surprised me tonight. The Reba song, the outfit, the hair, the delivery was first rate. She made an impression tonight.

Ayla continues to hang in there, and I liked Lisa Tucker tonight based on song selection. Mandisa brought it again, and will stick around. Paris is too full of herself and completely oversings everything. Poor song choice, too.

Heather and Brenna will go. Heather doesn't have an ounce of ability, and Brenna is in way over her head. Both were trainwrecks.

Kinnick is on life support, but she stays because American is dying to blow Brenna off the stage and Heather just doesn't belong.

[FreedomForce]

Thought this week's show was less entertaining than last week's.

Katherine--Big letdown. My favorite voice but that performance wasn't very good. Hope she rebounds next week.

Lisa--Solid but not as impressive as last week.

Ayla--Continues to surprise me. I didn't expect much from her before last week's show, but she surprised me then, too.

Paris--Trying to sing beyond her range. Didn't like that performance nearly as well as her previous one.

Kinnik--Big mistake with that song.

Melissa--Better than last week but still mediocre.

Brenna--This week's "Copacabana". Bye, bye.

Heather--Sang a bit better than last week but still not good enough. I'd vote her off along with Brenna.

Kellie--Must be better in person than what's coming through on television. I'd give her one more week to see if I can figure out what I'm missing.

Mandisa--Best of the night.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Hi, y'all! Time for the West Coast wrapup:

Most Desperately Need to be Voted Off the Island:

Heather Cleavage. What a pageant singer (and I mean that in the worst possible way). I turned and said that to my husband -- and then Simon echoed me and called her a pageant singer, too. What can I say? Great minds think alike! /smirk

Brenna. I wanted to like her; thought she looked cute tonight and that disco just might be her thing. But her singing was just plain dull. I think this girl's strength is in her "personality" (if you like that sort of thing - obviously, opinions vary!). She needs to forget about singing, and either get herself a talk show or see if she can get a gig as the Resident Evil Vixen in some soap. Singing is just not gonna do it for her (even if VFTW does manage to keep her going for a while).

Ho-Hum:

McPhee. What a McWaste of air time. She sings, she smiles, she wears hideous blouses (my husband wanted to know if she was pregnant), but does she have a beating heart and a pulse? I'm betting no.

Li'l Lisa. I continue to fail to understand the judges' fawning adoration of this young lady. She has lots of *incipient* talent, but she is so sweet and goody-goody that I find her completely boring as a performer. (Please note that I have nothing against sweetness. Carrie was sweet, but not boring.)

Kinnick. Oh, honey ... that just didn't do it for anybody. Wrong, wrong song. I'm not sure if there IS a right song for her, but that certainly wasn't it. Still, Kinnick belongs in Ho-Hum because it was *not* one of the two worst performances tonight.

Gherkin. Just not doing it for me. Being biologically immune to her feminine wiles, I continue to see her as just another bleach-blonde aspirant. Reminded me of a Six Flags performer.

Surprisingly Decent Performances:

Melissa. Lookin' good, kiddo! Also, I like the throaty quality of her voice, and she certainly was "selling it" tonight. Needs to find better songs. Voted for her.

Ayla. Despite the fact that I look around for her cave lion whenever she comes on, I did enjoy her performance. She *has* the voice; what she needs is (a) confidence and (b) to cut loose, both physically and in her approach to her songs. Her approach is not so much tentative as overly controlled. *If* she can loosen up, she may get close to the prize. Voted for her.

Paris. Wrong song. SERIOUSLY wrong look. (Actually, I'm not sure there is a right look for Paris. She is somewhat challenged in the looks dept.) But this is the first performance of hers that I've really enjoyed. It had a majestic quality that was very impressive. I actually preferred her rendition to Bette Midler's. I like much of Bette's other work, but she sounds whiney in that particular song. Paris did not make that mistake.

And in the Wowee! category:

Mandisa. Simon was right; her look was old-fashioned. But her delivery of this hypnotic waltz was spot-on, despite a couple of sharp notes. This woman can SING! And nobody else in the competition has made me say that yet. (My husband, who normally won't give AI a second look, played her performance over again several times. Pretty amazing, coming from him!) Voted for her.

At this time, I think the talent pool is deeper in the guys' dept. than in the gals'. Tomorrow will show more. On with the games! :)

[ken5050]

Very nice job on the summary..thanks..

[ken5050]

If Kinnick survives another round, they are going to have to give her a gene test..I swear she (?) is carrying around a Y chromosome..

If anyone has ever been to a cabaret with female impersonators...I've seen it twice in my lifetime..well she (?) looks like she belongs...She (?) may indeed be the whole, ahem...."package"..but NOT for AI..

[SunnyUsa]

Madinsa was the only one my daughter and I voted for last night.

I think the girls are not that impressive, but I'll give them a few more weeks.

[SunnyUsa]

February 28, 2006 They are working to keep her on the show VFTW:

Brenna's number: 1-866-IDOLS-06. Brenna did not disappoint this week and we got to see her hilarious rendition of "Last Dance". Come on, folks, this is classic stuff, so vote for her to stick around. You'll miss her when she's gone, and none of these wannabes are really all that good anyway. You might as well support our Queen Brenna, the only fun person in the top 10 girls! So help her vote, because we need to make sure that was not her "Last Dance". Use 4 phones if necessary!

[EmilyGeiger]

Yes it was Heather! Sorry. Anyway I hope her and BRenna leave this week.

Hate to say it but I don't remember Melissa's performance. I hope one of the guys wins this year. The ones I liked last week I still remember their performances.

[EmilyGeiger]

I didn't really like any of the girls. Mandisa was the only one and to be honest the song stunk. it was not right for her at all.

[kevkrom]

Ok... as of right now, I have 8 girls fighting for 6 spots, with only two that should obviously be cut. The overall rankings will shuffle around a bit, but I'd have to say that the first girl to put the entire "package" together (and a few are close) will be the one to win the competition this year.

Before proceeding, I'd like to channel Paula for a minute... all of you girls are "stars", every last one of you... I love you all, and you're all my favorites.

(((Shudder))) Whoa... that was unpleasant. Serious advice for the ladies (and the guys should take this to heart, too) -- stop choosing songs because you like them, or that it's your mother's/grandmother's/aunt's/cat's/goldfish's/etc. favorite song. Pick something that will showcase you -- you are trying to sell yourself to the audience, and if you forget to do that (and yes, I'm talking to you, Katherine), you may find yourself bounced from the competition no matter how good your voice is.

As for last night:

1. Ayla - What makes singers like Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and the like stand out isn't just the big voice and powerful big notes. It's smoothness and consistency from low notes to high notes and from soft to loud -- the voice has the same tone and control all the way through. Ayla has that, as demonstrated last night. She needs the stylists to help her find a way to translate her athletic good looks into a good "stage" look, and there's a wobble in her face when she sings that's slightly off-putting, but these are nit-picks. My Grade: A
2. Mandisa - Another interesting song choice, and another good performance of it. My biggest question is whether or not she has more than one speed -- when she's not in the "belting" zone for the entire song, what are we going to hear? The weakest part for her was the opening, which was the only thing not done at a full tilt... My Grade: A-
3. Melissa - This performance makes it an 8-girl race rather than the 7 I had been thinking. She was the first girl of the night to have chosen a good song, and she nailed it. Her stage movements were a little stilted, but this was clearly a "welcome to the competition" performance. My Grade: B+
4. Gherkin (er, Kellie) - This was a much better vocal than last week. The middle section suffered from lack of energy (perhaps saving it for the end?), but in a night of a lot of "ok" performances, this was good enough for high marks. My Grade: B
5. Paris - Kind of the opposite problems from last week's over-the-top performance, this time she seemed to rehearsed and mechanical. Nice, big voice, but too much vibrato -- it seems to harm the diction. This had the potential of being as good or better than the original, which is why I'm so disappointed in the actual result. My Grade: B
6. Lisa - Some pitch issues, not keen on the song choice. Reasonably good showmanship, but just a little too much, too forced. Maybe it's the musical theater background or her youth. Simon clearly likes her, and that will help her out greatly. My Grade: B-
7. Kinnik - Everything sounded pleasant and looked good, but my real problem is that I thought she was swallowed up by the background vocals. It sounded to me more like an ensemble number and not so much of a solo, i.e., where was the "Kinnik" in the performance? My Grade: B -
8. Katherine - She's really starting to disappoint me... one of the best voices, if not the best voice, in the competition, she mailed this one in. No emotional resonance, weak opening, dull, poor song choice. Even the choice of outfit didn't work (made her look 7 months pregnant). My Grade: C+
9. Heather - Ambitious choice; from that standpoint she did what she needed to do, but even with a much improved eprfromance from last week, it's just not good enough. The long note was too much, it broke on the end. The attitude stinks as well. My Grade: C
10. Brenna - Completely flat again, though not as bad as last week. Her lower register is crap. A pretty good stage performance, and her interview segment made her seem almost human, but this should be the end of the line.

Overall rankings (+/- numbers do not include "free passes" for eliminated contestants):

1. Lisa Tucker (NC)
2. Ayla Brown (+2)
3. Mandisa (+2)
4. Paris Bennett (-2)
5. Katherine McPhee (-2)
6. Melissa McGhee (+2)
7. Kellie Pickler (NC)
8. Kinnik Sky (-2)
9. Heather Cox (NC)
10. Brenna Gethers (NC)

If the voters get it right, it's Heather and Brenna leaving this week. A possible "shocker" would be Katherine after that "blah" performance.

[kevkrom]

Kellie and McPhee sharing a room ... I'm having naughty thoughts! :)

I think I saw that video at a frat party in my undergrad days...

[kevkrom]

I once bought a whole chicken and a door knob at the same time.

Remind me to not ask you for recipes.

[silent_jonny]

My ear happened to catch Seacrest going to commercial at one point and just before the break he said something like "next...Paris." Talking about trying to clue the audience in that THIS IS ONE TO VOTE FOR. Sheesh!

Yeah, it's a little obvious, isn't it? :)

(The Gherkin) Simon blabbed on about how cute she is, but told the near truth about the performance. He said if he just heard it without seeing her, he would said it wasn't the best vocal.

I thought she was better than last week. Her worst performance was after the song, IMO--her Ellie May Clampett schtick. Blech!

[silent_jonny]

McGhee surprised me tonight. The Reba song, the outfit, the hair, the delivery was first rate. She made an impression tonight.

I agree! She was the best of 'em last night. And I like her voice too.

[silent_jonny]

Katherine--Big letdown. My favorite voice but that performance wasn't very good. Hope she rebounds next week.

Maybe it was nerves. But I thinks she'll be okay this week--anybody's better than Brenna :o

Brenna--This week's "Copacabana". Bye, bye.

Exactly!

[silent_jonny]

Hi, Hetty :)

Brenna ... I think this girl's strength is in her "personality" (if you like that sort of thing - obviously, opinions vary!).

Not when it comes to Brenna! :)

McPhee. What a McWaste of air time.

ROFL!!!

[silent_jonny]

Kinnick ... I swear she (?) is carrying around a Y chromosome..

Every time she's on, I check for an Adam's apple :)

[silent_jonny]

Hate to say it but I don't remember Melissa's performance.

Really? She was the only one that stood out to me--in a good way :) She surprised me.

[freedumb2003]

Doug, you are so gifted -- and a gift to FR!