American Idol 2006--Live Thread (Part II)

FOX ^ | 3-25-06

[silent_jonny]

still for Tammy

[misterrob]

None of the contestants have had a "Wow" moment unless you want to amend that to, "Wow, that really sucked" or "Wow, look at McPhee's.......".

The only two performers who have shown any growth in the last few weeks are Chris and Elliott. Chris has shown that he need not do power tunes and that he can bring it a bit softer and most women I talk to simply find him to be the sexy man that Ace could only aspire to. Love songs and classics are not his forte but he's handled them as good as could be. When he's out on the real world he can certainly throw the audience a change up and it will work.

Elliott has come the furthest overall in both appearance and performance. He is going to appeal more to women then men but so what? He's had to learn everything on the fly and he's proving himself to be a player here. He has outsung Taylor throughout this competition but likely won't beat him. I don't think he expects to either but people at home have seen that man grow into something with great upside.

I also had to say in listening to Paris last night that she is simply too far ahead of her time. She can handle classics better than Pickler or McPhee, she can do power notes, softer stuff and really, she is going to be amazing when she grows up. SHE'S 17 YEARS OLD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

[misterrob]

Good write up!!

[over3Owithabrain]

Taylor was once again forced to change songs 2 days ago, allegedly according to what his dad said in an interview in Birmingham. This seems to be the norm for AI with him. Last night was simply "Bring Chris back from the bottom 2 night". No offense to Daughtry, as he sang a crappy song well, but AI is shameless this year in their rigging of their desired result.

I haven't had time to rewatch/relisten to the performances, but off the cuff - Kat, Paris and Taylor were better than the judges said. Pickle bit, and Elliot was very good. But the night was all about Chris, right Simon?

[over3Owithabrain]

Agreed - right now, Paris Bennett has more talent than she knows what to do with. But she is still way better than the other two lasses, and it will be a shame if she gets thrown off the bus tonight instead of Kellie "substitute porn for pone and you have Paris Hilton" Pickler.

[Veto!]

It sure doesn't hurt that the makeover people have done a very good job with him. I think of all this year's contestants, Elliott is the one I most want to have a viable career when this season is over.

Yes, I'm for Elliot too. The makeover folks need to get him some laminates for his teeth pronto. While watching AI last night, I flipped back and forth to America's Next Top Model, where they took care of one of the contestant's teeth literally overnight. Big difference. Probably less than $10k. Hopefully, Elliot will have the bucks to improve his teeth very soon.

[Wolfstar]

Good write up!!

Thanks, misterrob. My boss has his own band on the side (they play mostly weekend gigs for fun), and he knows a lot about the business. He and I were talking today about production values and the importance of music producers. He likes country music, so I asked him who his favorite country performer is. He said Shania Twain, but because of how well her material is produced. He said her husband is one of the best producers in the business. I hope the AI contestants realize how fortunate they were to be coached for awhile by those particular celebs for last night's show.

[Paddlefish]

Fun with Paula and Ryan ongoing and making news the last couple of days. Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul's Feud Heats Up

[Wyatt's Torch]

Caveat: I'm a Chris (and Taylor) fan.

That being said, the pimping of Chris is dang obvious. This is the 3rd time he's gottent he pimp spot. Only Taylor and Kellie have not had it. My belief is that Kellie will be in the bottom 3 tonight (thus the "shock" of the week) and will be in the pimp spot next week. Same playbook as for Chris after he was in the botom 3 last week. They are pushing for a Chris, Kellie, Katharine, Taylor final 4...

[over3Owithabrain]

They also give Chris the most favorable lighting, sound, staging, recap sequence, etc. Also, they plastered his mug on the big screen for quite a while behind all the players during the "farewell" shot last night. My guess is they panicked after he finished next-to-last and wanted to make sure no one forgot to vote for him last night. Frankly, he is good enough without their pimping to be in the final 3 or 4 at the very least. But it is not fair to the others to have their songs changed constantly, bad lighting, never singing last, etc.

Kellie should go tonight, we'll see...

[misterrob]

"Mutt" Lange

AC/DC
Def Leopard
Foreigner
The Cars
Billy Ocean
Bryan Adams
Celine
Backstreet Boys
Brittney Spears
Shania

The man has a golden touch.....

[Wolfstar]

The man has a golden touch.....

Yes, he sure does. Given the very small clips we're shown of the contestants' time with the celeb coaches, we really can't know what the coaches think of them. We know the coaches are probably obliged to say something nice about each contestant just to keep it fair, but people of Foster and Bocelli's caliber certainly know who is and is not the real deal. What strikes me is how many of the celeb coaches seem to think Paris is the best of the group. Sometimes I wonder what they get to hear when the contestants are more relaxed that we don't when they're on stage and nervous.

[Netizen]

Paris: Listening to her last night, it occurred to me for the first time that the girl's speaking voice DOES interfere with her singing voice. No question about it, Paris has talent. She has zero charisma, as I've said before, but part of that may be due to her young age. If I could give Paris some advice it would be to not sing another note after this contest and the summer tour until she first acquires the services of a top-notch speaking voice coach. The speaking voice can be modulated and improved, particularly in someone so young. I think that would also improve her singing voice. Why? It occurred to me that when she sings, Paris sounds more than a little like a boy going through the voice change.

You make an excellent observation here. I'm surprised that her mother and or grandmother haven't come to the realization. The sooner she gets rid of that squeaky high pitched speaking voice the better. It isn't 'cute' it's annoying and as a young adult she will be better served getting rid of it.

Taylor: Although I started out the season not liking him at all, I really do like him now. Unfortunately, although I don't think that was a terrible performance, he simply is not stepping up his game. I'm beginning to think he can't step it up, and that we're seeing his limitations. I can't quite put my finger on what's missing from his performances, though. Last night my strongest impression was that he's coasting. Choosing relatively easy material and relying on a relatively big finish to his songs to keep him in the competition. But I don't know if I've got it right.

I like him, but last night I hated his performance. To me it looked like his Country Roads performance. Like he was not enjoying the song and like he was uncomfortable with the song for any number of reasons. Recall the coach saying he was pulling for him to hit the note? Well, why sing a song that you just have such a hard time with the notes on? To me, that song just didn't seem like a song that he would normally do. There must have been so many other songs that he could have done instead. To me, last night was his worst, I'd rather he traded songs with Paris!

I also agree with you regarding Katharine. She tries to hard to hit the big notes and when she does try, they miss and sound forced and rough to me.

I hope Taylor gets back on his game for next week though, because this week sucked, in my opinion, and I know its a subjective thing as I have read on otehr forums that some people thought it was his best yet. Glad someone liked it, but I sure didn't. :)

[EmilyGeiger]

I agree. Good analysis of the show. :)

How have you been? Good I hope. See you later.

[Netizen]

He has outsung Taylor throughout this competition

In your opinion... :)

[EmilyGeiger]

:) I agree. I love all your posts by the way.

[Netizen]

Taylor was once again forced to change songs 2 days ago, allegedly according to what his dad said in an interview in Birmingham.

That would certainly explain A LOT! Is that how they figure to sabotage him?

[EmilyGeiger]

I wonder if the song selections are so limited it's hard for some to find songs to suit them? Taylor seems to have that problem every so often. Maybe he just sings the ones he's more familiar with that he can choose from. Not sure, but you're right last night was very blah. Elliot's performance was the only one I enjoyed.

[misterrob]

On a technical basis Elliott is a superior singer. He is a babe in the woods compared to Taylor on stage performance ability. Taylor has also picked easier songs to sing with less vocal challenge which also helps.

[misterrob]

She has so much upside it's scary. If you think of classic American singers, think about them when they first started as kids and there you have Paris.

Her "problem" is that she sings oldies better than contemporary stuff (same as McPhee actually) which makes it hard for her to have a fan base. Young people cannot relate to her and she's sort of cute for older people.

If she had entered the competition in say 5-6 years from now Paris would likely place in the finals.

[Wolfstar]

Hi Netizen, thanks for your reply and commentary. I don't quite know what to make of Taylor anymore.