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American Idol - Season 7 (1 Viewer)

ChristopherG

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Geniuinely irritating...I won't deny your opinion to find pleasure with Archie, but I hope you won't deny me my right to find him just creepy and "manufactured".
 

Bryan X

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Archie annoys me too. But hey, I find Brooke extremely genuine and she has taken a lot of flak in this thread for being fake.

The thing that bugs me about Archie is when he's not singing he just seems so out of place on the show. He has absolutely no presence. Watch his shoulders. They droop more than Dolly's boobs without a bra. He just doesn't carry himself with any confidence at all. He's going to have to mature and emotionally grow a lot if he wants to make a career out of entertaining.
 

Greg_S_H

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Heh. I don't think silicone droops.

Speaking of maturing, it's too bad Ramiele was on this season. If she had waited a few years and gotten some experience, she might have done better.
 

Phil Taylor

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I'd give KLC some TLC any time she wants - but she is much better looking with the long curly hair - like SMOKIN HOT. Straight hair not so much but still cute. And I like her eyebrows although they are FAR from her bust - err - I mean best ass-et. I agree that Kat McPhee was smokin hot no matter what.
 

Greg_S_H

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I prefer straight hair, but Kristy was at her best at audition in that red thing. And, I agree that it's a darn shame that Cardin was canned. I don't even need to know how well she sings. She's hot as fire. Really, unless she sounds like a foghorn, she *looks* like a star.
 

Aaron Silverman

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Frankly, I think Syesha is way more attractive than Kristy Lee. Kristy Lee is OK, but she's SOOOO whitebread. There's nothing particularly wrong with her, but nothing stands out either (in terms of attractiveness).

I agree that none of these girls are in Cardin Mckinney's league. Too bad.
 

Aaron Silverman

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You're not making sense. David covers a cover that very few people are familiar with and he's being safe, but Syesha covers a cover that EVERYBODY knows like the backs of their hands and she's taking a big risk? Unless you mean that she's risking more by doing something that everyone will be comparing to the "original" cover, but that doesn't seem to be what you're trying to say.
 

Patrick Sun

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I've listened to a few songs on Cardin's Myspace page, and she's got nice smokey smooth vocals (mostly in the lower registers, vocally), and I just don't think it would have translated well on AI, but if she cut an album with some good songs, I'd be willing to listen to the album.
 

Jeremiah

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I don't get all the hate for Cook, he never said it was his own arrangment, Seacrest said it was by CC before Cook played. It was just a damn good song choice for a singing competition, and he's doing the best he can to win it. That's all.

I think Syesha is better looking than KLC, maybe the best looking girl on the show(maybe Brooke is better).
 

Carl Miller

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What bitterness are you referring to? My goodness, I said I liked him, I said I gave him credit for doing it better than the other contestants could have. I've never called him a cheat, or suggested in any way that he shouldn't be allowed to do what he's doing.

Regarding Whitney's version of her song....everyone who does that song is compared to Whitney, and rarely is that comparison ever favorable. Even the judges have warned of taking on that song...this makes it risky and again, it would be less risky had Syesha had a *successful* cover of Whitney's song to use as a model for her own.

Aside from Dolly Parton's original version which I recall was a hit, who has done it with any success?

Regarding Cook's version of Billie Jean...Many people are familiar with Cornell's version. That cover first appeared on a boot recording of a Cornell acoustic concert back in 2006, and was so well received, it ended up on his 2007 album. Very few people are familiar with it? I'd say it's safe to suggest a couple of million people from all over the world are familiar with it.

Common logic dictates that if Chris Cornell can make a cover of Billie Jean, which is then subsequently liked and downloaded by a few million people, that if David Cook performs the same Cornell version, a lot of people are going to like it...including those who've never heard it before.

Please, tell me what is risky about this. It's like taking a recipe off the web that received 1,000 positive reviews, 1 negative review, and cooking the dinner for 20 friends following that recipe. You know people are going to like it, because people already have...That's why you chose that recipe to begin with. Because it's safe! You don't want to serve your friends a crappy meal, so you choose a proven recipe.

That's what Cook did. He took a recipe created and served by Cornell to great praise, and served up the same recipe himself (pardon the pun) because it was a proven recipe. He knew people would like it, because so many already had.

I'm sorry Aaron, there's nothing risky about that.
 

Patrick Sun

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I'd say the general public has very little awareness about these alt-covers that David Cook is performing. That's the reason why they are taking time to make sure the audience knows where David Cook is getting his "material" from for the competition. The general public is more familiar with the original performer's take on the songs (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, etc.), so these alt-versions are still a risk in that you just don't know how the general public is going to respond to them. Sure, they are different than the original, but David Cook still has to perform his ass off to sell it to the audience who is hearing this different take on the song that is at once familiar, but now also different, but still compelling.

Some contestants change the arrangements around to suit their vocal range, others change it because they feel compelled to stand out, even though their arrangement ends up sucking the life out of the song. It's all a risk. You just have to perform well, no matter what the arrangement ends up being for the performance. Each contestant walks a 90-second tightrope vocally, and any stumble is instantly immortalized on youtube, and becomes blogger fodder immediately. When you can pick the right arrangement (regardless of the inspiration or recipe), and can sell the song to the listening and viewing public, you've done your job for Tuesdays on AI.
 

Mike Williams

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I honestly don't believe that the people who listen to CC are big Idol watchers. What he did was a huge risk, because everyone knows the Michael Jackson original, and RELATIVELY FEW know the Chris Cornell version or even know who Chris Cornell is. CC's version of "Billie Jean" may have been a proven recipe to those who listen to CC, but that is a relatively small number of those watching, and more importantly VOTING, on AI. Hard rockers, as a whole, just do not watch American Idol.

Syesha is way hotter than KLC. KLC is (as Aaron already mentioned) is whitebread. Some say she has a good body, but she has a good country white girl's body, meaning that if you like flat booty women, then sure, she's hot. Syesha, on the other hand, has a beautiful face, beautiful smile, and a REAL banging body from head to toe, including the boobs and the booty. Quite frankly, I'd take Ramiele over KLC any day. And Brooke is hot for a 42-year-old soccer mom. Unfortunately, she's only like 23.
 

Carl Miller

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People are digging David Cook, at least enough so that he's probably at least top 5 material for the show. That means, despite what you or others say about the general AI audience there are in fact plenty of people watching the show who like the kind of music he does and who are an audience for the music he's performing....The AI audience is not devoid of rock fans. This is true now, it was true when Chris Daughtry was on too.

So yes, you can take from this the idea that David Cook knows he has an audience with interest in him, and knows that if he takes a proven cover and models his own performance after it, he's going to have a good shot at success.

Bottom line...if he went for the house band arrangement of Billie Jean, it would have been more of a risk because he would have had no indication how his interested audience would have received it. He went for Cornell's version, and because it was successful, had an indication that at least his AI audience would receive it well provided he did a decent job of it.

Yes, he has to perform his ass off no matter what, and he has to sell it week in and week out...But do you honestly and truly believe it isn't at least a little easier for him to sell when he's selling an already proven arrangement and concept?
 

RickGr

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Heck, IMO, most of the AI contestants over the years are nothing more than Cruise Ship lounge singers anyway.
 

Chris Lockwood

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> Please, tell me what is risky about this. It's like taking a recipe off the web that received 1,000 positive reviews, 1 negative review, and cooking the dinner for 20 friends following that recipe. You know people are going to like it, because people already have...That's why you chose that recipe to begin with. Because it's safe! You don't want to serve your friends a crappy meal, so you choose a proven recipe.

Using that logic, everyone who does the standard version of a song (which is most of them) should be getting lots of praise each time they sing. But they don't.

A recipe is a terrible analogy. Just about anyone who follows a recipe correctly will be successful, but that's not true of song arrangements. I guess you think any of us could just take Whitney's version of something and make a hit record.
 

Josh Dial

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Indeed, at which point the majority of posters in the thread pointed out how "old" and "tired" and "cliche" the vocal-percussion was. It just goes to show you, that you can't win :)
 

Carl Miller

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Why should anyone who sings the standard version receive praise just for doing that? I didn't say that. I didn't even suggest it.

I gave Cook credit for pulling off the cover of the cover, and have said at least three times already that he had the talent to do it, where I doubt any of the other rock types on the show could have. Clearly, I don't think any of us could take any version of any song and make it a hit.

Far as a recipe being a terrible analogy....It's a fine analogy because not all recipes are proven. Sure, if you follow a good recipe, one that is proven, the meal will be good.

But if you take a recipe that isn't proven, the meal may not be as liked. It's more risky to do, because it's unproven. If you take a bad recipe, that 99 out of 100 have already tried with poor results, and cook that recipe, you know what the likely result will be, and vice versa.

Cook took a proven recipe, and served it up. The analogy is perfect, the error is in your interpretation of what I wrote.
 

Patrick Sun

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David Cook knows who he is as a performer, and by looking for alt-covers of songs that qualify for the theme of the week, he is simply being smart about this competition. The risk is not really in the selection of the version of the song (original recipe, or extra-crispy recipe), but in the actual weekly live performance. Sometimes the performers do well, other times, the judges (and viewers) can tell when their hearts just aren't into it because they got stuck with a song they didn't know, or didn't care to sing. David Cook has so far stayed away from performing any song that isn't in his "wheel house" in terms of style and vocal range, he's minimizing his risk when he goes hunting for a different spin on the song if necessary. That's just from knowing who he is as a musical performer, and using the resources at his disposal. Other contestants don't seem to be as resouceful this season.

Choosing an alt-cover might not be seen as a big risk to you, but performing it to a crowd unfamiliar with the alt-cover is a big risk, one that might alienate the voters watching the show if it just doesn't go over well.
 

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