American Idol (1 Viewer)

[Bill Griffith]

If thats the case, some of these people are very confused about where there strengths lie.

 

[SteveA]

I can't believe that A.J. fellow was selected as a finalist. I guess all the teeny-boppers of the world united. Alexis was robbed!

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Do other markets promote their local talent in this event?

In the Seattle area, the local Q13 news has been interviewing AJ's family (they live in Tacoma) and are really playing up the whole "local boy has a shot at greatness" angle. The night before the voting, they interviewed his mom, sister, and girlfriend and made a big deal about how his family has over 10 kids and AJ promised to buy his mom a big house if he strikes it big. Given the nature of this contest, this type of publicity will obviously help him get votes.

So a question to those of you who live outside of the Seattle area: does your local news play up your local contestants? If so, how much?

 

[BrianB]

Do other markets promote their local talent in this event?

Yup, the local Fox affiliate in Dallas has been pushing/promoting the contestants from Texas in the 'news' on the nights of the show, as have certain radio stations.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Just remember, talent will not win you the contest. It's marketability

Why do you think that every single female solo artist has about 52 backup dancers?

Talent is inversely proportional to the number of backup dancers you have. If you have talent, you don't need distraction

 

[Howard Williams]

No one has posted here in almost a month?!!! Weird, very weird.

There's are only 2 reasons to watch this show. Simon and a handful of diamonds in the rough. Simon's opinion is the only one I feel is honest and worth listening too. Paula likes everyone and Randy likes whoever Paula likes. He's like a huge parrot.

I can't believe no one has commented negatively on the whole audience multi-vote setup. Is that any way to run any kind of "contest"? Having the audience participate in choosing the winners is one thing, but to give them complete control of the outcome is very disappointing. Why are the judges even there now? On top of that, anyone can vote as many times as they want? And it's a toll free call?!! Are you kidding me?!! The best man/woman probably will not win. The public should be voting for who they want eliminated, not for who they want to stay. I'm sure you people can see the poor logic behind the later, but the producers didn't. There's got to be a reason for that.

It certainly appears Justin was gonna win but last week he seemed a little big headed. He should have listened to Han Solo, "Don't get cocky". Americans love humility (sp). We admire confidence but there's a thin line between confident and arrogant. I think Justin crossed that line last week. Simon told him that he had just been out performed by 3 ladies. Justin responded by saying, "Well Simon I appreciate your opinion but, audience, what did you think?". A huge round of applause and screams from the overly represented female audience. That move was a double edged sword. It certainly showed Justin is ready for the 'cut-throat-do-whatever-it-takes-to-be-number 1' music industry but it came off as being cocky to me. Look for Simon to escalate his criticisms or dilute his enthusiasm if Justin doesn't perform well.

One other huge mistake. They are draggin this show on way too long. Eliminating 1 person per week? Come on!!! 50% attrition at least. From 30 to 15 to 5 to 2. Or something like that.

 

[Peter-PP]

Howard,

I feel exactly the same way. Simon's opinion may sound rude but he is the only judge who is 100% honest. Paula and Randy need to tone down their phoney baloney.

Justin's head is getting huge and especially with his already big hair.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's called keeping the public entertained and the final winner really doesn't matter to the producers as long as the public eats it up.



Crawdaddy

 

[Howard Williams]

The one thing Americans love more than seeing someone good get what they deserve is seeing someone bad get what they deserve. We love to see bad things happen to bad people. We are more interested in the destruction of a public figure and the fall of a star, than their creation and rise to stardom.

I bet if two complete sets of phones were set up, one allowing the public to vote for who they want to stay and the other, set up for who they want to be eliminated, the latter would have more calls. The latter would entertain me more. The current format does not. Given a choice, people are more willing to express disapprove than approval.

Under the current format a vote for (i.e.)Tamiya to win is not necessarily a vote against Justin. It is kinda but if you think about it, you'll see it really isn't. Under the vote for elimination format, I vote against Justin is a vote against Justin and a vote for all of the other remaining contestants. I would vote next week if I could vote to eliminate Justin. If I vote for Tamiya, I can not express my desire to not let Justin win.

Don't make me spell this out. Let's say we're down to 10 contestants remaining. Let's say 100 people vote. Let's say A,B & C are clearly the public favorites based on votes for. Since the public is voting 80%-90% for A,B,& C, then D,E,& F who were all much better than G,H,I & J could get eliminated (since the one with the fewest votes for is eliminted) because no one voted for them. By voting for A,B,& C you are not voting against D-J. In a vote for elimination format, you don't have this problem. Never-mind, it's too early for me to explain this right now. I hope you understand the point I'm trying to make, though. Pretty poor spelling, huh?

I see no reason to watch this show until they are down to 3 remaining contestants except to see Simon kill the dreams of 7 more people. That's enough for me. See, I'm more interested in seeing Justin lose than seeing Tamiya win. But that's catch !!! Simon can't end the dream. Only the public can. As we all know, "The mob is fickle"

Human nature. There's nothing humane about it.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The putdowns from Paula felt like something scripted for the WWE. Do Grammies really mean that much anymore?

 

[Malcolm R]

Paula was totally out of line last week. I actually felt sorry for Simon. And you know something's wrong when that happens.

And for anyone who thinks Simon is bad, just imagine the UK version where they had other judges just like him. I know Pete Waterman was on the panel and he's as equally caustic, if not more so.

 

[Howard Williams]

Man, there seems to be very little interest in this show here, but the Big Brother 3 thread is humongous. Go figure. I could only tolerate 4 minutes of that show.

RJ, Ryan or Nikki will probably be eliminated tonight. I would guess RJ, "The Boy Band" material dude.

I liked that micro-mini-skirt Ryan worn. Lucky front row.

Justin. What can you say about that guy. Man, he would make a great politician. He realized he might have messed up last week so he came back with some real sugar.

The competition is really getting stiff.

 

[Luis Esp]

Did anyone catch Simon flipping the bird to the blond host when he got the camera on Simon? I would have punched him, but I guess it wouldn't fly on tv.

Hands down the night belonged to Christina, then Kelly. Justin was flat through out the song. Too bad Ryan still hasn't found her voice, but if she makes it tonight, I hope she chooses a better song. Next week they're doing 80's music. Think anybody will cover A Flock Of Seagulls?

 

[Jodee]

OOh, I have been waiting for 80's music night.

Here's what I'd choose for the performers.

Justin - Anything by Prince. Use that falsetto!

Tamyra - "Addicted to Love" (Robert Palmer) - This is a confident song and Tamyra could pull off a triumphant, soulful version.

Kelly - "Would I Lie to You?" (Eurythmics) - Since Aretha didn't have many good songs in the 80's, this one would be perfect for her.

Nikki - "Our Lips Are Sealed" (Go-Go's) - I want to hear her do something sweet.

Ryan - "Don't You Want Me" (Human League) - She's getting desperate and these lyrics would suit that.

RJ - "Somebody's Watching Me" (Rockwell) - The perfect one-hit wonder.

Christina - "Do you Really Want to Hurt Me?" (Culture Club) - Not as obvious as Sade, but in the same vein.

What would you like to see them sing?

My guess is that either Ryan or Nikki will be sent home tonight, although I'd wish it to be RJ.

 

[Howard Williams]

Justin: Should definately sing something, anything by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder or Seal. "Sexual Healing" or "Got to give it up"(80's?). He missed the opportuninty to do "Let's get it on", "Midnight Lover". Stevie Wonder's "Over Joyed", "Lately", "These three words", "Ribbons in the sky", "Send her your love", "That Girl". Seal's "Kiss from a rose"

Tamiya: Something from Anita Baker the soulful songtress is right up her alley.

Nikki: Pat Benetar's "Barracuda" or "Hit me with your best shot"

Christina: One of Janet Jackson's slow songs woul;d be perfect, but JJ didn't have much out in the 80's.

 

[Rusty Ray]

and simon was able to slip the "finger" in there at the hosts again... LOL

 

[Malcolm R]

At least now Justin has seen that it's far from a "slam dunk" for him. Maybe his ego will shrink a bit.

I was surprised that Ryan was booted. Of the bottom three, I'd have booted Nikki. And I can't figure out how RJ keeps hanging on. Must be because he's the only cute guy left he's getting all the teenybopper votes.

I'm glad Paula Abdul dialed it down a notch this week. Her constant slamming of Simon last week was shameful.

 

[Luis Esp]

Christina: One of Janet Jackson's slow songs woul;d be perfect, but JJ didn't have much out in the 80's.

Dude! What rock were you sleeping under! Have you heard of JJ's "Control" album?

Granted, I'm not psycho-mad for JJ, but "Control" had many top 10 hits and it was released in 1986.

Personally, I'd like to see Christina do Sade song. After Simon did say she had a Sade vibe, why not milk it for all you can?

Christina, two words: Sweetest Taboo.

 

[Howard Williams]

Dude, name a good slow song on Janet Jacksons "Control". All her good slow songs came afterwards.

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, American "taste" strikes once again and we lost "the best of the worst" for the second week in a row.

I simply can't believe how RJ keeps hanging on. I mean, he couldn't even remember the words to his song last night for crying out loud! But as I said above, he's the sole remaining cute guy, so he's pulling the teenybopper votes apparently.

Nikki, I loved the song choice but she really was far too conservative with it. When you're singing about "the vamp of Savannah" you really need to "vamp" it up a bit.

Christina was by far the "best" of the worst.

Oh, well. We could certainly hear from her again, as it has been aptly proved in the UK that the ultimate winner of the show isn't necessarily the most successful or popular when it comes to actually selling records. Gareth Gates, who finished second is quickly overshadowing Will Young, the UK's "Pop Idol" winner.