American Idol - Season 2 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

It is my hope that this will be an on-going thread to discuss all things American Idol (season 2), which starts its second season tonight at 8 p.m. EST for its 2-hour premiere.

Don't know if I'll get tired of the format, but hopefully some good talent will emerge, even if it gets grinded up in the "music" making machine/industry.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Patrick, did you watch the show tonight? It had me rolling!! The Enrique 'clone' was absolutely hilarious. How could he possibly think he sounded good? And then he hangs around and tells them that he was supposed to come back to sing "Hero" again. Freakin' hilarious.

I was most impressed with the girl who sounded exactly like Doris Day. Blew me away. I just wonder how she'll do with other types of music.

 

[Joel C]

The Doris Day girl WAS great.

The buy with his pants slit up the side made me sad. Are these people really so deluded, or are they playing to the cameras?

 

[Jordan_E]

I didn't watch the show at all the last time around, but watched it tonight with the wife and thought it was funny as hell in a sad sort of way.

 

[Dave_Brown]

I thought those two girls who sang as a duet show some real promise. I don't think they will make it through the show very far, but I have to think some agent will pick them up and have them continue singing together in some way.

As for the majority of those people, if they are so deluded that they have talent, I didn't feel a bit sorry for them when the truth was revealed. "He told me I sound like Kelley Osbourne!" That was the meanest comment of the night.

 

[Dave Morton]

That guy in the yellow "pimp" suit was hilarious too. And what about the girl that plugged herself into the wall socket with lights wrapped around her. What are these people thinking? Too funny!

 

[dave_brogli]

THe funniest or worse singer I thought was the African American girl sang and it sounded fluttery like a munchkin form oz

 

[Ted Lee]

i usually don't watch these shows, but i gotta admit this was kind of funny.

i do think the "simon will kill you" angle is getting out of hand. i guess he's an ass, but he didn't seem any worse than the rest of the judges.

also, is it me or do they all sing in the same way? they all do the same technique. i don't know what style to call it, but it's that maria carey/boyz to men sound. it's totally annoying. yes, i suppose it is one style of singing, but it's not the only one. that's why the gal singing "fever" was such a breath of fresh air.

i was wondering about something though.

this was just to get them to hollywood right? so, the three judges were like "you sound great", etc. when they get to hollywood, will the judges now have to shut them down? that would seem weird. first they compliment them, then they insult them?

 

[Patrick Sun]

The public votes on who stays, who goes in the competition with a dial-in vote system, so even though the 3 judges will offer comments/criticisms, they don't have anymore say in who goes all to way once they make it to the final 10.

I had started to watch this via tape around 2 a.m., and I was laughing too much to get to sleep, so I wound up watching the whole 2 hours zipping through the commercials and finally got to bed around 3:30 a.m.

You have to wonder why some of these people show up who couldn't carry a tune if you gave them a bucket. I feel really bad for the 3 judges to have to sift through thousands of contestants to find diamonds in the rough.

There were quite a few who I thought didn't sound good at all, but got praises from the judges. Obviously I don't know what a good voice sound like.

BTW, there is more AI tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST. I think it runs until 10 p.m.

 

[Ted Lee]

ohh...didn't know that patrick. thx.

like i said, i would have preferred a little more variety in the singing styles, but i suppose that's what the young'uns like these days...

 

[Jodee]

After they get to Hollywood, the judges then narrow it down again to 30.

And then the public starts voting.

Last year, every week they had a group of 10 perform and the public voted on 3 finalists from each group of ten.

They then had 9 finalists and the last 10th finalist was the "wild card" that the judges picked out of the remaining Top 30 semi-finalists who didn't make it through to the finals.

A lot of the people who make it through to Hollywood based on their vocal talent will get eliminated pretty quickly. For instance, the heavy-set black lady who could really sing. I remember last season there was also a woman like that who could sing but wasn't very attractive. She made it to Hollywood, but was elimated from the Top 60 because Simon told her she "didn't look like an American Idol."

Everytime they whittle it down, they use more stricter strandards.

 

[FredHD]

One guy who almost screwed himself out of a spot was the guy Coffey in Austin who was about to have a kid. He did had a great voice but he kept doing the ridiculous "voice gymnastics" that I can't stand. It almost blew it with Simon.

I can't believe that they cannot find any guys who can sing worth a damn. It was nice to see the one guy make it who sang Sinatra.

 

[MikeAlletto]

What about the 17 year old girl who Simon complemented on having the look and voice and then he went on to call Christina Agulara a skank? Absolutely hilarious.

I didn't watch any of last season but found this extremely entertaining and funny. Another funny moment was when Simon told the guy to go find another singer in new york that was worse than him. And they followed him out to find one.

The duet girls (were they twins?) were good as was the blond from Austin and the 17 year old named above and that one guy that did sinatra.

There were ones that I didn't agree with either but they'll get cut quickly I'm sure.

 

[BobV]

That guy in the yellow "pimp" suit was hilarious too.

Oooo, that's harsh. I found it very tragic, poor guy. Actually the guy did have a little bit of a voice but tried too hard.

Those twins were absolutely amazing. Their harmonies were so tight it was unbelievable, even when they sang in unison.

I never watched this last season either, but to me, the best, or at least most interesting of the bunch were 'tight'twins, 'Fever'girl, 'Sinatra'guy, the Asiandude, and anti'Agulara'. I don't think the heavyset black lady will go far, not neccessarily because of image (it actually matches the Aretha Franklin style) but because her vocals were not that impressive. Sure, they were loud, but not totally accurate.

If they can sing other songs just as clean, the twins are the leaders in my mind. 'Fever'girl has to lose the theatrics in her performance, she almost lost me with them. If 'Sinatra'guy can sing all sorts of swing, standards, and bigband stuff and not just Sinatra, he may go a ways. Asiandude, as Simon said, needs to find his style, but if he does, could go far. Anti'Agulara' needs to stay accurate to her placed-upon image now and if she does, is a keeper.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Wow, at the risk of being the sole voice of dissent on this thread, I watched the show last night for the first time and I found it quite disturbing. I have a hard time believing that so many people watch and enjoy a show that basically revels in humiliating people, especially young people (isn't the age requirement between 16 and 24 or something?) Cedric, the guy in the yellow suit, damn near broke my heart with his emotional reaction to his very public mortification at the hands of those wiseass judges.

I know, a lot of you watch the show for the good performers, like the twins, or the Asian R&B guy, or the guy whose wife was going to have a baby. And if the show was edited so that it lifted up and celebrated those performances, then I think it would be worth watching and praising. Unfortunately, the editing (and the obvious popularity of the show) seems to indicate that they are at least as interested, if not much more interested, in exploiting and embarrassing people for the viewing public's enjoyment. I found that part shameful and reprehensible.

Some of you are going to shout that these people set themselves up and therefore they deserved what they got. Fine. I disagree. Were some of them horrible singers? Absolutely. But to watch their dreams being crushed and shattered, just to get a cheap laugh at their expense is disgusting to me. Some of those people looked like they really had some problems (witness the Enrique clone who couldn't seem to accept that he was dismissed), and I was shocked that the show chose to play that up as a big joke.

Hey, I'm not here to scold anyone for liking any part of the show. Different strokes, and all that. But I certainly won't be tuning in again. I felt like a spectator in "Gladiator".

 

[Karl_Luph]

I agree the twins were very good as was the girl who did Fever, and the overweight black woman with the most soulful voice I've heard in a long time was great! I hope the comment made last night about how people are getting really fed up with the "slutty" look and clone sounding voices reverberate through the music industry like a stone hitting a pond.This sleazy way of trying to produce a young entertainer, usually female, is degrading and a sorry excuse for real talent. It's time for a new and different approach, find talent with a wholesome clean image! Why do you think people still listen to classical music and swing and big band music,generation after generation after generation? Because musicians back then wanted to project a sophisticated,clean image and wrote and performed songs with a positive effect for their fellow man. You can't argue with the test of time.Do you really think in 40 or 50 years you'll be hearing rap and hip hop in commercials,soundtracks,etc? There's a reason those old songs are called Standards.

 

[Ted Lee]

i agree 130 percent with what dave f. said.

unfortunately, i think most people enjoy watching someone else get slammed.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The flip side of the whole heckling aspect was dealt with when Fox showed many of the reactions of those who were not quite up to snuff, and showed these contestants cursing out the judges for their lack of "judgment" on their singing ability. More often than not, the judges were right in not taking them to Hollywood because they would have embarrassed themselved even further.

I couldn't believe how little self awareness that was displayed by some of these AI wannabes. That was the painful part, and when you think they waited hours and hours to show what they couldn't do, it boggles the mind even more. Sure, I get that people shouldn't stomp on other people's dreams (and it's not like the judges didn't give them all a chance to strut their stuff), but if you don't have the pipes, no amount of training and practice is going to magically give them to you through sheer hard work. This is why people who can sing can get major $$$, they possess something over 99% of the population don't, and they provide entertainment value for their vocal talents and the rest of us are willing to pay to listen to their singing/performing talent.

Everyone that was able to be judged got a fair assessment of their singing talent at that point in time. Sometimes the truth hurts, and hurts often.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Sure, I get that people shouldn't stomp on other people's dreams (and it's not like the judges didn't give them all a chance to strut their stuff), but if you don't have the pipes, no amount of training and practice is going to magically give them to you through sheer hard work.

Good point, Patrick, and certainly some of the singers were so untalented it practically defied belief. But I think one could tell by the passion they displayed and the looks on their faces that most of them honestly had no idea how bad they were. They were simply tone-deaf, meaning they truly could not tell that they were singing out of tune. Is it a shame that their dreams won't be realized? Sure. Did the judges actually do them a favor by setting them straight and being honest with them? Actually, I would say yes. But the way it was done--with snarky comments, derisive laughter, and verbal abuse in front of an audience of millions is the part I was most upset by.

I would agree that what was said by the judges was for the most part dead-on accurate. But I thought the way they paraded the contenstants' shortcomings in front of the TV audience and then mocked and ridiculed them was hateful. "Praise in public, punish in private" as my mum used to say...

(BTW, I appreciated your thoughtful response. Your point about the contestants' continued self-delusions was a good one as well.)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

But the way it was done--with snarky comments, derisive laughter, and verbal abuse in front of an audience of millions is the part I was most upset by

I personally would hate to be publically humiliated, but unless I'm really talented at something, I'm not going to go out and show off my abilities on national television. What I find to be harsh and abusive is the fact that some of these people not only thought they were good, but other people told them they were. It's one thing to lie to someone who's sick by telling them they don't look horrible, or not telling a pregnant woman she looks fat, but to tell someone that has no vocal talent that they're a good singer is just cruel. I think a true, heartfelt reality-check is what people need sometimes. Unfortunately, they get it when it's a bit too late.