American Idol - Season 6 (2 Viewers)

[Yee-Ming]

Shocking. Just shocking.

Also surprising was Eliot's appearance, the man's had some major dental work done...

 

[Chris Lockwood]

People vote for many different reasons, so it's silly to assume Melinda is gone because of stage presence issues. You might as well say it's because she's not pretty enough or some other imagined reason. Remember, votes are FOR people, not against them. I think Blake & Jordin attract more of the younger crowd who are more likely to vote often.


> I thought this show was supposed to find the best singer and performer

That shows a real lack of understanding of how the show works. Again, the viewers determine the winner, and they can vote as many times as they want, so this is in no way some scientific "best singer" competition, if that were even possible with experts picking the winner.

And deciding to not watch because of who wins is also pretty silly and childish. The show itself does not pick the winners, and next season will be a completely different group of people, so why would you let the actions of the American public next Tuesday night make the decision of whether you will watch the show in 2008?

 

[Greg_S_H]

My favorite song and album came from a Canadian band last year, though nobody I run into has ever heard of it. I don't even know if it's known in Canada. ("Give Up and Go Away" by Strippers Union (Craig Northey of the Odds and Rob Baker of the Tragically Hip))

I wouldn't mind trying out Canadian Idol, but I don't think I have a way to do so.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I remember flipping through one of those personality mags, like US or People, a few months ago where they did a story on Eliot getting a new set of choppers (I think gratis, too).

 

[Phil Taylor]

I didn't notice the teeth ... I kept looking at that hair/mop ... [wondering if it was on loan from Bobby Brady]

BTW - I think that Maroon needs to fire their singer and hire Blake

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Hey Elliot -- 1975 called, and it wants its look back!

You're a pair of brown-tinted Serengetis away from Seals & Crofts & Yamin, my friend.

 

[RAF]

I fully expect one of those "separated at birth" graphics showing Eliot Yamin and Josh Groban to be posted by one of our talented resident pixel artists.

 

[Malcolm R]

Anyone who clings to the desperate hope that this is a "singing" competition (including Simon Cowell) is rather naive. If it was supposed to be purely judged on the vocal/singing talent, you would never see the contestants. They would always perform behind a screen and you would only hear them so things like looks and performance/personality could never sway the voting.

But AI goes out of their way to showcase the looks and personality of their contestants (from the first auditions to the "trip home" of this week), so naturally vocal talent is going to be judged along with several other factors that will often result in what happened last night. Melinda's looks/style/personality appeal to a much older audience while Jordin and Blake get the younger votes. And as the audience for the show trends younger, and younger people are more apt to vote/text, they have the advantage.

True vocal talent is WAY down the list of qualities that enable a successful music career these days. Just listen to mainstream radio or MTV for an hour.

Agree 100%.

 

[RichP]

I am LMFAO at all the whiners in this thread. There was simply no way that Melinda was going to outlast both Blake and Jordin. She had virtually none of the youth vote, and quite honestly, she was a pedestrian singer. Good, yes, but as bland as Vanilla. Both Jordin and Blake have personality to spare and a charisma that Melinda could only dream of having.

And RAF, I'll take your bet Think about this... in 10 years Jordin still won't be as old as Melinda is now. Melinda will in all likelihood put out one album and then fade into obscurity. Blake will probably be incredibly successful as a producer/re-mixer and I believe that Jordin could easily have Kelly Clarkson level success.

American Idol has never been a singing competition... what program have you all been watching for 6 years!?

 

[Corbin Stirn]

Rich P,
AMEN brother!!! I had one of the "Melinda'ers" come after me with a sharp stick for saying earlier what you just reiterated. Melinda is a VERY good singer.............she has a very good voice.........but she is GONE due to the fact that her stage presence and charisma were not nearly at the same level as Blake/Jordin. The "Melinda'ers" have to realize it......they may not like it, or be happy about it, but it's truth. I say all 3 will do fine though in their careers.

 

[Hanson]

Josh Groban sounds like Mighty Mouse. When I hear him sing, all I can think is, "Heeere I come to save the Daaay!"

I was trying to place Elliot. It was either a 70's era Bill Walton or Andre the Giant as Sasquatch on the Six Million Dollar Man. I couldn't get a hold of a picture of the latter if anyone knows where I can get one.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

If Elliott were truly being judged last night, I'm pretty sure Simon would have said something about him singing shut-eyed through the majority of his song. Elliott was one of my favorites when he was on the show (at least initially), so I was a bit disappointed to see that now that he's gone pro, he sings like that. Open your eyes and connect with the audience.

 

[ChrisCAB]

Yamin was repulsive. That was one of the top three from last year? Yikes.

I thought I liked Maroon 5 - apparently not. I really only liked "Sunday Morning" anyway.

Melinda is the type of singer that I can appreciate is technically brilliant but who evokes no emotion whatsoever in me. Apparently I'm not alone, and as was mentioned, it's not a singing competition really.

I'm voting for Jordin. Blake irritates me.

 

[Bryan X]

I think part of the problem for Melinda was that she never really improved throughout the whole show (not that she had much to improve on). Melinda and Lakisha started 'up here' while all the other contestants started 'down here'. Lakisha got worse as the competition went on, while others like Blake, and most notably Jordin kept improving (Jordin was like a freakin' rocket). At the end, Melinda was pretty much at the same level she was at the beginning of the show. I think that hurt her. She was coronated the 'winner' early on, but never stepped her game up. She let some of the other contestants eat into the lead she initially had.

As for everyone who is pissed that Melinda is out, really, what's the big deal? Out of the first five season's ONLY TWO winners have gone on to become big stars-- Kelly and Carrie. All the other 'winners' were upstaged by contestants who didn't win. Where's Reuben? Fantasia? Taylor? All 'winners'. But all were upstaged by Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry, and Kellie Pickler.

Ultimately, it's not about who wins. It is just an opportunity for these contestants to get the kind of exposure they otherwise would never get. In the end, the cream rises.

Come back in a year or two and then we'll see who 'really' should have 'won'. Perhaps it will be one or more of Melinda, Blake, or Jordin. Perhaps none of those three.

In the meantime, just enjoy the show for what it is.

Patience. The cream will rise. The cream will rise.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Admittedly, I'm sorry to see Melinda (my favorite singer) go. But, the reality is, it's called American Idol for a reason. The market is teens, and they want an entertainer that has a voice and stage presence.

(Actually, they don't have to sing nowadays, they can do a bad job in the studio, get it fixed on the computers, and lip-sync in concert. It's all about 20 dancers on stage with bullsh*t choreography in the absence of an MTV quick-cut video)

Hillary Duff is coming to Saskatoon, and all I can think is "wha?", and they are running radio ads that essentially say "hey, your daughter's been a good girl, treat her to this show", because the target audience isn't even old enough to drive!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Bryan, I think that it's unreasonable at best to expect Melinda to get any better than she already was. If we follow that argument through to it's conclusion than Melinda is now being persecuted because she was too far ahead of everyone else and she couldn't improve as others caught up to her level of excellence? That doesn't make any sense to me.

And the whole stage presance argument is subjective, I thought Melinda was the whole package, range, presance, performance you name it she had it IMO.

 

[Patrick Sun]

So how have past AI contestants done with their record sales...

 

[Bryan X]

I never claimed it was reasonable or fair. I think it's all about momentum. Melinda was great all along. I think people kinda got bored with that. Contrast that to Jordin, who was barely on the radar at the beginning. Jordin's presence just skyrocketed over the past few weeks. People get excited about that and tend to get behind those types of stories. It may not be fair, but it happens.

But as I said before-- Winning AI doesn't really mean much. Do you really think Melinda needs to win AI to have a successful career? Hell no. Whether she succeeds or fails as an artist will have nothing to do with whether she finished 3rd, 2nd, or 1st.

I guess all I'm saying is, let's not put too much weight on what order these top contestants finish it. It just really doesn't matter, as past AI Seasons have proven.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

At the end of the day your right, Bryan, it doesn't matter who wins but I think that what was proven this week, if anything, is that the voting public doesn't know what the hell they're doing.

 

[Bryan X]

I'll give you that. In five seasons, the public is only 2 for 5.