American Idol - Season 8 (1 Viewer)

[Hanson]

On AI, it's about the voice, and Megan's jazzy vocals were awesome compared to Goat Boy's bleating "vibrato". Plus, Megan seemed cool and goofy while Goat Boy exhibited a self-important douchiness. Not to mention he took credit for arrangements stolen from other artists.

 

[Lucia Duran]

My sister in law pointed out something VERY interesting to me last night while we were rewatching the results show.

David Cook's performance was pretaped (two weeks prior) and if you look at the judges table, it's stand ins. The guy who was playing Randy had an odd shaped head. The guy who played Simon was actually clapping, which simon never does! Paula usually gets up and dances and she never did.

The whole vibe was just weird during Cook's performance.

Megan deserved to go home. She just didn't seem like she cared much anymore about being there (maybe missing her kid). I got the same vibe from her soon into the show that I got from Jordis Unga on Rockstar INXS. They just lost interest in being there.

 

[Greg_S_H]

And last year, it was clear that Castro wanted out.

 

[Lucia Duran]

Yeah Castro definitely wanted out. I remember hearing a radio interview with him and he mentioned how the schedule was something he hated. He said he is too laid back to be in this business.

 

[Malcolm R]

Then he shouldn't have auditioned in the first place, wasting everyone's time and taking a spot on the show away from someone who might actually want to work hard and deserve to be there.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Because there's no room in life for discovery. You should know everything ahead of time, even when you're just barely starting out in the world.

 

[EricSchulz]

From MSNBC.com: 5Top: Tell me sweet little ?American Idol? lies - 5Top- msnbc.com . Could it be true? Not everything about AI is above-board?

 

[Bryan X]

I clicked on the MSNBC story expecting some juicy gossip about the inner workings of American Idol. All it is, is 5 extremely uninteresting observations that anyone with a pulse would know. I guess that's what I get for following an MSNBC link anyway.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am late here as usual, but with my schedule, it takes me almost
a week to catch up on IDOL.

I was a DANNY fan from the beginning, but now I have moved to being
a bonafide ADAM fan. It is apparent to me that he is the real star in
this lineup. I was blown away for a second week in a row with his
re-worked version of Play That Funky Music.

Adam is just unbelievable -- perhaps the most talented AI contestant
that has ever graced the stage.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

He's like a taller, skinnier, whiter, maler version of Melinda Doolittle. (Perhaps they have similar tastes in men?)

 

[Brett_M]

Top 8 Recap:

Danny "Stand By Me" -- A little flat at the beginning, picked up in the middle and ended well. Great voice, not a great performance.

Chris "All She wants to Do Is Dance" -- Mush mouth makes the song his own but big deal. He'll stick around but can't win.

Lil "What's Love Got to Do With It" -- Karaoke all the way. She has yet to have a moment.

Anoop "True Colors" -- My favorite performance from him so far. He still does not look like a star. Nice lame excuse for his attitude last week, too.

Scott "The Search is Over" -- Electric guitar instead of piano, still the same mediocre, monotone performance. Actually, he was at his worst tonight. He's the weakest of all 8. He needs to go.

Allison "I Can't Make You Love Me" -- Perfect song choice. Awesome performance. What a great voice. Home run.

Matt G. "Part Time Lovers" -- Great song choice, great performance. He was wearing his Justin Timberlake hat and rockin' the R & B vibe. He did everything right.

Adam "Mad World" -- OMG. The naysayers can't say he shrieks too much now. The guy has unbelievable control and flawless pitch. He is head an shoulders above everyone. He wins in a walk.

Scott should go.

 

[mylan]

This has officially become "The Adam Lambert Show" instead of American Idol, I mean no one else is even close. I have been a fan for pretty much this whole season but, for me now, it is seven other contestants and then Adam. Well done, perfect, I just wish we could have heard the other judges comments.

 

[Brett_M]

LOL (but in a good way)

Indeed.

 

[Malcolm R]

Not familiar with the song, but loved Adam's performance.

I don't understand the inconsistency in the judging. One contestant gets slammed because they change up the arrangement of a classic song (Kris); another contestant gets slammed because they don't (Lil). No wonder some of these contestants seem really confused from week to week. Loved how Randy stated how there were so many great songs from 1984 that Lil could have chosen, but he couldn't seem to name anything specific. :rolleyes

I think the front-runners (based on talent and performance ability) are really starting to stand out now. Adam Lambert is definitely at the top, with Allison not far behind. I think Matt G still has some promise. It's a shame he and Allison seem to be hanging around the bottom of the voting. The rest are just mediocre placeholders for the next several weeks at this point.

I agree that Scott seems to be the weakest link in this week's round.

 

[David*P]

LOL! Aaron, that was the funniest thing I have heard all day!!

I honestly do not see the fascination with Adam....always yelling (and he did towards the end of the song). Gary Jules did it SOOOO much better...Adam just tried to copy and then ended up throwing his yelling in there.

I thought that Lil did awesome no matter what the judges said. I also liked Matt and Allison. She surprised me.

Poor Scott..he's going home:frowning: But I guess it has to be someone.

 

[pitchman]

Maybe it's because most of the performances (aside from Allison, Danny and Adam) tend to be so weak each and every week, but IMO this program is getting awfully stale. The judges "critiques" (and I use the term loosely) drone on forever, and with the exception of Simon, they generally don't bring anything relevant to the party. I didn't clock it, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the judges didn't spend more time talking this week than the Idol-wannabes spent singing. At least, that's how it felt to me. I already stopped watching the vapid results shows when they moved them to go head-to-head with Lost. And, the only reason I'm still hanging in there on Tuesday is because there's not much else to watch at 8:00 pm. After eight seasons, Idol is rapidly wearing out its welcome in my house.

BTW, both Allison and Adam were great tonight.

I think Scott and Lil have reason to be nervous.

 

[pitchman]

Mad World is an old Tears For Fears song written by Roland Orzabal. It became a big 'AAA' radio hit for Michael Andrews in 2002 when it appeared on the Donnie Darko soundtrack. That is the version Adam used as the basis for his arrangement/performance tonight.

 

[OliverT]

Huh. I actually found it pretty offensive as these forums go. Granted, I have mostly lurked over the years but I'm not really sure why Adam's sexuality matters or why its funny in any way. Not only that but the artistic comparison to Melinda makes no sense at all.

As for the show, Another League showed why again. Wow...best version of that song I've heard (including Jules).

 

[Josh Dial]

My main problem this season is that the show isn't even trying to hide the fact that they are actively promoting some artists above others. While it's certainly within their rights to do whatever they want with the show, at least try and make it appear to be fair.

Here are just a few ways (and examples) of how the show "pimps out" certain people, to borrow a term from Hanson:

- Lighting and effects: You'll notice that the artists who have the fanciest lighting, and the niftiest backgrounds on the jumboscreen are Adam and Danny. While the lighting for Adam was simplistic in it's appearance, it was easily the most "mood-altering" of the night, and clearly some techs worked harder on his setup than others. Watch any performance, and generally speaking, the pimped-outs will have cool-looking lighting (strobes, many colour gels, et cetera) and trippy backgrounds that add to the performance.

- Talking with Ryan: You'll notice a severe inbalance with how much face-time contestants are given. Some will get to chat with Ryan before the song: "so tell me about meeting with Randy Travis," "oh Randy was great..." While others get nothing more than a short clip: "tonight I'm singing XYZ because I like it." Once again it's the greatest hits: Adam, Danny, Lil, and Scott always get extended intros or chats with Ryan.

- Over-the-top judges' comments: This happens when a pimped-out goes first, which as has been pointed out, usually means the votes may forget about you. The judges (especially Paula and Kara) will verbally fellate the singer so much that you'll swear you missed a performance by Freddie Mercury, from beyond the grave. The latest example was tonight, when Danny's so-so perforamce was heralded as one of the best things to grace our televisions.

- Band on the stage: Simply put, the pimped-outs will be the first (and often only) singers to have an acoustic set with musicians on the stage with them, playing cool things like the cajón (that box drum).

It's all very annoying.

 

[Phil Taylor]

Allison sounded great tonight and looked way better than last week.
Lil looked hot tonight - nice outfit - just OK on the Tina number... it was just aright.
Matt was very good and has a head made for a hat.
Adam again stole the show - when was the last time Simon gave a contestant a Standing O?
The others aren't really worth mentioning ...
Scott should start packing his bags.