American Idol (1 Viewer)

[Kong Chang]

I don't know about the rest of you, but most people who have sung or are in the industry of singing can state that "acapella" is one of the hardest things to do in singing. To sing w/o music and be able to hit the right notes takes a lot of effort and training and a marginal worth of talent. That is why cold-singing is great to weed out those that can't cut it.

Vibratto is popular since the early hey-days of R&B. The act of vibrating the vocal chords resembles the vibratto done on music instruments. And for those of you who have played any string instruments or wind instruments would know that vibratto makes the music sound better. IMHO, I think R&B tries to achieve the same nuances as musical instruments with the vocal chords. Doing vibratto takes talent. It's not to cover up lack of singing skills. Most pseudo-singers can't vibratto, and there are only so many good singers that can and do it well. If you're talking about other styles of singing, like opera or musicals, that's a different breed of singing all together. I will agree there's too much vibratto with current pop...but a good use of vibratto make the song sound better...but overdoing it (like Christina Aguilera) can make any song sound like crap.

Justin is really good, and I wouldn't be surprised if he hit the top 10 or the top 3 for that matter. Yet, his style and voice reminds me of David Craig (Craig David?), so I'm not sure if it is unique at all, but it's still very good nonetheless.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Thanks for the info guys. I assumed that Simon was an industry exec, but wanted to make sure. I think he's pretty funny, and he really enjoys scaring the contestants. How he eventually got around to telling the group of 15 that they survived after continuously apologizing was pretty funny.

 

[Jodee]

I think Justin has some Jeff Buckley in him. Love that falsetto.

 

[Peter-PP]

What about real singing talent with originality? Not even one single "singer" had any originality. They were too busy copying other singers.

And what's up with the wailing and screaming and yelling? That to me is NOT singing.

Pete

 

[Kong Chang]

Yelling, screaming and wailing is a way of projection of voice. It's unnecessary if you have a mike, but if you don't, then it's sometimes necessary to get your voice heard. But sometimes when doing so, it hinders the melody in the vocal chords. So it's a tit-for-tat situation.

Current pop require strength-of-voice and a presence. Without it won't get you far.

 

[Malcolm R]

I believe that only the winner is "guaranteed" a recording contract, but that any of the runners-up are fair game as well.

In the UK, winner Will Young has had two #1 singles, covers of "Evergreen" and "Light My Fire" (currently #1).

Runner-up Gareth Gates has also had a #1 single with his cover of "Unchained Melody." He will have a second single released soon, "Any One of Us," a latin-influenced original track.

Contestant Rik Waller has also had a #8 hit with his cover of "I Will Always Love You." Haven't heard if Rik will get another release.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Does this show tend to favor guys for some reason? You've got 3 from the UK show that move on, and this one seems set to be Justin, or possibly Deaf Parent guy (Jim is it?).

Some of these Top 30 we haven't even seen yet. They don't have a prayer.

 

[Malcolm R]

Does this show tend to favor guys for some reason?

It's based on audience voting, so if your audience is mostly teen/pre-teen girls, which this sort of thing seems to attract, of course they're going to vote for the boys.

Also, the UK audience seemed to favor those with some sort of "disadvantage" to overcome in order to be a "Pop Idol." Will Young is openly gay. Gareth Gates has quite a severe stutter when he speaks. Rik Waller is obese.

 

[Peter-PP]

That is why I dislike R&B junk, I just can't stand the unneccesary wailing, screaming and yelling!

Seems like everybody wants to weep and wail instead of actually singing sweet good old music. I also don't like to see clones of Backstreet Boys, Christina A., Brittany, Mariah or Whitney. What about original styles, people?

 

[MickeS]

You're right, normally it's not. From what I saw on the show, that's exactly what it's (over-)used for here.

/Mike

 

[Shawn C]

Doing vibratto takes talent. It's not to cover up lack of singing skills.

Yeah, but these kids are singing ENTIRE SONGS like this. It's really, really, really annoying.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yes, vibratto is good when used appropriately, but these people are doing it with every single note
I've sung in acapella groups, funny, most people I have who do acapella in karaoke do it because they aren't sure they can keep up with the music

What about real singing talent with originality? Not even one single "singer" had any originality. They were too busy copying other singers

Then they'll make a great pop star.

 

[Luis Esp]

Wasn't Simon Fuller (what is on his head) the demon that spawned the "Spice Girls"? Heaven help us!

 

[Drew Bethel]

Pop Idol was really entertaining and I followed it for over a month. American Idol seems forced...like a bad sequel.

 

[StephenK]

I missed tonight's show (Wed), can anyone tell me the 3 that won?

Thanks
Steve

 

[Scott L]

It was Tamyra, the guy with glasses who's parents are deaf, and that girl Ryan.

I missed the episode before this one. Why in the world were Justin and Jamar booted off?

 

[Kong Chang]

Um, Tuesday's show is the first 10 of the top 30 to compete for that top 10 spot. In these three weeks, each group of 10 will perform their song in 2-3 minutes covering a couple of verses and the chorus. The judge will then tell each contestant after singing whether they think they can still cut it as an idol...it's their last chance to persuade the audience. Votes are up to the audience. Only 3 out of the 10 will move on to the top 10.

From each groups of 10, 3 from each group will be chosen by the audience from popular votes. The 10th singer will be a wildcard, chosen by the judges who they think should be the last singer to sing live on stage to compete for the final prize.

Audience can vote for whomever as many times as they want.

Next Tuesday will be the next group of 10 singing and the week after that will be the last group of 10. Wednesdays after each Tuesday will show who the top three in each group who get to move on.

---

For those wondering why Jim Verraros (sp?) got 3rd place in the first group is because he really got the sympathy card from the audience. His fans called like 300-600 times for him.

This is kinda like how Rik Walker got into the top 10 as well in the UK Pop Idol show. Simon hated Rik because Rik is obesely overweight and told Rik he couldn't make it as a Pop Idol. That gave him a sympathy from the audience who helped moved him to the top 10 spot, and finally to the top 3, which I heard he didn't sing because he had laryngitis.

So, if this keeps going on, Jim may keep getting sympathy votes.

So, we shall see.

 

[Shane Gralaw]

Justin wasn't booted, they just haven't gotten to him yet (they're doing 10 of the 30 finalists at a time and they've only done the first ten). I really can't believe the deaf parent's kid made it- what was his name? Like it matters, he's losing anyway. That kid's singing sucked donkeys and his look doesn't exactly scream "pop idol". Adriel has a good shot for the wild card slot at least. Man people's taste sucks- seriously what the hell? And that girl with the Chaka Khan hair made a BIG mistake by crying when she lost. Notice how the camera lingered on her to savor every pathetic tear? Ouch!

 

[Bill Griffith]

The kid with def parents really sucked. So do the two hosts. I agree with most of what Simon says and Paula abdul hardly ever says anything bad about anybody.

I love the show where Simon told paula to quit patronizing the kids. She was telling a kid that she should take lesson and Simon jumped in and said no amount of lessons could help her. Damn thats harsh. But funny.

I'm glad the two girls got picked, IMO they deserved it but I thought the last guy (Chris I think) would have been picked over the def parents guy.

I must say though some of the songs these kids are using definatly are just wrong for them. I guess though they have only a small list to choose from.

 

[Kong Chang]

The real range of talent comes into play for the top 10 spot, where each performer has to sing different style of songs...which includes, soul, r&b, pop, rock, etc.. Right now, the top 30 are singing their strengths, but as soon as they reach the top ten, they will be singing their weakness areas as well, and it takes a lot of talent to do different styles and genre of music.