The American Idol Thread

[anonymous1980]

01. Paris Bennett ("Midnight Train to Georgia") - Easily my favorite overall performance of the night. Her performances in Hollywood were, to me, paled in comparison to her initial audition but this performance fulfilled the promise I saw in her initial audition. (A-)

02. Katharine McPhee ("Since I Fell For You") - In terms of vocal, it's the best of the night. Her performance is also quite luminous, it's tough not be won over by it. (A-)

03. Mandisa ("Never") - What can I say? I love Mandisa. She kicked off the show in high gear and I was with it. Her energetic, likable personality shines through. (B+)

04. Lisa Tucker ("I'm Changing") - Though a bit overly precocious, her performance is still quite excellent especially for her age. (B+)

05. Kinnik Sky ("Get Here") - I don't know. I liked it. Yes, it's far from the best performance of the night. But I liked it and I have a feeling Kinnk can do better. (B-)

06. Melissa McGhee ("When the Light's Go Down") - I like her unique, raspy voice which with the right song choice can sound really, really great. I hope she gets another chance next week. (B-)

07. Kellie Pickler ("How Far") - Her performance was good but boring and forgettable for me. I don't know why but she's one contestant I've grown to like less as the competition progressed. (C+)

08. Ayla Brown ("Reflection") - Better than her audition but not by much. I guess this is the case of paling when compared to the original. ©

09. Heather Cox ("When You Tell Me That You Love Me") - She's beautiful, yes, but the vocals just aren't there and I'm sick of this song. (C-)

10. Becky O'Donahue ("Because the Night") - Performance-wise, she's pretty good. Mostly because, well, she's pretty hot. Vocally? Ugh.

11. Brenna Gethers ("You Are the Sunshine of My Life") - Her feisty love-her-or-hate-her personality overshadows her vocal ability and her lack thereof. (D)

12. Stevie Scott ("To Where You Are") - An embarassing mess. (D-)

WHO'S OUT? I doubt Stevie has enough fans to pull her through another week with that pathetic performance. I think enough people like Brenna's obnoxiousness/feistiness (whatever you call it) and Becky's looks that it will get them through another week. The other one will either be Melissa or Heather.

[dws1982]

19E has no use for a Carrie Underwood clone, although Kellie does seem to have more charisma and more personality than Carrie. But then again, who doesn't? Assuming she doesn't choke right out of the gate, Kellie has a good chance of being one of the last two or three girls standing, which would give her a good shot at success in Nashville.

But she won't win. A white guy seems to be the Chosen One this year. Chris or Ace, most likely.

So far Brenna is the only one I can't stand, just because she has an average voice made worse by what she thinks is her "attitude". (I hate contestants who think they're funny by insulting Simon.) Ayla does seem like a snob, and Gedeon is an egotistical wank, but I'll wait until next week to render a verdict on those. And I suspect that I'll dislike Kevin Covais if he makes it into the top twelve. He seems like a nice kid, and his voice sounds nice enough, but his singing, his actual delivery...needs work. Every time I've heard him sing it sounds like he learned the words phonetically.

[anonymous1980]

That's the very reason Kellie CAN'T win. She's JUST LIKE Carrie Underwood. Idol people want to mix it up.

[OscarGuy]

See, I'm just glad that the at least one of the two pretty boys has a good voice. Ace is definitely great to look at and his voice is quite good.

The other pretty boy, Chris Daughtry (the guy with the cowboy hat and the bald head), I can't recall his voice very much, but at least he's a visual distraction to some of the ugly in the final 12...

I think Kelly Pickler may win. She's JUST LIKE Carrie Underwood, except (right now) with more personality.

[VanHelsing]

barring a couple of pretty boys and talented but lazy bums, i'm quite satisfied with the final 24 line-up...

i have yet to remember who's who... so i can't pinpoint whom i'm rooting for at the moment... but i like the girl who claimed that she has some classical background... i feel her voice sounds refreshing and mesmerizing... very soothing as well...

i remembered one guy commented that he's not a pretty boy like Ace but then who is... something along that line... i like his attitude but i don't recall seeing him singing... i might have missed him...

then there's also another guy who was so damn confident that when the judges asked him what they should say to him and then he replied "That I made it!"... and simon was commenting that given the chance, he would have said no to that guy since he passed off as somewhat cocky... and yes, i'm not supporting him as well...

i'm actually rooting for that grey-haired Jake Gyllenhaal look-alike... i feel that he's quite an underdog... same goes for the big-sized lady... in terms of looks, both are underdogs... would be thrilled to see both of them making it to the final 12...

paris is not bad at all... truly a big voice attached to a small person... lol...

mandisa sounds ok as well... but somehow, at times, i find her rather bland...

will declare my favourites once i've remembered their names... but for starters, i'm rooting for most of the underdogs this year... and please, no Ace Young for American Idol champion... he's definitely young but his voice ain't ace enough... and do we really need another Justin Timberlake to fill up the music industry? blah!!

[anonymous1980]

The official Top 24:

THE GIRLS
Katharine McPhee
Mandisa Hundley***
Melissa McGhee
Lisa Tucker
Brenna Gethers
Stevie Scott
Ayla Brown
Becky O'Donohue
Heather Cox
Paris Bennett
Kellie Pickler
Kinnik Sky

THE GUYS
Ace Young
Robert Bennett
David Radford
Sway Penala
Elliott Yamin
Gedeon McKinney
Chris Daughtry
Bucky Covington
Patrick Hall
Kevin Covais
Taylor Hicks
William Makar ***

Bold = my prediction to make it to the Top 12.
*** = personal favorites

[flipp525]

Katherine McPhee is phenomenal and I'd actually consider her a lock at this point. I've never seen Paula so instantly moved by a contestant. I'm such a dork: the day after the "Hollywood, Part 1" episode I downloaded that Dionne Warwick song Katherine sang off of iTunes "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again".

She's my favorite right now. Incredible voice and refreshingly modest which is always an attractive quality.

[anonymous1980]

Here are my VERY early predictions for the Top 12 based on the people we have seen so far:

THE GIRLS

Locks (as in I'll cut off my left arm if they don't make it to the Top 12 sure):
Paris Bennett
Kellie Pickler.

Very Likely:
Lisa Tucker
Mandisa Hundley
Katherine McPhee

Iffy:
Gina Glocksen

THE GUYS:

Locks:
Ace Young

Very Likely:
Patrick Hall
Taylor Hicks
Chris Daughtrey

Iffy:
Kevin Covais
David Radford

[anonymous1980]

Does anyone else think that Paris Bennett's speaking voice sounds a little bit like Sniffles the Mouse?

[OscarGuy]

I don't remember names, so I can't chime in on that. I just hope they have some white guys with lungs who aren't like the annoying Clay Aiken or the red-headed lounge singer.

[Eric]

Yeah I'm pretty sure Paris was her name and Ann Nesby was from Sounds of Blackness. I'm hoping they do a '90s house night and Paris performs the Frankie Knuckles remix of "The Pressure."

[VanHelsing]

it seems that this time round, most of the participants with good vocals are youngsters... i think they're looking out for a young singer to win the competition this year...

[danfrank]

Is Ann Nesby the one from Sounds of Blackness? And the girl is named Paris something-or-other? The sound coming out of that girl's mouth was just phenomenal! I want to watch this season if just for the chance to hear her sing some more.

[Eric]

Time to revive? Ann Nesby's granddaughter is astonishingly good.

[paperboy]

Ellie May Clampett won. She's young, easy to manipulate, looks like someone Simon wants to sleep with

Wouldn't she have to be a little more...let's just say, masculine... for Simon to want to sleep with her?