The American Idol Thread

[VanHelsing]

it's kinda sad for me 'cause on Thursday night, when the results are out, two of my favorite girls (Ayla & Melissa) are in danger... one of them has a high chance of going home... all thanks to that damn biased simon cowell!

[anonymous1980]

Something's telling me I should NOT vote for Will Makar.

Anyway...do you have a thing for the jail bait?

Are you talking to me, Oscar Guy?

[dws1982]

Paris ("Conga", Gloria Estefan)- Is it premature to declare Paris this season's official fashion disaster? Every show she seems to wear not one awful outfit, but a combination of about three different hideous things. The first verse wasn't very good, but she sang the rest of it okay. Still though, why would she think "Conga" was a good song to sing on American Idol. She's turning into a disappointment, I'm afraid. 6 out of 10.

Lisa ("Here's Where I Stand", Tiffany Taylor)- It's becoming clear that she's a performer-bot with one setting--mature balladeer. (Carrie at least had two settings.) She sang this decently enough...well not the key change, which drops her to a 5.

Melissa ("What About Love?", Heart)- Not the best performance in terms of vocals (she went off pitch a few times), but it was nice to see her throw down and just go for it. If she stays, she needs to drop the skanky clothes though. 7.

Kinnik ("If I Ain't Got You", Alicia Keys)- I'm not sure if she couldn't hear properly or what, but she sang in so many diffferent keys that I lost track. 3.

Katharine ("Think", Aretha Franklin)- I actually liked Diana's season three version better. It's not the rights song for her voice (I don't agree this was perfect vocally, anonymous), she barely moved, and her attempts to show actual personality fail to convince. 5.

Ayla ("Unwritten", Natasha Beddingfield)- I like that she tried something upbeat. Overall it was a nice performance, and I liked the ending, but it's still not...you know...7.

Mandisa ("I'm Every Woman", Chaka Khan)- Definitely the best of the night. 9.

Kellie ("I'm The Only One", Melissa Etheridge)- Probably her best performance yet, but still not exactly good. The verse was boring, but the chorus was actually nice. I think they're setting her up for the villain role this season, to oust one of the predetermined favorites. 6.

Predict Kinnik and Lisa to go home. Melissa is the more obvious pick, but Uncle Nigel is talking up the big surprise already, so Lisa, with a boring performance of an unknown ballad is the next most obvious pick.

[OscarGuy]

Something's telling me I should NOT vote for Will Makar.

Anyway...do you have a thing for the jail bait?

[anonymous1980]

My rankings for the girls:

01. Mandisa - I'm officially in love with her. This girl doesn't need Idol. She'll sail through the next round. The performance this season so far. (A)

02. Katharine McPhee - A hell of a lot better than last week, that's for sure. Vocally, it was perfect. Performance-wise I think Diana DeGarmo was still better. (B+)

03. Melissa McGhee - I don't know what Simon is thinking. I thought she did good with the song. It wasn't outstanding but it was pretty good. I hope she doesn't go home. (B)

04. Paris Bennett - Underwhelming performance coming from okay. Both vocally and performance-wise. I expected better from her. (B-)

05. Lisa Tucker - Another teenager underwhelms. This is a great song but I thought her version pales to the original from Camp. (B-)

06. Kellie Pickler - Still another okay performance but she'll get another pass for her "personality" unfortunately. (C+)

07. Ayla Brown - I give her an A for effort but frankly, she's better off with ballads. ©

08. Kinnik Sky - Started out fine but ended up a mess. She's definitely going home this week unfortunately. (C-)

[VanHelsing]

i won't use the word 'hate' cause it's too strong a term to be used on any of the contestants... but i have to admit that i dislike these two very much...

Ace Young & Katharine McPhee

both of them are simply lucky to have their good looks covering up for their not-so-great vocals... honestly speaking, they deserve to be in the bottom three for their last Tue/Wed performances...

having said the above, i think it's a given that both of them will make it to the Top 12... but for either one to be the eventual champion, H*LL NO!

for next week's show, i agree with dws1982 that for the gals, Kinnik & Melissa are the most vulnerable although i'm hoping that Melissa will be safe and either Katharine or Kellie will be the one out...

for the guys, Kevin was at the bottom three so it's quite reasonable to say that he might be one of the two guys to be voted out next week... the other one i'm not so sure... but i'm hoping that it will be Elliot cause i don't have any interest for talented BUT lazy, selfish people...

personally, here are my picks for the Top 12...

Ayla, Kinnik, Lisa, Mandisa, Melissa, Paris
Bucky, Chris, Gedeon, Kevin, Taylor, Will

but i feel this is how America will choose...

from my choices, take out Kinnik & Melissa... replace them with the crazy gal pals, Katharine & Kellie...
and take out Kevin & Gedeon (i think his uber confidence might pass off as cockiness for some)... replace them with Ace & Elliot...

and there you have it, the Top 12 for this season's American Idol... so, let the contest begins...

[dws1982]

[small voice]I never hated David like everyone else, and I think David probably has a nice voice beneath the artifice.[/small voice] The problem was that--on the show at least--he never showed anything beyond the artifice. A few years down the road, if he can get the Buble impersonation out his system, maybe he'll be better. Wasn't ready for American Idol though, and I was glad that he went before Simon started unloading his "ghastly party" analogies on him.

Someone who posts at the TWOP forums knows David; Based on what that poster said, he seems to be a genuinely good person.

So what the hell was up with Ryan making the guys speculate on their fate? And was anyone surprised that Gedeon was the only one with enough hubris to give a straightforward answer? If he weren't a legitimately talented singer, I'd hate him as much as I hate Pickles. But he has the goods to back it up.

Glad Will Makar wasn't elminated on his birthday--upon re-watching a few performances, he was better than I'd initially thought. Hope he makes it to the top twelve. And glad Melissa managed to hang on.

WTF was Pauler drinking tonight? She was more drunk than normal.

Top twelve predictions:
Gedeon
Will
Ace
Taylor
Chris
Elliott

Katharine
Kellie
Mandisa
Ayla
Paris
Lisa

The girls are easy to pick; One of those six would have to really screw up (and Kinnik and Melissa would have to really blow the house down) to miss out. The guys are tougher; Any of the eight left could make it--I think only Ace, Taylor, and Chris have nothing at all to worry about.

[OscarGuy]

Thank god Brenna and David are gone. I now feel better about the competition possibly yielding a worthy winner this year...

[flipp525]

Paula...drunk much? What is in those Coke glasses?

Good riddance to the Crooner. He was cute but that shtick could only take him so far.

Gedeon, take a note from Elliot and Chris, who are humble, gracious and....most importantly, much better than you.

I feel so embarrassed for the losers when they have to sing their losing songs again.

[anonymous1980]

Among this group my favorites are Mandisa, Will, Chris, Taylor, Katharine, Lisa, Paris and Kevin. Yes, Kevin though I think he's rough around the edges (he needs further polishing and developing) and doesn't deserve to go higher than 10th place at the most.

I can't stand Ace and Kellie though.

[kaytodd]

I find it a lot tougher to make up a top six for the men because I think there are far more good women singers this year.

1) Elliot Yamin (Close contest between him and Chris for best male voice)
2) Chris Daughtry
3) Gedeon McKinney
4) Taylor Hicks (I hope he stays on for several weeks. Good voice and he strikes me as more likely to do something interesting with a song. I think he will lose his annoying tics and rely on his voice. The tics make him stand out a little in the presently crowded field.)
5) Ace Young (Off night but he has a good voice)
6) Sway Penala (Thought he was better last night than the judges said he was).

After two competitive weeks, my American Idol is Mandisa. Long way to go, though.

[OscarGuy]

But he needs to go. I'm so sick of Frank Sinatra wannabes.

[dws1982]

9. David the Crooner - "The Way You Look Tonight (Frank Sinatra & Others): Absolutely cannot take criticism. At all. Stands there stone-faced and completely unreceptive to any critique.

I feel silly for saying it, but his stone face breaks my heart. It's like he's trying not to let the criticism bother him. And I prefer it to the bitchy comments some make, or the #### eating grin that we get from others. At least it's an honest reaction.

[flipp525]

1. Taylor - "Easy" (The Commodores): He's so enthusiastic that even his so-so performances are enjoyable. I really liked his rendition of "Levon" last week.

2. Elliott - "Moody's Mood for Love" (Stevie Wonder/James Moody): Fabulous. I love his voice.

3. Ace - "If I'm Not Made For You" (Daniel Bedingfield): Not on par with last week's performance. He's pretty to look at though (and ten times hotter with that beanie on).

4. Gedeon - "Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke): Get off my screen. You're just not good enough to have that much of an ego. Chris blows you out of the water and is modest as anyone there. Oh, and your mouth really is as big as Simon says it is. Go away.

5. Kevin - "Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Marvin Gaye): Chicken Little Goes to Motown.

6. Jose - "Overjoyed" (Stevie Wonder): Missed this one.

7. Will - "Lady" (Kenny Rogers): Missed this one.

8. Bucky - "The Thunder Rolls" (Garth Brooks): A good job. He seems like a really nice person. With that said, though, probably not going to make it that far in this competition.

9. David the Crooner - "The Way You Look Tonight (Frank Sinatra & Others): Absolutely cannot take criticism. At all. Stands there stone-faced and completely unreceptive to any critique.

10. Chris - "Hemorrhage" (Fuel): Flat-out phenomenal performance. This guy is my #1 by far.

[Penelope]

For those of us who don't watch the program, but enjoy reading your comments, could you tell us what songs are being performed...?