AbsentElement
03-29-2006, 01:12 PM
Good Wednesday everyone,
I saw the 21st Century Duds thread and started to respond, but then I got a little more into it and started rambling about my view on each individual contestant. So I figured I better break it down in a new thread. :) I was thankful that I'm not the only one who thinks that last night's show was just off, all the way around. Here's how I see last night, compared to the last few weeks. I'd love to hear what some of my fellow American Idoloholics Anonymous group members think...
ACE:
Ace is having a very difficult time shaking his nerves. It looked like he drank a gallon of Red Bull before he took the stage. I thought my TV was shaking. He had some real issues with the tempo too. I think Ace can sing, but he needs to really work on his confidence and he needs to forget about trying to melt the girls' hearts with a soft voice. The soft voice songs he's picked so far haven't been able to give him enough adrenaline to cover up the nerves. His best so far was Father Figure, by a mile. I actually think Drops of Jupiter was a good selection for him, but I'm chalking up his poor performance to his nerves getting the best of him.
BUCKY:
I have to disagree with some people's posts about Bucky's performance last night. Although he's no Tim McGraw, I think it was definitely his absolute best performance so far. I used to sit there and scream at my TV, just furious that he was even still around after folks like Sway and Gideon were eliminated. But I have to admit, he is gradually improving. And he seems like a genuinely good kid. He still seems to sing a bit sharp now and then, but overall I enjoyed his performance much more than some of the others last night. I'm confident he won't win it, but he may actually still be around for a couple more weeks. Get used to it folks. Bucky surprises you all and avoids bottom three tonight.
CHRIS:
I don't know if I really agree with Simon's comments last night. He said that Chris crossed the line with "What If." I'll agree, it probably wasn't the best song he could have picked out of six years worth of songs, but I like that Chris continues to push the envelope. He's stretching the boundaries of American Idol to places it really hasn't been yet. Chris is my favorite to win the whole thing. Despite some of the things people are saying about him (notice Ryan mentioned the LIVE thing?), he's already proven that he can (and will) be big. I was somewhat disappointed last night with his performance, but I'm still looking forward to the next one. His best so far, for me... I walk the LIVE. hehe.
ELLIOT:
Here's another one where, early on, I kept asking myself, why is this guy still around? I was just not on the same page when Simon dubbed him "potentially the best male singer the show's ever had." But this kid keeps getting better and better. He too seems very genuine and he basically just needs more experience and coaching. And I think he's another that could could stand to consume less Red Bull before going on stage. I think the thing that irks me the most about him is his homeboyesque choreography. But I try to look past that to his potential. I just don't think he'll win it, but I'm rooting for him to do well.
KATHARINE:
What is going on with her wardrobe? Is anyone else feeling me? She looked okay last week, but last night, and the week before last, jeez. I'm not feeling the energy I felt from her before. I think she did okay last night, but for me, her best so far was Aretha's "Think." We already know she's got chops. Now she needs to energize and entertain the audience. She's good, but I'm losing interest (okay, so I still have her gorgeous face on my PC desktop).
LISA:
Sorry Lisa fans, I think this will be the last we see of her. The good thing is she's been fairly consistent. The bad thing, is she's been consistently boring. She improved her appearance yesterday... the straight hair is a much better look for her. But for me, she just hasn't connected. She's one that I can't really point out anything negative specifically, she's just bored me. Sorry.
MANDISA:
Well, I respect her for stretching the AI boundaries like Chris. She does have good Gospel chops. But I don't think she can win with songs that a lot of people don't know, or disagree with, or whatever. I don't want to get any kind of debate going on whether Gospel or religious songs should be performed on AI (Chris did it too with Creed), I'm simply saying she might have a hard time connecting with everyone in the same way with those types of songs. I think she's usually a great singer, and she usually picks great songs. Last night was a good song choice for her style of vocals, but I'm just not familiar with it, so I had a hard time connecting. And I think last night she seemed to do a little more shouting than singing. I think she just had an off night.
PARIS:
Man, oh man. Please do not do another Beyonce song. I hate to pick on her, because I think she CAN sing. But she looks too young and not nearly attractive enough to be moving like that. I haven't liked her much in the previous weeks, but I thought she was actually very good last week. Last night, it just didn't work for me.
TAYLOR:
Last night was a very nice change for me. I enjoy the energy he usually has. I knew, since his audition, that this guy can actually sing. Sometimes, however, he puts a little too much energy into it and it takes away from the vocals. His voice is different and unique (God, I sound like Paula), so you may or may not like the way it sounds, but there's no denying the kid can sing on pitch, and there's no denying he has stage presence. I actually enjoyed watching him set some of that aside and slow it down for a number. When you go to a typical show, is every single song exciting and uptempo? Nope. You get at least a couple of 'bring-it-down-a-notch" songs in there. For me, it worked great for Taylor last night. Next week, I would imagine he'll go with something a little more upbeat and energetic. I'd like to see AI5 have 80's week, and I'd love to see Taylor do some John Cougar Mellencamp.
KELLIE:
For all the Kellie h8trs out there, you may get your wish this week. For me, it was a poor selection and a poor performance. But she looked better without all that war-paint. She must not read my posts. :) Kellie, if you make it past this week, and recover from the stigma of being in the bottom three (and you probably will be), do something like Shania.
So, my picks for bottom three tonight are Ace, Lisa, and Kellie... most likely to go home being Lisa.
I saw the 21st Century Duds thread and started to respond, but then I got a little more into it and started rambling about my view on each individual contestant. So I figured I better break it down in a new thread. :) I was thankful that I'm not the only one who thinks that last night's show was just off, all the way around. Here's how I see last night, compared to the last few weeks. I'd love to hear what some of my fellow American Idoloholics Anonymous group members think...
ACE:
Ace is having a very difficult time shaking his nerves. It looked like he drank a gallon of Red Bull before he took the stage. I thought my TV was shaking. He had some real issues with the tempo too. I think Ace can sing, but he needs to really work on his confidence and he needs to forget about trying to melt the girls' hearts with a soft voice. The soft voice songs he's picked so far haven't been able to give him enough adrenaline to cover up the nerves. His best so far was Father Figure, by a mile. I actually think Drops of Jupiter was a good selection for him, but I'm chalking up his poor performance to his nerves getting the best of him.
BUCKY:
I have to disagree with some people's posts about Bucky's performance last night. Although he's no Tim McGraw, I think it was definitely his absolute best performance so far. I used to sit there and scream at my TV, just furious that he was even still around after folks like Sway and Gideon were eliminated. But I have to admit, he is gradually improving. And he seems like a genuinely good kid. He still seems to sing a bit sharp now and then, but overall I enjoyed his performance much more than some of the others last night. I'm confident he won't win it, but he may actually still be around for a couple more weeks. Get used to it folks. Bucky surprises you all and avoids bottom three tonight.
CHRIS:
I don't know if I really agree with Simon's comments last night. He said that Chris crossed the line with "What If." I'll agree, it probably wasn't the best song he could have picked out of six years worth of songs, but I like that Chris continues to push the envelope. He's stretching the boundaries of American Idol to places it really hasn't been yet. Chris is my favorite to win the whole thing. Despite some of the things people are saying about him (notice Ryan mentioned the LIVE thing?), he's already proven that he can (and will) be big. I was somewhat disappointed last night with his performance, but I'm still looking forward to the next one. His best so far, for me... I walk the LIVE. hehe.
ELLIOT:
Here's another one where, early on, I kept asking myself, why is this guy still around? I was just not on the same page when Simon dubbed him "potentially the best male singer the show's ever had." But this kid keeps getting better and better. He too seems very genuine and he basically just needs more experience and coaching. And I think he's another that could could stand to consume less Red Bull before going on stage. I think the thing that irks me the most about him is his homeboyesque choreography. But I try to look past that to his potential. I just don't think he'll win it, but I'm rooting for him to do well.
KATHARINE:
What is going on with her wardrobe? Is anyone else feeling me? She looked okay last week, but last night, and the week before last, jeez. I'm not feeling the energy I felt from her before. I think she did okay last night, but for me, her best so far was Aretha's "Think." We already know she's got chops. Now she needs to energize and entertain the audience. She's good, but I'm losing interest (okay, so I still have her gorgeous face on my PC desktop).
LISA:
Sorry Lisa fans, I think this will be the last we see of her. The good thing is she's been fairly consistent. The bad thing, is she's been consistently boring. She improved her appearance yesterday... the straight hair is a much better look for her. But for me, she just hasn't connected. She's one that I can't really point out anything negative specifically, she's just bored me. Sorry.
MANDISA:
Well, I respect her for stretching the AI boundaries like Chris. She does have good Gospel chops. But I don't think she can win with songs that a lot of people don't know, or disagree with, or whatever. I don't want to get any kind of debate going on whether Gospel or religious songs should be performed on AI (Chris did it too with Creed), I'm simply saying she might have a hard time connecting with everyone in the same way with those types of songs. I think she's usually a great singer, and she usually picks great songs. Last night was a good song choice for her style of vocals, but I'm just not familiar with it, so I had a hard time connecting. And I think last night she seemed to do a little more shouting than singing. I think she just had an off night.
PARIS:
Man, oh man. Please do not do another Beyonce song. I hate to pick on her, because I think she CAN sing. But she looks too young and not nearly attractive enough to be moving like that. I haven't liked her much in the previous weeks, but I thought she was actually very good last week. Last night, it just didn't work for me.
TAYLOR:
Last night was a very nice change for me. I enjoy the energy he usually has. I knew, since his audition, that this guy can actually sing. Sometimes, however, he puts a little too much energy into it and it takes away from the vocals. His voice is different and unique (God, I sound like Paula), so you may or may not like the way it sounds, but there's no denying the kid can sing on pitch, and there's no denying he has stage presence. I actually enjoyed watching him set some of that aside and slow it down for a number. When you go to a typical show, is every single song exciting and uptempo? Nope. You get at least a couple of 'bring-it-down-a-notch" songs in there. For me, it worked great for Taylor last night. Next week, I would imagine he'll go with something a little more upbeat and energetic. I'd like to see AI5 have 80's week, and I'd love to see Taylor do some John Cougar Mellencamp.
KELLIE:
For all the Kellie h8trs out there, you may get your wish this week. For me, it was a poor selection and a poor performance. But she looked better without all that war-paint. She must not read my posts. :) Kellie, if you make it past this week, and recover from the stigma of being in the bottom three (and you probably will be), do something like Shania.
So, my picks for bottom three tonight are Ace, Lisa, and Kellie... most likely to go home being Lisa.