American Idol Season 5

[dgp11776]

Anybody watching this year?  I know bloop has watched in the past.  There is some real vocal talent this season.  Paris could be the next Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald.  Katharine could, too.

[Brenden]

I've been watching when I remember. I haven't been too impressed with anyone this year. I really like Paris and Elliot, Chris isn't bad, Katherine is pretty good, but that's about it.

[Silvah]

I would have to agree with the sentiments already expressed here. It's one of the better final groups though, I think. Paris, Elliot, Kat, and Chris could all do well in their respective areas.

[Brenden]

I like what Taylor did tonight, made Ryan look like an idiot on live television, awesome!

[dgp11776]

I like what Taylor did tonight, made Ryan look like an idiot on live television, awesome!

Yep...and that's ALWAYS welcome.

[lazy bloop]

[dgp11776]

Cool...Katharine McPhee covered KT Tunstall last night, and did a good job, I thought.

[Tom]

totally. her cover of Tunstall was really great. i think she may have even sung it better than Tunstall. McPhee's strength is in bluesy and jazzy songs. She should quit trying to be Whitney Houston (because almost nobody would care anyway) and go for broke and get as jazzy as she dares.

Chris impressed me last night too. His vocal ability almost makes his sentimental allegiance to Creed forgivable. Almost...

Taylor is the next Michael McDonald. He's quite good.

And Paris gets major props from me for being edgy last night. Prince and Mary J. Blige in one night was pretty impressive.

[dgp11776]

totally. her cover of Tunstall was really great. i think she may have even sung it better than Tunstall. McPhee's strength is in bluesy and jazzy songs. She should quit trying to be Whitney Houston (because almost nobody would care anyway) and go for broke and get as jazzy as she dares.

Chris impressed me last night too. His vocal ability almost makes his sentimental allegiance to Creed forgivable. Almost...

Taylor is the next Michael McDonald. He's quite good.

And Paris gets major props from me for being edgy last night. Prince and Mary J. Blige in one night was pretty impressive.

Dang, I think I agree with 100% of that post.  What do you think about Elliott?  I think the top 5 this year will all do well in the music business.  I just hope that:

1.  Chris makes modern rock music.  Actually, his band (a "Christians in a band" band called Absent Element) is pretty Tool-esque, including a nifty song called "7/4."  Yes, that's the signature.

2.  Taylor makes music in the vein of Michael McDonald and his heroes.

3.  Paris makes timeless jazz music like Ella Fitzgerald.

4.  Elliott makes Michael Buble or Harry Connick Jr. type music.

5.  Katharine makes jazz/blues music.

However, the top few will probably get stuck putting out rubbish stamped by the record label behind the show.  Hopefully they can hang on until they have some input - like Kelly Clarkson does now. 

[Tom]

"What do you think about Elliott?"

I want to like him, really I do. But for a former DJ and 'funky white boy' he has some really bland taste in song selections. granted, there wasn't much for him to choose from in this week's Billboard charts, so i'll forgive the unusually boring Buble song. but "Broadway" was a lousy choice; and yet again i'll give him some forgiveness because his birth year wasn't exactly loaded down with quality music...maybe he could have done an Elvis Costello tune?

though i think Elliott lost it for me when he said he had never heard Queen "Somebody To Love" before the competition. i about lost it when he said that. how on earth could someone who wants to make a living out of singing mainstream pop and rock music not have heard that song? maybe it will later be revealed that he lived under a rock from birth until his AI tryouts.

[dgp11776]

bloop, I see you were just reading the thread on this over at CMC.  Paul makes a ridiculous comment, somebody disagrees, Paul yells (via his keyboard), worldofcm calls him a jerk, flames are thrown, etc, etc.  Ahhhh, good times, huh? 

[bloop]

Absolutely.  I at least like about all of the top 5 except Taylor.  I have to wonder, though - I watch these shows, but I have yet to buy a single album from an American Idol contestant.

[Tom]

[dgp11776]

There was actually some speculation that Taylor was trying to do that the past few weeks (before returning to his normal self on Tuesday).  That was one of the main reasons that votefortheworst.com threw their support behind him after the Cucumber left last week.

I have purchased four AI albums, mostly for my wife.  I found that I like all of them with the exception of Carrie Underwood, and that's just because country isn't my thing.  I suppose it is a well-done mainstream country album, though. 

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts
Clay Aiken - Merry Christmas With Love
John Stevens - Red

[oopsiforgotagainbloop]

[worldofcm]

worldofcm calls him a jerk

Truth's truth.  LOL.

[worldofcm]

BTW - Elliott is by far my favorite.  He's a singer's singer.  Just fantastic.  I know, I know, he doesn't have a very engaging personality on stage - but his voice more than makes up for it.

Chris is good, but he worried me a bit this week on his second song.

Kat's good - but has never been my favorite.  She's too over the top for me, and "Take a Look at Me Now" was horrid.

I'm said Paris left, cause I really like her.  Taylor is aight.  I think he's better in a more unplugged setting.

[bloop]

[dgp11776]

[Aaron]

Paul overblowing stuff? Next thing you'll tell me is that the sky is blue and snow is white!

[worldofcm]

I didn't quite get that exchange, actually.  It seemed overblown from either side.

And I should be shocked that you disliked the way I handled something? 

Back to the subject at hand, there wasn't much exchange between Paul and I, it was mostly between Paul and Greg.  Paul got upset about something Greg did or said and started running his mouth like usual and wouldn't let it die, so I told him to quit being a jerk, and he blew up at me as well.

I'm just tired of a 40 year old man acting like a 5 year old child.

[bloop]

And I should be shocked that you disliked the way I handled something?

I was scratching my head more than anything else, honestly.  I don't think I understood what the big deal was at all, but it was probably a context/history thing.  It had little to do with you in particular. 

But, now that you mention it, you handled it in your usual way.  That aspect didn't stand out to me really.

[Aaron]

He's 50, not 40 so it's even worse!

[bloop]

That may be true, but I saw a throwaway comment just waiting to merely be ignored rather than cause a huge fuss.  Maybe I just see a lot of things like that lately.

[dgp11776]

You're a good man, bloop.

[worldofcm]

That may be true, but I saw a throwaway comment just waiting to merely be ignored rather than cause a huge fuss.  Maybe I just see a lot of things like that lately.

But that's just it - it wasn't a throw away comment - it was this huge diatribe about how Paul disagreed with the way Greg was trying to avoid spoilers.

[bloop]

*shrugs*  So he disagreed with that rule.  And the relevance is . . . ?  And the consequence for not entering into a mini flame war with Paul was . . . ? 

It's ok if you felt the need to correct him - I just didn't feel it was necessary.  Ignoring sometimes produces the desired result quicker.

[greg]

It's honestly not that big a deal, but I just wanted to defend my side of things. There is no Spoiler Rule on CMC, I had simply white texted the official song selections, because a couple people asked me to, so they could be surprised by which songs the people sang.

It was a courtesy/respect thing.

We had been discussing them in white text for a while, and Paul posted and said "Here are the song choices in regular ink, everyone" and posted them.

It wasn't about the texting or the "rules", as I could really care less. It was about his constant little kid attitude. It's like "nah-nah-nah-boo-boo you can't make me white text something." But it's always his attitude about everything.

Well, aside from the times when he's bashing homosexuals, hispanics, liberals, women, black people, white people, bunnies, and kittens.

I'd had enough and just snapped and told him to stop acting like an ass and he was getting no more last chances from me.

And, that's that. I never gave it another thought, and yet he has continued to act like a child, berate people, hurt peoples' feelings, say cruel and heartless things, and just generally be a mean-spirited nuisance.

So, there ya go. That was my issue with the little boy in the man's body. Carry on.

[worldofcm]

*shrugs*  So he disagreed with that rule.  And the relevance is . . . ?  And the consequence for not entering into a mini flame war with Paul was . . . ? 

It's ok if you felt the need to correct him - I just didn't feel it was necessary.  Ignoring sometimes produces the desired result quicker.

The relevance is that he acted like a five year old because he disagreed with what was going on.  If you continue to ignore someone like Paul, he's going to continue to act the way he does and only get worse.  You know this from personal experience.

Anyways - I think Elliott is going to kick some major booty tonight.  I can't wait to watch.

[e-bloop]

[greg]

Yeah. Absolutely. It was one of the breaking-point kind of things. But I'm over it now. Life goes on. There are more important things to worry about like HELPING ELLIOTT WIN AMERICAN IDOL! hehe

 :D

[dgp11776]

So what are the opinions on last night?  Elliott's second song (Trouble), was awesome.  I also liked his first song (If I Can Dream), Taylor's second song (In the Ghetto), and Chris's first song (Suspicious Minds).  The rest didn't do much for me.  I'm thinking Chris or Katharine are going home tonight, although Taylor should be, overall.

[amalgamate]

elliot is the MAN.

last night was awesome for him.

[Brenden]

Elliott did great. Then Chris, Taylor, and Katherine in that order. Katherine was horrible.

[Brenden]

So, Chris is gone. I'm suprised, I thought for sure that Elliott would go next, but I guess people can get past his weird looks.

[dgp11776]

So, Chris is gone.

 

[Tom]

i'm pretty shocked that Chris went off last night. but in the long run it is probably the best thing for him. this way he can stay with his band and get a lot more gigs based on his AI appearances. we haven't heard the last of Chris. besides, alt rock fans probably wouldn't have given him a chance had he won, because they'd expect schmaltzy cheeze whiz songs on an AI disc. he retains his artistic vision this way, and he most likely can negotiate a better/more equitable record deal on his own...as long as he hires a good music lawyer.

i don't begrudge Katherine staying on, because when she's on, she's on. unfortunately AI doesn't really cater to individual singer's best styles. she (and all the rest) have to do whatever styles are thrown at them for better or worse. Elvis songs sung by Katherine was pretty much a train-wreck gimme. however, i would have suggested that she sing "Love Me" or "Love Me Tender." those are slow songs that she could have dropped some slow jazz into. the songs she chose were a bad idea before she opened her mouth.

Taylor should have sung "Suspicious Minds" with "The Ghetto." and Chris should have sung "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock."

as far as Elliot goes. he's a really nice guy, and he has a really nice voice. but i feel the need to reiterate that he picks some blah songs fairly often. of all the AI folks left, he seems most likely to just go with whatever the suits want him to do...which may be why he's Simon's pet. so far, i have yet to see much that distinguishes him and gives him his own niche.

but this brings me down to the main problem i have with AI. they aren't looking for artists. it is a singing competition first / artistic vision is second / optional / frowned upon.

if they really wanted to make the show interesting next time they need to audition people who not only can sing, but perform their own material. they could give them song writing tests (not unlike Rockstar INXS did) to see just how versatile they are. in fact, i'd go so far as to say cover songs should go out the window nearly completely. the contestants who move through the ranks must have the best original songs AND performances. when they get to the final 3 they could get one week to do their favorite covers. but the focus would be on overall talent and creativity; not just vocal chops.

[idolfanbloop]

[dgp11776]

Okay, so Katharine's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was special.  In the vein of Fantasia's "Summertime," I think it could be one of the top Idol moments of all 5 seasons.  I would buy an album of songs like that tomorrow if she made it.

[Tom]

indeed. Katherine almost had a Karin Bergquist moment. i was very impressed. she proved once and for all that her niche is classy jazzy stuff in the vein of pop music from the 30's 40's and early 50's. and i for one thought that the judges were really harsh on her Ella song. she pulled it off in my opinion. sure, nobody but Ella can do Ella, but does that mean that nobody can sing songs she made popular?

Taylor was awesome too.

but based on last night's performances i think if anyone deserves to win it is Elliot. and by deserve, i mean that he's already singing the heck out of boring material, which is exactly what the winner will have to do. by singing blah stuff with a smile, he's shown that he wants to win this more than the others do. so, you go Elliot! win it boy! and truly, if he enjoys that kind of drivel, then it won't be a chore for him. so if he wins, i think everybody will go home happy.

meanwhile maybe Taylor and Katherine can make some potentially great music on their own terms.