You know all the elementary school programs and After-School Specials designed to “enhance self esteem” amongst youngsters? If the male twins on Wed night are any indication, we can cancel those programs now. They had self-esteem coming out their ears. Talent…not so much.
Here’s a reality check: the opinion of the judges may be “just your opinion”, but in an audition, it’s all that matters.
I didn’t see any of AI 1, so I wanted to get in at the beginning this time. I’m not terribly impressed.
I don’t like how they handle the really awful auditions. Assuming we have to see them for entertainment value (which is fine), they could do any of the following:
The judges could just say “thank you. Next”.
The judges could offer constructive criticism (which they do, occasionally)–“you were off key, you have no range, and your performance was lifeless”.
They could just cut the judges reaction completely, except for maybe looks of stunned disgust.
I don’t see any point in having the judges laugh at and insult the contestants. Simon and Randy just aren’t that witty.
But then where would the entertainment value be??!?!?
From the performance itself. Having Simon add “you are the worst singer in New York” doesn’t add any entertainment value, for me, at least.
Good points, jsc1953.
What I find fascinating is the number of people who show up and don’t even know how to audition. It’s obvious that a lot of these folks don’t REALLY want to be professional singers, since it’s pretty obvious they have never bothered to practice, get voice lessons, or even tried to get professional advice. A lot of them are just drawn in by hype.
stoid:
Well, I guess that’s sort of true. But there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s supposed to be finding a pop star, not a folk music act. No problem there; they’re being honest about what they’re looking for. And I think it should be that way; if they were looking for ANY sport of musical act there’d be no way to decide who’s better than who.
However, I don’t look at this as being “what kind of pop music do I like?” Personally, I prefer rock music anyway.
Preferences and styles aside, you cannot deny that the winners of the last AI and the probable winners of this one are going to be highly skilled performers. That’s what impresses me - a person’s ABILITY, not whether or not they match the sort of music I like. If I want to listen to my music I’ll pull out my mp3 player; I watch this show because it’s cool to see talented people trying to win a recording contract, and it’s cool to debate with myself over who I think is the best. The difference betwen Kelly Whatshername and Rod Stewart is style - they’re both talented, they just apply them to different styles of music. The difference between Kelly and the nitwits that Simon insults is ability and effort. Style does not impress me; ability and effort impress me.
Singing and performing is, for the most part, NOT about being original or trendy, it’s about hard work. The people who make it in music, movies, or the performing arts are, in the vast majority, the hardest working people in show business. Singing in particular is something you have to work at. You have to practice your voice. Most people could use a voice coach. You have to perform as much as you can. You have to perform different kinds of songs. You have to take and apply criticism. You have to try out different types of media. You have to work on your appearance and presentation. You have to keep in shape. Of course you do need SOME natural ability, but there are a lot more people with natural ability than there are singers. A singer who does not do these things is no different from a person who wants to play the guitar but can’t be bothered to take lessons, keep his guitar in decent shape, or learn any new songs.
And if you watch the people on “American Idol” really closely, it’s often VERY obvious which ones have sought out voice coaches and gone to every single audition they could find and sang at every possible opportunity, and it’s obvious which ones just sing in the shower, have never even gone to an audition before this TV show, and think they’re a diamond on the rough. And it’s the latter ones Simon’s insulting, and the former ones who made the cut. Some of the people who were told they were terrible could never be good singers, but some really did have potentially strong and clear voices - they just didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
To my mind, singing as a skill is awfully impressive, because it’s a lot of work and learning.
I get the impression that they offer constructive criticism when it might help. Some of those people simply have no chance of making it and evidently no one has done them the courtesy of making that plain. It is embarrassing to have that done on nat’l. television, I’ll admit that. But that doesn’t make it okay to reinforce the delusion that someone with no chance has one. It may be cruel to be truthful, but in many of these cases it seems that it would be more cruel to lie. I imagine quite a few of L.A.'s prostitutes, along with many of the faces we see on internet porn sites, are there because they never had someone like Simon who would try to really open their eyes.
I’d never watched an entire episode of this show until last night, though I’ve caught bits and pieces. This is my only complaint as well. Some of the auditions were just plain funny, but the comments from the judges at times caught me off guard. I will say it’d be difficult to not laugh at times. I sing horribly, and I doubt many people could keep it together if I belted one out for a roomful of people to hear.
Are the auditions always this black and white? It seemed like either the hopefuls were truly horrible, or truly fantastic without much in between. I like that the auditioners can bring props, I kept hoping someone would roll a shower in there. 
Me too. This analogy comes to mind:
Paula Abdul is to "Honey, you have no singing talent at all. To think you actually believe you have a shot at becoming a pop star! " as George W. Bush is to “The use of race-based preferences in institutions of higher learning is unfair, wah!”
Shut up, Paula “my voice sounds like it belongs to a Minnie Mouse-Janet Jackson hybrid” Abdul!
It did when he went on to challenge the guy to go out into the streets and find a worse singer. The clips of total strangers outsinging the poor guy (who kept a sense of humor about it) were great.
But I gotta applaud the girl trying to sing the Chicken Dance - and failing.
Ditto to Frenchie Davis (the overweight black woman with the powerful voice) getting some national exposure - the world needs a new Bessie Smith.
BTW, Edgar Nova (the Enrique Iglesias imitator who wouldn’t leave) was interviewed on local news last night. He really wasn’t kidding - he thinks he’s going to be a star as soon as the show clears up some mixup with him. Um, Edgar, what part of “You suck” didn’t you understand?
I only saw the first night of it. I hope they’ll re-broadcast the second. I didn’t watch AI1, so I’m a newbie.
My picks are, in order:
Frenchie the heavyset woman. She’s fantastic. I agree with whoever said that even if she doesn’t win, she will probably get offers, etc., from the show.
The twins. I really liked their singing–unique. IMHO, they need some style help, though.
The blond girl who sang Superstitious. Loved her voice, and her style. Especially loved her choice of song. I agree that she sang too fast, but that can be fixed. She is the most conventionally pretty of my favorites, and so has a good chance of winning it all.
The guy with the “bad” look and the great voice. Definitely an underdog. I like underdogs.
And although Frenchie isn’t “pretty” in the way that Britney is pretty, I thought she was a beautiful woman. She may not have the right look for American Idol, but she has a great look.
Well, to be fair, that wouldn’t be all that entertaining, would it? They have thousands of auditions to choose from to put into the show - they edit it down based on entertainment. Entertainment comes from two places: really bad people who make you laugh, and really good people who are what the competition is looking for.
And am I alone in not really enjoying Frenchie? Her vocals just bugged me … yeah, she’s got a powerful-as-hell voice, but subtlety is key sometimes. I don’t like being yelled at, in song or otherwise. I was surprised Simon didn’t say that, as he made that comment to many people last season.
On a somewhat-related note, am I the only one who thinks Paula Abdul looks unhealthy? As in, return-of-eating-disorder unhealthy?
Her appearance worries me.
I agree about paula Abdul. She looks like she’s had some work done on her face. She’s got that Michael Jackson thing going on a little bit.
And she seems a little testier this time around, more willing to tell the bad ones that they suck. It must be difficult to sit through hour after hour of auditions which range from mediocre to ungodly bad to only an occasional gem without losing one’s patience eventually and just snapping on one of the Enrique types.
I have to agree about “Do you know Kung-Fu?” - priceless! I nearly messed myself. The girl who wouldn’t take “NO” for an answer is my all-time favorite though. I`ve been working in restaurants for years, and know the type all to well, but society encourages those kind of people by obliging them. They see that insisting they are right gets them what they want, and believe themselves to be masters of persuasion. What they dont realize is , we (society) are willing to them ANYTHING to shut them up!
annieclaus said, a couple days ago:
Nope, he quit. He said he wanted to pursue acting and not be typecast as a game show host. Personally, I thought he was already typecast as a waste of space… But then they brought back Kristen to be a “correspondent.” Ick.