Gigi - Mario quit for “personal reasons,” about which there are much speculation and no definite answers. Nikko was the last one eliminated so was the obvious backup.
Can somebody please tell me why I have not heard one god damn Rolling Stones song in the history of American Idol?
Dammit!
Street Fighting Man would have been perfect for Bo!
I agree, another good one would have been The Animals’ We’ve got to get out of this place.
Have anybody noticed the explanation that Seacrest gave them about the song choice, i.e. any song from the 60s and the choice they made, only American song ? Unless they plan to make a British invasion show, their choices don’t make sense.
Ah, I didn’t catch that. They WILL have Paul McCartney on the show later, so maybe they wanted people to stay away from the Beatles until Beatles night.
I am so freaking excited if they do have a Beatles night.
In performance order…
[ol]
[li]Jessica (Shop Around) – A good performance. She’s moved up a notch on my chart. Audio only: very good.[/li][li]Anwar (A House is Not a Home) – Uneven. Poor song choice. One so-so week shouldn’t hurt him though. Audio only: not-so-good on the low phrases, fabulous on the high parts.[/li][li]Michala (Son of a Preacher Man) – She has so much energy that it almost seems like she’s good. She’s not. Audio only: dreadful.[/li][li]Constantine (You’ve Made Me So Very Happy) – surprisingly good. He’ll be around for awhile whatever he does because the young girls are rabid for him (I’ve been browsing the Fox Idol message boards). Audio only: Not bad.[/li][li]Lindsey (Knock on Wood) – Painful to listen to. Audio only: still painful.[/li][li]Anthony (Breaking Up is Hard to Do) – Would’ve been better if he’d picked the tempo up to Sedaka speed. Audio only: very very nice, except the end when he kind of lost it.[/li][li]Nadia (You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me) – Awesome. Audio only: awesome.[/li][li]Bo (Spinning Wheel) – The man can work the stage. Audio only: good. For a live performance, holds up well against the Blood Sweat & Tears version.[/li][li]Vonzell (Anyone Who Had a Heart) – She looked good, she sang good, but there was no magic. Audio only: good. [/li][li]Scott – He’s looking better, he’s moving better. The vocals suffered a bit from the moving. I’m still waiting for him to take some risks – his singing seems too effortless (effortless is generally good, but I think we want to see him work). Audio only: awesome.[/li][li]Carrie (When Will I Be Loved) – Nice voice, but has no soul. Most of her standing in this competition comes from Simon’s constant drooling over her. She butchered “Piece of My Heart” previously, and compared to Linda Rondstadt, she butchered WWIBL. Audio only: good voice, but often awkward – she’s not connected to these songs.[/li][li]Nikko – So-so. I like to listen to him, and I like to watch him, but this performance didn’t gel. The song seemed off because it wasn’t like MJ. Audio only (2nd hearing / not expecting MJ): really very good.[/li][/ol]
My ratings (long term, not just Tuesday’s show):
[ul]
[li]Best of show: Anwar, Nadia[/li][li]Strong contenders: Bo, Scott[/li][li]In the middle: Anthony, Vonzell, Nikko, Jessica[/li][li]I just don’t like them: Constantine, Carrie[/li][li]Dreadful but not gone yet: Mikala[/li][li]Bye-bye: Lindsey[/li][/ul]
On a side note, I like the Coke “Lime in the Coconut” commercial. Great song, and they’ve made it cute. I actually look forward to this commercial.
For whomever was asking about why no Stones: they can only sing songs that they have gotten the rights to, and something tells me Keith and Mick are not interested in hearing their work butchered.
I am very disappointed in MIkalah’s performances, because I like her. I think she’s a beautiful girl, and her shtick is cute. I relate to big personalities, and I think she’s sincere. She needs someone to help her pick better songs.
I have to go with the majority opinion: it’s Bo and Nadia, not just last night, but overall. Unless one of the others has some kind of personality transplant, its going to come down to those two, which would be great.
And I believe that Mario bailed because he got a better offer that he will take as soon as he’s legally free to do so. The Idol contract is absolutely horrible, and if it were me, and people were sniffing around already, offering something better, I’d bail in a heartbeat. The fame is huge with the Idol win, but the price is incredibly high.
I wonder about Clay and that contract. How does it address the second-place winners?
[cheap shot]
Then how do you explain their past ten to fifteen years of touring?
[/cheap shot]
I am definitely interested in what the details of the idol contract are (and the stipulations binding the losing contestants). Word is they changed even the basic audition agreement this season, so as to not have another William Hung. I don’t know what that means for the past, present, or future of the Top 12 contestants’ deals.
Okay, whoa. Just got finished reading all of the many, many posts here.
Biggirl, I so enjoy you. Never stop posting.
About Scott’s family. Remember: He. Has. An. Evil. Father. The one who said he will never amount to everything ever, ring a bell? Ugh. That so irritates me! And he prolly didn’t have any other family there because they have all been beaten into submission by Father Evil because Scott actually was capable of being worthy of something quite big, like AI. I felt so sorry for him; even Bo had a collection of friends there.
My top three, overall, are Bo, Nadia and Anwar.
Oh, decided to look up a few things. Simon, of course, is an executive at BMG, so all the winners (and a quick search tells me a number of the notable runners-up) are taking deals with labels under the BMG umbrella. BMG owns:
Arista Records
BMG Classics
BMG Heritage
BMG International Companies
Columbia Records
Epic Records
J Records - Fantasia and Ruben are J Records artists.
Jive Records
LaFace Records
Legacy Recordings
Provident Music Group
RCA Records - Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, and Diana Digarmo are in under RCA. Justin Guarini is/was on RCA (I thought I heard he’d been dropped).
RCA Victor Group
RLG - Nashville
Sony Classical
Sony Music International
Sony Music Nashville
Sony Wonder
Sony Urban Music
So So Def Records
Verity Records
George Huff released a Christmas album on a non-BMG label “Word Entertainment.” Josh Gracin relased an album on non-BMG label “Lyric Street.” Kimberly Locke is on non-BMG label “Curb Records.” RJ Helton is on non-BMG label “Gospocentric.”
Tamyra Gray is on what appears to be non-BMG label “19. Records,” but there is that “19” logo related to the show’s production. I assume a link. (A quick googling gives me the following: “Perhaps there was a reason that 19 Entertainment had to start its own U.S. label (19 Records, distributed by Universal) just to release Tamyra’s CD – people like Clive Davis (head of BMG, which normally releases the artists from Idol that are signed by 19) haven’t forgotten that everything American Idol touches doesn’t necessarily turn to gold.”) So there you go. 19 is a subsidiary of Universal (itself part of the Vivendi empire).
And of course, William Hung is on non-BMG label “Koch Records.”
This is all I can find of the past Idol contestants, and was mostly gathered from this Amazon list. Though I say a number of contestants are on non-BMG labels, they very well could be under BMG in some convoluted manner, and “Curb Records” (for example) may just be a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of BMG.
Actually, that was #4. He left without delivering a number 3, 2 or 1. 
John Stevens has an album coming out on Maverick records. I think they’re part of the AOL-Time Warner empire.
I’ve been reading the AI threads for while now but have never posted.
I found it very interesting that both Bo and Constantine did songs also done by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Since the BST lead singer did both, comparing Bo and Constatine was more like apples and apples. I thought Bo did real well and I thought Constantine was a way behind runner up. I played the grooves off this BST album when I was in high school, BTW.
I was so relieved to see someone had given Mikalah some makeup and hair tips. Because her eyes are close together, the pulled back and teased on top hair thing she had going just accentuated that and made her like kind of odd to me. Her hair and eye makeup compensated for that this week, though, which I thought was really remarkable. I was unimpressed with her performance, however, and could not figure the pin-stripe low riders and the sweater at all.
I was glad to see Scott finally abandon the long shirts for the longer coat thing the last two weeks: a much more flattering look for him.
I have never been that jazzed by Vonzel, but I really liked her dress this week and thought she did a good job on the song, although I have to say that anyone who does Bacharach (her and Anwar), better hit it out of the box because close is miles too short. I really like Anwar, but he just didn’t do that well with his Bacharach, either.
I really like Bo and Nadia best. I have a soft spot for Scott because I think he has a great voice and I want to pull for anyone who is doing an uphill in the “looks” department. I also really like Anwar. Everyone else is sort of neither here nor there for me. I like them OK (except Mikalah, who I think is just not ready to compete with this group of folks), but they don’t have that certain something that makes me remember them particularly.
Has anyone seen the Mario bathroom rumors? Funny stuff. It’s just too good to be true, though.
Spill it!
The rumor on TWOP and elsewhere is that Mario was caught having a sexual encounter in a bathroom with a male emplyee of the show. Some sort of “zero tolerance” policy was invoked about fraternizing between show contestants and show employees. Mario was given the option of quitting for “personal reasons” because he didn’t want his sexuality to be made public.
There are some even weirder details than that. One of them is that Mario “forced” the employee to jerk off with him in the bathroom. Another one (which HAS to be false because it’s just too great) is that the employee was none other than Ryan Seacrest.
I can believe Mario might get caught with a sound tech or something. I’m dubious about how he could “force” anyone to masturbate with him, though and I don’t believe for a second that it was Seacrest.
Apparently, Mario has been asked since his ouster if he was gay and his answer was “Just ask my ex-girlfriends,” but, as one TWOPer cannily points out, the strategic placement of a single comma can change the whole connotation of that statement. (“Just ask my ex, girlfriends.”)
further proof the recording industry is in long, slow, descent to hell.
Wouldn’t Carrie sound so right doing "When Will I be Loved’, or so many others by Ronstadt??
I was sure Bo was gonna do some Stepenwolf, like someone above suggested.
That was me. I thought his perfect song would have been “Magic Carpet Ride.” His song choices have just been off, for me.
If Bo was going to do Steppenwolf I’d have liked him to do “The Pusher,” just because it would have been so cool to hear someone sing these lyrics on AI;
*You know I’ve smoked a lot of grass
O’ Lord, I’ve popped a lot of pills
But I never touched nothin’
That my spirit could kill
You know, I’ve seen a lot of people walkin’ 'round
With tombstones in their eyes
But the pusher don’t care
Ah, if you live or if you die
God damn, The Pusher
God damn, I say The Pusher
I said God damn, God damn The Pusher man*
Jessica, “Shop Around”
Boring and uninspired. I would really like some resource as to what songs they can and can’t sing, because I just don’t understand the song choices. “Shop Around” is a horrible song. 3/10
Anwar “A House is Not a Home”
Awful start and very uneven; okay finish. He’s got potential but never quite nails it. 4/10
Michayla, “Son of a Preacher Man”
She’s hideously ugly - it should be illegal for kids that young to get plastic surgery - a dreadful singer, and irritating as hell. Didn’t hit a note. 0/10, maybe one of the two or three worst performances in the history of American Idol single elimination shows.
Constantine, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”
I previously thought he was the male Mikayla (however you spell it) but in fairness that was a perfectly competent performance and a great song choice. I was shocked. He’s still not nearly good enough to win. 5/10
Lindsey, “Knock on Wood”
Okay, who let Julia DeMato into the dressing room? Horrible, and she’s Mickaila’s only hope of surviving another week. 1/10
Anthony, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”
He’s got a nice voice but it’s not so good that it overcomes his being incredibly dull. 4/10
Nadia, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”
Big improvement this week. Id’ like her better if she could stop looking like she’s constipated. 7/10.
Bo, “Spinning Wheel”
Actually a bad song choice; “Spinning Wheel” is a classic but it’s vocally boring and has few opportunities for long runs. The guy’s a master showman though and he did it well. 7/10
Vonzell, “Anyone Who Had a Heart”
Of all the contestants I thought Vonzell did the best job actually reflecting the theme. She LOOKED and sounded like she was from the 1960s. 6/10
Scott, “Aint Too Proud To Beg”
His singing wasn’t as good this week. He’s got a following because people want to cheer for the fat guy, but he’s got the charisma of a rock. 5/10
Carrie, “When Will I Be Loved”
Come on Barbie, let’s go party, ah, ah, ah, ah… 4/10
Nikko, “I Want You Back”
I was glad to see Nikko come back and you gotta cheer for anyone whose dad is the Wiz, but his performance wasn’t good and sounded twice as bad as it was if you could imagine Michael Jackson doing that song. But I’d rather Nikko watch my kids. 2/10
Have A Chance To Win:
Bo, Nadia, Jessica, Anwar
Have A Chance To Be On TV Long Enough To Be Famous:
Anthony, Constantine, Scott, Vonzell, Carrier
In Trouble:
Nikko
Atrocious:
Mikkaela, Lindsey
That’s one of the rumors. There are theories and sub-theories and sub-sub-theories. I don’t know how much weight any of them have.
I think the reason we’re not being treated to harder “rock” songs is that so many such songs rely as much as or more on the instrumentals. AI has an okay house band, but they’re no Stones or Zep. And a lot of rock songs just aren’t singers’ songs. What really impresses about “Foxy Lady”? Hendrix’s singing, or his guitar playing?
I’ve noticed people here and elsewhere saying, “Well, Nikko was so-so, but I’ll give him a pass because he had so little time to rehearse.” This may sound callous of me, but as much as I adore Mr. Smith, I’m trying not to factor that in. It’s true that he had very little time to rehearse…but that just happens to be a problem that we know about. What if later on, something bad happens to Scott’s son (I think he’s the only contestant with a kid) and he’s preoccupied all week? What if Vonzell sprains her ankle doing her workout and has to either perform a fast song sitting down, or change her song on short notice?
Things go wrong. People have sung with colds before. They’ve had family crises. But the show goes on. I’m thinking of the Hollywood rounds this year, when one of the girls in Jaclyn Crum’s group said after the performance, “This is not an excuse; there is no excuse—but her mom was in the hospital and she only had a short time to rehearse.” The impression was that, as humble as that statement started out, she still shouldn’t have said anything, because the problem was common knowledge, and it was ultimately up to them to bring it.
Just as it was up to Nikko to bring it. Judging his performance on its own merits, I’d say it was…okay. If I knew nothing about the situation, I’d say it was…okay. I liked it, I voted for him, and I hope he gets a chance to sing again. But if I’d thought it sucked outright, I would have reacted accordingly.