My quickie prediction for tonight’s bottom three:
Camile, Amy & Leah, with Amy heading home.
I like Clay, and I thought he should have won last year. But Ruben’s good too. And he hasn’t exactly has been a flop either. On the wild card show Ryan mentioned that Ruben’s current album is almost double platinum. Not to be corney, but they are both winners. And American Idol became even more popular because they were both so good, and the vote was so close.
As far as last night goes. I was suprised by Amy. I like it when singers just “deliver” a song. No vocal gymnastics.
Jon Peter – better than I expected. I think he has a chance, if he can keep the teen girl vote
And Matt needs to follow Simon’s advice. Don’t be a second rate Tom Jones. Go full out and be a first rate Ton Jones. Sing “She’s a Lady” next week. And raise the roof.
George – His Best overall performance. No slow start this time.
Last night.
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Latoya
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Leah
I just remembered the best moment of last night. When Amy asked how Randy liked her video package, he said it was great, it had puppies and Simon loves puppies. Simon agreed and said very happily, “I do love puppies”. It almost made you believe he has a heart.
Well, I agree; I never said Ruben sucked. I just meant, Clay != Justin.
Oh, good. Vindication. The correct person was sent home. (She even sucked during her solo again tonight!) I was surprised at the third person added to the Bottom Three!
Yes, I was happy to see “America” get it right and not vote on sympathy.
I also did not understand the 3rd person in the bottom three, who then became one of the bottom two, there were others who deserved that spot a lot more than she did.
Jennifer is much better than #10, I felt bad for her. But at least Leah is gone… it just had to be Leah off the island, anything else would have been unacceptable.
Clay showed he is better than anyone in this competition… at least now, but he’s been seasoned a bit on tour.
Woohoo! Sometimes being wrong is a very, very good thing. 
I didn’t watch Idol last season, so can someone tell me if Clay Aiken has always looked like Barry Manilow?
I wouldn’t say he “looks” like Manilow, so much as he…I dunno…sorta gives off a Manilow aura or something. Maybe he’s channeling him.
He did look different tonight. Older, I suppose. But it looks like the road life agrees with him. Still has the best voice I’ve seen from any AI contestant.
Jennifer was in the bottom 3 because, quite frankly, there isn’t that much difference between her, Fantasia, and LaToya in terms of style. All three are gospel-esqe singers. She’ll go earlier than she should because of it.
Anyway, my top 3 of the week were:
- Diana - WOW! Absolutely blew me away!
- George - Gotta love him. He has a really good voice
- Jasmine - Why not?
I think John Stevens will be there for a while, and I’m happy about that. More variety is needed on AI!
Very strong top 12, so strong that I’d say that while some were more deserving than others, I don’t think there were any embarrassments like Jim Verraros, A.J. Gill, R.J. Helton or Julia D’Amato from previous seasons. Even Leah Lebelle was better than the worst singers of years past. My thoughts:
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Latoya London–Outstanding performance, very polished. She could very well win if Jon Peter Lewis doesn’t sneak up ala Clay Aiken.
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Jasmine Trias–Wow, surprisingly good last night. I see her in the top five.
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Fantasia Barrino–Very good last night, but I don’t see the superstar qualities that the judges speak of. She sounds too much like a lot of other recording singers and even previous American Idol contestants. She’ll get tiresome soon.
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Camile Velasco–I love this girl. There’s a natural soulfulness to her voice that I can’t get enough of. Very disappointing performance last night, which was definitely caused by nerves. I really hope she pulls together and loses the “girl from small island” intimidation because she’s too good to blow it.
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Diana DeGarmo–Shockingly good, mature and exciting performance. Great closer for the show. I agree with the poster who compared her to Kelly Clarkson. Totally unexpected stage presence because I thought she looked very timid in previous performances and interviews. If she’s one of those “rise to the occasion” types, the others better watch out.
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Jennifer Hudson–Very nice last night, but everything she sings sounds the same, so she’ll get tiresome really fast.
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Amy Adams–Really don’t like her. Too Bette Midler for my taste. Should be next to go home.
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Matthew Rogers–Very good voice, but his personality is ruining his performances for me. He’s got that Joshua Gracin rage and looks like he wants to disembowel Simon whenever Simon criticizes him. For a guy that big, and one of the oldest in the competition (he’s 25), he needs to grow up and learn to accept constructive criticizm. Oh yeah, sang like crap last night. Sounded like frat house karaoke.
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Jon Peter Lewis–Why is he seen as such an underdog? This guy has a fantastic voice and reminds me of Clay Aiken because he doesn’t look like a star, but sure as hell sounds like it. If he picks the right songs and cuts the stupid dancing, I like his chances of winning. People seem to like him a lot too.
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John Stevens–Love this crooner. I appreciate that Simon recognizes what John contributes to the competition, especially since stupid Randy is so closed minded. Every year we hear the same damn songs, and with eight of the final twelve spots occupied by girls this year, I fear we’re in for a LOT of Whitney, Aretha and Mariah this year, so it’s nice to hear something totally different. Don’t underestimate this guy, the audience LOVES him.
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George Huff–Surprisingly good last night, but damn he’s boring. Seems like a nice guy, but doesn’t have enough charisma to be a star. He’ll stick around for a while on likeability, but I don’t see him in the top five.
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Leah Lebelle–Weakest performance of the night. Deserved to go. I’m disappointed because her voice isn’t bad and with two professional singers for parents, I expected her to be a more polished performer. I’d excuse her for her age, but Diana DeGarmo is the same age and put her to shame.
Has anyone noticed how influential Simon’s opinion has become? I think after the first season, when shit singers like Jim Verraros and A.J. Gill were voted through on pity and then the audience realized how badly they sucked, people have started to vote with him more. I think Leah Lebelle is gone thanks in no small part to Simon’s “Pack your suitcase” comment, just as I think that John Stevens was the highest vote getter in his bracket a few weeks ago because of Simon championing him after Randy trashed his performance. Paula tells everyone they’re great and Randy shows no appreciation for anything that isn’t hip hop or R&B, so Simon stands out more as the voice of reason.
[hijack]
(emphasis mine)
Is anyone else rather amused that the phrase “off the island” has become a standard vernacular phrase for anyone voted off of a reality TV show, whether there’s an actual island involved or not? (This is not the first time I’ve seen it used that way.) Survivor has really become part of the culture.
Well crap. The added emphasis would have been mine if I hadn’t screwed up the coding. The “off the island” bit was the part I meant to emphasize, obviously.
Clay sounded like an angel last night. I can’t believe I ever thought of him as a funny-looking kid, either. Wow.
I’m surprised at Jennifer being in the bottom three, too. Maybe everyone thought she didn’t really need the votes? Which is, incidentally, how I feel about Fantasia…I think she’s great, but I’ll give my vote to someone who really needs it.
[hijack]Those commercials for The Swan are creeping me out. “Even after major surgery, some of these girls will still not be good enough!”[/hijack]
Who was the third person in the bottom three? I see people commenting about how Jennifer didn’t deserve to be there and I know Leah was booted…so who was the other one?
Amy.
When he auditioned for the show, he was a “funny-looking kid”. But Clay’s always been good at knowing when to take advice, so I’m not surprised he’s gone from “Revenge of the Nerds” to a polished performer.
I too was surprised that Jennifer was in the bottom three, but I think ISiddiqui may be right that she’s losing votes because she’s quite similar to Fantasia and Latoya.
I missed the first half of the show (to watch Survivor), did I miss anything good? I figured nothing would happen vote wise until the last 15 minutes, so I didn’t tape it.
LOL. I have to agree. Randy wants the urban experience in his singing. It seems his radar for detecting “pitchiness” is somewhat more exacting when your delivery doesn’t comform with this preference. He also comes across as an embarrassing caricature. I can understand “yo, dawg” from a young man.
Paula is the obvious weak link. She echos much of what Randy says, and compared to Simon–love or hate him–she offers precious little insight.
Getting back to your point, I’m intrigued at how the top performers–that is, the most popular on the Board, BY AND LARGE–are African-American and the white singers are generally cooly received or despised singers are not. Is this a reflection of skill, or audience taste? Is this evidence of a generational divide?
Comparing John Stevens to Fantasia or Latoya is like comparing apples and oranges. (Ditto Clay vs. Fantasia or Latoya.) My question is: can someone sing in a pop-ish, white-ish way and still stand a chance against Fantasia, Latoya or Jennifer? These women are powerful, soulful singers and have tons of fire to their performance. By comparison, a Sinatra-style singer who’s laid back comes across as boring.
FWIW, I think Fantasia, Latoya and Jennifer rock, but I’d like to see some diversity make it to the final rounds.
Well, if you look at what’s popular in music right now, it is the hip hop/r&b stuff. I think that’s what the public wants.
And, John Stevens is beyond laid back, that boy is asleep. I could handle someone who did the Sinatra schtick, but John is so boring and he has zero personality. Granted, he’s only 16, but he’s no American Idol.