As a country fan, lemme just say I LOOOOOVED Amy! Best of the night! By far, IMO. LaToya comes in second with Fantasia a third.
Bottom three:
Camille
Jasmine
Jennifer
Camille is gone… sorry, that was a HORRID “Desperado”. Jasmine had a crappy “Breathe”, but she’s been better throughout.
AMEN!
Diana - decent, not great performance but it should keep her on the show anyways.
George - It’s been a while but I think I thought he was pretty good. There seems to be a bunch of contestants that are pretty good, not many great ones.
Fantasia - Her voice as a hint of Macy Gray in it, I don’t like macy Gray. She seems to hit her notes though.
John S - This was my second favorite performance of the night. I think he was made for that song. I loved what he did when he forgot the words. Such a smooth voice.
Camille - As beautiful as she is, it was a weak performance. I want her to stay on only so I can see her on a weekly basis.
Jennifer - don’t like her, too much attitude, kills it for me.
JPL - nah, didn’t like it.
Jasmine - didn’t like it.
Matt - didn’t like it…at all…one bit. He took the criticism well from Simon, give him another week, just one.
Latoya - I’m flat out in love with her. Her voice is on a whole different level from the rest of them, plus she’s beautiful.
Amy - Third best of the night (my opinion of course), have to agree with the judges, and if I recall, some dopers as well; she was built for country music.
my bottom three
Jennifer
Matt
Camille (as sad as this makes me :()
Camille is toast.
Amy blew the roof off the joint. Yay Amy.
Matt was better than I would have predicted.
La Toya is great, but she IS a wedding singer and it sorta shows.
John Stevens is just too cute to lose.
George is…well, he’s George. How can you not love him?
I wasn’t a fan of La Toya before this, but she was the best tonight. I thought Amy was sunk for sure following her, but she saved her as with a great performance, my 2nd favorite of the night.
Camille is toast because of that horriffic version of “Desperado”, and without severe criticism from Simon to make people feel sorry for her and rally the vote, I’ll be surprised if she isn’t gone.
So many of the others seemed to be coasting or playing it safe. Penboy in particular, perhaps he needs the pressure of being nearly cut before he can cut loose.
Maybe it’s me, but the reaction to Simon tonight from everyone (not just Fantasia) seemed particularly immature. Waaa, bad man said something mean! And when he compliments, they cheer. At least be consistent and stand by your immature reactions, people!
Diana: I swear, I can’t believe this girl is 16. Blew the roof off.
George: Meh.
Fantasia: Just didn’t seem comfortable with the song. And no matter how much Simon’s remark hurt, she should not have reacted as she did.
John: Surprised me, and as Ryan pointed out, few people would have known that scatting was covering up for forgotten lyrics if the judges hadn’t mentioned it.
Camille: Sucked. Sounded like she was singing into a fan.
Jennifer: Look, she got the whole audience acting as her rhythm section (yes, I know they clapped along with LaToya and Amy as well, but with Jennifer, it sounded the most spontaneous). Don’t tell me she can’t bring it.
Jon Peter: Dude! Did you learn those lyrics phonetically? That song is a weeper, and you just mouthed it, with none of the heartbreak! Too bad, too, because there are some electric-country songs that would be perfect for you.
Jasmine: Okay for what it was, but nothing special.
Matt: Whose voice was that? Didn’t sound like him at all.
LaToya: Takes guts to start out in the audience like that, but she pulled it off!
Amy: Now that’s what I’m talking about!
Amy stole it, in my opinion. I agree with Paula. She could release it and it would soar in the charts. She was THERE. Right there in the song. Contrast Fantasia who, though enormously talented, looked like children of the corn during her whole song.
I was so surprised. I knew that country would be harder than people were thinking, but I had no idea that only one person would nail it and that that person would be Amy. I think she was just as surprised.
I do wish people would have tried the classics. George could have done some Hank Williams, Sr., for example. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”, maybe.
I thought tonight’s show sucked, but what do you expect when you get a bunch of negroes singing country music? They should let the niggers sing soul music every week.
Redneck, indeed.
I agree the song choices sucked for the most part. Not just because I don’t like country music, either. Jon Peter could have gone Creedence, and Matt should have Garthed. No one should ever Willie Nelson. John Stevens picked exactly the right song (good call skutir! I laughed) but he didn’t do it as well as I think he is capable of.
Before last night, I was all about Jon Peter. Now I just want him to hurry up and go before I start liking him again.
On the other hand, I felt like I was really noticing Diana for the first time. She could sneak up and win this thing! When you factor in her age, it’s even more amazing.
Amy: Damn, she did it right! Best of the night.
You’re obviously trying to be offensive, so I won’t react to your racial slurs, but you are also ignorant of country music. Country music is not the sole domain of white singers. For instance, there’s Charley Pride. And then there’s… there’s… um… well, anyway, there’s Charley Pride.
You know, I like Diana, but she didn’t do it for me last night. You know how people say you NEVER should do a Whitney Houston song because you just can’t match her and will always fall short and that’s what people will remember? Well Diana did a Martina McBride song… sorry, but that’s even MORE unattainable than Whitney. Just as a comparison, she fell way short. I guess that is why they say you don’t do a song from Whitney.
Though Amy really nailed it and sounded as good as Natalie from the Dixie Chicks. Props to LaToya as well, for taking a Garth song and being able to bring it.
I had to turn it midway because it was so bad.
Am I the only one who noticed Simon’s not-so-concealed middle finger while Fantasia was having her little fit? My opinion of her is much lower after that little outburst. If she can’t handle a little constructive criticism then she’s in the wrong game.
Also, I thought they banned people who used racist language (Convict). I’m all for free speech, but that’s inappropriate on here.
I wish Simon would turn to Randy and Paula and say, acerbically, “LOOK. I don’t interrupt when YOU are talking.”
What happened to my post? 
La Toya rocked the house last night. And Amy was fine, too!
Beyond that. . . problems galore.
Diana – OK, but that’s all.
George – Good, not great.
John Stevens – the kid is wooden. I don’t think he connects one bit with the audience, not even as well as Diana. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look straight into the camera; his eyes are always skittering to the side. His voice sounds thin to me and his nerves will kill him. Forgetting the words to a song as simple as KING OF THE ROAD is unforgivable for someone in the AI finals. I agree that he is too young to be in this competition.
Jon Peter – I really wanted to like this kid, but he just phoned that performance in.
Matt – Eeeewww. (And I like his personality. Go figure.)
Jasmine – Yikes, girl. Pick a key you can sing in . . . and stick with it. Really 180 degrees from last week.
Fantasia – scares me. I just don’t want her to bite me with those big white teeth and enormous mouth.
Jennifer – Have not liked this girl from Day One. She oversings. Her straight hair was horrible. Don’t they know that stick straight hair is passe?
Camile – Pack your bags, girl. You’re going home and it’s about time!
At least tonight’s results show is only 30 minutes long.
Im sorry, but I’ve watched Amy four times now, and every time it just gets better. Regarding the yodel, I think that’s an essential element of country music that the pros get just right, but pretenders tend to over-do. Amy did it just exactly right.
I thought it was cool that she herself was so surprised. I’m not sure that anybody would have pegged her for country. Before, she had been pigeon-holed as a Broadway singer. Who’d 've thunk country? I’m excited for her now, and I’m looking forward to what she does next.
Actually, Simon did that with someone else who he was being nice to and there would have been no reason to use the finger. It might have been Jon S, but I can’t remember. Then it was like he suddenly realized he was touching his face with the middle finger so switched quickly to the index. It may just be a natural gesture for him. Just now I was rubbing the corner of my eye and realized I was also using my middle finger.
But, yes, these kids need to learn to just take the criticism with class. I don’t recall Clay sassing back, he took criticism and he used it and grew from it.
That said, I think most of Simon’s criticisms were just plain stupid last night. I don’t see what the point of his comments about Diana. His criticism with George was just wrong, he looked great. I don’t even remember what he said to Fantasia but it was probably stupid, too. As for Jennifer … that was off base, too but I have to wonder if he may have said that to get her the sympathy votes since she was in the bottom last week. However, maybe if people would let Simon actually explain what he’s talking about when he tries to criticize instead of interrupting him constantly, maybe he would make some sense and come out with some useful constructive criticism.
My review:
Diana - Another great performance.
George - I thought this was only a country song by a technicality. It was good but he always seems to start a little weak. I’d like to see him sing something consistently.
Fantasia - I am not crazy about her Macy Grayness but I thought she did a great job with this. It was an odd song choice but it worked well and she sang it rather subdued which works and proves she doesn’t need to belt it out or add flourishes to sound good. I don’t think she needed to sass back but I also noticed that she could have a second career as an actress.
Jon S. - Good job on whoever called that song choice. It worked well for him but as much as I want to like him I don’t think he’s an Idol, he’s more in the Harry Connick, Jr genre. He’s also still weak on some vocals, but he could be great with some maturity.
Camille - She was way too breathy, she makes me feel out of breath. She could also be good with some maturity and voice lessons (she needs to learn breath control) but she is not ready for this now. I agree she was the worst of the night. I still can’t help but wonder if she will be voted off though because people seem to really like her regardless of her faults. She wasn’t bottom 3 last week even though her performance wasn’t much better then.
Jennifer - I don’t like the straight hair. It makes her look too K-Lo and the fluffy hair make her look softer. I didn’t like the song and I think she had a weak start. I don’t think it was bad enough to be bottom 3 but I think she’s capable of better.
JPL - Eh. He is kind of adorable, in a goofy way, but that’s not enough. He was stronger on the chorus of the song but the verses were bad and out of tune.
Jasmine - I couldn’t help but wonder if there were technical problems again since her voice kept disappearing, the intro and verses were very weak. Probably not a good song choice for her even though you’d think she could do well with that. She doesn’t deserve bottom 3 though, even though this was not her best she has other strong performances behind her. But you never can tell what people will do with their votes.
Matt - I was surprised, I thought he was actually pretty good last night. Still not strong enough for Idol material though and not good enough to be safe.
LaToya - Great as usual. I just wish this girl’s name was not “LaToya”.
Amy - Country is definitely her niche, I could tell in the first few notes. This was her best performance and possibly the best of the night but I can’t help but wonder if she can keep it up without the use of country songs.
Bottom 3:
Camille
Matt
JPL
He said something about her looking like she was wearing her mother’s dress and that she was acting “too old.” And then he looked pointedly at Paula. And this was after Randy and Paula had kvelled about how she had gotten so elegant and all.
And that’s one of my problems with Simon (who I love dearly, by the way): when the contestants change their image or delivery, he’s uncomfortable because they’re not like they used to be. But when they stay the same, then he complains because they don’t change or grow. I can understand how these kids can be baffled by the criticism because they simply don’t know what he’s looking for. And they’re not really getting any help from Paula and Randy because Paula LOVES everything and Randy’s comments are usually unintelligible.
I don’t get the appeal of JPL, except that he’s sorta cute maybe. He sings one song with about four different voices. He has absolutely no idea how to place his voice, even in a BAD place.
Matt…man, he sucked. I never liked him much, and he was really awful.
I really like John, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t belong here. However, I think he’s adorable, and I really like his voice.
None of the others really stuck out (except George, but he’s local, and I really like him anyway which is good considering the orgasms the Fox station is having over him) except for Amy. I honestly think she surprised herself. I’ve done that a few times during voice lessons, and I know the feeling. Methinks she has found what she really ought to be singing.
My review:
Diana - What a little powerhouse she is! She’s neck and neck with Latoya for #1.
George - He’s amiable, reasonably good voice, but he never stands out. The best that I can say is that he’s reliably competent.
Fantasia - I really like Fantasia and I think she has a phenomenal voice. Comparing her to Macy Gray is to diminish her artistry–let’s say that she comes from the Eartha Kitt/ Macy Gray smoldering chanteuse school. That said, I thought she showed an unbecoming immaturity in her sassback to Simon.
Jon S. - I really like him, but his Sinatraesque style is all wrong for this competition. He needs to stop singing slow, jazzy standards and start singing in a more contemporary idiom, or I predict he’ll go next week, which would be a shame.
Camille - Awful. Can’t hit the notes, way too labored on her phrasing, and has no control of her voice. See ya.
Jennifer - I hated what they did to her hair. Good performance, but not oustanding. Solidly in the middle of the pack.
JPL- I want to see him shake that cute butt of his, and maybe he’ll hit the notes because he was terrible standing still.
Jasmine - Who told her she was an alto? She started out way too low, and her entire performance was weak.
Matt - Again, meh. Although I am hopelessly in lust with him, I thought his performance was saccharine and tinny. Dude needs to make better song choices.
LaToya - Outstanding!
Amy - She needs to hitch a ride to Nashville with Josh Gracin and cut herself a CD. Amy is a country star in the making cos she tore the roof off the house with that song!
Bottom 3:
Camille (My pick to go home this week)
Matt (But I still love him!)
Jasmine
I agree that Amy nailed the genre. As Paula said, she was completely “in the pocket” as to the spirit and performance of the song. It’s just not a style of singing that particularly appeals to me personally. It’s just a matter of personal taste. I think she did it well, though.