American Idol 3/25: Who's it gonna be?

Cafe Society
1

Apparently Cowell and Seacrest are serious about this being Disco Night. I’m trembling, but not with anticipation. Too many of these folks are going to sound like drunks who grab the mike at a wedding reception.

But who’s gonna do the worst job, combined with unimpressive performances in other genres? I say Corey, but it could be Julia, and not really because they’re going to sound foolish, but just from the tides of public opinion. Carmen and Rickey are going to be in trouble too. All of them are on borrowed time, anyway. Kim C’s single style can cover this, but her limitations are being exposed. Josh’s country stylings will be too funny to vote against. The others can handle anything, and Trenyce will be the most impressive.

2

Well, the Marine guy will sound worst if he does pure disco.

Julia and Cory also could do poorly.

3

I can totally imagine Josh the Marine in full disco outfit, with the white flaired polyester pants and everything.

4

I don’t think Julia will do poorly – my first guess is that she’ll do “Last Dance” and I think she can pull that off, unfortunately.

Corey could do justice to “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” but I don’t know if that qualifies as disco to purists. Or, with the falsetto, any freakin’ Bee Gees song from that era.

Kim C. could do “I Love the Nightlife” pretty well.

I could go on, but I won’t. I think Josh is going to have trouble tonight, but with all that’s going on no one will want to vote off the Marine. So I think it’ll be Carmen who gets the cut tonight.

5

I’m surprised they changed it to “Country Rock” from Disco.

Is something anti-war about Disco? I think they realized the performers were not very skilled overall in that genre.

I don’t like country either, but these people are doing pretty good with it.

6

GAH! I thought today was DISCO NIGHT!! Country Rock!? Bleagh! I wanted DISCO! Anyway:

Joshua Gracin–Oh Yes! Country is clearly perfect for him. Best performance from him yet!

Trenyce–Again, she’s breathy in the beginning, but after about a second, she’s amazing as usual. Clearly, country isn’t her thing though.

Kimberly L.–I KNEW someone would sing that wonderful song! Just that I thought it would be Kim C. Kim L. proved to be just as good a choice for the song though. Well sung, but I honestly didn’t feel the song’s power this time. :frowning:

Corey Clark–Ew! He looked like a gang member! More bearable than last week. Pretty good, I suppose. Refreshing? No. Hell no.

Carmen–Like Josh, country is perfect for her. Sounded like she was missing some notes though. She was bearable this time as this was her best performance.

Ricky Smith–Eugh! Normally, I like him, but this time, “Mr. Hercules” acted like he was in pain and sounded like it too. Worst performance I’ve seen from him!

Kimberly C.–Country suits her too. I agree that it was her best performance yet. Very good!

Reuben–Perfect song for him, I liked it! Please ditch the “205” though. We get the point, cuddly one. I think he was the best of the night.

Julia–Much better than the previous two performances. I agree that it was a bit “pitchy” though. Unfortunatly, I think she’s still among the weakest links.

Clay–Is it just me or did he look drunk? He was weak this time. I’m honestly stunned. This was his worst performance, but good enough to be safe.

My top three: Reuben, Trenyce and Joshua.
My bottom three: Julia, Ricky and Corey.

7

In order of worst to best:

  1. Toolia
    I never liked Faith Hill, but I can say this in her favor: Compared to Toolia, she’s freakin’ Pavarotti.

  2. Craggle
    He murdelated one of my favorite songs. The first phrase was good. It went downhill from there. What on earth do the judges see in him?

  3. Josh
    Was that some kind of joke? He was like a parody of a country singer. But I’m sending one vote his way 'cause I don’t want the terrorists to win.

  4. Goatgirl
    Happy Baa-day. She was in her element. She looked great. She seemed confident. She was the best she’s ever been. And she’s still a lousy singer. But she got a birthday vote from me.

  5. Kimbelly C.
    She sings flat. She’s always sung flat. Why can’t the judges see that?

  6. Clay
    He’s not getting any more votes from me until he shows some versatility. And what was with the eyeballs?

  7. Rickey
    Meh. 3 votes, because I don’t want him to be voted out.

  8. Trenyce.
    Not her best night. Not a great song choice. But she still outshines almost everyone else. 3 votes, for general support.

  9. Ruben
    A fun performance. 5 votes.

  10. Klocke.
    A wonderful performance of a wonderful song. She finally fulfilled her potential. 10 votes. But Simon’s comments were so transparent! He obviously was trying so hard to find something to criticise about her. Her singing was great. She looked good. The song choice was great for her voice. So he says it’s not “country” or “rock?” WTF? Simon’s ignorance of the genre is appalling.

8

I don’t think I can say it any better. Well done, Green Bean. You’re definitely on tonight. You gave good type. And you look beautiful - the boards love you.

Ack!!! I’m so goddamned sick of these judges! Why can’t they criticize anyone??? It seemed as though rather than hiring a joke writer, Paula hired a vocal coach to throw her some new lines. “You’re in good voice?” Whatever.

It was great to see Olivia, though. Love her!

I agree with Green Bean’s list, except I would vote Klocke #2 and Ruben #1 tonight. Toolia must go, and Craggle right behind! Can they kick them both off tomorrow? That would be ideal.

9

When I heard what Ruben was singing, I was a bit surprised, but he MADE me like his performance.

I really enjoyed Kim Locke’s performance. I love that song and she did it really well.

Trenyce seemed out of it tonight, and she mangled some lyrics.

Rickey’s song was pretty boring, but I thought he sounded good at the end.

I had a hard time understanding Josh except during the chorus. I liked him but he looked like a cowboy bobble-head with all the head wagging.

My SO really liked Kimberly C’s (outfit) performance, but I agree with Green Bean – she sounded completely flat to me.

Clay sang well as usual but Simon was dead-on – it was just like last week. Sing Rick Astely dammit!

Carmen was okay I guess, and Julia was at best so-so. She should have sang some Sheryl Crow.

I actually liked Corey’s performance. I really do like his voice.

10

What does the 205 on Ruben’s shirts mean?

11

As soon as I heard what song Clay was singing, I knew he was going to get blasted for his song choice. It’s not that it was a bad selection, it sounded wonderful as usual. The problem was exactly what Simon said…it was too much like last week. Clay is wonderful, but he needs to show that there’s more to him than ballads.

I don’t know what was up with Josh. I was embarassed watching his performance so as soon as it looked like he was going into the audience, I hit the fast-forward on my remote.

Corey is still blah. Nice song, but I hate his singing.

Carmen shouldn’t have done that song. She sounded horrible. I threw some votes her way because I’m not ready to see her out of the competition. I think she can do better, but this wasn’t her best performance. I don’t think she had the chops for a Martina McBride song. She should’ve done something by an artist more in her range.

Ricky sang a Larry Gatlin song that I’ve never heard before. I’m not crazy about Ricky, but I thought he sounded pretty dang good.

Travis Tritt is a good choice for Kim C. He’s country, but he’s got a rockabilly sound too. It was a good song choice for her. It sounded a little forced in places, but overall it was a good performance.

I hated Julia’s performance. Trenyce just sounded okay to me. This was probably her weakest performance. Loved Kim L. and Ruben.

My bottom three: Corey, Julia, and Josh (only for the embarrasment factor)

12

Thank you. And if you’d like to vote for me, cal 1-866-OG SMASH.

13

It’s the area code for Birmingham, Alabama.

14

The best thing about Julia’s singing is the mute button on my remote.

15

  1. Josh. Very good impression of Garth Brooks. But if I wanted to listen to Garth I would go listne to Garth, do something in your own way dude.

  2. Trenyce. I just don’t like her type of singing and never have. She just hangs around until she can hit a High ear shattering sustained not at the end. You have a powerful voice, but you must learn to use that power for good(like Frenchie) rather than evil.

  3. Kim L. Good, nothing not to like, but once again didn’t feel anything or care.

  4. Corey. I hate hate hate his singing. Anybody else get the feeling that he just can’t keep the tempo, so he just exagerates his off-beated-ness to make it look like he’s stylizing rather than inept.

5.Carmen. Cute chick, good not great voice. But again I just don’t care or notice. You could replace her with the lead singing chick from about 3000 local bands around the country and nobody would notice.

6.Ricky. I turned away, I’d rather listen to something more soothing, like a wolverine scratching a chalkboard.

7.Kim C. she was great. If all else fails she can join in the line of hot country chicks, and do very well.

  1. Rueben. again my favorite. Not a song I was expecting, but he sung it with his own unique sound(completely different from the original), and it sounded great.

9.Julia. I love her voice. I know I’m the only one, But to me just just has a sexy, entrancing voice. She’s one of the few I would choose to listen to.

  1. Clay. I’m getting bored with Clay, still a good voice, but he has the ability to take any song and make it sound like anyother song.
    And I agree, what the hell is Paula doing there. What use is a judge who only gives scores of 10.0(standing O) and 9.99. I just don’t think she has the ears to judge once the quality is down to the last ten.
16

In the order I liked them:

  1. RUBEN STUDDARD - Well, he sang a song he loved - hell, it could be his theme song if it wasn’t also the theme song of every bare-chested, slack-jawed Cletus redneck in the lower 48. Great stage presence, great voice, great song choice; my pick to win it all. He does need to try a different shirt.

  2. KIMBERLEY LOCKE - A beautiful, technically perfect performance with a little more personality than we’d seen before. It was also the first good song choice she’s made yet, and what a beautiful song. Thank Christ there has never been a C&W version of “The Wizard of Oz.”

  3. KIMBERLEY CALDWELL - Moves way up in my eyes after a terrific performance, her best yet. I honestly thought she was dead meat within 3 shows, but she could convince me. I don’t think she can sing well enough to win this, but if she wants to be a country-rock star, she can. Gets a little sluttier every week, probably not by accident.

  4. CLAY AIKEN - Fell a little bit in my eyes after tying for #1 last week. Best singer up there, but Simon’s criticism was valid; it sounded just like last week. He’s still trying to work the Broadway out of his voice. He needs to listen to that criticism or he’s going to ballad his way right out of the running, which would be a shame.

  5. CPL. GRACIN - I wish I’d gotten this much leave when I was in the Army. Country suits him, but even in his element he wasn’t the best of the night, and that is a really bad sign. If you can’t beat 'em on your home turf, you’re dead meat. When they do disco and Billy Joel and stuff, he’s going to look bad.

  6. TRENYCE - Does anyone remember her last name? She did a crappy job, but her voice is still terrific. Could recover.

  7. RICKEY SMITH - Ech. I think the dude can sing, but so far he has not actually chosen any songs that suit his voice. I cannot stress enough how important song choice is. Song choice is everything; you can take two equally great singers and make one sound like a god and make the other sound like Tom Green just by giving them suitable or unsuitable songs. When Rickey Smith did “The Way You Make Me Feel” during the prelims, he sounded like he could win the whole damn shootin’ match. He hasn’t done a suitable song since, and it’s going to beat him.

  8. CARMEN RASMUSSEN - Sounds like a high school kid, sings like a high school kid, and should go back to high school and try out for American Idol VII when her voice grows up. Like Josh, she was in her element - country music - and couldn’t beat the field. She has a pretty face and a nice body, and that’s the only reason she’s there.

  9. COREY CLARK - What a joke. The guy has one schtick - Crazy Falsetto Dude. Has no future as a singer. He’ll get in his 15 minutes and you’ll never hear from him again. His bizarre choice to remain seated for an upbeat song tells you everything you need to know; he’s clueless.

  10. JULIA DEMATO - Absolutely terrible; she struggled the whole way through. I remain flat-out amazed she’s made it this far; there were 20 better singers in the Final 32, easy. Her breathing was awful, as she kept listing back and forth from soft to hard, her pitch was all over the place, she cuts every note short because she doesn’t have the skill to hold them, and she looks terrified up there. Please, America, put her out of her misery and vote her off the damned show already. I hope she didn’t sell her hairstyling supplies.

Who’ll America vote off the island? I’d guess Julie DeMato, just by virtue of the fact that she was bottom three each of the last two weeks, and she was bad again tonight, but they might kill off Corey Clark too.

17

I missed tonight’s show, what songs did they sing?

18

Have any of the guest judges ever said anything critical? Why are they even there?

Josh was embarrassing, as usual. The cowboy hat was ridicuolous, the goung into the crowd was cringe inducing, the song was horrible. Josh gets my bottom vote tonight.

Treynce…meh…pretty good, nothing special

Kim L…one of my favorite voices this year. She has power without screaming, and she never oversings. points to her for not having to riddkle every song with a lot of extraneous runs. points also for never doing that affected, finger pointing, voice training thing when she runs up a scale.

Corey…I think he gave his best performance tonight. He stayed in key and he controlled his falsetto. He showed some taste and restraint tonight. I thought he was top three.

Carmen…cute, nothing special, kind of an airhead.

Rickey…his worst performance. AQt least he didn’t say 'Hercules."

Kim C…I don’t want to like her, but damn she looked hot and sang well tonight. She has a pretty low register and may not have a lot of range, but what she does have is pretty mature. She has a lot of confidence, and I have to admit she’s got a real stage presence…another top 3

Reuben…always great, can sing anything, seems genuine, very likeable. he’s going to win this whole thing.

Julia…she looks hot, but her performance tonight seemed a little to rehearsed and over mannered. Simon was right that the differnce between her and Reuben is that rueben never seems like he’s trying.

Broadway Clay…eveything he does sounds like he’s performing in a local production of Godspell. He’s actually very good at that style and can probably make a living at it. i don’t know if he’s really a pop singer, though.

My top 3;
Rueben
Kim C
Corey

bottom 3
Josh (lose the hat, dude)
Ricky
Julia

19

I guess I’m the only one who didn’t like Ruben’s performance tonight. There was something missing this week IMO. Maybe it was the song choice, I don’t know.

20

High points: Julia’s performance was excellent. Kimberly Locke’s was great, as well-- and for once, I liked Kimberly Caldwell’s. Normally I find her extraordinarily dull, flat, and unexciting… but tonight was her best show thus far. Not that that says much, but… oh, and Carmen did well.

Low points: Josh was absolutely terrible. 100% horrible. I couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably after he finished. What the hell was he doing, trying to parody country? I’ve never liked his “talent”. Corey’s sure to be a bottom-3 ringer, along with Ricky.

My personal favorite remains thus far-- Julia. 10 votes tonight.