My take on the universal dullness of last night is that at this point in the competition, they’re probably exhausted. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Even Jordin, who has more energy than a ferret on a double espresso seemed about to drop off into REM sleep.
The high and lowlights for me:
Melinda- the dress looked great, hairstyle looked matronly. She wasn’t a pop idol but she did a fantastic job as a lounge singer, which isn’t meant as a dis.
Lakisha- I agree w/the comments about Lakisha having a queen bitch attitude. And the back titties- please, don’t these kids have stylists?
Chris- I didn’t hate it.
Haley- see ya, honey. The outfit was way unflattering and your singing, while on key, was playing catchup to the beat the whole time.
Phil- I’ve disliked you for weeks now, and last night didn’t help. It’s easier to like you when I don’t look at you, but not by much.
Jordin- see above.
Blake- I’m liking this guy more and more. I think he’s the overall greatest talent of the bunch.
Sanjaya- was that really his facial hair, or clippings from last week’s haircut glued on? I gotta admit, I was impressed. Second best, behind Blake.
I thought Simon would have made a comment about this being Melinda in 30 years. I love “Sway” but yeah, she wasn’t sultry enough, and the hair looked like a Golden Girl.
Sanjaya’s facial hair? Cringe.
It wasn’t clear to me why everyone else was karaoke and Jordin did great?? I thought she was as karaoke as the rest of them.
Lakisha needs a tip on how to say “conga”? It’s pretty clear if you listen to the song a couple of times, and especially the last time Gloria sings it.
Simon on Haley using the right tactic–wearing as little clothes as possible. She can’t really be offended since it’s clearly what she does, but wow, burn.
First, I just have to say that I hate Gloria Estefan almost as much as I hate Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand, so my review may be a bit biased this week. My rankings:
Blake - He just might be the hardest working person here. He comes out every week and gives a solid performance. This week he sang well, made it sexy, and just overall impressed me. Nicely done.
Phil - Say what you will about Phil (hey, that rhymes!), dude can sing. So his voice cracked a tiny bit at the end. BFD. I actually prefer that in many cases to singers who sound perfect but boring. Besides, he nailed the rest of the song.
Melinda - Not her best, but I really enjoyed it. I like it when she does numbers that are more up-tempo and showcase her personality better. I also like that she’s stopped giving the “please, don’t hit me” look.
LaKisha - I may have just been mesmerized by her boobs (and I’m a straight girl!) but I thought she did okay. But shame on her for totally ignoring what Jennifer Lopez said about pronunciation on “conga.”
Sanjaya - Not bad, not bad! Had some very nice moments but him trying to give me the Constantine eyes squicked me out.
Jordin - Eek. I love ya, honey, but that was not good.
Chris R. - Snooze. Did he take out half the melody and sing one note straight throughout or was it just my imagination?
Haley - Pul-leeze. Dressing like a hooker will not get you anywhere with me, missy. That was just plain awful. Carmen Rasmussen sang that song better than you, fercryinoutloud!
I thought Jennifer Lopez was great. She seemed very down-to-earth and sincere about wanting to help everyone. Too bad more of them didn’t heed her advice. She may not be the best singer in the world, but she obviously knows how to sell a performance.
What’s up with all this strutting across the stage and into the audience? It’s the TV audience you are aiming for, who cares about the live audience? Haley in particular looks really artificial when she does this. On the other hand, just a little shoulder shake looks good. Lakisha was out of breath from her travels (and once again ignored the guest’s advice).
Thinking long term I was trying to figure out who of the remaining eight would be most marketable and could actually sell some albums.
#1- Blake. He could totally put out an album with modernizations of classic songs, some with his beatboxing, some original stuff. He has stage prescence enough along with dancing skills that videos would also be successful.
#2- Melinda. Not a pop album but an adult contemporary would be a hit. Get her in a studio now.
#3- Sanjaya. With his pre-teen following he’d have a hit album. Get him off the stage where his nerves get the best of him. Do some soft ballads. Do some smooth pop tracks. Not my cup-o-tea but the cd buying pre-teens will buy it.
#4- Haley. Well sex sells and voices can be manipulated. Get the right producer to make some catchy dance tracks where voice is secondary and she can just be the album cover eye candy with some mixed in vocals.
#5- Lakisha. Needs to be off the stage where she can catch her breath. An album of power ballads. I don’t think she has the stamina to tour and promote though and probably shouldn’t with her daughter.
#6- Chris. Not very marketable. He sings Justin Timberlake 1990s NSYNC style. Even Justin Timberlake doesn’t sing like that anymore. Maybe he could be lead singer in a NSYNC tribute band?
#7- Jordan. Okay, maybe she can sing. But what is she going to sing and is anyone going to care? Just average looks and stage prescence. I can’t imagine teens going crazy for a Jordin Sparx album. Is anyone else going to listen?
#8- Phil. Sorry, your mug on an album cover is not a selling point. And again, what are you going to be singing and will anyone care? They’ll put your cds on a rack along with Justin Guarinni.
Most have very weak voices and the band,perhaps luckily, drowned them out. When the pros come on, even the ones we don’t like, we see how they are 2 or 3 steps over the American Idles.
Sanjaya, I thought you sucked again. Every singer who sings with the mouth sucks. A great singer sings with the heart. And don’t fucking look at me when you sing. You should be in the world of your song, and unless I’m a character in that world, you shouldn’t even know that I’m there.
I guess I missed JLo’s advice to Lakisha, but I have a theory on why she does ignore the advice she’s given. I think she decides how she’s going to sing something before meeting the mentors and won’t change it, not necessarily because she’s stubborn but because she isn’t flexible enough to change her performance when it’s already set in her head. I think Lakisha looks a bit scared everytime she’s on. She may be used to performing at church but this performing is all new to her and in her mind there is a lot riding on it, being able to take care of her daughter. I think this makes her very afraid to leave her comfort zone even when given good advice about it.
I also wanted to comment that Melinda’s remark about being happy that Simon could now say something bad like he wanted is how you should sass. Takes notes Sanjaya.
Sanjaya, I was never a hater. I never said he couldn’t sing, I just didn’t think he could sing well enough to legitimately win this thing. I was also worried that he was going to be tormented by all the Sanjaya hate but it looks like he has taken the attention and is running with it. I am glad to see he is having fun, I just hope he doesn’t go to the other extreme and get a big head. He has surprisingly become an entertainer and in that way is surpassing some of the other performers. If he does win, it won’t hurt the show like the Vote for The Worst and Stern hope, it’ll just get Simon’s knickers in a twist. Sanjaya has his audience that truly like him and will probably sell records as well as many of the other winners of AI. It isn’t really about who wins anymore anyway, it’s about who does the best post-AI. VFtW and Stern have gotten the show and Sanjaya more publicity than they would have gotten on their own, it’s ironic and hilarious that they are actually helping the show.
I wonder if the professionals get to use their own sound people, though. That could make a world of difference in how they sound to us at home.
I was in a music store the other day, buying a Fall out Boy CD for my son’s Easter basket of all things, and saw Elliot Yamin’s CD sitting there. Remember how fervently he was adored a few years ago, and how many people said it wouldn’t even matter that he didn’t win because he had enough momentum going to carry him through?
How many people that loved him then have bought the CD? Granted, I liked him well enough, but I didn’t pick it up. The only Idol CDs I’ve ever bought were Kelly Clarkson’s second album and Kim Locke’s 8th wonder of the world one. So we’re all predicting that Melinda, for instance, doesn’t even need this show, folks have been saying since week 2 that she could go into the studio and become a success immediately, but really? Without the massive promotion Idol puts into the number one, could she?
Everyone points to Clay’s success as proof, but Clay lawyered up and got himself out of the AI contract, remember? They’ve since fixed that, and we haven’t had a non-winner success since then.
Chris Daughtry has been fairly successful, to say the least, and I have bought his cd, very satisfying one.
Just a note about Sanjaya: there was actually an article about him in La Presse yesterday! This is the first time I’ve seen an AI contestant, including winners, mentioned in a French language Montreal paper-- though to be fair, I only read La Presse and Le Devoir every day, not the tabloid Journal de Montreal.
BTW, the article mentioned VFTW and Howard Stern, but also gave a fairly good account of Sanjaya’s performance on the show. What was stressed was the Sanjaya phenomenon-- all the media and internet attention.
Nice.