Did anyone else notice that at the right angle, Natasha’s shrit appeared to be rather see through?
Natasha? Who was Natasha?
I agree about Syesha. I think she’s a boring performer who unfortunately can sing great but is completely missing that star quality; I hope she’ll find a home in musical theatre or something. I don’t have the first clue what Jason Castro is still doing there, and I don’t think he does, either.
What exactly did Seacrest say about Abdul’s blunders? I missed it.
Handicapping the remaining field (just winning prospects, not how much I want them to):
DAVID ARCHULETA
Pro: I’ve said it before, and it still holds: He’s doing what’s giving him the best chance of winning. That he’s able to appeal to a wide spectrum of voters is a huge plus. That he understands that the judges’ criticism doesn’t mean jack and is thus able to shake it off (and why do so many contestants not understand this??) is also a major positive.
Con: For all his ability and appeal, he doesn’t really have a trump card, a higher gear, some edge that he can pull out for the stretch. Taylor Hicks had a knock-your-socks-off stage act. Carrie Underwood had her classy southern charm. Archuleta has…what, exactly? Besides that, there’s the x-factor of being a front-runner for so long. In reality TV, that usually spells a fade in the homestretch and bitter disappointment. And with Cook still in it, there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen.
DAVID COOK
Pro: He’s had to do Dolly Parton and Mariah freaking Carey in consecutive weeks. He’s had to do downtempo, mellow, soulful, emotional, and meaningful. And not only has he perservered, not only has he never thrown in a clunker, he’s never even been in danger. This guy is bulletproof, and he’s only grown stronger as his fellow rockers have bowed out.
Con: Rock, poppy, alternative, hard, “real”, or otherwise is always an iffy road in this contest and carries all kinds of nasty baggage that can jump up and bite a contestant at any time. Even the best ones (i.e. Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry) have the unfortunate tendency to get slammed late. And as much as we may hate to admit it, a lot of voters do realize that certain people and styles are much better off not winning, and only a fool believes this won’t be a factor when it’s down to one and one.
JASON CASTRO
Pro: Chicks love him, and everyone else, for whatever reason, loves him more than the chicks he’s left in the dust. He flew under the radar long enough for his fanbase to mobilize, and they’re going full steam right now.
Con: He never planned for a stretch drive and doesn’t have a clue what to do now. He’s benefitted more from the bass-ackwards elimination method than anyone else; if it came down to who’s the most unwanted, he’d be out ages ago. As it is, his biggest handicap is his limited ability and inability to pull in voters outside his screaming core group.
SYESHA MERCADO
Pro: Has put together a Richard Hatch-esque run; no matter how bad it gets for her, she somehow always gets just enough good fortune at just the right time to survive. She’s gotten a string of amazingly easy weeks for her, and she’s watched her three toughest female opponents (i.e. potential vote splitters) tumble in consecutive weeks. She’s also gotten a Bo Bice scare (round of 10) and a post-Cowell-gloomy-prediction surge (man, I’ve gotta come up with a term for this 
), AND she went to the whip at exactly the right time (round of 6). Now, as the only woman left, she’s going to pick up even more votes, both due to sympathy and the desire of many not to seen an all-male semifinal. Can you say “destiny”, ladies and gentlemen?
Con: Still just a diva, and that stigma isn’t going to go away no matter how many breaks she gets. And stragglers tend to fare just as badly as frontrunners when it really counts. Besides that, the competition is just plain murderous…does anyone really see her beating out Castro and Archuleta, much less Cook?
Hall of Fame night, eh? Should be an entertaining quarter. For the first time all season, AI is must-see TV for me. And don’t kid yourselves, nobody’s locked up nuthin’ yet.
gonzomax - Oh, man…could you please explain Simon Cowell’s appeal to me? I’m not getting it at all. At best he’s a clueless, self-important windbag who simply refuses to accept his role (hint: no influence or control over anything + gets to speak every night = ENTERTAINMENT); at worst he’s an obvious company pawn whose insights aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. I surmised that the only reason for his popularity is the vicarious thrill viewers get from his ravings. They want to be a jerk who tears down the contestants and gets away with it, nothing more. And I haven’t seen a thing to counter this.
The show might be worse off without him, but I guarantee you that removing a lot of blathering about pitchiness and cabaret and forgettability and what it’s going to take to advance (which he does not have the slightest idea of) will not hurt the show one bit.
Yep, I’ve gotta give props to Syesha. Other than David Cook, she’s the only one to really pick up her game. Everyone else has been getting worse as the weeks go on.
I liked Brooke, but mostly I liked the idea of Brooke on the show. For the chance that a musician of substance who doesn’t fit the ‘pop diva’ mode could make it on the show. It’s the same reason I like Jason Castro. There have been precious few performances this season that really transcended the show and were actually good artistic statements in their own right. Moments that made you forget you were judging a contestant on a reality show and and just made you sit back and listen. Jason had one with “Hallelujah”, David Cook has had two or three, and Brooke has had one or two. That tells me there’s a real artist inside there somewhere. And she’s a good songwriter - you can look up one or two of her songs on Youtube.
But she has a fatal flaw - nerves. Did you notice that almost every week the mentor said that Brooke was excellent, and they all expected great things from her? But she cracks under pressure. She loses her confidence and just struggles to get through a song, and doesn’t have anything left to add to it. When she’s really comfortable, singing a Carol King song behind a piano for example, she really shines. I think she could eake out a career along the lines of a less successful Nora Jones, but she’s going to have to learn how to control her emotions - she just crumbled apart in the last few weeks.
And Diogenes, I’m pretty much certain her “sweet emotional girl” thing isn’t an act. There’s video of her on Youtube at age 16, and she was exactly the same. That’s just who she is.
Here’s hoping that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week is a good one. But do you know what would make a fun game? We should go to the RRHOF web site and look up all the acts, and find the suckiest acts and their suckiest songs - because that’s what’ll get played next week. This show has a knack for finding the absolute worst songs for these singers.
They’re looking for the next young pop Idol, and they’re testing them by making them sing songs by Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Dolly Parton? What the hell is that all about? They need to fire the people who choose the music on the show. They’re losing the young audience - I wonder why that could be?
These contestants should be singing Nirvana, KT Tunstall, Radiohead, The Black Keys, The White Stripes, etc. If they don’t want that much rock, they can have them sing some Allison Krause or Dixie Chicks or Nora Jones, or Neko Case or Jack Johnson. The people who make this show are stuck in the 1970’s and 1980’s - and the schlocky parts of those decades at that. It’s crazy.
Oh, and wasn’t that group sing absolutely craptacular? <Dennis Miller> The last time I saw choreography that stiff was at the Lee Harvey Oswald prison transfer. </Dennis Miller>
Don’t be hatin’ on my bro. He can’t help it.
That felt like the longest hour of my life. Natasha Bedingfield was screaming at me and Neil Diamond was lulling me to sleep. I just wanted it to end already. But then, the payoff was sweet…
Most. Uncomfortable. Sing-out. Ever. I’m a bit evil, so I love uncomfortable moments on TV, but I almost couldn’t watch that. That’s good TV right there.
Regarding whether they hear about DialIdol and all that, Archuleta seemed genuinely worried and then surprised that he was safe. So I’d say they do.
Another vote for worst sing-out ever. It was awesome! I liked how Seacrest told her to pull it together. I liked how embarrassed Syesha looked. I liked how Cook gave that half-hearted pat on the back.
I’ve seen some uncomfortable sing outs like in the top 24 or even the 12th runner up (remember that girl who shoved her hands in her pockets?) but nothing like this. Doesn’t she know that some of the more successful Idols haven’t been winners? And that acting like a big baby pretty much ensures that won’t be the case for her?
I had big hopes for her too.
Meanwhile, I was so uninterested in Natasha Bedingfield that I actually got up and dusted.
I think Dialidol has been pretty accurate this year. They usually get the bottom 3 pretty close, and I don’t remember an instance of them being way off yet.
Except he’s done that same shtick every…single…week. His eyes get wide with “disbelief” and he mouths “Oh my God” as he walks to the couch. He just played it up a smidge more this week.
It’s reason #17 of why he’s so far and away my least favorite of the top 10 this year.
- mentions a “curve ball” that took place during Tuesday’s show
- says he saw the rumors online (no specifics) and they are not true
- “Paula’s a part of our family and we love her, blahblah”
- Kisses all around, really stupid jokey comment from Ryan
I wonder if she’ll be replaced for next season. Drugs/alcoholism/stroke victim/whatever or not, she’s a damn mess.
Simon is an absolute necessity for the show. If all 3 judges just Paulad away and told them how amazing the singers were we would all be bored to death. it is not his charisma ,he has none . It is his message.
Syesha has a problem. She is another Whitley want to be. She pales in comparison. Plus every year Idol has 2 or 3 black singers just like her. They have nice voices and decent range. But they really do not stand out.
I still think Brooke may be successful if she can write. She is pretty and sings well enough.
Archuleta is suffering from the length of the show. he would have won easily if final vote was a few weeks ago. But he is boring. Everything sounds the same and people are starting to nod off thinking this sounds like what he sang before.
And that differentiates him from whom, exactly?
I think they’ll go strictly by ratings and focus groups. They wouldn’t care if she fell over the table puking up a pile of pills in a puddle of strawberry daiquiri as long as people tuned in to see it.
For better or worse, Paula’s trainwrecky, intermittently coherent, unpredictability and goofiness has always been one of the signature aspects of the show. It wouldn’t be the same with somebody normal and sane in the middle.
Who takes over when Paula goes to rehab.?
Ozzy Osbourne?
I… I… don…fust… I was just, you have a… a… good shan…vm…bizzet fucking killer outfit. Yeah!
I think Paula should cover Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” at the finale. It would be hilarious.
Not surprised at last night’s results. Here’s the order I’d like to see them go in the next few weeks.
4. Jason Castro—I like him a lot, but it’s time for him to go.
3. David Cook—Yes, he’s my favorite, but like several of you have already expressed, I really don’t want him to have to sing the crappy first single Idol will give him. I hope he gets out before the final two so he doesn’t have to.
2. Syesha—Sweet girl, really cute, good singer. I can see a successful theatre/movie/TV career ahead of her. I don’t think she’ll ever sell many albums, but being second could help her launch a nice career.
- David Archuleta—As has also been noted by one of you brilliant people, he needs this the most. I think it would be difficult for him to find his place in the industry without an Idol win. Plus, I hope he wins so his father doesn’t beat him.
Good news for all Bo Bice fans—he’s performing on the show next week! Can’t wait to see him again.
I think y’all are underestimating David Cook’s ability to deal with a crappy AI winner song. He’s dealt with Dolly Parton and Mariah Carey well enough, hasn’t he? Doesn’t anyone else think he could do something interesting with Idol-style schlock?
Well, he could if they let him. But how many changes are they going to let him make to the arrangement when an Idol viewer composed the song? Very few, if any, I’d guess.