Fat Bottomed Girls? 
Good call. Excellent call.
IIRC, during Manilow night Barry even told her that if the Idol thing didn’t work out she could have a job with him.
Priceless!
I actually have never found Simon to be cruel in any way. Most of what he says is true.
He’s a professional who wants to deal with professionals. He approaches the show under the assumption that the contestants have some inkling that if they win, some record company is going to invest a truckload of cash into trying to help this person create and distribute some music that millions are going to want to shell out actual money for. So they ought to go into each performance prepared to deliver.
Simon listens to each audition and performance as though the person is presenting their best argument for why all this attention and investment of time and money should be bestowed on them. And if their argument falls far short, he calls them on it.
Meanwhile many of the contestants (especially in the earliest audition rounds) think the show is there to provide them with some sort of personal validation. So when his review reflects his doubt that the person has made their case as described above, they accuse him of being mean.
The best singer of the bunch gets voted off because she’s not appealing to the Britney voters who make up the majority of the repeat diallers.
Kenny Rogers, who should be subject to jail time for the harm that he has done to music, got the best singer canned.
I’m not sure I’ll watch again next week, specially since I’m a Queen geek. It will probably just piss me off more.
Oh well, I hope this is a good thing for Mandisa, and she goes and gets an album made so I can be first in line to buy it.
lissener, I hope you like gospel music. Because it wouldn’t surprise me if Mandisa’s chosen career path (other than backup for Barry Manilow) will be singing good gospel music.
The best singer of the bunch didn’t get voted off – Mandisa did.
ooh! Suh-nay-UP!
I dunno. I think Mandisa had the best voice of the bunch, so I could agree with “best singer” in that way. But I tend to think of a “singer” being more than just a voice, and I generally didn’t feel that she was really connecting with her song and with me. Better by a mile than the other women in this thing, though. The others could sing about death and destruction with a big fakey grin plastered on their vapid faces.
Better than the “other women”? Katharine has proven in the last few weeks she’s absolutely the best singer, and the second place singer, whoever that is, isn’t even close. While there’s an obvious opinion in that summation, singing does have objective criteria by which it can be judged, and by that criteria, Katharine has absolutely owned the contest. If it was like Project Runway… i.e., intelligently judged by experts in the field who show up sober, make sensible judgments based on the established criteria in their field, give meaningful feedback, and decide who gets cut every week… then there would be no contest. She’s owned the competition.
I think Mandisa had the best voice of the girls too. It was big and I like big voices-- Aretha, Judy Garland, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand. . .
A few people complained that Mandisa was “yelling” at them. She wasn’t yelling, she’s just loud. The thing is, I understand that big voices aren’t to everyone’s taste. I think Katharine has a good voice too. I just like Mandisa’s better.
You’re certainly allowed to think so. Personally, I find Katherine an absolute bore. She sings with no passion and inspires no passion in me. Of all of the women in the finals, she is my least favorite.
I like Aretha, Judy, Gladys & Babs, too. They may have big voices, but I disagree that they SCREAM at me in the way that Mandisa did. When those powerhouse women sing big and loud, they’re still singing, and they’re singing the right notes. They also know how to sing in a manner other than big and loud.
Mandisa has absolutely no ability to sing in her lower register at all, and when she gets loud, pretty much all she’s doing is yelling or shrieking. It was literally painful to my ears. Even Kimberley Locke could sing circles around Mandisa. I am so glad she’s gone, I can’t even express it.
Walter Windchill, I submit that it would be a tight contest between Katharine and Elliott under such judging criteria.
The more I thought about this, the more psyched I got because I love Queen. Pulled out my Queen Platinum Collection and had a listen or 10. And then I became less psyched. Unless the band will be playing behind the contestants, there’s no way any good will come of this. AI house band is not up to Queen.
The best part will be the Queen groupsing/medley. woot :eek:
You’re concerned about the band? :eek: The whole night promises to be a trainwreck of epic proportions. I can’t think of any AI contestant ever that could do a Queen song justice (refence for proof: Maroolis, Constantcheese).
I agree 100%, and I’m glad to see that someone else thinks so. I’ve known guys like Simon in real life (all of them Brits, so that might have something to do with it), and I find them refreshing. I’d much rather hear honest criticism (and that’s what I feel Simon is giving) than sugarcoated, politically correct pap. If I’m screwing up, call me on it. That way I know that when you compliment me, you’re sincere.
Simon is a businessman. He knows what sells and he knows what the public will likely buy. He doesn’t have time to mollycoddle a bunch of mommy-coached hacks who’ve never had an honest and unbiased assessment of their skills. I realize that at this point none of those are left in the competition, but when everybody’s good, whoever’s “less good” in a given week is going to get called on it. That’s Simon’s job. If he quit the show, I’d quit watching (unless, of course, they got somebody else in the same vein, not another “yes man” (or woman)). He’s a breath of fresh air among the "it’s aight, dawg"s and the "you’re being true to yourself"s.
Exactly. Music execs will drop an artist, even a previously successful one, like that. And you’ve got to be extraordinary.
My only criticism of him is he isn’t open enough to non-pop performers, but on the other hand I know that’s what he’s looking for.
I feel he speaks the truth, but I think he can be cruel because he doesn’t give any constructive criticism about what needs to be done. It’s all, “That performance was boring. Your dancing sucked” etc. He needs to be more constructive in his comments. The contestants are not producers. They may not be aware of what it takes to be marketable.
I almost always agree with his opinion of the singers. A pop star will have a presence about them that makes you want to watch them no matter what they are singing. Randy, Paula, and the contestants seem to think it’s all about having a pleasant singing voice. Simon knows that’s just one part (and probably a small part) of what makes a successful pop star.
I would say a group like the Spice Girls is a perfect example of this. None of them were fabulous singers, but they were very marketable. It almost didn’t matter what they sounded like. Simon is looking for someone like that and his comments reflect that. I just wish he would offer more direction on how the contestants could get there.
This may not be a popular viewpoint, but it’s possible that not all the contestants can get there. Take Elliot, for example. He has a very nice voice, and I’ll admit that his presence is getting better over the last few weeks, but let’s face it–he’s not terribly exciting to watch. He doesn’t electrify an audience (apologies to Elliot fans–it’s just my opinion, and I like him just fine). That’s one thing I like about Chris–sure, maybe he doesn’t stretch a lot with his song choices, but when he’s up there, he makes you watch him. He takes command of the room. I think Mandisa had this quality too, at least to some extent, and some of the others do–but not all of them. Simon keeps talking about the “it factor”–charisma. To some extent it can be learned, but somebody who exudes natural charisma is going to have a huge leg up on somebody who has to work at it. And it’s not about looks, either–I’ve known some conventionally unattractive people who can dominate a room with their presence.