AMERICAN IDOL 4/6 - Elton John Night

Cafe Society
21

I think Idols encourages them to say refer to their “fans”.

Tonight’s show

Fantasia: “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” A good song choice for her, she was good but Simon was right that she was screeching at parts. And I am hating her attitude more and more, if she doesn’t go soon, she at least deserves a “bottom 3” slap in the face.

Jon Peter: “Rocket Man” Ouch. I think he’s given up. He’s not even trying.

Jasmine: Oh no you di’ent! Dang girl sang “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and she didn’t pull it off. She was “pitchy” as Randy and Paula like to say, and she was just plain flat on at least one of the "me"s. When Clay did that song last year I would have offered to have his baby on the spot, I just wanted to slap her and rip that damn flower out of her hair and stomp it, stomp it good.

John S.: “Crocodile Rock” He sung an up-tempo song and moved around which was great to see him do. Unfortunately he had a little trouble with the "lalala"s and saying “crocodile” really fast. I don’t agree with Randy and Simon that it was the worst of the night - of course they hadn’t see Camille yet …

Camille: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” Pitchy, thy name is Camille. Her voice was very shaky at the beginning, after that she was all over the place. I just hope Simon’s comments about it being the end of the road for her don’t win her even more sympathy votes. Please America put us out of her misery and let her go!

George: “Take me to the Pilot” Very good. It had a gospel feel to it but it worked well for him. I had my doubts about him in the beginning but he keeps getting better.
Hey, they cut Simon off even when he’s complimenting people.

Diana:“I’m Still Standing” Not her best. She seemed out of breath on the verses. Simon had nothing to say? What does that mean? Did he just give up on criticizing people?

LaToya: “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” -Elton said “the fact that she was in the bottom 3 last weeks shows there’s lots of idiots out there”. It wasn’t flawless but it was one of the best of the night. She had a little trouble with breath control on some of the slower verses, that seemed to be the problem many of the other performers had but it wasn’t as obvious with her.

Jennifer: “Circle of Life” - Good, but full of melisma and all that at least she pulled it off. Seemed a bit weak at the beginning. I found it amusing that the camera focused on her hand at one point, I wondered if that’s because they wanted to avoid her scary faces.

Bottom 3:
Camille
JPL
John S

Any of those three deserve to go, but please let it be Camille, she’s dodged the bullet long enough.

And no “Your Song”? I guess I should be greatful it wasn’t mangled.

22

Eeek! I forgot the spoiler thing. Don’t read the above post if you haven’t seen the show yet! Sorry.

Don’t hurt me. :frowning:

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Just wanna say a big WOW to George and LaToya. I think they are both awesome. I would have loved to hear what Simon had to say about George. Cracked up at his “Paula, if you and I ever get married, we’ll book her.”

Much as I love John Stevens and thought it was great that he tried something else, I think he needs to just stick to his Sinatra stuff. I still think he’s a cutie, but I’ve known for a long time he’s no American Idol.

I missed most of JPL and Jennifer, and all of Jasmine. I came back in on Jennifer’s to hear the judges saying she did awesome, but there wasn’t enough shown in that ending scene of everyone for me to tell what I thought.

Camille was awful (I thought she sounded a little sick though). Diana surprised me at how badly she did tonight, then Paula said she was sick. Fantasia just annoys the crap out of me.

JMO. I’m still hoping George and LaToya go all the way and either can win. Bottom two were John S. :frowning: and Camille. I’ll just say bottom two since I missed 3 out of 9 performers.

24

Wouldn’t it be more efficient to send everyone who’s not black home after tonight?

Loved LaToya, adored her hair, flawless makeup, fabulous sweet tone on the song, appropriate emotion/expression/stage movement for the song, something none of the rest seem to manage, just adored her. A consistently competent performer.

Jennifer went total gospel-chin, but a good performance, great when compared to the rest. Ginormous powerful voice, good song selection for it.

I’m growing to like George more and more, seems like he and LaToya can handle anything that’s thrown at them, and do it with style. He’s more Ruben like (ha, almost said rubenesque) in that he’ll sort of ignore the theme stuff and be remarkably similar week to week, but he’s good enough to pull it off. His attitude rocks, humble and having a blast being there, he rules.

Still can’t stand Fantasia’s attitude, and cannot believe the judges haven’t commented on the yeah yeah yeah thing yet, grrrrr. Probably her worse to date, not a very controlled performance.

Everyone else blew.

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  1. Fantasia–While she’s extremely powerful(as usual), I don’t think Elton John quite works for her. I do NOT agree with Simon, but I also don’t agree with the other two either. Well done, but she obviously SCREAMED some parts and that wasn’t necessary.

  2. Jon Peter–Perfect song for him. Well done and this is his best performance so far. Simon DOES have a point though.

  3. Jasmine–While not awful, I either cringed or thought “meh”. Yes, it’s a difficult song, but that’s no excuse. Pretty blouse though. I’m with Simon. Not good enough.

  4. John S–HEE!! I enjoyed it. His best yet, despite the lalalas! That should be enough to keep him around for Big Band. Poor kid just can’t win though.

  5. Camille–Jennifer should have sung this song because she would have NAILED it. Camille wouldn’t have nailed this song if she had a nail gun. Weak, awful, horrible. Deserves to be eliminated. I’m with Simon.

  6. George–The only thing I didn’t like was his go poopoo now moves. Otherwise phoenominal performance.

  7. Diana–Bad song choice and annoying as hell. FTR, she is my favorite PPP, but she diluted this song badly. Meh. Awful outfit too.

  8. Latoya–Flawless beyond all words.

  9. Jennifer–Holy BALLS! BLEW EVERYONE AWAY! Absolutely NAILED it! By far the best of the night! I had goosebumps! She was the only one that did that!

Bottom Three:

  1. Camille
  2. Jasmine
  3. Diana

Eliminated: Camille

26

OK, so John Stevens did “Crocodile Rock,” not Penboy as I predicted. I actually enjoyed the Redhead’s performance because it was so different from his previous detached offerings. He was at least trying tonight.

Penboy wasn’t even trying with “Rocketman,” and I love that song. OK, JPL, if this is all so boring for you, maybe YOU should leave!

Oh, no. That would be Camile. Get the hook! Please!!! This girl has no business being on stage. (Loved Simon’s comment about the tv set being tossed through the window in Vegas!!!)

Fantasia: Simon was correct, as usual. She WAS screechy! And she’s soooooo sure she’s got this show in the bag. Yecch! (But the earrings were interesting.)

Jasmine: Meh. She’s just not very good. Sorry.

Diana: Liked the silky blouse. Wasn’t crazy about the performance, but at least she tried to pull it off while ill.

LaToya: Maybe if she warmed up BEFORE she came on stage she could be terrific through the whole song, not just the last part. But she looked fine!

Jennifer: I didn’t hate her. (But I still think she looks like Tempest Bledsoe with a chip on her shoulder.) The way things are going, she’ll get voted off, however.

George: My man! I love this guy! And I thought he was fabulous! My money is on him to win the whole kit and kaboodle!

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Fantasia - Decent performance but that attitude is going to cost her a lot of votes.
JPL - I had high hopes for him tonight but it was obvious very early on it wasn’t going to be good. I find him frustrating because I know there’s a good performance in there.
Jasmine - After she finished I listened to Clay’s version to make myself feel better. Not a good song for her.
**John Stevens ** - I am so proud of him. No, it was the greatest but he took a chance and looked like he had a lot of fun. He didn’t deserve to be criticized as harshly as he was.
Camille - The absolute worst of the night. I just don’t see what people see with her.
George - Awesome, awesome, awesome. He’s got it all: voice, personality and damn he can sell a song.
Diana - I wish she would “c’mon” and give us a non plastic performance.
LaToya - Yes, she has a great voice but I don’t find her memorable. I thought she over sang tonight.
Jennifer - Wow! I haven’t been a fan but she was great tonight.

Bottom three: JPL, Camille, Diana

See ya Camille!

28

The contestants who were clearly out of their league before tonight’s show–John S, Jon Peter, Camille–have cemented their bottom-feeding status. They gotta go.

Diane, one of my faves, had a terrible, terrible, terrible night. Sick or not, her choice of songs blew and her “let’s touch everybody in the audience” shtick didn’t work for me at all, dawg.

LaToya, though usually a star, is weak in the lower ranges. She either needs to change her key or avoid these songs. Otherwise, she’s golden.

Jennifer proved tonight that she has the most mature, most developed female voice in the contest. She needs voice lessons (and guidance in avoiding the voodoo faces), but she has tremendous potential.

Camille is so terrible as to defy credulity. When she tries to hit the low notes, she sounds dreadful. No power, no control, no talent, no personality, no confidence, no Idol future. On the plus side of the ledger, nice bod.

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RickJay is back this week to tell you what went down on American Idol night.

Well, everyone predicted it would be a tough week and that Elton John songs are hard to sing. Boy, were they right. What we saw this week was a really, really clear separation between the people with a chance to win and the people without.

FANTASIA BARRINO - I don’t get the criticism towards her attitude; honestly, are we voting for these people for their performing skills or for Miss Congeniality? I like her edgy approach. I also liked her more than last week; she performed more comfortably and did a better job connecting with the audience. Unlike a lot of contestants, I feel like she’s doing HER version of the song, not a cover. Very good. I didn’t feel it was out of control at all; she went just far enough.

JON PETER LEWIS: He’s a nice kid but he’s still out of his league. He’ll get a few more weeks in the mansion, but stick a fork in him now.

JASMINE TRIAS: Last week I pointed out that Jasmine is the Jose Cruz Jr. of singers; either great or bad, never mediocre. I thought for the first time this week she was just so-so. It wasn’t BAD like Week 2, but it was uninspired. Boring.

**JOHN STEVENS ** - Atrocious; he deserved all the criticism he got. His voice is weak and dull and has no rock edge to it; when you sing the lyric “When Suzy wore her dresses tight,” you’re not supposed to sound like you’ve never kissed a girl. He has no range, no flexibility, and no charisma.

**CAMILLE VELASCO ** - Holy flurkin’ schmidt.

I think it’s safe to say now that Camille Velasco is the worst finals contestant in the history of American Idol. That’s saying a lot after the horror of Julia DeMato, but Camille is ten times worse. Four weeks and she’s turned in four ludicrously bad performances. She’s been so bad so far that I’m planning on getting some tapes of her in the auditions and quarterfinals to see if something’s wrong with her. She can’t possibly have been this bad before.

The other day I downloaded a few of William Hung’s (the “She bangs!” kid) song samples from his new album - yes, he got a record deal - and you aren’t going to believe me, but it’s true; William Hung’s as good a singer as Camille Velasco. His rendition of “Baillamos” was superior to any of Camille’s last four songs. He has no power, edge, or skill in his voice, and he looks like a dork, but he always stays on tune, and that’s more than you can say for Camille.

**GEORGE HUFF ** - A safe song choice and arrangement, and he’s got to improve the dancing. His bobbing thing makes him look like a parrot trying to impress a mate. But damn, the man can SING. Edges into first overall this week.

DIANA DEGARMO

Gimme a “R”!
Gimme a “Y”!
Gimme a “D”!
Gimme an “E”!
Gimme an “L”!
Gimme another “L”!

Whaddya got! RYDELL! GO RYDELL HIGH! WOOOOOO… summer lovin’, had me a blaaaaaast…

LATOYA LONDON - I still think she’s the best, but it wasn’t a very inspired song choice or delivery until the last few bars. Slips to second in the overall standings but still has the skill to win it all.

JENNIFER HUDSON - You know, if I was in the group I would have clawed people’s eyes out to do “Circle of Life.” Teenaged girls don’t know “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” but they sure as hell know The Lion King. Great, powerful delivery, and clearly moves Jennifer into the Group Of People Who Can Win, also known as “The Black Folks.” She’s cutting down on the psycho facial expressions too.

THE RICK REPORT - STANDINGS

Once again, I remind you this week’s standings are based not just on this week, but on a weighted average of all four weeks so far.

  1. George Huff
  2. Latoya London
  3. Fantasia Barrino
  4. Jennifer Hudson
  5. Jasmine Trias
  6. Diana DeGarmo
  7. Jon Peter Lewis
  8. John Stevens
  9. Camille Velasco

George nudges ahead of Latoya for her uninspired performance and poor song choice. Fantasia is right behind. Jennifer has clearly separated herself from the rest of the pack and probably saved her ass. Everyone else is just fodder, except Camille, who is sub-fodder. Honest to Christ, vote her off, people.

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LaToya, Jasmine and Jennifer’s performances were all crescendo without any buildup. I think that is what Paula was trying to say to Jasmine, in particular. Power is good, but not just power.

I thought Simon’s remark to Camile was totally out of line. Yes, her performance (as usual) was lacking. But to say that a person she clearly idolized was angry at her for her performance was just cruel, even for him.

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Yeah, that will get her even more sympathy votes. I wish he hasn’t said anything for her performance, instead of Diana’s, don’t give people any more ammunition to feel sorry for her and vote on pity. Frankly, it’s just cruel to keep voting this kid to stay, it’s cruel to her and it’s cruel to those of us who have to listen to her perform.
I just happened to think, it would have been ironic if she had sung “Harmony”. “Harmony and me, we’re pretty good company …”, er too bad you’re on such bad terms with Melody.

I am still voting for Latoya and I’ve been able to get through consistently for the past couple hours.

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Mrs. Stevens, please take your son’s razor away. And his shoelaces. And any prescription meds.

Why didn’t he do “Your Song”?

…sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

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I’ll make is short. I thought Jennifer, George and LaToya were the best. JPL, John S. and Camille were the worst.

Camille really needs to go. She has never not sucked in any performance in any round.

JPL and John are clearly out of their league at this point and i hope people start voting based on performances rather than “cuteness” or being Hawaiian.

If nothing else this episode showed how rangy and damn hard to sing Elton John is. Think of how effortlessly he nails all these songs. Sir Elton can blow, man…and what an awesome composer. Does anybody write better melodies more consistently?

That’s probably the most starstruck I’ve ever seen a group of AI contestants become at the sight of a celeb. I probably would have been too, though.

34

JPL and Camille need to go. I still find it interesting to see what John does, so he can stick around at least until those two are gone.

I don’t like Fantasia. She can go any time and I won’t care.

I think Diana will be voted off tomorrow.

I think George will win this thing. He gets better every week.

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Fantasia – Macy Gray should not do an Elton John cover. I don’t like her voice and this week certainly didn’t help. For overall vocal quality, I happen to agree with Simon on her performance this week.

JPL – I listen to these songs with my eyes closed and not good. It’s been a while but I seem to remember thinking the song seemed awfully rushed.

Jasmine – at the very beginning I thought, “Wow, we have a new player.” Then she continued to sing and she lost me, the last 3/4 of the song wasn’t spectacular.

John – I like the kid but he was downright painful to listen to. He is awfully one dimensional it’s starting to show.

Camille – My poor baby, it isn’t nerves anymore, she just isn’t good enough for the final twelve. I have a compromise for everybody: Vote her out and let her stand on stage beside the singers all night so I can just see her beautiful face.

George Huff – I have him second on my list.

Diana DeGarmo - I don’t know, I wasn’t impressed with this performance.

Latoya London – Even though this week wasn’t her best (although still very good), she’s still the best out there. There really isn’t a question in my mind that she’ll win.

Jennifer Hudson – Wow, I sure wasn’t as hyped as the judges. She definitely has a powerful voice but something seemed off from beginning to end. She didn’t even miss the notes, I just really didn’t like it.

Overall I thought it was a bad week. Looking back I really didn’t think anyone was spectacular. George was pretty good but that’s about it.

36

Could I possibly love George Huff any more than I do right now? I don’t think I could. I love that song, and of all the singers who ever sung on this damn show, he did what many are accused of but none have really done: he made it his own. He owned that song. And he is beyond adorable. I love him to death. He’s like Ruben and Clay rolled together.

And I gotta say: my people were a friggin embarassment this evening. My people would be white people. How is it that not one white or asian person can sing Mr. Super White Boy’s songs? What’s up with that?

George rules my world. La Toya is terrific, but completely lacking anything resembling a personality.

John Stevens makes me smile through the pain.

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Blech. Blech blech blech. Utterly forgettable, each and every one of them. I liked the headline at Curio this morning: American Idol singers slaughter Elton John. George was probably the best, but I’m sick of his Candy Man sweetness. And I’m amazed at all the gushing over La Toya. She sang a song about suicide intervention without any tonal nuance whatsoever. None of the guys can sing in key, and none of the girls can sing without caterwauling everything after the third measure. Every contestant needs voice lessons. This is really just a sucky bunch.

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This made me laugh, but it is oh so true. All I ask is that Camille goes home first, as she so richly deserves, then, who the hell cares.
Fantasia: She can be the first of the black folk to go home. I like her voice, but the attitude leaves me cold.
LaToya: She’s growing on me.
George: Best of the night. I think he did well in picking a song that’s not as well known as the others, but I’m sure he would have kicked butt anyway.
Jennifer: Another one who picked The Right Song. I have always liked her and I don’t mind the faces or the “gospel jaw”. Too bad she’s a bit stuck on herself.

I saw an interview with Barry Manilow last night, and he was talking about how he plans to spend the week before his show working with the kids and trying to tailor the arrangement of the song to the singer. (He did say that he has nothing to do with which song they pick). He also referred to himself as “the anti-Simon”.

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O/T, but is “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” really about suicide intervention? From the lyrics, I’d always read it as a song sung my a man who, on the verge of marrying a soul sucking harpy who would make his life miserable for the duration of their time together, was suddenly “saved” by a timely intervention… “Sweet freedom whispered in my ear.” The lyrics are below:

Someone Saved My Life Tonight

As to the show itself:

FANTASIA: I can’t help it. I just hate her (as a performer, of course). I hate her voice, I hate her performing style, which seems to me to involve thinking about how great she is while she sings. I hate the “yeah yeah yeah” thing she does at the end of every verse, regardless of whether it’s appropriate for the song. Also: People criticize, say, Diana DeGarmo for failing to connect to the lyrics? Really? But Fantasia, who sings a beautiful song of surprised love as an athem to herself, is beloved? I don’t get it.

JON PETER: I think Jon could be a much stronger competitor if he stuck to songs that fit the good parts of his voice. When he sings “gently,” he gets that awful almost-flat Kermit-the-Frog thing happening, and it’s brutal. What he seems to do well is sing in a pseudo-rock style. I think he could have sang “The Bitch is Back” or “I’m Still Standing” and been really impressive. As it is, though, this was the second worst performance of the night for me.

JASMINE: Blah. Doesn’t understand the song, and has absolutely no subtlety - her entire performance is “Look how high I can belt!” And she can’t even belt that high.

JOHN: Well, I liked him. His pitch is always questionable but frankly, I’d rather listen to him sing than any of the three before him.

CAMILLE: I agree with whoever said she was the worst finalist in the history of this show. There is just nothing good about her singing. Her pitch was just dreadful; I think it’s possible that she was flat on every single note toward the end of the song. I can never understand a word she’s singing, thanks to that AK-47 vibrato and her mush mouthed diction. Terrible, out of her depth, and unlike John S, doesn’t even bring anything unique to the table (well, other than being very cute, I guess).

GEORGE: I’ve never liked him before tonight, but I thought he gave an excellent performance. A little too eager to please, a little much with the bouncing, but he seems to sing the right notes, mostly. His throaty quality is growing on me. I think he’s the only contestant who’s really improving and maturing as the competition wears on.

DIANA: I love this kid, and can’t grasp the hate others seem to have for her. She’s the best singer of all of them. And yes, she can’t do subtle very well, but she doesn’t really try to (other than that abysmal effort on country night). She’s one of the few with the self-awareness to pick songs that are (generally) right for her (again, country night excepted) and performs them properly. That said, she was obviously ill so her vocal dominance dimmed a bit tonight.

LATOYA: My winner and favorite. Lib, I agree that her performance tonight was a little over-the-top, but the thing is, I think she believes that she has to do that to stay in the game. Look at last week: she gave a wonderful, subtle, chilling performance of an understated song, and she landed in the bottom three. A too-large portion of the American population apparently believes that good = LOUD FROM BEGINNING TO END, like Fantasia and Jennifer, so LaToya has to prove that she can sing LOUD TOO. But she does it better than the rest of them, with flawless control and complete elegance.

JENNIFER: She was loud and mostly on pitch. She sang a song custom made to show off glory notes. Color me unimpressed. Still her best performance overall.

In Order:

  1. LaToya
  2. George
  3. Jennifer
  4. Diana
  5. Fantasia
  6. John S.
  7. Jasmine
  8. Jon Peter
  9. Camille

What I’d like: Jasmine, JPL, and Camille on the Seal, Camille goes home.
What will happen: John S., Camille, Diana on the Seal, John S. goes home.

40

Oh, I disagree on these two. I was laughing my ASS off during these performances. They were so bad, I was cringing. Yikes! I likened John S.'s performance to “She Bangs”, it was THAT funny.