# American Idol 5/10 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940 "2005-05-10T06:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/101 "2005-05-11T13:45:54Z")
I think Carrie’s in serious danger of going home tonight. That said, I don’t think it matters for her at this point. She’ll be a big country star anyway. Other observations: **It’s a Great Day to Be Alive** is a fantastic song, and Bo screwed it up royally. The lyrics were wrong, and he lacked any feeling whatsoever. If he’d given half the emotion he gave to the first song as he did the second, it would have been a huge improvement. He’s definitely no Travis Tritt. (And I’ve heard Travis Tritt live. For some songs, it’s just a man and his guitar, and he’s incredible.) His second performance rocked the house, and it’s a good thing because he could have been in Carrie’s shoes if it hadn’t been. I’d like to know what happened to poor Vonzell. I wanted to hug her and say, “Well, sweetheart, it wasn’t that bad!” In fact, it wasn’t bad at all. Something must have happened to her. I’ll have to watch Entertainment Tonight to find out, I guess. A-Fed: Wow! It’s been a slow, slow process, but he’s finally gained my respect. Between him and Vonzell, it’s hard to say which has grown the most during the course of this show. Both have improved significantly, unlike Bo and Carrie, who have stayed at exactly the same level they were at when they came into it. That said, at this point, I really like them all. A very solid top-four, I think, which will be cut down to a very solid top-three. The best since Ruben/Clay/Kimberley. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/102 "2005-05-11T13:50:12Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > What I really think is going on is that she can’t sing low and slow, she can only belt out the big notes. Boy, do I ever disagree. Her melodic moan after the first line in _Alone_ would have melted an iceberg. To me, her entire range is tonally beautiful. Even on her worst night, she did better than everyone else — including the Love Boat guy. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/103 "2005-05-11T13:51:14Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I didn’t really care for anybody tonight - doesn’t matter in the least to me who gets voted off. But I am shocked at the number of people here who only know “For The Love Of Money” as _The Apprentice_ theme. I mean, I realize _AI_’s audience isn’t made up of people generally that well-versed in pop music history (wasn’t it Vonzell who said she hadn’t been familiar with “Try A Little Tenderness”?), but come on - this is the _SDMB_, for God’s sake! It’s not like that song was a sea chantey from the 1700s or something - it’s fairly “modern” by any normal standard. I tell you, I’m greatly disappointed. I think it’s just the young’uns. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/104 "2005-05-11T14:08:07Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Boy, do I ever disagree. Her melodic moan after the first line in _Alone_ would have melted an iceberg. To me, her entire range is tonally beautiful. Even on her worst night, she did better than everyone else — including the Love Boat guy. I also think she has trouble with the lower notes. Although _Alone_ was great, she was much better when she was hitting the high notes and I’ve noticed the same thing in every other song she’s sung since. That said, I still like her voice and when she was being criticized by the judges for the second song, my husband and I looked at each other in disbelief. I think this might be one of those times when they’ll have a different opinion when they watch the playback. They’ve admitted it before, it sounds different when they hear it live. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/105 "2005-05-11T14:12:26Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I think it’s just the young’uns. Yeah, I knew I was officially ancient when a co-worker heard some New Order song I was listening to and asked me if it was the oldies station. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/106 "2005-05-11T14:18:56Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Yeah, I knew I was officially ancient when a co-worker heard some New Order song I was listening to and asked me if it was the oldies station. You DID beat the whippersnapper with your cane after this, didn’t you? Because they certainly deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/107 "2005-05-11T14:22:02Z")
The rumor I’ve heard is that Vonzell’s 12 year old dog was struck by a car and killed. One other rumor popped up briefly that her dad has cancer. I have no idea if either of these things is true. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/108 "2005-05-11T14:22:22Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Yeah, I knew I was officially ancient when a co-worker heard some New Order song I was listening to and asked me if it was the oldies station. :eek: On preview, what **rockle** said. I would have thrown some Medamucil in his eyes and stabbed him with a “Frankie Say Relax” pin. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/109 "2005-05-11T14:24:48Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > The performances were pretty poor tonight, but I wanted to chime in to say that Vonzell is hands down the most beautiful girl ever to compete on **American Idol**. 😃 And probably the best singer, too. I thought her second performance was incredible. If she goes home tonight there is no justice in this hard, cold world. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/110 "2005-05-11T14:25:26Z")
> [@Susie Derkins](#): > > :eek: > > On preview, what **rockle** said. I would have thrown some Medamucil in his eyes and stabbed him with a “Frankie Say Relax” pin. I would have, but there’s nowhere at work to take the nap I would have rquired after such physical exertion. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/111 "2005-05-11T16:17:15Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > But I am shocked at the number of people here who only know “For The Love Of Money” as _The Apprentice_ theme. I mean, I realize _AI_’s audience isn’t made up of people generally that well-versed in pop music history (wasn’t it Vonzell who said she hadn’t been familiar with “Try A Little Tenderness”?), but come on - this is the _SDMB_, for God’s sake! It’s not like that song was a sea chantey from the 1700s or something - it’s fairly “modern” by any normal standard. I tell you, I’m greatly disappointed. > [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > To be fair, though, I think there was only one person (in this thread anyway) who didn’t know it was an actual song before it became \*The Apprentice \* theme. The rest of us are just making the association because we’ve been hearing it once a week when we watch _The Apprentice_. For me, it’s almost ceased being an O’Jays song. In my earlier post where I said Bo would melt his fans with “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” I had actually preceded that with how I thought he would rock the house with “For The Love of Money,” and deleted it, thinking people would all say it was too associated with “The Apprentice” now, and either forget or not realize that it was an O’Jays song. Seems I was kindof right in that assumption, which is too bad, because The O’Jays are icons! And they totally rock! “[Back Stabbers](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A0C6CCB0E577B479AAB32FA6500FD1C0EE55ECBC1B&sql=33:bnev9kiakrdt),” “[Love Train](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A0C6CCB0E577B479AAB32FA6500FD7C0EE50ECBC1B&sql=33:0cb1z8ba2yy2),” “[I Love Music](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A0C6CCB0E577B479AAB32FA6500FD1C0EE55ECBC1B&sql=33:vr8ibk09fakm),” “[Now That We Found Love](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47E17DC49A97220C7932B43C0A67FA458FE4AED81106E495AD1A930499F0563F240A0C6CCB0E577B479AAB32FA6500FD1C0EE55ECBC1B&sql=33:h7pzefik7g82),” all excellent, excellent songs. As for the performances last night, I pretty much agree with everyone that Carrie was not in her best form and Anthony surprised by being pretty damn good (though he does that same bouncy/head thrusty thing every single time, and it’s dorky and annoying to watch). I tried to call every so often for Carrie during “Amazing Race” commercials and consistently got busy signals or the “all circuits are busy” message for the whole 2 hours, only actually connecting twice. Should be an interesting results show. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/112 "2005-05-11T16:27:59Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > The performances were pretty poor tonight, but I wanted to chime in to say that Vonzell is hands down the most beautiful girl ever to compete on American Idol. I won’t go _that_ far, but I _will_ say that she has been looking less and less like a crossdresser as the weeks have gone on (except for those sideburns…Vonzell, high-def TV is _not_ your friend). > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I didn’t really care for anybody tonight - doesn’t matter in the least to me who gets voted off. But I am shocked at the number of people here who only know “For The Love Of Money” as _The Apprentice_ theme. Really! How can it be that more people aren’t familiar with this Bulletboys classic! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/113 "2005-05-11T16:53:49Z")
The morning drive time guys I listen to (Mark and Brian) said that Vonzell’s emotional leakage was associated with her frustration at not being able to learn _How Can I Live_ to her satisfaction; she had felt she was tanking it during the rehearsal, and she wasn’t any more impressed with herself during the live show with 30 million pairs of eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/114 "2005-05-11T19:03:22Z")
Wasn’t there some rumor about Vonzell and Scott? (I don’t keep up, so if it has been disproven, sorry.) Anyway, with that in mind, my first thought was that she was crying because Scott wasn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/115 "2005-05-11T19:05:32Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Wasn’t there some rumor about Vonzell and Scott? (I don’t keep up, so if it has been disproven, sorry.) Anyway, with that in mind, my first thought was that she was crying because Scott wasn’t there. I heard the rumor was Scott and Nadia. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/116 "2005-05-11T19:06:38Z")
The ::shudder:: was for Scott, not Nadia, BTW. He’s so icky. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/117 "2005-05-11T19:30:32Z")
I very much respect the opinions of people who really like Vonzell, and I agree that she is beautiful and has a good voice. But it is always the same voice, which would be okay if it were unusual, in the manner of Aretha Franklin or something, but Vonzell impresses me as a backup singer, or one of the Supremes. Something like that. But definitely not Diana Ross. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/118 "2005-05-11T23:48:16Z")
I’ve heard so many. Here they are, in order of complexity: 1. **She was homesick.** Well, maybe, but in that case, she’s in the wrong business. Anyway, I don’t think that was it. 2. **She’d been struggling with the song, and knew it wasn’t right when she performed it. The judges also knew this, prompting Paula’s question.** Maybe, but why would they give her a pass because of that? If she’s hit a wall, then she just has, and I can’t see the judges giving her a freebie, no matter how sweet she is. 3. **She was just plain stressed out.** See above. 4. **Her dog, that she’d had for many years, died.** Now, I know peoples’ pets can be very dear to him, but, and especially since she wouldn’t have seen it happen, she should have been able to compartmentalize and concentrate on the thing she’s been putting so much energy and effort into. Sounds like someone conjectured, “_Maybe_ her dog died,” and someone else ran with it. 5. **She just found out that her dad has cancer.** Again, sounds like a speculation that other people took as fact. Furthermore, who in her family would hit her with a revelation like that on performance day? They’d wait until after the results show. 6. **Ever notice how close she seems to be with her dad, and her mom is never mentioned?** It could be that her mom has been dead for anywhere from a year or two, to most of V’s life, and having to sing “How Do I Live Without You?” so soon after Mother’s Day was a trigger. That sounds plausible, but doesn’t fit with Paula’s mention of “a difficult day”, because Sunday was the difficult day. 7. **Her biggest fan died.** The story goes that a little girl with cancer was a big fan of hers, and one of her last-days requests was “I wanna meet Vonzell.” She did, and charmed everyone, and then she died yesterday or the day before. This is the one I’m most inclined to believe, mostly because it doesn’t have any holes in it. I can see someone blurting out the news, not knowing how she’d react, as opposed to news about her dad, which everyone would realize would be a bombshell. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/119 "2005-05-12T01:04:35Z")
Carrie just showed us her O-face. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940/120 "2005-05-12T01:06:15Z")
I didn’t like the group song… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-5-10/340940.md?page=7)