It’s not that exciting anymore, is it? last year’s Ruben/Clay duel had some heat to it, this year it’s like they’re just getting it over with.
Oh well, I think Fantasia was by far the better singer tonight (I don’t know about "best contestant ever, though, Clay was pretty good).
Diana seemed screechy and pitchy to me all night and I’ve just never liked her so I’m sure she’ll win. She won’t sell any CDs, though.
Fantasia’s first song was odd. But after that she just owned the stage.
Diana has been much better than that in previous weeks. Was there something really wrong with the mic in her last song? My husband and I both thought there was something off and when she started missing notes, I thought she might have been having trouble hearing herself.
Oh well. I won’t predict a winner, but I continue to love something about Fantasia’s voice.
I can’t imagine a huge bunch of people buying tickets to see her in concert either, though I could be wrong.
Diana made the saccharine winner’s song sound like every other generic ballad. Fantasia made it sound like every other Fantasia ballad.
I don’t like either.
That smile that Diana had at the end of her first song was almost as creepy as Paul Anka. How do you sing a soul stirring inspirational song, and then end it with a beauty pageant smile?
As soon as they explained the format and I realized that meant Fantasia would be closing with the gospel choir I knew little Diana’s goose was cooked.
I do think you may be right, jsgoddess, about Diana not being able to hear herself up there tonight. I believe she briefly said as much to Randy after her last song.
I enjoyed Diana much more than Fantasia tonight. I especially liked her version of the song they both did a lot better.
And Fantasia’s dancing, which looks to me like a chicken bobbing up and down, is almost painful for me to watch, though neither of them does much in the dancing department.
I’ve voted several times for Diana, and propably will a couple more before the night is up.
I’ll never get what’s supposed to be good about Fantasia. I don’t think she owned anything or nailed anything, and I didn’t even think her version of “Summertime” was that extraordinary. Meh.
I nearly cried for Diana, and I haven’t even been following the contest!
Here’s my take: Fantasia will probably win, but Diana is going to end up on stage somewhere on Broadway. She has that kind of voice and personality. Both of them are going to get a better-than-average shot at the big time. I actually like both of them, but they aren’t world-class performers by any stretch.
I’ve got to say, Fantasia gave me goose bumps with that last song. I like Diana too, but no bumps. Ruben used to give me goose bumps and that’s how I knew he’d win.
Well I’m unloading my Fantasia to win bets at 82% right now on Tradesports. I think she should win by a landslide, but we know that’s not how it works on AI, and to read the AI forums, I can’t justify not taking profit at 82. I might even buy some Diana.
Most. Boring. Final. Ever.
Don’t care who wins.
If it mattered how well they performed last night, then it should be Fantasia. Diana opened up an early lead (after 1 song each), but choked badly.
But it doesn’t matter what happened last night. Diana fans will still vote for Diana; Fantasia fans will still vote for Fantasia.
It looked like Fantasia saw Diana’s good opening performance, and decided that she needed to take Summertime to a new level of scenery-chewing over-the-top-ness. Throw in extra melissima; wave her arms extra higher. Wrestle that song to the ground and make it say “uncle”.
I missed the first 10 minutes: what was the format? Share one song, plus two of your favorites? Booooring…
Sorry for the hijack - can you briefly explain how Tradesports works for bets like this?
Spoiler regarding the margin of victory:
Ryan Seacrest just announced that the margin of victory is “just over one percent”.
I wonder whether that favors one over the other.
The reason Diana was off-key in her final song — this according to her, and the producers confirmed it — was that her headset was “dead zoned”, meaning that she could not hear her own voice. That information had to be coaxed out of her, and so I salute her for not whining about it during the judges’ criticisms.
I would argue it’s under the margin of error caused by the overloaded phone systems, so they might as well have flipped a coin.
It’s interesting to see how polarized opinions are when you read online discussions and hear the talk about it on the radio. I thought that one of the two contestants clearly outclassed the other in sheer talent and performance during the entire series, and made the difference even more clear last night. I hear people making the same argument about both contestants, however. It’s interesting to see how tastes differ.
Though her style isn’t exactly to my taste, and I don’t ever see myself buying an album of hers, I think that Fantasia is just in an entirely different league than Diana. I don’t think she’s the incredible talent that Simon and the others were making her out to be, either, but she is solid, decent performer, and clearly deserves to win.
I think that the compulsory song selection last night was way in Fantasia’s favor. The whole gospel choir-in-the-background type of song is designed with Fantasia in mind, and didn’t really provide a level playing ground for the two performers, in my opinion. Diana did a good job on it, but Fantasia did a much better job. (It was still a lousy cliche of a song, though.)
And it seemed as if the sound system was really off at the beginning of Diana’s final song. I don’t think it was her; I think it was the sound (which I’ve noted in earlier shows as well.) The total bobbling of that one measure near the end was all hers, though. I’m sorry for her that it happened, because she had done a really solid job that night otherwise. (Except on her song selection. Does she really think that America is dying for a return to disco?)
Um, the reason Diana was off-key in her final song — this according to her, and the producers confirmed it — was that her headset was “dead zoned”, meaning that she could not hear her own voice.
Sure. Here is the website (look under Entertainment-> American Idol
http://www.tradesports.com/jsp/intrade/contractSearch/
Bookies don’t make the prices, everyone does. Right now, Fantasia Barrino to Win is trading at 79-80. If you bought the contract at 80, you would be paid $100 by the seller if Fantasia wins. If you sell the contract to establish a short, you will have to pay 100 to whomever you sold it if Fantasia wins. So basically, the price indicates the market's belief in Fantasia's chance of winning. I bought Fantasia early in the contest at 19 so if sold her now, I'd get 79, making 60 per contract. If I hold on till tonight I might make $100 per contract or I might lose it all.