American Idol – 5/6/03

Cafe Society
1

No AI thread yet?

So, what do y’all think is going to happen tonight? Is the backlash from having Ruben in the bottom two last week going to put him back on top at the expense of someone like Clay? I can totally see it, with everyone being so busy saving Ruben that Clay or Kimberly winds up in the bottom two (or even worse, booted off) and Josh still sitting pretty.

Josh sucks out loud. I’m hoping against hope that people will finally see the writing on the wall and vote heavily for the other contestants so he finally gets the boot.

2

I can only hope that people wise up and that Josh goes. I would hate to see a repeat of last season, with Tamyra booted in favor of cheesy-rocker-with-lousy-voice-and-hot-bod chick. What was her name anyway?

3

My sister (who lives near Atlanta, GA) was listening to a radio show this morning where they were talking about Ruben, and a bunch of callers from Alabama said that they’d tried to call in to vote from Ruben last week and were getting an automated message that their area code was blocked from making calls to that toll-free number. WTF?

Way to stack the votes in Josh’s favor there, Fox. :rolleyes:

4

If anything happens to my boy Clay, I’ll swear off AI forever.

I think that in the face of last week, the Josh backlash could pay off and we could finally be rid of that embarassment. On the other hand, I totally agree that we could see something bad happen with Kim or Clay due to the no doubt monumental number of votes Ruben will receive.

5

See, the problem is that there really can’t be a backlash against Josh…all of his fans (you know, all of the tone deaf people in America) will still keep voting for him. The only thing that’s going to get him gone is if fans of the other contestants call in greater numbers.

I have no doubt that Ruben will get a bazillion votes tonight. The question will be whether all of the other contestants also get more than Josh, or if everyone is so busy rescuing Ruben that one of the other good contestants gets neglected and Josh is safe again. That’s my fear.

6

I think Ruben being in the bottom two last week will serve as a wake up call to Clay’s fans as well. Up until last week, neither Clay or Ruben had ever been in the bottom two or three. Alot of people probably assumed they were safe until at least the final 4, if not the final 2 or 3. So maybe people who normally didn’t bother to vote for their favorite will start.

7

While I don’t doubt that there is some degree of truth to the idea that Ruben’s fans simply thought he was safe, so didn’t vote for him, there’s just as good a chance that people didn’t vote for him because they don’t think he’s all that that the judges are making him out to be. He’s WORLDS better than Josh could ever dream of being – Josh should definitely have been gone a long time ago! But… as possible as it is that Ruben’s bottom 2 ranking was due to a false sense of security, it’s also possible it’s a reflection of where the viewing audience thinks he belongs.

Tonight should be very interesting, indeed!

8

Yeah, Shayna! Ruben is good, but I think Kim and Clay are better.

And Josh, well, if this were a contest of taped recordings he would be long gone. But since it’s about all that other stuff too – like charisma, presence, performance, visual appeal, and so on, it’s not really that big of a surprise that he’s made it this far.

Kim and Clay in the final week. Kim wins.

9

I don’t mean to be a cynic, but with Dubya announcing more or less that the war is over, maybe fewer people won’t feel the need to vote for Josh (thus not responsible for booting him off and perhaps sending him to his death in Iraq).

You just know some people were thinking that.

I mean, what other possible reason could someone have had to vote for him? He’s probably a nice guy, and with the right bucket, he could carry a tune.

10

The same reason Kim C and Carmen lasted so long, his looks. Teenage girls are in love with him (and some older women too).

–

Just saw the show, and this is my impression:

Josh - May he have redeemed himself? Simon was right that this was his best performance ever. Is it enough to jump Kim?

Clay - Good, but his second song (Grease?) wasn’t that well done at all. He was bailed out by his awesome first song.

Kim L - Nothing special, hopefully she didn’t knock herself out because of it.

Ruben - NICE! Ruben had a wonderful night and if he’s in the bottom 2 again something is wrong with America!

This is the way I think it might go:

  1. Ruben
  2. Clay

(bottom 2)

  1. Josh
  2. Kim L

Josh saves himself from elimination by actually singing good (who’d have thunk it?!). His best performance by far, and Kim wasn’t that great. She has shown that she doesn’t have a fan base, so I think it is time for her to go. Although, I STILL think her ‘New York State of Mind’ performance was the best of the competition of anyone!

11

Josh actually did well tonight, and his 2nd song was better than the first.

Clay did awesome on that first song. The 2nd one was m’eh. But after that first performance, he deserves to stay.

Kimberly didn’t do it tonight. She didn’t look like she was into it at all.

Ruben, great voice, boring performer, but seems to have a huge fan base.

Based on all performances this season, Josh should go. Based solely on tonight’s performances, Kimberly should go.

12

okielady, I totally agree.

I’m torn. Overall, Josh sucks more. But tonight, Kim was worse than Josh! ARGH! Why did Kim have to go and do that!

I think Ruben gets some leeway as to the ‘performance’ standard because he’s kinda large and can’t really move around much. :smiley:

13

Well, Josh has none of those things ever. In fact, he’s one of the singularly most visually offensive, charismatically challenged peformers I’ve ever seen. The constipated facial expressions, the inane finger pointing, the cringe inducing forays into the audience, the smug demeanor, the witless attemps at humor, the stupid physical threats against Simon. The guy just sucks in all facets of the game. he really didn’t deserve to get past the first audition. I have to wonder if the votes are being manipulated by FOX for political reasons. If Josh is not voted out tomorrow then the show has no credibility.
On to tonight’s performances. This had to be one of the worst nights ever. the Bee Gees are crap and the song selections were horrible. We also got another totally useless guest judge.

Josh:
1st song-- amateur hour. The run into the audience was unwatchable. Sounded like Karaoke night in Texas.
2nd song-- More garbage from a no talent suck-artist. It’s interesting that he and Clay both sang this song tonight. The contrast could not have been more stark.

Clay:
1st song-- Awesome. this guy really has it. I don’t think he’s ever hit a bad note.
2nd song-- not a good song choice, maybe Clay’s worst over-all performance in the competition but that’s still pretty damn good.

Kim:
1st song-- Just ok, not much energy, not bad exactly, just sort of lifeless.
2nd song-- ditto

Ruben:
1st song-- Again, just ok. Not bad but nothing special
2nd song-- much better. he really needed to knock one out of the park after last week. I still don’t think it was a homerun but it was a solid double.

Top 2: Clay and Ruben

Who gets the boot?
It had damn well better be Josh, but nothing would surprise me any more.

14

I want to shake Josh and tell him that he’s still on American Idol. He’s not a big star. For god’s sake, quit talking about the fans. It makes him sound arrogant. Maybe he should borrow a little of Clay’s humility.

Josh wasn’t as bad as last week, but he was still the weakest performer. I actually liked Kim’s interpretation of her two song choices. She didn’t just sing them the way they were originally recorded. Clay’s first song was great and as much as I enjoyed the hip shakes of the second song, it wasn’t his best performance. I think Ruben didn’t like being in the bottom 2 last week because he didn’t phone in his performance this week.

I’m going to rank them

1 - Ruben
2 - Clay
3 - Kim

<big gap>

10,001 - Josh

I’m calling in my votes for Clay tonight. I’ve been trying to phone for almost an hour and I’ve only gotten through four times.

15

I agree with Diogenes and okielady on the performances.

Josh did do better tonight than previous nights (but that’s not really saying all that much), and Kim didn’t do as well as she had been doing (not bad, but not great either). Although, I agree Grease wasn’t a great choice of song, I think Clay still did it great, I think Simon called it horrible mostly because the song is hokey and Clay was camping it up (which was entertaining at least). His first song and overall performance should count for something. Ruben’s voice is sounding a bit strained and I agree that his performances are getting rather tedious in presentation but he’s still tons better than Josh (that wasn’t a crack about his size).

Although, if people judged by overall performance Josh should be the one to go. Unfortunately, people don’t vote based on overall performance (as evidenced by what happened to Tamyra last year). I don’t think anyone’s safe at this point anything can happen. I have been trying to vote for Clay, Kim and Ruben and I can’t get through for any of them (except for twice for Clay), I am not even going to risk throwing even one vote to Josh just to see if his line is busy. I think they succeeded in getting even more people to vote this week. So I am just going to keep trying for Clay for the rest of the night, he’s the one I want to win.

Did anyone else get the impression that the judges were taking it easy on Josh just so as to not incur another rash of sympathy votes?

16

Late again! I was supposed to vote for Ruben a metric ton, but I only got through a few times. So, I ended up splitting votes between Kimberly and Josh(I liked the second performance, so kiss my ass! :b). Kimberly ended up getting most of my votes, but only because her line was the least busy in my area.

Josh 1: It wasn’t too bad, but a bad song choice. Better than last week, but in this case, he proved that he didn’t belong in the top 4. Yea, I’m with Simon.

Clay 1: Needs to get on stage blindfolded as I hated how his eyes squinted. A solid perfomance, but I’ve seen better from him coughsolitarecough. I don’t quite agree with the judges. It wasn’t THAT great! Sheesh!

Kimberly 1: Someone needed to KILL that backup singer as it drowned out part of her voice! I’d hate to say this, but it was fairly weak compared to previous performances. Not bad, but no roof was blown off. Yup, I’m with Simon. HEE! She’s classy like Trenyce!

Ruben 1: The best so far!!! WHEEEE!! No complacency here! YES! Sure, AI wouldn’t be the same without Ruben, but it’s not the same without Trenyce. :frowning:

Josh 2: Oh wow! Excellent! I think this performance was his best ever! Great job! Can the hand gestures and it would have been a perfect performance. In fact, I daresay that it was better than Clay’s!

Clay 2: Great change of pace! I liked! Well done! Simon! You can’t be serious! SHUT UP! Uh-oh! Clay’s comment on Simon might backfire. I will admit that if he sang “I started a joke” instead of “Grease”, he would have blown the roof, walls and floor of the building.

Kimberly 2: As beautiful and sultry as she is! Not to mention strong. Nice job on the high note too. I do, however, agre e with Simon.

Ruben 2: Flawless. Best of the night.

Order of like:

  1. Ruben
  2. Josh(SHUT UP!)
  3. Clay
  4. Kimberly L.

Actual bottom 2: Josh/Kimberly

Eliminated: I’m afraid it will be Kimberly, unless she managed to nose past Josh. It could easily go eithe way though(especially since I have about 40 min left to vote…mwhaahahah).

17

Last week, I could have sworn Josh was TRYING to get booted. This week, he seemed born again. He was rocking!
Clay – love him. Even singing GREASE. (But I would have preferred I STARTED A JOKE or MASSACHUSETTS.)
Ruben – good, not great.
Kimberley – I said to my son “I really want to like her, but she’s phoning it in.” Both songs. She was not good tonight. And was I hearing things, or did she miss part of her run of very high notes on the second song???
It would be a shame for Josh to be voted off after having such a stellar night. Based on tonight’s performance, I think Kimberley should go, but do the producers really want to be left with three guys to battle it out???
And Robin Gibb sounded too much like Simon. I got all confused.

18

As an aside, I’m fascinated so many people think Tamyra Gray should have won American Idol 1.0. I think Kelly Clarkson has a much better voice; I thought the right person won.

Anyway, in the order I liked them:

  1. RUBEN STUDDARD. Neither of his performances were as good as Clay’s first performance, but overall he had a better night. Both were terrific shows. He needed a bit of a scare. He was clearly the #1 performer of the evening.

  2. CLAY AIKEN. First performance was utterly fantastic. The second was awful; Simon was right. Sure, he had a sense of humour, but it was an atrocious song choice and an uninspired rendition.

  3. KIMBERLEY LOCKE. Technically excellent but fairly flat song choices. She could be voted off.

  4. JOSH GRACIN. I’ll assume Jurhael is either joking or is hearing impaired. Gracin is completely out of his league. I have difficulty believing sane people actually vote for him as anything other than a patriotic duty thing.

Voted Off Tomorrow: I hope it’s Gracin, who really should not have even made the Top 12, but I have a sinking feeling it will be Kimberley Locke.
2.

19

That’s a good sign that he will be voted off tomorrow. The last few people voted off were done after their best performances.

It’s almost two hours since I started voting for Clay and I’ve only gotten through 16 times. I hope the Kim fans are calling in because I’d hate to see her go. I’m just not taking any chances on Clay getting voted off.

20

Have you forgotten the first rule of the SDMB? Don’t be a jerk! As much as I hate Josh and think he sucks ass and as much as I protested about the patriotic votes last week, Jurhael is perfectly entitled to like Josh without your snarky comments. So you have different favorites and preferences. . . that doesn’t give you the right to be an ass.