I agree completely! No class on AI’s part.
He was in a no win situation. I bet if he had it to do again though, he would have stood in the middle and just shrugged.
I think John’s a nice boy and knows his limitations. I don’t think he wants to leave or is miserable, but I think he knows who is better singer. When the better singers leave, I think he geniunely feels bad for them.
BTW, count me in with the people who like John’s voice. I like his style, but I also like his voice. I split my votes between Jennifer and John two nights ago and I’m sorry she went home. She shouldn’t have gone before John, Jennifer, and Diana, but she still didn’t have a chance of winning. The order that the rest of the contestants go isn’t really all that important since there are really only two people in the competition who could actually win this thing.
No matter how many times America hasn’t gotten it wrong before…and that’s assuming you believe America got it wrong by sending Trenyce before Josh, Rickey before Carmen, Tamyra before Nikki…they still get it right when it ends. Someone devoid of any talent does not win the show. People with talent continue after the show ends.
All judgments of good and bad are opinions. They may be expert opinions, informed opinions, or dumb opinions, but they are still opinions. You can continue to insist it’s an opinion, but that doesn’t convince me John is a bad singer, it just convinces me that you don’t know the difference is between a fact and an opinion.
I’m sorry, you are wrong here. Michael Schumacher is a good race car driver. Pete Sampras is a good tennis player. Ian Thorpe is a good swimmer. Segovia was a good guitar player. They each can do things most other race car drivers, tennis players, swimmers, or guitar players cannot do. That makes them better than others. Not opinon at all, simple facts. John Stevens is not good. Other singers, those that are good singers, are better than John Stevens. No opinion. Simple fact.
And by the way, no disrespect to John Stevens. I’m sure he’s a very nice person, I can see why people like him. But he’s not a good singer.
Like I said, repeated arguments that your opinions are facts do not convince me that they ARE facts, only that you don’t know what the words mean.
Y’know, Michael Bolton has a technically perfect voice. Modulation, range, tone…it’s all there. But how many people freely admit to being fans?
I’m sorry, skutir, but I think it is you who is conflating the terms. There actually are qualities that are measurable when it comes to singing; pitch, breath control, vibrato, projection, tempo, material interpretation and so on. When different singers of different genres are compared side-by-side, and one style is preferred over another – that’s an opinion. When any singer, standing alone without comparison, cannot consistently hit the right notes in a song, cannot project their voice, does not breathe properly, does not keep the proper tempo, etc., that person can be said to be not a good singer, regardless of style.
This is why people who are interested in singing as a career go to music school and/or hire professional voice coaches in order to learn how to perfect their craft. There is a right way and a wrong way to sing. And there are tangible criteria with which to distinguish those who are “good” and “bad” at it.
I do. And I’m sure all the millions of people who’ve bought his albums over the years (though I haven’t, I admit). What does that have to do with whether or not there’s a tangible way to judge good singing and bad singing?
If you can’t be convinced, you can’t be convinced. I’m trying to lay it out clearly, but you don’t appear to be listening (which is probably why you like JS 
). Here’s one more try:
It is possible to say, factually, that a particular person is good at something – Pete Sampras is a good tennis player. He can hit a tennis ball very hard, and make it go exactly where he wants it to. Do you agree, or disagree?
It is likewise possible to say, factually, that another person is not good at something. Osten, from the last season of Survivor, is not a good swimmer. He can barely stay afloat. With me so far?
Most intelligent persons understand that some people are better than others at certain things. That a person is better than another in a certain endeavor is a measurable, quantifiable thing. A fact.
Opinion is a subjective measure or personal taste. It is not the measure of whether a person is good or bad at a particular endeavor.
Whether John Stevens’ voice has a pleasing tone is, I suppose, a matter of opinion. Whether he can (or does) hit all the notes in a particular song is not. Whether he can sing an octave above middle C is not a matter of opinion. A good singer can hit all the notes. A good singer can sing clearly in 2 or 3 octaves (a great singer can sing in even more). John Stevens tries hard – he hits a lot of the notes, most of them even. He doesn’t hit all the notes. He doesn’t have very much range. A good singer hits more of the notes than JS does, and has a much better range. A good singer has power in their voice, and can project notes clearly, crisply and with even vibrato when they want to. JS can’t. Maybe one day, with training, he might be able to.
If you want to argue that JS actually can hit the notes, or has the range or power that good singers have, feel free. That is a factual argument, and, in rebuttal I would point to specific instances of his limited range, missed notes, and off key phrases. But just because you like to listen to a bad singer, or watch a bad tennis player play tennis, doens’t mean that the person is good at what they are trying to do.
To sum up: A person with a pleasing voice tone, that can’t hit the correct notes or consistently sing on key, is not a good singer. He or she may be successful, they may have other talents that make them a popular entertainer. As a matter of opinion, you can enjoy listening to that person sing. That person is not, however, a good singer.
And, after not previewing, what Shayna said! 
shrug Frankly I LOVED it… but then again, I love what they do on Nashville Star, but when a tamer version was done on AI for the Wild Card round people were screaming bloody murder.
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Anyway, I have to agree (a little bit after the announcement) that Jennifer, Fantasia, and LaToya canceled each other out. We DIDN’T want a Battle of the Divas… they are all the same person basically, and that’s boring. Last year was perfect in the contrast of styles. This year… eh.
Oh, and count me in as a John Stevens fan. I like his style and when he picks the right song, his voice is great and a welcome change of pace. I said before no one is compelling in this AI, unlike last year (I guess I don’t want to see the divas monopolize the show), but I was wrong. John compels me, and I want to see him go very far… to the Top 4 at least.
I already admitted that there’s a tangible way to judge good and bad singing. I made the comparison to Michael Bolton because I’ve found that, while his voice is gorgeous, I wouldn’t even download an MP3 of one of his songs for free, because I feel that there’s no “there” there.
And I’m well aware that many people feel that JS doesn’t even know where “there” is. They’re entitled to that opinion, and you’re entitled to your opinion of MB. But I am equally entitled to enjoy JS’s performances.
And I would buy his CD. 
Well, yes. There are also right ways and wrong ways to write, to dance, to paint landscapes. And yet, there are people who, for a variety of reasons, do well by not doing things right. In my own ear, John’s voice quality is superb, in terms of timbre, pitch, modulation, and purity. He has missed some notes here and there. They all have. Barry Manilow did, too. John had that disastrous Crocodile Rock falsetto, but that was nerves plus adolescence. John’s voice already sounds like a fine instrument to me, and it will get much better over time.
I especially like the unusualness of his voice in the context of pop music. There has been enough of the boy band nasalized whining. I think people are ready for something new, and he is that (in a retro way). Some of the greatest pop singers have sung “incorrectly”. Bob Dylan had a five-note range, and all of them flat. Janis Joplin’s voice sounded like she had chronic laryngitis. Joe Cocker peeped like a baby chicken in You Are So Beautiful, but it was wonderful. The great tradition of rock/pop is its raw spirit. John already has that, and with life experience, it will get better and better like a fine wine. But he’s already good enough to begin his career. And I look forward to buying his CDs.
Someone mentioned that he’s not expressive, but so what? None of them are. They have to sing 90 second truncations of songs, so they don’t have the luxury of symphonizing them to build much expression. Invariably, when they begin quietly, Randy complains that they didn’t start out well. And I don’t think he knows what pitch is. At any rate, they don’t have time to create much drama, so they usually just start belting within the first few measures. But not John. He is controlled and cool. I like him, and it’s not because I feel sorry for him. It’s because I think he sings well.
I checked this out last night when it was shown on Irish TV and I have to say I was surprised by the bottom three.
JS is soooooo out of his league. As was said by the judges it is not meant to be a popularity contest. I think that the problem here isn’t with the teenagers it’s with the middle aged and elderly audience. They’ve little to no interest in helping to create a new recording star. They’re just looking at a TV prog and voting for the one they like. JS is very likeable. Add to that the whole splitting of the vote the 3 girls will engender and you’ve got the travesty of last night.
There’s also a possibility of voter confidence. Maybe because people where so sure that the divas were safe they just didn’t think their vote was needed. If this is the case you should expect the remaining two divas to be top of the heap next week.
Good show BTW although the Manilow + contestants song had more cheesy than a cheese burger made out of cheese with extra cheese. Simon also seems a lot nicer than he is on the UK pop idol where he and Pete Waterman regularly tear people apart.
Shayna and Shelbo:
You just don’t get it. We’re not talking about John Stevens. We’re talking about the difference beteen making value judgments and making objective factual statements. All you do is insist your opinions are facts. Making a series of statements defending your opinions is fine… that’s called “defending your opinion.” it might even be called a “reasoned judgment,” although I think you exaggerate John’s failings. But at no point does the opinion become a shiny new fact. If i can’t be convinced, it’s because I know better, not because “I’m not listening.” I refuse to regress to my college freshman naivite of confusing my preferences for the one and only truth.
I think there is the William Hung effect going on. This week, he did debut at #34 in the Billboard top 200 albums chart, which is not bad for an indie CD at all. Maybe fans are starting to hate the factory voices, and jennifer and the others got caught in it.
What bothers me most is the charge of racism. Look at the last several weeks on the show. The bottom three keep changing almost completely. The votes are obviously all very close. There were four African-Americans in the top 12, and three of them remain in the top 6. I liked Jennifer because she kept improving and I thought she had potential, but she was the only remaining finalist who didn’t even make the top three in her semifinal round. Sure she can belt, but she has trouble singing softly. I also don’t think the voting is unfair. The people who vote multiple times are those who will buy multiple copies of CDs, and snap up everything their favorite has ever signed, touched, or breathed on (see Aiken, Clay). The only reason I feel bad is because JS clearly knows he is outclassed and he feels bad. He seems like a nice kid, and it upsets me to see him blamed for the fact that people like him. I personally think he’ll be fantastic in 5-10 years. Let’s also not underestimate the “screw the producers” vote, which I admit that I’d be guilty of if I voted. I’m just happy to see William Hung sell almost as many CDs as Justin Guarini did. My dream outcome at this point, though, would be for Fantasia to win and for her CD to totally tank. Yes, she can sing, but I hate her voice and her personality, not to mention the relentless pimping by the judges. Let them see that they can’t push their favorites down America’s throat (and maybe let her learn a little humility at the same time). Let’s be frank, winning this talent competetion clearly doesn’t guarantee pop superstardom, and not matter how many times Seacrest insists that there will be only one winner, everybody knows that several of these kids will go on to get contracts and that in the end, the voting on the show will not be the only factor influencing their careers.
Never seen NS. What is it they do differently?
Wait a minute. There’ve been charges of racism? That seems farfetched at best. Which group is this racism supposed to favor? Are people claiming A. Minorities outnumber whites on the show, so it’s biased against whites, or B. Three black contestants in the bottom three means it’s biased against blacks? Whites and minorities have been eliminated pretty evenly so far, and except for Amy and Camille, the bottom three has fluctuated wildly.
I gotta say, if I can’t figure out which group this supposed racism is supposed to favor, I’d be hard pressed to believe it without some pretty concrete evidence.
The racism claims are that the three African-American females were the bottom three because the Caucasian majority would rather vote for a white boy who can’t sing than see an African-American win. (And yes, I know that Ruben won last year, but the same people making the above claims also claim that since the show, he has not been promoted as well as Clay because of his race).