Man, I gotta tell you, I was never completely sold on Taylor, but I gotta give him credit. He knows what the vast majority of AI viewers actualy want, i.e. entertainment. And it works. It’s silly, crazy, spazzy, goofy, and loopy, and it gets the votes. You know what, maybe that’s why they insist on having so much bland geezer music every season. It’s a challenge. “Here’s something incredibly lifeless and played to death. Can you get on stage and make it fun?”
I think that’s an important lesson. Nobody cares about your principles or dignity or style. This is a competition. Your objective is to put on a show, fire up the crowd, listen to the judges’ asinine drivel gracefully, answer Seacrest’s ridiculous questions, and get votes. You want to do it your way and never compromise, fine. Just don’t expect to be back next week.
Anywise…this is just a guess (repeat: THIS IS JUST A GUESS), but I have a feeling that Katharine is going this week. I just don’t see a pure vocalist like her beating out both Taylor and Elliot. If Chris were still around, it may be a different story, but from here, it looks like the guys have her just beaten out.
I wasn’t the only one not watching until the last five minutes. I don’t know what to say except that Ryan couldn’t have dragged out the announcement of the loser any longer if he lapsed into a coma.
So it’s Kat and Taylor in the finale. I for one welcome our new spazzy, gray-haired idol.
Darn you, AI, for making me tear up for Elliott and MamaYamin (yeah, I’ll confess it), then sending him home. Especially when he tells the drugstore lady that he’s still the same guy? Awwww…
If I didn’t hear from a million different sources that he actually is that much of a nice guy in real life, I would be able to write it off as typical AI manipulation, but…
Not really shocked, but very disappointed nonetheless. It’s so fun watching Elliott every week that it’s sad knowing he won’t be at the centre of the festivities next week.
Did you see Katharine grin after finding out she was safe, then her expression changed awkwardly when she saw Taylor’s face?
I have no problem with Katharine looking relieved she’s not going home. It IS a competition. Better an honest smile than the kind of stage tears we’re used to seeing.
I think Tay was on the level though. Him and El seem to be buds. One week when Elliott and someone else (forget who) were in the bottom two, Taylor had to reign in a whoop when he learned Elliott was safe.
I’m sad; there’s no denying that I’m sad. But not heartbroken. Elliott should be okay. I’m confident that he’ll make an album when he’s released from his 19E contract, and I’ll be first in line for it. Besides, now someone’s broken the All-Southern Final 2 pattern. If it wasn’t for that, it might get to where no one who’s not from the south would bother auditioning. And I wasn’t surprised to see him tear up. Boss said “He’s crying because he knows he’s going home.” I said, “Yeah, but last year it was Bo who cried, and he didn’t go home.” :sad: I still regret that he won’t be in the final 2, but they gave him the best sendoff I’ve seen a third-place finisher get.
Another thing that was somewhat sad was how few people showed up for Kat’s homecoming. Taylor’s and Elliott’s were great big fire code violations, but in LA? Ha! You’ll notice she didn’t get to meet Arnold. (I wonder, though, if she might have gotten more hometown support if she were Latina.) Anyway, it just goes to show that her votes are more “pure”: i.e., based on merit, not geographic loyalty.
And it’s the second year in a row that Birmingham has done this! Last year for Bo, now Taylor! Man, the reception he got, it was like in India, when people go nuts over Bollywood stars or cricket players. He has got to win this. I’m sick to death of hearing how the runner-up is better off and yadda yadda. I want the title to go to the best.
I hate having to care so much about next week’s show. I’m either going to be delighted or hugely pissed off. Then I’ll go through favorite-show-withdrawal. How did I let my idiot box develop this power over me? And yet…I’ll be right there next year when American Idol starts again.
I guess “Could you be looking at your next American Idol?” is the kiss of death. It would be kind of cool if Ryan didn’t know the results ahead of time and didn’t do the manipulative stuff.
It was so great to see those guys go home to huge crowds; I almost felt bad for Kat that no one was lining the streets for her.
Yeah, I agree with you that the judges can be inconsistent. To tell Kat she should just sing the melody, while at other times calling people out for having just sung the melody and not changed it up is a little frustrating.
I’m not surprised, but I’m disappointed nonetheless. You weren’t the only one who teared up, LilyoftheValley. This morning I find myself wondering whether it’s even worth watching the finale. Both singers are fine, but I don’t really want either to win. We’ll see when next Tuesday rolls around. If I don’t watch, it will be the first AI finale I haven’t watched since the start.
Simon said what it was: he was stiff. The song choices weren’t great, but his downfall was that he was clearly the least-comfortable performer of the top three. He’s gotten millions of times better over the season, going from the goofy-looking sweaty elf to a bonafide hottie who has got some good moves to go with that velvet voice. But whereas Taylor and Kat (and Chris, Paris, and a few others) already knew how to command a stage and put on a show, Elliott has never done that. He’s always come off best when he sits and sings his heart out. When the song demanded that he move, it always seemed a bit awkward.
On Tuesday, it was the third song that nailed the coffin. He came out, planted two hands on the mike stand, and didn’t move. That sandwiched between some of Taylor and Kat’s best performances, he didn’t stand a chance. He was this little spot on stage for all three songs while the other guys worked their asses off to win the room.
I will miss Elliott and I hope the very best for him, but if (when) Taylor wins this thing, he truly deserves it.
I’d like to say that Elliott will go far without Idol now, but I can’t tell you that I’ve seen hide nor hair from any 3rd place contestant in the show’s history. I think I may have seen Kimberly Locke on something. I don’t actually remember any other seasons’ #3.
Either way, I will be supporting Taylor Hicks in the finale and will vote until I fall asleep to make sure Smiley McSpoiledRotten goes home crying.
Maybe I can dig up a 2400bps modem from the back of my closet to make the process a bit easier. Hm.
My husband will not believe this thing is not rigged. He says he knew Kat would stay because of “demographics”. I couldn’t make him see that if he is right, it was pretty stupid to send Chris home last week when they had two other white boys to choose from and he was the hottest and most marketable. I now point to **jali ** and yellowval’s posts to prove my point!
I take issue with that assessment, in that it portrays that just because Elliott stood still for song #3 that he wasn’t working his ass off to win. In fact, I think Elliott worked harder throughout his tenure than any other contestant on this show, from any season. Watching him on Tuesday’s show, you could see how he actually learned something from, for example, Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart, whereas Taylor and Katharine are still singing exactly the same way they did from the beginning, as if they feel they have nothing to learn and think they’re already good enough. Besides which, Taylor just stood still with 2 hands planted firmly on the mic during his 2nd song, and I don’t see you criticizing him for making that performing choice, yet it was supposedly the death knell for Elliott. Out of 50 million votes, a mere 100,000 separated Elliott from Katharine, who sang her second song sitting (again) on her ass on the floor.
Taylor and Katharine are both good, but they’ve also both had some seriously bad performances where their voices sucked majorly. Elliott, on the other hand, has been consistently good to great every single week, even if his song choices were a bit more obscure for the AI audience. I like Taylor and Katharine just fine, and have thrown votes their way after various performances throughout the season. But in my not so humble opinion, the person who worked the hardest and most “deserved” to win, lost by probably the narrowest margin in AI history last night.
