# American Idol: March 22-23 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729 "2005-03-22T16:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/141 "2005-03-24T13:15:34Z")
> [@YWalker](#): > > I want someone to punch Ryan Secrest. “And next up, here’s Scotty the Body!” Yes, he’s fat, you twerp. I’m sure he never noticed, and neither did anyone else in the audience until you so cleverly brought it up. Ah, yes — fat person name calling is just the height of wit. Someone in the audience had a sign that said that. I didn’t think it was meant to be an insult either; I thought of Jesse “The Body” Ventura. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/142 "2005-03-24T13:17:11Z")
Constantine’s voice is just lacking. His rendition made me miss David Cassidy something fierce. Mikalah has an amazing amount of poise & she’s cute as a bug, somebody’s got to be mentally casting her for a few roles. Her voice is poor, but she knows how to perform. I’ve been a fan of Nadia’s in previous weeks, but last show she was just such a ham! Over the top affectations and gestures. Bo…yummy! ---
**Author:** ![Dubious\_Sacrifice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@Dubious\_Sacrifice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dubious_Sacrifice)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/143 "2005-03-24T13:37:51Z")
I just found out that **Mikalah Gordon** is from Las Vegas!? I assume then that her accent is fake?! It’s weird because I could have sworn I heard someone say she was from Long Island. All this time I thought she was a New Yorker! ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/144 "2005-03-24T14:14:22Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Mikalah has an amazing amount of poise & she’s cute as a bug. . . I agree! As cute as bug. Maybe a pillbug or even a tarantula. Her look has improved a whole lot since auditions but, like another poster mentioned earlier: Plastic surgery should be illegal to perform on teenagers. P.S., Miky is 17 now. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/145 "2005-03-24T14:56:55Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > It wasn’t just that Jessica’s arrangement was too fast, remember they did a clubby dance remix of Total Eclipse not too long ago so it works fast, it’s that the arrangement was choppy. I listened closely tonight and yep, like I thought I heard last night, she totally repeated an entire line. Odd, in a sixty-second arrangement of a three and a half minute song, no? The arrangements of the songs early on really bug me. Sometimes I think the singers goof, since I’m usually singing along in my head, but this year it’s even more noticeable that they are arranging the songs in a way that will put all of the “best” parts together, regardless of whether or not it even sounds good. This is how I picture the discussion going: “Oh, this is a good line, let’s make her sing it twice! And don’t forget to take this random line with a high note and cram it next to this other unrelated line with this other high note. Now, make her sing the whole thing all over again!” They’re probably better off if they’ve only just heard the song for the first time, because I would be singing it they way it was written and totally messing up. That usually gets better when there are less singers and time for more of each song. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/146 "2005-03-24T15:07:36Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > The arrangements of the songs early on really bug me. Sometimes I think the singers goof, since I’m usually singing along in my head, but this year it’s even more noticeable that they are arranging the songs in a way that will put all of the “best” parts together, regardless of whether or not it even sounds good. I’m almost certain that Jessica actually messed up the lyrics and that’s why she resang those lines. She had a panicked look on her face. But your point stands about the majority of the arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/147 "2005-03-24T15:11:11Z")
Nadia did goof…I meant to mention that. She started a line near the beginning of Time After Time, “Always…(unintelligible)” then got back on track. Also, did she even pay attention to the words, or had she ever heard the song before? Time After Time is not an in-your-face, finger-pointin’, booty-shakin’ song no matter how you interpret it. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/148 "2005-03-24T15:16:32Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Someone in the audience had a sign that said that. I didn’t think it was meant to be an insult either; I thought of Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Small problemo. Jesse “The Body” Ventura had a bodybuilder’s physique, thus the nickname of respect, not condescension. Let’s face it, Seacrest is Ken, Barbie’s main squeeze. (Or perhaps Ken, Ted’s main squeeze, who knows?) His remark is crass and insulting, and there’s nothing Scott can do but smile and take it. Again last night, you saw obvious preferentiality to certain singers, while Seacrest let Simon the Knife do his handiwork on the unfavorered few. Also again: the audio is terrible and the mixing even worse. Are these audio engineers deaf? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/149 "2005-03-24T15:18:02Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Time After Time is not an in-your-face, finger-pointin’, booty-shakin’ song no matter how you interpret it. Obviously you haven’t heard [Willie Nelson’s rendition](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005UNEA/qid=1111678639/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/104-1487402-7413531?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)😉 That man defines “booty-shakin’” ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/150 "2005-03-24T15:20:27Z")
It only reminded me of what a great singer Lauper was/is, and why she never made it big(not wanting to dress like a slut). I thought Ryan was saying Scotti the Hottie, which would be weird. Did Nadia really say the mohawk was for Mario? Could anything make less sense? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/151 "2005-03-24T15:26:58Z")
> [@Carnac the Magnificent!](#): > > Also again: the audio is terrible and the mixing even worse. Are these audio engineers deaf? In part, I remark every week how they fail to make the entire show sound good. But let’s consider: 11 different singers, each with their own style, each holding the mic at a different space from their mouth, each with their own volume (not to mention cheese factor). And, as far as I can tell, pretty much all using the same channel one after another. Yes, the smart move would be use a separate pre-balanced, sound checked channel for each performer, and with a decent studio board, it should be possible. And if I remember correctly from past seasons, this will happen inside the top four or five singers. The audio will get better because each will have a separate sound check and audio levels tailored to them. With this many singers, it’s just a giant pain. Aside from tweaking the gain a little bit for each one after 10 seconds or so of singing, there’s not much that can be done in a live setting with that many singers. You go to a pro show, you get an extensive sound check to get everything perfect to one singer, maybe two. You do something that’s a glorified karaoke competition for the first eight weeks, you should probably expect glorified karaoke sound mixing. I have empathy for the poor sound guys. It’s a much harder job than it looks, and the difficulty rises exponentially with more singers. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/152 "2005-03-24T15:27:38Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > Obviously you haven’t heard [Willie Nelson’s rendition](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005UNEA/qid=1111678639/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/104-1487402-7413531?v=glance&s=music&n=507846)😉 That man defines “booty-shakin’” Dear Og. Please say it ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/153 "2005-03-24T17:20:29Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > Did Nadia really say the mohawk was for Mario? Could anything make less sense? Yup, pretty non-sensical. I thought it was a tribute to Wendy O. Williams; if she’d just worn electrical tape for a top, we would’ve known for sure. Paula should’ve bitch-slapped Mikalaha. She deserved it with her pandering-to-the-audience defense (which always worked for Fantasia, by the way). And I don’t like Connie, but I loved his performance. The hopping-up-and-down just cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/154 "2005-03-24T18:03:01Z")
Do they have stylists who do their hair? Where do they get their clothes? ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/155 "2005-03-24T18:11:50Z")
**Good Egg** , I’m sure they have make-up, hair and wardrobe stylists. How else can you explain the dramatic transition from their audition “looks” to their current “looks”? My damn Tivo stopped recording halfway through so I missed Nadia’s mohawk tribute, Simon’s response and Mikalah’s mini-show (that girl is _always_ performing, it’s exhausting), with Paula’s response (and why she was so pissed). Would anyone be willing to provide a re-cap? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/156 "2005-03-24T18:12:16Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > It only reminded me of what a great singer Lauper was/is, and why she never made it big(not wanting to dress like a slut). You are talking about CYNDI Lauper, right? The one with two Number One hits, four other Top Ten hits, and who sold about ten million albums? Maybe your definition of “hitting it big” differs from mine, but I don’t think Cyndi’s worried about where her next meal is coming from. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/157 "2005-03-24T18:28:02Z")
I loved Cyndi Lauper in “Mad About You”. My favorite part of the final episode was when Ira and Marianne (Lauper) showed up at the theater with a bunch of kids. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/158 "2005-03-24T18:53:24Z")
> [@lezlers](#): > > Would anyone be willing to provide a re-cap? I’d love a re-cap of the Nadia and Mikalah exchanges, too. The first part of the replay show was pretty boring, so I quit watching. Such is the story of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/159 "2005-03-24T20:25:50Z")
Ah, should’ve written a better re-cap last night while it was still fresh. I’ll give it a shot, granted this is my take on what they meant, as I don’t remember what they said. Mikalickawowow was wearing a shirt with the logo “My job is to annoy you” but she kept fairly quiet until they started yakking. Ryan:So everyone thought that sucked last night, any different tonight judges? Paula: Hey, you look nice. Randy: Yeah, no change here. Ryan: How bout you Simon, did you maybe just not like the song? Simon: Song’s fine, it was everything coming out of her mouth that was 12 kinds of horrific. Ryan: Gee, Mikalah, what do you think about that? M: Well, I tried real hard/had fun/did my best. (Standard non-response type thing) If we were all Mariah or Whitney we wouldn’t _be_ here on Idol, right? Ryan: Sure, great, but even watching it back you can’t see the suckitude? Don’t you think you blew? M: Me? I think I’m fabulous, and my fans are wonderful brilliant people! 😃 Nadia’s turn was different. IMO, the recap showed the major flaws in her vocal performance that her appearance and dramatic presence had covered the previous night. Ryan: P & R liked it, S didn’t, same opinion judges? Paula: Blather blather, trying to extricate herself from last night’s “That was awesome!” without seeming to contradict, blather. Randy: Blather, song choice, blather. Simon: We liked your edge, you lost that dangerous sexy edginess last night, it was lame and over the top and caberet. The hair was dreadful. Ryan: So, about that mohawk, if ya had it over to do again, would you change anything about last night? Nadia: Did my best, and wouldn’t change a thing, the mohawk was for my dear friend Mario who’s no longer with us. Ryan: (clarifying that it wasn’t like an actual memorial mo’) You mean Vasquez? N: Yeah R: What’s up with that guy anyway, why’d he quit? N: Beats me. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729/160 "2005-03-24T23:12:13Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I’ve got at most an hour’s worth of voting in me, so I’m passing time until the 2nd hour. I’ll be voting for everyone except Mikalah, whom I want off the show NOW, and Carrie, whom I can’t stand for personal reasons. > > **Anthony** : I like him, but there are others I like much better. > \*\* Scott\*\*: I was a big fan earlier, but I’m getting bored. He’s had the opportunity to step up to the plate and knock our socks off, and he just hasn’t done it. However, for those who think he might be going soon, Bo and Scott have been the two contestants I consistently get busy signals for. > **Bo** : I’m growing more fond of him every week. I closed my eyes during tonight’s rerun performances to focus on the audio. Bo’s “Time in a Bottle” was beautiful. As someone mentioned earlier, kudos to the guitar player. > **Nikko** : A great performance. Absolutely professional in audio (but I do love to watch him). I don’t know why he’s not more popular. > **Vonzell** : Fabulous. She’s catching up with Nadia, who’s been one of my favorites. > **Constantine** : After the past two weeks, I hate him less than I used to. > **Nadia** : Not a good week. Her song choice really emphasized her limited range. Hopefully, she’ll come back strong. > **Anwar** : Less than stellar this week, but still my favorite. > **Jessica** : Doesn’t do anything for me, but she certainly deserves to stay more than Mikkimonkey. > > Anyone want to play, “What’s Paula on?” Last night’s substance made her horny – she was crawling over Simon the whole show. Tonight’s substance made her squinty-eyed and a bit short-tempered (I’m guessing alcohol). I don’t have a problem with Carrie or Jessica, but otherwise my preferences are similar to yours. Mikwailah needs to go. Now. Bo continues to impress me more every week. He’s the one I look forward to the most. Predictions: Mikalah will go, followed by Scott and Nadia. I enjoy Anthony but he won’t last. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-march-22-23/295729.md?page=9)