I didn’t see it tonight :(. Didn’t hit the record button firmly enough, I think. Or I was so preoccupied making sure there was enough space on the hard drive that I didn’t hit record at all. Anyway, it didn’t record, so I didn’t get to see it.
So go ahead and share your impressions, if any, and I’ll just live vicariously through you!
You certainly didn’t miss much. The usual freak show. However, I’m glad you started the thread, because I wanted to ask someone about a certain girl, the one who was in the Army or something. She was really cute and personable, and she was getting along famously with Randy and Simon. Then she sang, and she was good! Then they sent her home. Huh? I was just wondering if anyone else thought that was weird. They did say things were going to be a lot harder this season, that they were looking for someone unusual, but then they kept a few people that bored the tits off me. (The male twins who were reunited after however many years.) There was one guy I liked though. He was a redhead who did a Dean Martin impersonation, then sang in his own voice. Now he was unusual!
Yeah that didn’t make any sense to me either. She had the personality and IMHO she was a damn good singer too. I thought she was a shoe in before she even sang to them just from her interview.
I was surprised about Army Girl too, Dung Beetle. I thought she sang very well, and was better than a few that they kept (like Scooter Girl, for example).
It took some courage (or blind stubborness) for that one girl to go sing in a restaurant after getting cut. Simon bet her that she could not walk into a bar or restaurant and sing without at least half the people leaving. So she took him up on it, and Ryan Seacrest told the people sitting at an upscale bar the scoop, ending it by asking them to react honestly. So everyone wound up leaving except for one guy. It was brutal. She really was awful, but still.
I’m surprised no one else has replied to this yet.
I’m going on memory from last night. They seemed to concentrate on the really bad singers instead of the good ones. When they flashed through the people who had made it through to the next round, I didn’t recognize most of them.
They had one funny moment when Simon bet one of the contestants that within five minutes of her singing in a bar that half the people would get up and leave. So Ryan took her to some bar and got a bunch of people to listen to her sing. Turns out Simon was right.
It always amazes me how most of these people really think they sound good. Either they’re very good at self-delusion, or they’re very good actors. I think Randy and Paula are getting tired of it too, since they seemed to be leaning more towards the Simonized style of judging.
I liked the two brothers who had just been reunited after several years apart, and the Dean Martin impersonator. Once he had stopped doing the impersonation and sang something seriously he sounded really good. I don’t know if his style will do well on American Idol, but I enjoyed it.
I also think that Scooter Girl is too over the top. FYI Rilchiam, they spent a good segment on this one girl who came in on a scooter (the kind kids ride, not a Moped) with a pink basket on it. Apparently she was a scholar and an athlete in highschool, and then developed anorexia and spent time getting treatment for that. She came out on her scooter and sang a song she wrote about it. She has a good voice, but seems to be trying too hard for the “Zany and Quirky” award.
Crap! On preview, I see that I’ve been beaten to the punch. Oh well, I’m still leaving it in. And I too was surprised at the Army Girl getting the boot. I thought she was better than the girl from Bosnia (not sure I’ve got the country right - the one whose parents defected while on tour as musicians).
I also could not understand why they rejected the Army girl; I guess it was because they may have raised the standard, so that a merely pleasant voice is no longer sufficient to get a ticket to Hollywood.
Most of the auditions were horrendous–the Asian butched-out military guy and the Clay Aiken wannabe were particularly awful. I felt bad for the fat girl who was polite and complimentary to all three judges as she was fighting back tears.
At the top of the show, there was a montage of reactions to the judges’ criticism and there was a snippet of one apirant throwing a glass of water on Simon! I thought a fuller scene would be shown later, but no such luck–maybe tonight.
And is it just me, or have Randy and Paula decided to imitate Simon? They were both much harsher last night than they were in past seasons.
Anybody who pays attention to Simon’s interviews, and anybody who wants to succeed on that show should, will know the last thing he wants to see is another Christina imitator and that he prefers Frank and Ella to any modern singer. I knew the red-haired crooner was in as soon as he opened his mouth.
I was amused at Randy’s reaction to Scooter Girl, “You belong on Broadway. Stay here in New York.” Basically he told her she was too good for that show. Quirky beautiful, oddball funny, and with personality to spare. And she can sing. Simon and Paula forced Randy to change his mind and accept her. I think they wanted someone they could stand being around.
That Clay clone got sent packing, right? The real Clay is creepy enough. The clone reminded me of Martin Short doing Clay.
I’ve never watched more than a passing glance to American Idol. I’m such a snob.
So, when hubby insisted I sit and watch this train wreck, I sat for about 30 minutes. ( NOt the army part, but the NY part.)
The only ones worth noting were the crazy girl with the scooter ( great voice, but she looks like she could go physco in a heartbeat) and the 16 year old red headed boy who sang Sinatra. That kid was simply awesome. I would buy his album in a jiffy.
Don’t the rest of these people have any clue that they are just plain untalented? It’s like all the people who were formerly in line to get on Springer decided to migrate over to American Idol.
It’s frightening, when you think about it.
Blech! She seemed more like a obnoxious, self-absorbed drama queen to me. Of course, we only saw her when she was on camera and therefore playing for votes. Maybe she’s better in person.
I was bummed Army Girl got the boot.
They say that they want unique this year, but I can’t help but wonder what famous but unusual singers, if they could audition (and were alive) anonymously, would make the cut.
I think the Military Girl (I think she was Air Force, not Army) got a raw deal. I thought she was cute and had a pleasant personality. She probably didn’t get in because of the military aspect. Maybe they didn’t want a repeat of last season when Josh Gracin got all those patriotic votes instead of votes on talent. He should NOT have made it as far as he did.
Maybe she’ll come back for the Wild Card show.
Scooter Girl has got to tone it down. She is waaaay over the top and I thought she was fun and quirky at first, but that feeling wore off very quickly and turned into pure hatred. I just want her to. go. away.
Air Force Girl will do fine. I’m sure there are agents on the phone this morning saying, “If you guys don’t want her I’ll take her.”
As for js_africanus’s comment, I am sure that past history would suggest that, despite Simon’s protestations that there aren’t any Ella Fitzgeralds left, he would dissmiss the real Ella before she had a chance to sing with a snarky comment about average looking people with ugly glasses.
Scooter Girl is as crazy as Newfoundland algebra. Her acting-out drama queen schtick has “I Am Covering Up the Fact That I Still Have A Lot Of Emotional Problems” written all over it. She’s basically Vanessa Olivarez if Olivarez was insane. I wouldn’t hire her to mow my lawn. She’ll be cut early.
The Army Girl really was an Army Girl, not an Air Force Girl. 82nd Airborne. I too was surprised she was rejected.
The redhead who sang like (I thought) Bing Crosby - the effect could only have been more dramatic if he’d taken off his belt and beaten the judges - has a tremendous voice. He’s much, much better than last year’s Sinatraclone. I hope he goes far, but can he do other genres?
As to the reactions of the contestants who get rejected, I have to believe at this point that the producers are A) picking the ones who they think will react the worst, and B) goading them on. As you probably all know, the Three Musketeers don’t see more than five or six percent of all the applicants; they’re screened first, and the producers only send in the best and the worst (as far as they can; apparently the initial screening isn’t far above sheer random chance.)
It seems to me that virtually everyone, if just stuck in front of a camera and in front of three famous people, if told they suck, will slink off camera with nary a word. The amazing number of extremely aggressive responses suggests to me the producers are prodding them beforehand, telling them to let Simon & Co. really have it.
Am I the only one that has trouble believing that scooter girl weighed just 70 pounds a year ago? I have known a few people with anorexia and even after lots of therapy and treatment they never really looked - well - healthy.
I think she is “embellishing” and will get caught out at some point. Somehow I doubt she was a National Merit Scholar also.
Am I the only one who liked Scat Girl?
Probably.
Am I the only one who thought the Dean Martin impersonator’s real voice sounded somewhat like Frank Sinatra’s? (Why imitate Dino when you sound like Frankie?)
Am I also the only one who thought those two Hispanic brothers weren’t that good? I think they only let them in because they were confused by the name “Jesus” being pronounced “jeezus” and not “hey-zoos,” and voted them in, fearing it was the real Jesus, and they didn’t want to risk going to Hell by not letting God through. (Okay, I don’t think that, but it’s a good explanation.)
I’m reminded of the old story about the not-as-famous-as-he-used-to-be Charlie Chaplin losing a Chaplin lookalike contest.
I didn’t see it last night, but I did watch the second season. Mostly, I was entertained by the first round auditions. There were so many people who sung so poorly and even claimed to have had vocal training, that I couldn’t believe that there is so much self-delusion out there. So I’m convinced that some people knew that they might appear on TV if they were entertainingly bad. Also, some of the people might have singing experience only in karaoke bars or along to records and were therefore unable to handle the a cappella audition. Obviously, though, a really talented person would have no problem singing unaccompanied.
Does it seem like there isn’t anybody who’s any good this year? Anyone who can sing at all is getting put through but there really aren’t any standouts. The one hot blonde (the one who they showed with her dad) was pretty good. The Elvis guy could sing and that was about it. there’s no Clay or Ruben or Kelly, though. Maybe tomorrow.
The guy who sang “Sweet Home Alabama” might be the worst singer I’ve seen on this show and that’s really saying something. I don’t understand what makes these people think they have talent. Doesn’t anybody tell them?
The red headed kid did remind me of this guy now that you mentioned it.
Skat Girl was THE BEST (clip that is)… She does this BAD BAD skat version of Route 66. Then at the end, she finishes it of ala Emeril’s “BAM”, with a SCREECH! They were STUNNED. Not only is that chick not talented, she dressed like shit and didn’t even do her hair. They told her she was horrible, and this was the best part of the show:
Skat Girl: That’s ok, I did my best, and G-d is on my side.
Simon: G-d took the day off today.
LOL … And Paula tries to find something positive to say, so she says, “I like the colours you’re wearing.” Skat Girl is in interview later and wished them luck for the season (way too nice), and that Paula rocks and liked her outfit. NO! Your outfit SUCKS and you should get a better bra. I’m wondering if she was trying to appeal to Paula’s niceness, with the skat. Paula Abdul had a skat song with MC Skat Kat, called Skat Strut, way back in the day. Whatever she was trying didn’t work.
Scooter Girl is entertaining to watch for a few minutes. She’s definitely not for real. MAJOR issues. And I agree with KinSaba ~ no way in hell did she weigh 70lbs. a year ago. She wasn’t even “thin”. She looked great, but she had some meat on her. I could see her in some kind of entertainment, not sure what. But not as a pop star. Hell no. Who would be her target audience?
I’m calling it RIGHT NOW: Letting go of Army Girl was a scam. They knew they’d let her go so they could get her back for the Wild Card. She was too vibrant, spunky and talented to let go like that.
That was NY … Atlanta pretty much sucked. Even the bad people weren’t as funny as the NY bad people, though again tonight I did Laugh Out Loud. Next show is Houston. I get a feeling it’s another bellyache laugh night from the previews. I just wanna see the full clip of that guy throwing water on Simon and some “bodyguard” coming in from the side and pushing him off.
Did the “Sweet Home Alabama” guy sing a little bit of Proud Mary in his audition?
