# American Idol, part III **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2004, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305 "2004-01-20T09:18:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/21 "2004-01-21T04:20:54Z")
> [@Grace](#): > > Did the “Sweet Home Alabama” guy sing a little bit of Proud Mary in his audition? No… it’s just that his pitch and tempo were beyond awful, so you couldn’t tell he was singing the lyric “big wheels keep on turning/carry me home to see my kin” from Sweet Home Alabama. I think they also cut and spliced his singing. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/22 "2004-01-21T06:05:49Z")
Dang! Now I’m really sorry I missed it! Well, at least I recorded tonight’s episode, so I’ll watch that right after the SOTU. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/23 "2004-01-21T06:20:18Z")
> [@SMTWTFS](#): > > 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. (How did I even get into this thread? I’ve never even seen the show!) Believe it. My former roommate was one of em. Took singing lessons, read books on vocal theory/how to sing, tried out for choirs and such (never got in) and was horrible. And didn’t know it. She, well, sounded a lot like Kermit the Frog. One day, I stayed home from work with a migraine and she was singing along to Guns N Roses. In her horrible Kermit the Frog voice. Trying to do Axl Rose. [Brando] The horror. The horror. [/Brando] ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/24 "2004-01-21T07:17:24Z")
I’m thinking that the Army girl was passed over because she talked down about herself. When mentioning her awards, she said she was the worst at everything. I’m sure Simon isn’t looking for that type of personality. He wants people who believe they are the best. Just some thoughts because it’s the only way I can reason why she was passed over. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/25 "2004-01-21T07:42:10Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > I’m thinking that the Army girl was passed over because she talked down about herself. When mentioning her awards, she said she was the worst at everything. I’m sure Simon isn’t looking for that type of personality. He wants people who believe they are the best. Just some thoughts because it’s the only way I can reason why she was passed over. See, now I’m not a watcher of this show, my wife is and I had failed to find something else to do that night and ended up seeing a few. I happened to see **Army Girl** and a few others. In short the **Army Girl** treatment is exactly the reason I don’t watch the show (That and the Japanese Rap). Here was an excellent singer, fun to talk to, reasonably attractive, knocked out _Dancing in the Streets_ like a pro. Paula and Randy liked her, Simon said something completely and unnecessarily nasty and implied that she wasn’t any good at all. Randy and Paula said she wasn’t what they were looking for. Simon is cruel to everyone, not just the people who NEED to hear it. There is a right way and a wrong way to critique someone. None of them really do it properly, but Simon is intentionally cruel. He’s like the teacher who meeting a student in the front office, pokes their books across the counter messing them up. The student asks the teacher to stop, to which the teacher replies: “You can’t make me, in fact your grade depends on my happiness, which is right now up to you. I have all the power in the situation.” I’m tired and have gone on again. Someone needs to teach Simon the adage “With great power comes great responsibility” ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/26 "2004-01-21T11:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. These are the auditions. Nobody who fails here gets recalled later. The wild Card selectgions will come from people who are cut in a later stage of the contest, when they’re cut from 32 to 12. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/27 "2004-01-21T13:06:41Z")
There was nothing very interesting about last night…so I’ll go back to the first night and say, that in addition to Scooter Girl’s story sounding like a load of horse puckey, she was wearing way too much of the wrong shade of lipstick. Watching her mash her big garish lips around was turning my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/28 "2004-01-21T13:51:40Z")
Yeah, but that rack bouncing around… “Dad, you only liked her because she wasn’t wearing a bra.” Houston looks like it will be fun, with that person attacking Simon. Wife thinks some of the worst people are ringers, like on The Gong Show. I wish they had a gong sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/29 "2004-01-21T14:06:01Z")
What about the chick who stripped off her sweatpants and then did a funky dance while attempting to sing? She was horrible. Then she went outside to tell her friend and they both got indignant because she didn’t make it. A real friend would tell you the truth before you make a fool of yourself on national television. 😃 I thought both nights were very entertaining. It should be interesting to see what tonight’s show brings. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/30 "2004-01-21T14:08:44Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > These are the auditions. Nobody who fails here gets recalled later. The wild Card selections will come from people who are cut in a later stage of the contest, when they’re cut from 32 to 12. Last year the Wild Cards actually came from any one of the 250 people who made it to Hollywood, not just the final 32. You may recall the girl who sang “Angel” for the third or fourth time in a row (and despite having a great voice was cut for that reason) - she was cut in the very first Hollywood cut when they trimmed down to about 80. Simon Cowell openly stated it was just a boneheaded move and he couldn’t understand how he’d made such a blunder (or so he thought before she sang the same damned song again.) So you don’t have to make it to the Big 32 - you just have to pass the audition. You’re right, of course, that Airborne Girl can’t be wild-carded if they follow precedent, since she failed the audition. I guess nothing’s stopping them from brining her back if they really wanted to though. They can invite or kick people out for any reason they want, it’s their show. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/31 "2004-01-21T14:20:31Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by dropzone_Yeah, but that rack bouncing around… Actually, that kind of skeeved me out too. I was afraid the left one was fixing to come _off_! ---
**Author:** ![evilhomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@evilhomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhomer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/32 "2004-01-21T14:36:37Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Wife thinks some of the worst people are ringers, like on The Gong Show. I wish they had a gong sometimes. Funny, I mentioned the same thing to my wife. They also need the guy to come out with a broom and sweep people off the stage. > [@SMTWTFS](#): > > 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. I’m sure there are people who go on and are intentionally bad, but I think alot of them really do believe they are great singers. Look at the “Sweet Home Alabama” guy last night, who cried when he didn’t make it. He seemed really convinced that he’d gotten a raw deal by not getting picked to go to Hollywood. I got a kick out of the spaced-out “spread the love” guy last night. He seemed to totally miss the point of the audition - to quote Simon “this isn’t Love Idol!” And the guy who owns the cleaning company - he was so stiff, he looked like he should have a big wind-up key in his back. ---
**Author:** ![Aries28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Aries28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aries28)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/33 "2004-01-21T14:42:43Z")
The chick who sang What a Feeling absolutely cracked me up. She was the one who yanked off her sweat pants to reveal a WAAAYYYY too short and tight skirt for her body frame. She danced like a penguin on crack. She sang horrible and she actually thought she was good. When she said she had tried her best and started crying I truly felt sorry for her to be so deluded. Did anybody think it was rather odd for them to tell the one blond girl that she should dye her hair to a different color so people wouldn’t think she was going for the Kimberly Caldwell angle? And the dude that sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow??? OH MY GOD. I am predicting one of the top 10 will be that little hottie that sang Unchained Melody. He had an amazing voice. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/34 "2004-01-21T15:48:15Z")
I think I’ll be watching the rest of this season just to see how far Red-Headed Kid gets. He had a wonderful voice and he’s the only one that I heard that I wished _hadn’t_ stopped singing. Scat Girl was hilarious. She should take that show on the road. I wasn’t too impressed with the rest of the lot, except for the hottie that sang Unchained Melody, because, as **Aries28** said–he’s a major hottie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/35 "2004-01-21T15:56:07Z")
I remember last year (maybe) there was a story in Television Without Pity from a contestant which said that before these people get to Randy/Paula/Simon, they’ve been vetted at least once by other judges. I’m guessing these people think because they made it past the true first round (untelevised), they’re on their way to stardom. It’s funny in a car wreck kind of way to watch these people’s hopes be dashed. Some of the people have been painful to watch. The scat girl. The flashdance girl. The “Sweet Home Alabama” guy. The miserably out of tune twins. I had to look away. I also liked the redheaded Dean Martin guy (but then again, I adore that whole Rat Pack type music), but could not stand Scooter Girl. Too damn perky/weird. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/36 "2004-01-21T16:07:34Z")
> [@Aries28](#): > > I am predicting one of the top 10 will be that little hottie that sang Unchained Melody. He had an amazing voice. I’ll second that prediction. He has a great combination of voice and looks. Regarding the atrocious singers, I continue to be astounded that these people really think they can sing. That it’s not a big put-on. Simon used the word delusional last night. A perfect attribution. ---
**Author:** ![evilhomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@evilhomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhomer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/37 "2004-01-21T16:26:06Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > I remember last year (maybe) there was a story in Television Without Pity from a contestant which said that before these people get to Randy/Paula/Simon, they’ve been vetted at least once by other judges. I’m guessing these people think because they made it past the true first round (untelevised), they’re on their way to stardom. It’s funny in a car wreck kind of way to watch these people’s hopes be dashed. You’d think that people, if they’d watched the show before, would have clued in to the fact that not only to the top _x_ percent of people get to see the judges, but so do the **bottom** _x_%! I know if I was auditioning and made it through to see Randy, Paula and Simon I’d be wondering “am I really _that_ bad.” Of course, I know I can’t sing. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/38 "2004-01-21T16:39:26Z")
Over at the Television Without Pity board, there’s a link that shows that Kristin, the Flashdance girl, was planted by a radio station. I think she was coached by someone and intentionally did bad so she’d get on the show. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/39 "2004-01-21T17:08:07Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Does it seem like there isn’t _anybody_ who’s any good this year? That’s only because of the editing. They picked something like 30 good ones in NY, something like that in Atlanta too, but only showed 1 or 2 of them from each. The audition episodes are for humor only, before they get to the good stuff in the real competition. Simon did say, and I believe him, that the quality of the talent pool and the height of the bar the judges would have to use were both higher than in the first two series. ArmyGrrl was pleasant, and would probably have moved on in AI1, but just may not have been as good as the 30-odd people they took in NY. That’s a good sign, I think. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305/40 "2004-01-21T18:04:21Z")
**The Good** The red-haired crooner - wow, how hot can you get? Alhough I don’t know if he’ll make it to the main competition. (Don’t they have to do pop songs in groups to get through? I can’t see that working out well for him.) But I really hope we get to see more of the cutie. I liked the girl in Atlanta who did “Proud Mary” and got selected to go to Hollywood. She had a great voice, and tons of confidence. You could tell she walked in there knowing she was going to make it. Her and the crooner, those are my picks so far. **The Bad** Scooter girl. Did anyone feel like she rambled on about her life story, her journey of self disovery and healthy weight gain for waaaay too long? Other than that, alright, I guess she’s kinda cute, in an especially irritating way. The creepy military guy. Didn’t he understand what he was auditioning for? What could possibly make him think that scaring the judges and doing nothing but an impromptu lame rap _in Korean_ would send him straight to the top? “Flashdance” girl and her friend. I thought this was kind of sad: “I am a good singer. I mean, I _can_ sing!” “I know.” “I CAN sing.” “I know you can.” I think I’d rather have my friend tell me the nasty truth instead of allowing me to do that to myself on television. Some has got to stop deceiving that girl. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-part-iii/225305.md?page=3)