American Idol Quarterfinal II: Feb. 11

Cafe Society
1

My thoughts:

  1. CLAY AIKEN

Pretty good; nice song choice, great voice. But he has a musical theatre quality to him I’m not sure works for a pop star. I’d rank his performance 4th on the night. He could get through though.

  1. CANDICE COLEMAN

Not good enough for this stage. Doesn’t have the voice; she has charisma but no power. Atrocious look - she looks like a nine year old who’s stuffed her shirt to look all grown up.

  1. REBECCA BOND

Eh. Not great. I might actually mix up a few of the middle ones. Bad song choice.

  1. JACOB JOHN SMALLEY

Seemed to drop the last name during the show, which would make him the third contestant out of the last 32 to lose his last name. Pretty average; flattened a few notes.

  1. HADAS

Last name vanished. Pretty good performance; I don’t know why the judges didn’t like her more. Terrible outfit. I rank her third in this group.

  1. RUBEN STUDDARD

Absolutely Grade-A performance. I don’t think his rap-dog look matches his music, but the guy can sing, he’s got charisma, and he knows how to perform. I love him. Best performance of the show. He performs like a professional.

  1. KIMBERLEY LOCKE

A very close second to Ruben, and tomorrow I might think she was better. Magnificent voice, great take on her song. Fantastic in every way.

  1. JENNIFER FUENTES

Bad song choice and hugely outclassed by Ruben and Kimberley.

My choices:

  1. Ruben Studdard
  2. Kimberley Locke

Honorable Mentions: Clay Aiken and Hadas

Ruben and Kimberley were way, way better than ANYONE up to this point, including all eight of last week’s contestants. I thought they blew their field away, and it’ll be a disgrace if they don’t advance. If either doesn’t get the votes, they’ll be a wild card.

2

(Written before I looked at any other comments, so this is my unbiased opinion.)

Clay “Geek Love” Aiken
Love the clothes. A blazer? I love it. He dresses like my dad. (Not that I find people who dress like my dad a big turn-on, unlike Hadas.)
Not the best choice of song. On the other hand, it wa kind of a savvy choice to choose a song that he can sing better than the person who made it famous, unlike Candice.
But overall, I wasn’t terribly impressed with his performance tonight. I liked him a lot from before, though, so I sent 5 votes his way.
Could Simon be opening his mind with regard to the “image” thing??
Hey, no interviews with family. Most excellent.

Candice “Hey, who stole the other half of my skirt?” Coleman
Oy vey. Don’t try to out-Janis Janis. It’s a lost cause.
She was just shouting, not singing.
Listen, honey, if you’re too poor to buy a whole t-shirt, call me, okay? I’ll send you a ten-spot.
I agree with Simon about her needing to raise the level of her performing. She’s talented, though, and has potential.

Rebecca “Gaping Maw” Bond
Geez, I don’t know who Shirley Bassey is either, but if Simon compared me to her, I’d sure look her up. And I wouldn’t brag about my musical ignorance on national TV.
Woah. Scary makeup. Scary looks.
Hate her style. Hate her personality.
Honey, you ain’t no Ella and you ain’t no Aretha. But you are delusional.

Jacob John “so many cheap jokes, so little time” Smalley
Totally cheesey. Totally off key.
Omigod, what’s he doing with his face?? He looks like he’s gonna lick the camera!
It seems that he makes a habit of poor preparation for performances.
I can’t believe Paula falls for this crap.
He seems like the kind of brown-nosing weiner that I loathe in real life.
This guy put me off more than anyone else so far.

Hadas “Electra Complex” Shalev
She took the most nauseating song in musical history and made it exponentially more nauseating. Wow. That’s talent!

Ruben “What’s not to like?” Studdard
I love the shirt and he’s such a cutie!
His voice is like buttah! Buttah!
Not my favorite style of singing, but he is very very good.
Great performer. Great stage presence.
Holu guacamole! Simon HAS opened his mind with regard to the “image” issue.
I put in 20 votes for Ruben

Kimberley “Personality? I’ll show you some personality!” Locke
Her voice is truly incredible. Now she’s someone who might turn out to have a thing or two in common with Ella and Aretha.
What the hell is Simon talking about with regard to her personality? She showed him! Ha!
I put in 25 votes for Kimberley

Jennifer “Jazz Hands” Fuentes
No. Just no.
Best moment of the night: Ruben squashing Ryan.
From the “It pains me to admit it, but…” Department: Simon can take it as well as he can dish it out. Bravo!
Most cringe-worthy moment: Jennifer Fuentes peeking back over her shoulder and saying “Dance!”
Biggest relief of the night: No more family interviews

3

I missed the first half. I came in during Hadas, and when I realized what song she was singing, I turned the mute on until she finished. Only someone who’s too young to remember when they played it 50 times a day on the radio, would want to sing it.

I got chills listening to Reuben.

Kimberly has a wonderful voice, but she needs to find a new song.

4

I agree that Rueben and Kimberly were far and away the best…

What was Hadas thinking with “You Light Up My Life?” EVERYBODY hates that song.
Can “Feelings” be far behind?

5

Clay: I just love this kid. Unfortunately, he didn’t do a very good job with that song - way too much verbrato in his voice. But man is he adorable and it’s great to see that the judges loved him. Maybe I was tainted because I’ve heard an MP3 of him singing that exact same song and it was MUCH better than he performed it tonight. I could listen to a whole CD of his music, though, so he’s a definite maybe depending on how the others do tonight.

Candice: Ouch - that hurt my ears. And could she have been any stiffer? She has absolutely no stage presence whatsoever.

Rebecca: This girl is terrible. How on earth did she make it this far in this tough competition. She was flat, she was weak and, omg, just awful. How arrogant to compare herself to Ella Fitzgerald. Give it up.

Jacob: Make it stop. Stop it now. Please.

Hadas: Debbie Freaking BOONE?!! I’m speechless.

Ruben: Awesome song choice. He’s got a great voice. I wasn’t blown away, but he did a much better job than any of the other contestants so far. And it’s going to be a tough, tough decision between voting for him or Clay.

I was going to say that Kimberley Locke has this week’s competition all Locked Up. Then she mouthed off to Simon. She’s got an incredible voice. I simply don’t like her. Well, at least now I won’t have to decide between Clay and Ruben – they get my votes tonight. I simply refuse to vote in someone who sings well but who I think is a bitch. I want to be able to like performers whose music I buy. She’s without a doubt the best singer of the night, but she lost me with the 'tude. Sorry.

Jennifer: What’s UP with these girls thinking they have to GROWL half notes in the damn songs? Knock It Off – it sucks! She sucked.

And now that I’ve come to the board to post this and see that they’ve kicked Frenchie out of the competition, I’m almost pissed enough to quit watching entirely. Grrrrrrrrrr!

6

Hold it just one damn minute. I can’t ask Simon and Randy and Paula, but I can ask you guys: what the hell are you talking about re: Ruben’s performance? NOT his singing, his singing was stellar, fab, top drawer, second only to Kimberly.

But his * performance. * Were you really watching him? Did it not register on you that it was an extraordinarily stiff, repetitive, lifeless set of moves? Do you have it on tape? Go back and watch… his head bobs like a bobble doll throughout the performance in a perfect unbroken rythm that never changes. And his moves? Take the mike in the right hand, turn left, reach out with right hand. Next line, turn right, take mike into left hand, reach out with left. Next line switch mike to right hand, turn left, reach out with right. Repeat endlessly on every line til end of song. Jesus! And he’s Mr. Personality? Gimme a break!

Sings beautfifully, though.

Kimberly Lock is so much better than this competition. She’s miles ahead of the rest of these kids. She’s got it all, right down to the ground. Perfect.

And I don’t hold the sparring with Simon against her. That was a terrible position to be put in…how do you rate Simon’s personality? Screw you, Randy.

Oh, and screw this whole damn show. I’m really furious about Frenchie. I’m telling you, she was the star and everybody knew it. And they hated having a great big fat mama steal the show. So they found a fucked up excuse that makes NO sense at all. I’m really pissed off.

7

Umm, I screwed up my descriptions of the moves. It was mike right, reach left, mike left, reach right, and so forth. Over and over.

8

I pretty much thought that Kimberly and Reuben were going to cancel each other out, seeing as they have same fan base, thus splitting the votes.

But after Kim’s outburst and then singing that song to death (3 times), I’m pretty sure she’s guaranteed Reuben one of the available two slots.

I believe the other slot is going to go to Clay.

Tomorrow will be a shocker, they will announce Clay, Reuben and Kimberly as the top 3 vote getters.

Then they will announce that Clay is the first to make it to the top 10.

This will then build drama between Reuben and Kimberly fans, with Reuben getting the nod.

Kimberly Caldwell is still in the running for the wildcard, as well this weeks Kimberly. In the wildcard show, watch for “sassy mouth” Kimberly to lick Simons arse.

9

OH NO ! When did they do that ?

10

Am I the only one that’s sick of listening to the contestants “fight back” against Simon?

“You were good, I think you’d make a great cabare singer, but I just don’t think you’re American Idol material.”

“Yeah, well, I dissagree with you because I’m funny, I’m pretty, I work really hard, blah blah blah”

*SHUT THE F#K UP!!! Christ, who wants a whinny little brat for an “Idol”? You dress funny, you don’t sound nearly as good as the other contestants, don’t stand up there and bitch and moan that “I think you’re wrong.” It’s not a debate, you’re there to be judged! Take it, deal with it, and get the hell off the stage, don’t sit there and whine about it.

I wish they had a hook, so that the next time someone starts this crap, they just haul them off stage and toss them out into the street.

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What do you mean “same fan base?” Fat people? Anyway, people can vote multiple times.

Is there any more info out there about what Frenchie actually did on that website?

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BTW - can anyone explain briefly how this round works? Last year IIRC they sent through three from each of the three semi-final episodes, and the judges picked one wildcard. This year they’re only sending 2 through each time. Are they still only picking one wildcard?

And Kimberly needs to shut up. The attitude almost bit Justin in the ass last year. I doubt she’ll be around long enough to repent like he did though.

13

Slacker, there’s going to be FOUR quarterfinals, 2 from each getting voted in, and the judges get 2 wild cards, for a total of ten.

I agree that Kimberley L took it too far. A little sass is fine; but she was nervous and didn’t know when to shut up.

In general, I don’t understand why the contestants react the way they do. I realize people have an unrealistic opinion of their own abilities, but they do know it’s Simon Cowell who signs them if they win, right? Do you really want to insult someone and then ask to work for him? “You’re an asshole, give me a job!” Have these people never been to an audition before? If someone tells you “The outfit sucks” or “You flattened half your notes” you might want to think that these people are veteran producers who have seena lot of auditions, and ya know, they just might have a point. Shut up!

And, frankly, 99% of Simon’s criticisms are bang on. The performances up to Ruben WERE mediocre.

14

I agree. Notice above where I said, “Ruben: <snip> I wasn’t blown away, but he did a much better job than any of the other contestants so far.” I, too, was disappointed with his “performance”, I just didn’t express it quite as strongly as you did. To me, he sang great but he was so-so overall.

I do, however, disagree about Kimberley. The “position” she was in was a contestant being judged on whether or not she has Pop Star Idol qualities. Simon gave her top marks for her singing – he paid her a very high compliment about her voice and how she stood in this competition. He just thought her personality could use some brushing up. And I thought, in the context, he was quite polite about it. She showed an utter lack of grace and class in the way she handled the criticism that went along with the praise. I found her to be a loud-mouthed, snotty, punk bitch. That is not someone I will ever “idolize”. **El Elvis Rojo ** was right on the money with his post (even though he was referring mostly to Rebecca).

Kimberley not only lost my vote last night because of her sucky attitude, but she pissed me off so much with it that I sat and pushed redial over 75 times for Clay, which is WAY more than I had any intention of voting for him!

15

Well, the three I liked best last week ended up being the top 3 vote getters, and the two I liked best were the two that went on. So I can’t probably expect that to happen again. :slight_smile:

Here’s my problem with almost all of the female contestants this week. I feel like they are screaming half of the song at me just to demonstrate that they can sing “loudly” with a “powerful” voice or something. The only one that I didn’t think did that this week was Hadas. I think Kimberly is probably one of (if not the) the best contestants in this thing, voice-wise, etc., but I didn’t care for this performance, I don’t like the song, and really don’t want to hear it for a THIRD time. I am starting to wonder if she can sing anything else.

So… My top 3 this week were Ruben, Clay, and Hadas. Although it might be asking too much, I’d like to see Ruben and Clay make it on. Let Kimberly come back and fight for one of the wildcards and she should still probably be able to earn a spot in the final ten.

Ok… off to work on that protest letter to Fox about Frenchie. What a load of crap that is.

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FYI, for anyone who hasn’t seen it in the other thread…

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/frenchie1.html

There aren’t enough of these :mad: to express my anger at the moment.

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I love the sound of Ruben’s voice and I’m torn between Clay and kim. I’d like to hear Kim sing another song–I think 3 times with the same song is overdoing it–any singer with some talent can get one song down so it sounds fantastic, but can she handle other songs, other stlyes? (I’m pretty sure she can, and with flair, which is why I’m disappointed that she hasn’t shown us more). Clayis adorable and I like his voice, although I think in the long run, of these three, he’s least likely to do an album that would have wide appeal outside the teen/teenwannabe market. I’m well outside that demographic, but I’d go looking for an album by Ruben or Kim, because think a producer would be crazy to just give them bubblegum songs.

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She did such a great job with “Band of Gold” earlier on that I’m disappointed she hasn’t gone in that direction. She could knock something like “Do Right Woman/Do Right Man” or “I
m Every Woman” right outta the park.

Besides, I can’t stand “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – I keep thinking of that guy from Star Search or whatever that released it as a single twenty years ago. Who the hell was that guy anyway? I remember he wore a band of 45’s over his shoulder, all painted gold. Jiminy, he was horrible.

And in her defense, when she was getting snotty with Simon, Paula and Randy were egging her on. She was nervous and hurt, and she lost it. I don’t have a problem with her otherwise.

I’m very sad about the Frenchie deal. She seemed like such a genuinely nice person…

19

I thought her “sassiness” was really pathetic. And it’s not just her and Rebecca I’m talking about, it’s everyone who gets any criticism they don’t like. There were a few people who said “I’ll take that into consideration, I’ll take that with me and do better next time.” I like that, that’s great, it shows you’re open to criticism and willing to recognize your faults and work harder. That’s a good sign. But even going back to the preliminaries…shit, some people just get WAY too oversensitive about this stuff, especially when they SUCK! Even last time, the final contestants would get this way. Simon would say “This was your worst performance, and I think you’re going to fail,” and they would get all “Yeah, well, it’s not up to you, it’s up to the Amercian public, and I deserve this, so nyaa.” I think the absolute worst, though, was the guy who’s DAD got up to defend him. Christ, it’s bad enough when your dad yells at the bullly at the bus stop, but to do it on NATIONAL TELEVISION!!! That’s just really pathetic.

20

Clay–He acutally DOES have a nice voice, but BOY did he EVER pick the wrong song! I’m sorry, but only Steve Perry can sing that song. Clay RUINED IT!! Didn’t impress me.

Candace–She looked like someone on “when animals attack”! Not a bad performance though.

Bond–I LOVE her dress! She looked very nice! It figures she’d choose an Anita Baker song. It suited her well. Pretty good! I liked it.

Jacob–Yawn. 'Nuff said.

Hadas–That’s glamerous? Oh nonononon. Peh! She wasn’t too bad though, but not too impressive either.

Reuben-Good gods! What the hell was he thinking!? He looked like a giant marshmellow wearing football clothes! Not something for American Idol! It was an okay performance though and better than most.

Kimberly–Looked VERY nice! A good, nice big voice as I expected. She missed some notes though and even squeaked in one area, but her strong voice covered it up well. She did a great job! I loved her!

Jennifer–Just blah. She looked cute though.

My votes went to Kimberly and a three way tie between Candace, Ms. Bond and Rueben. But, I went ahead and picked Candace since she was the most unique without blowing it too much. I just liked her a little better than the other two, I guess.

I wasn’t really bothered by Rebecca’s attitude and I liked what Kimberly said. And yes, I’m VERY upset about what happened to Frenchie. grrrrr