# If you start an AI thread and nobody posts, does it make a sound? American Idol 4/11 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246 "2006-04-11T17:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/201 "2006-04-13T18:08:38Z")
[QUOTE=vaderspal] I wonder what work they’ve been doing? They don’t have braces, obviously, so how do you fix snaggle-teeth without recovery time? Any dentists out there? I have noticed they’ve gotten cuter, but I couldn’t figure out if it was just creative use of facial hair or what. Whatever it is, it worked. [/QUOTE] IANADentist, but I think maybe they did some veneers. On one of them, I can’t remember which, it looked to me like there were a couple of new teeth in front, but that the rest were the same. Probably done to improve their look without altering it so much that it’s really noticeable and/or fakey. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/202 "2006-04-13T18:26:18Z")
[QUOTE=DKW] It seems like every season, at some point, there’s an elimination that _nobody_ saw coming. Okay, Mandisa was a bit of a surprise, but it’s not too hard to explain why she went. Bucky…sheesh, your guess is as good as mine. He was definitely well above average both this and last week. [/quote] No. He wasn’t. Last week, he was great. This week, he & Elliott were the least charismatic of the bunch. I think it was time for Bucky to go. > [@](#): > > And don’t anyone think for a second that Ace getting knocked out next week is a sure thing. …(Personally, I just think he’s just rough and relies too much on gimmicks. He has the _potential_ to turn this into a career, it’s just not happening on this show.) I agree that he has … something; I think he might be able to pull a career out of this show. I liked Ace’s interpretation of WWRY this week, so I’m not at all surprised he’s still in it. As for all those predicting doom for Kellie: Oh, heh heh, grasshopper, you do not understand. She’s not going away next week, at least, & I don’t rule out her winning the whole thing. Really. Sucks, don’it? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/203 "2006-04-13T18:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=DKW] Anyway, I’m sticking with Bucky, because there really wasn’t any indication I could see that he was going _this week_. Kellie screwed up Bohemian Rhapsody, and her dumb schtick was getting grating. Taylor pulled out a Hail Mary that had mixed reactions. Ace did a flat-out _weird_ rendition of We Will Rock You. Elliot was, well, dependable as usual. Any one of them should’ve gone before the likable Bucky coming off of two solid weeks. [/QUOTE] You’re not really getting how much advantage some of these contestants have from the existing fanbases that have already formed. For weeks, Bucky has been seen as an also-ran even by people who like him. But Kellie & Taylor have huge rabid fanbases; they get more votes automatically, even when they’re bad, than Bucky does when he’s the best of the night. Even Elliott has credibility as “the good technical singer.” Bucky is just the extra hick; as it gets tighter, he gets dropped in favor of Kellie, the hick contender. > [@yellowval](#): > > here are my choices: > > Chris—Blue Moon > Taylor—What a Wonderful World > Katharine—My Funny Valentine > Paris—Someone to Watch Over Me > Kellie—Smile > Elliott—I’m in the Mood for Love > Ace—I’ll Be Seeing You (Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?) Ooh, Paris singing “Someone to Watch Over Me”! The idea of that gives me chills. I don’t think Daughtry can pull off “Blue Moon”, & Elliott already did “Moody’s Mood for Love”, so I’m not seeing “I’m in the Mood for Love” for him. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/204 "2006-04-13T19:05:53Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Tiger] Nope. At least in my time zone (Eastern), the Race was 8-9 pm, Lost was 9-10 pm, and AI’s Results Spectacular was 8:30-9:30. Why oh why do they insist on scheduling _everything_ I watch simultaneously? [/QUOTE] Hmm … that would explain why we knew who went home at the “early” hour of 9:30 … I thought AI’s Final Eight Results Spectacular Extravaganza was on at 9. Whoopsie, my bad! (Obviously, I watched The Race and Lost, and skipped the AIF8RSE.) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/205 "2006-04-13T22:37:42Z")
[QUOTE=jmasterson] Ace is eye candy as has been said but give me a break, he’s trying to tell Queen how to sound? PLEEEEEZ! [/QUOTE] Actually, Brian May cleared up that (apparently intentional) misconception in a posting on his website. . . > [@Brian May](#): > > [http://www.brianmay.com/whatsnew.html](http://www.brianmay.com/whatsnew.html) (click on “AMERICAN IDOL - ACE - AND BEING MISREPRESENTED”) > > \ > > We had an interaction with ACE, a conversation, in which we gave him the best advice we possibly could, based on studying the demo’s which we already had in our iTunes - which I’d personally given a lot of time to study. This conversation, in my book, ought to have been private, but that is not the style of the show, sadly. But the even more unfortunate thing is that you are then in the hands of the video editors, who seem to seize with glee anything that looks negative. It was edited in such a way that it looked as if I was purely negative - they very naughtily inserted a bit that I said about “not on my own song” so it appeared that I said it AFTER we had played together, which was not the way it happened …making me look like I was against the whole thing. But this was not the case. > > \ There’s quite a bit more explanation, but since he very explicitly states: > [@](#): > > CONTENT **NOT** TO BE REPRODUCED. THANK YOU. I’ll leave it to you to read it in its entirety at the original site. > [@DKW](#): > > It seems like every season, at some point, there’s an elimination that nobody saw coming. Okay, Mandisa was a bit of a surprise, but it’s not too hard to explain why she went. Bucky…sheesh, your guess is as good as mine. He was definitely well above average both this and last week. I’m not the least bit surprised by his departure last night. I think he lasted way longer than his “talent” called for. I get that country and country rock are popular now, so that’s likely why he got dragged along this far at all, but as charming as he may have been (to some), growling incoherently is not my idea of singing, let alone an American _Idol_. He was the epitome of bad karaoke. However, allowing for differences of opinion on music taste, there’s a possibility that his ouster this week may have had at least a little something to do with the fact that it came out that he was involved in perpetrating a fraud on the court system by taking his brother’s place in an auto accident and falsifying a police report. It was many years ago, and a misdemeanor offense, but the game he played on the system and everyone involved was despicable. I blame his low-life father more than anyone (it was really hard to watch that clip last night and not want to punch that asshole in the face), but the bottom line is that he participated in this fraud and then stood up and lied in a court of law. I have no respect for someone who does that and if I’d’ve been a voting fan of his, learning that about him would definitely have caused me to pick up the phone for anyone but him. It’s possible others felt the same way and it showed in the results. ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/206 "2006-04-13T23:37:31Z")
I missed the show on Tuesday. The clips on [americanidol.com](http://americanidol.com) are of the judges only. Where can I get to see the performances I missed? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/207 "2006-04-14T00:41:31Z")
**Shayna** , thank you so very much for sharing that!! I’m convinced they’re deliberately tanking Ace, and pimping Kellie for unknown reasons – no way her performance was acceptable, much less good. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/208 "2006-04-14T01:21:21Z")
I’m waaaaay late posting to this thread, and I don’t usually even watch _Idol_, but I tuned in this time hoping someone would try to sing “ **Keep Yourself Alive** ”. No dice of course. There were a couple of passable performances, but Freddy is just too tough an act to follow, even when he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/209 "2006-04-14T17:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] **Shayna** , thank you so very much for sharing that!! I’m convinced they’re deliberately tanking Ace, and pimping Kellie for unknown reasons – no way her performance was acceptable, much less good. [/QUOTE] I agree - though Kellie did better than I thought she would this week. Popular opinion (and therefore votes) are going to be affected by what AI shows them, and when they are continually emphasizing Kellie’s aw-shucks-lemme-give-yew-a-hug in every clip, and basically ignoring Elliott and Katharine, I wonder if they are trying to force a Chris/Kellie showdown, the rockers vs. country. Ace isn’t the best, as we all know, but he did pretty well this week, and it just seems downright mean to twist his interaction with Brian May that way. Also Ryan’s comment on the show: “there seemed to be a tense moment there,” trying to create conflict when there was none. I feel sorry for the kids sometimes. No wonder they are getting ever-more nervous each week, wondering when the show is going to decide to turn on them. ☹ ---
**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:** [April 14, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/210 "2006-04-14T19:43:21Z")
Seeing as how Rod Stewarts American Songbook does not appeal to me in the slightests, I’ve made up my own wish list-- Bill Joel. Taylor-- You May Be Right. Or maybe Only The Good Die Young. Elliot-- She’s Got A Way or Honesty. I’d love to hear him sing either of these two songs. Paris-- River of Dreams. I think she’d kick ass with this. Chris-- Still Rock and Roll To Me, maybe he’d learn something from it. Kat-- Scenes from An Italian Restaurant. Don’t know why but the girl in the song reminds me of her. The Pickler-- New York State of Mind because it would amuse me to no end. Ace-- Pressure. He’s gotta be feeling it, right? ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/211 "2006-04-14T19:57:34Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Seeing as how Rod Stewarts American Songbook does not appeal to me in the slightests, I’ve made up my own wish list-- Bill Joel. Taylor-- You May Be Right. Or maybe Only The Good Die Young. Elliot-- She’s Got A Way or Honesty. I’d love to hear him sing either of these two songs. Paris-- River of Dreams. I think she’d kick ass with this. Chris-- Still Rock and Roll To Me, maybe he’d learn something from it. Kat-- Scenes from An Italian Restaurant. Don’t know why but the girl in the song reminds me of her. The Pickler-- New York State of Mind because it would amuse me to no end. Ace-- Pressure. He’s gotta be feeling it, right? [/QUOTE] [Pickler] What’s a Billy Joel? [/Pickler] ---
**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:** [April 14, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/212 "2006-04-14T20:06:55Z")
[QUOTE=rockle] [Pickler] What’s a Billy Joel? [/Pickler] [/QUOTE] She’d probably be more like “What’s a state of mind?” ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/213 "2006-04-14T20:31:13Z")
Billy Joel night would be great, **Biggirl**. The idea of sitting though those goddamn standards again is so depressing I might skip Tuesday. My workplace pipes them in on a mobius satellite loop and I loathe each and every one. I was even thinking, hey, what about Rod Stewart’s own songs? Probably not enough range to show off their stuff, but I could stand to hear: Maggie May - Chris You Wear it Well - Taylor First Cut is the Deepest - Pickler I Don’t Want to Talk About It - Kat Reason To Believe - Elliot Rhythm Of My Heart - Paris oh, and Do You Think I’m Sexy? - Ace [that oughta do it] ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/214 "2006-04-14T23:02:52Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] Billy Joel night would be great, **Biggirl**. [/QUOTE] They already did a Billy Joel night, though, with decidedly mixed results. The only performances I remember are Trenyce singing “Baby Grand,” which was a song I didn’t even know, and Kimberley Locke singing “New York State of Mind,” which kicked about forty kinds of ass. Since we’re in full-on Wishful Thinking Mode, I will reassert that my Malibu Barbie Dream Theme would be “O Canada: Music by Our Friends from North of the Border,” and the remaining contestants would perform the following: [ul] [li]Taylor - “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane[/li][li]Katharine - “Possession” by Sarah MacLachlan[/li][li]Ace - “Eveything I Do (I Do for You)” by Brian Adams (which: VOMIT)[/li][li]Paris - “I’m Like a Bird” by Nelly Furtado[/li][li]Elliot - “Brian Wilson” by Barenaked Ladies[/li][li]Pickler - “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” by Shania Twain (which: VOMIT, again)[/li][li]Chris - “Rockin’ in the Free World” or “Fuckin’ Up” by Neil Young[/li][/ul] I think Katharine could sing the hell out of anything in Sarah MacLachlan’s catalog, and I think Elliot could do a bang-up job on anything by Leonard Cohen, but I think Leonard Cohen is too punk rock for “American Idol.” ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/215 "2006-04-14T23:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=vaderspal] I wonder if they are trying to force a Chris/Kellie showdown, the rockers vs. country. [/QUOTE] I wonder if the ratings were really high last year with that set up (Bice v. Underwood). If so, that would be a good incentive. Pop fans will just end up picking a side. Though, I actually do like Kelly, so I’m not the one to endorse a conspiracy theory pushing her up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246/216 "2006-04-14T23:40:23Z")
Er… make that Kell_ie_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-start-an-ai-thread-and-nobody-posts-does-it-make-a-sound-american-idol-4-11/352246.md?page=10)