What the heck is the theme this week? So far, lots of useless chuntering and little singing. Fantasia needs to go back to high school english class, but George is coming off as having an actual personality beyond the goofy smile. He’s sounding pretty professional. Cool. I still hope he goes home because he’s totally outclassed.
Okay, Fantasia just sung Summertime. Which she’s done already. And not as good this time.
???
Theme?
HennaDancer
okay, it’s Pick Your Own Favorite That We’ve Heard Already Instead Of Having To Learn Anything New night. I guess it’ll show how the singer can take the criticism of the judges and improve their version of a song.
But the interviews still suck.
I actually liked George’s interview, but then they cut the song short. Why not just let him sing the whole song? They obviously have the time free.
HennaDancer
And no judges? What gives?
George is sounding professional?? He sounds like Rain Man!
Ryan: So, you’ve formed many friendships here?
George: Friendships…yeah…
Ryan: Really bonded with other contestants.
George: Bonds…yeah…
Ryan: Especially with Jennifer Hudson?
George: Jennifer Hudson…yeah…yeah…
I kept waiting for him to start mumbling about what an excellent driver he is. 
Don’t get me wrong…he’s probably my favorite in the competition, but I really don’t think he’s all there.
Ummm, Henna? It’s Monday.
This week’s competition show is on Tuesday, like normal. This is just a special.
John Stevens is on David Letterman tonight if anyone cares.
While reading the first three posts in this thread, all by HennaDancer, I played a little game trying to guess when the light would dawn on the OP. 
Anyways, tonight’s episode was a special “one-off” non-competitive thing, where we were supposed to be getting a better idea of who these contestants really are. The singing was just for fun, not to be judged.
The interviews were a bit frivolous on the whole, but I did find it interesting to see which songs the kids themselves considered their favorites.
Jasmine’s interview was blah, but in “Inseparable” she sounded better than I’ve heard her before. What a nice change it is to hear some quiet, gentle singing from an AI contestant! Kind of reminds me of Clay Aiken’s “Here, There, Everywhere” from Beatles night last year.
George’s interview showed him to have a fun personality, but this comes as no surprise considering his usual bouncy behavior onstage! And hallelujah, his reprise of “Take Me to the Pilot” reminded me of why I fell hard for his voice way back on Motown night. He is terrific. If he could just show some versatility and subtlety … !
LaToya acknowledged how her reserve is sometimes offputting, which I can relate to as someone whose shyness/quietness often gets me mischaracterized as “aloof.” I didn’t know she was married with older kids. She seems very sure of herself and secure as a performer. Hearing Bernstein’s heartbreakingly beautiful “Somewhere” again is always a treat, and I think she did an even better job with it this time. Still, I do wish she expressed a bit more of the bittersweet longing within the song. (Although to be fair, I can’t blame her altogether: this somewhat bombastic orchestral arrangement wasn’t very inspiring.)
Diana was cute and respectful in her interview. I’d never heard her rendition of “You better think” (was this her Motown song? I could’a sworn I saw the whole Motown episode) before, and she knocked me out with her powerful, much deeper than expected voice. This is the second week in a row she’s totally exceeded herself, and if she keeps this up I wouldn’t be surprised to see her as #2 or even the top winner. She’s not the best singer in the competition, but whenever you hear someone continue to improve, it’s a sign that he or she is almost feeding on confidence and courage. Those are heady, powerful tools in a performer.
Finally, Fantasia. Boy, do I completely disagree with HennaDancer about Fantasia! I thought she was absolutely charming and funny in her interview – she came across to me as down-to-earth, ebullient, and ballsy. I’m glad Ryan mentioned her reaction to landing in the bottom three two weeks ago; I remember being impressed by it even then. Her surprised laughter and applause revealed a good sense of wry humor and self-deprecation. Quite a breath of fresh air in a contest where everyone else is so damn earnest it could make you puke your guts out.
Turning to her repeat of “Summertime …” well, what can one say? Quite simply, it was exquisite. This was the only performance in the last three seasons of AI that actually brought tears to my eyes. Fantasia expresses emotions through both her instrument and her interpretation of the lyrics. This is a rare enough quality these days among pop singers, and completely nonexistant when listening to/watching the other AI contestants.
She’s a risktaker and a bit of a maverick (performing barefoot in a contest to be a diva? How comfortable she is with herself!). Most of all she’s wicked talented and has damn good taste in songs.
I want her to win.
I saw it. Along with the numerous other appearances he’s made since he got booted off.
It is truly amazing to see how much his demeanor has changed since Wednesday. On A.I., what we saw was what one Doper called “the personality of a wet sponge”, while I saw it as reserved, playing close to the vest, presumably out of fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. But now that the pressure’s off, he’s able to relax and, IMHO, shine.
In just a few non-Idol TV appearances, he’s learned how to address the camera, give good sound bites, and play off a host. And for the first time, the Conan comparisons are accurate. He’s easygoing, even playful. He was laughing on Letterman! I’d never seen him laugh, for real, as opposed to those “oh, I guess I’d better laugh that off” reactions he gave to the judges’ comments.
In the long run, I think the sh!tstorm of last week was actually for the best. If he’d just left quietly, with no controversy, he wouldn’t be getting all this publicity, and hence this secondary learning experience. I still don’t regret a single vote that I cast, but I no longer mourn his departure from the show.
(Still, I hope he doesn’t take things too far in the other direction. I liked the cool-cat crooner persona; I hope he retains some of that.)
I find all these extras and “specials” to be annoying. Not that I didn’t have the TV on last night… :smack:
I don’t think we need these in-depth interviews with people who aren’t stars and never will be. As someone has already said, even the winner of this season’s AI will probably have a short, forgettable career. I didn’t even finish watching the show because all the interviews were so predictable and ass-kissing. Shouldn’t we be judging the contestants on their talent, and not whether we think they’re a brave single mom (or whatever)?
At this rate, the top ten contestants of next season will probably get a whole night devoted to each of them.
Except for George, these were much better performances all around. I love Big Band, and I look forward to it tonight. I will sorely miss John, though.
Diana will sing “Get Happy” (presume it’s the Harold Arlen’s song and not the Elvis Costello song) and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” George has
chosen “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” and Louis Armstong’s “Wonderful World,”
Jasmine will perform “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Almost Like Being
In Love,” Fantasia tests her pipes on "Crazy Little Thing Called Love
and “What Are You Doing,” and La Toya gets in the Big Band groove with
“Too Close for Comfort” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”
Love the tip of the hat by George to his homeboy Satchmo (George is from
New Orleans).
Donna Summer is on next week, followed by “Judges Choice” (whatever that is). The singers choose their own songs in the finale, and it’s a wrap.
If George did not sing something by Louis Armstrong (interestingly, the “s” is pronounced in his name here locally, unlike the rest of the world), he’d be run out of town on a streetcar…er, rail.
I just hope to Og he doesn’t decide to try to do a Louis Armstrong imitation of the song. There are enough people here in New Orleans who already do that. And I do mean enough.
Louis himself pronounced it Louis (not Louie) and didn’t particularly care for the nickname Satchmo.
I love Louis Armstrong… he’s an American Idol if there ever was one. I don’t mean “Pop Star,” but the real meaning of Icon, like the object of feverish worship. I think I’ll get all misty eyed no matter HOW George does it because I just love the song so much and it’s so great that George is singing it in an obvious tribute to the guy. I hope they close with that, because nothing should follow it.
“Cheek to Cheek” is OK. I am very “Mehish” with Irving Berlin.
As for the other song choices, I think Diana and Jasmine halfway know what they are doing, or John is sneaking around with both of them and picked their songs. Diana does Gershwin and Harold Arlen; Jasmine has Kern and Lerner and Lowe. They picked good songs.
Much better than warmed over Queen songs and Barbra Streissan songs chosen by the favored divas. If Fantasia is singing “What are you doing the rest of your life,” I’ll give her a pass, but it’s probably a damned Andrew Lloyd Weber song I’ve never heard of and I’ll have to puke all over myself. LaToya is so boring with her song choices, and her performances, she will never really be successful until she figures out she’s not singing at a wedding.
Diana: loses points for the self-serving mention of the troops, holding up “her number,” and for telling us once again to “come on.” Otherwise she did OK with these songs.
George: that’s the best he can do, it really is. He stopped growing a long time ago, but I’m glad he managed a decent performance after a couple of off weeks.
LaToya: She will win this thing simply because she’s the most professional and experienced singer. She did OK with the first song… I liked it better than I expected… but when you sing Barbra Streisand you put a wall between us.
Jasmine: She has no real feeling for the melody or the lyrics. She’s all about finding a note to embellish. She is easily the most boring singer on the show. She did do a bit better on the second song… it was the closest I’ve come to liking her.
Fantasia: Is it me, or did she drop WAY off of her last few performances? The first song was a cop out and was still pretty weak. The second is a really challenging song, and she didn’t handle it. The judges obviously decide what they think of a singer’s performance before-hand, because that was NOT that good. THAT brought Paula to tears? Really? I found both performances really, really underwhelming.
Prediction: Aloha, Jasmine.
Preference: They’ve decided we need a LaToya vs. Fantasia showdown. I hope to hell one of them goes tomorrow just to piss them off.
Diana annoyed. The second song was performed rather poorly. I hate her facial expressions and I will not be ordered to “come on.”
George was pretty good but he’s about topped out. He’s never really blown a song out. I think he may be in danger this week.
LaToya was pretty well flawless. Boring, maybe but flawless.
Jasmine was just meh. She didn’t suck but I was just waiting for her to be over. If George doesn’t go tomorrow, jasmine will.
Fantasia sucked with the Queen song but did much better with the second. The judges want a LaToya/Fantasia final…and really…why not? Who’s better than they are? Jasmine? George? Jon Benet? The divas deserve to be in the finals.
skutir, “judge’s choice” means the judges pick songs that they want to hear the contestants sing. Unfortunately, they don’t make as much of this opportunity as they could. They could assign “Anarchy in the UK” to George, for instance or “Welcome to the Jungle” to Jasmine. I think they’re overlooking the potential for really entertaining the audience.
I refuse to vote for her based solely on her constant use of “come on” and walking out amongst the crowd and schmoozing. Talk about pandering!
I see what you mean. I’d like to see what Fantasia would do with “C is for Cookie,” or what La Toya would do with “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
“C is for Cookie”? Bwahahahahaha!