^ :d
I agree with the Kevin/Bucky assessment. I think they’re both out, even though I think there’s a place for both of them in the entertainment world.
I predict a woman will be the winner this year. The best of the chicks is just so much better than the best of the guys.
I don’t know if it’s a spoiler to reveal something that is not being kept secret, but next week…
[spoiler]AMERICAN IDOL W/ STEVIE WONDER AIRS LIVE ON 3/15
On March 15th, final 12 American Idol contestants will exclusively perform Stevie Wonder songs culminating in Stevie [performing] one old song with the final 12 contestants and one of his new songs (TBD) from A Time To Love. This episode will also feature Stevie interacting with the contestants; giving each one advice & tips…
Cite here: http://www.steviewonder.net/main.asp[/spoiler]
I’m glad the guest judges are back, especially interacting with the contestants.
Eep. The link is visible and gives away the spoiler. If anybody can edit it, please edit out the link.
I fell in love with Taylor Hicks last night. He’s my man. I don’t care about the dancing. Whenever he’s on stage I have a big ol’ goofy grin on my face, and I’m paying attention! I did laundry during several of the other performances.
It’s a shame Ace’s better looking brother didn’t audition for AI. Why does Ace look so chapped all the time? If you’re going to get by on your looks, put on some damn makeup and take off the hat.
It’s goodbye to Kevin and Will tonight.
I’m kind of at a loss here. I don’t understand why everyone is so down on Ace for being cute, and the little girls are keeping him in this, yet can turn around and say, “No, Will has to stay! He’s so cute!” Come on, people, same diff.
Here was my take:
Gedeon: There’s just something I love about him. He gets out there and gives a really good performance every week, and this week was no exception. He’s got the vocals and the performance skills to make it a long way.
Chris: I thought this was an odd song choice. The original is a duet, and the Seether part, which Chris sang, is the harmony part. Amy Lee sings the melody. As a result, the performance came off as pretty bland. Nicely sung, but bland.
Kevin: He did okay. Poor song choice, but sang it well enough. I think he’ll be gone this week.
Bucky: I didn’t like the song. I’ll admit, I’m not a huge country fan to start, and I hadn’t heard the song before. I think he might be in danger on this one.
Will: Absolutely terrible. It didn’t even sound like singing; it was more like he spoke the notes. There was no emotion whatsoever, and I’ve heard better singing at the local high school. He should go, along with Kevin.
Elliott: I was disappointed at the song choice. I don’t think it gave him enough opportunities to showcase his vocal talent. I just hope it was enough to keep him in, because he really does have a great voice, and I’d like to see what he can do the rest of the season. I just hope one bad song choice doesn’t do him in.
Ace: I was expecting this to suck, and it surprised me. Maybe that’s just because I thought it was going to be really bad. I’m going to go against (almost) everyone else here, but I thought he did great with the falsetto. I like falsetto, and at times prefer it to the loud screeching in natural voice that’s so popular now. I thought this song showed that Ace actually has some range. I think he deserves to stay.
- You’ll notice that I’m leaving one, particular gray-haired contestant, whose name I shall not speak, out of this review. His name shall not be spoken until he redeems himself for singing what he did last night. Seriously, dear, sounding like Michael fricking McDonald is not a good thing. Blecch.
That was “Wave on Wave” by Pat Green. Or Pat F*ckin’ Green as he’s affectionately known here in Texas. Pat is a good old Texas boy who has been singing at the colleges and honky tonks around the state for 10 or so years now and is finally getting some national airplay. Some other songs you might have heard:
Here We Go
Carry On
Three Days
Texas On My Mind w/ Cory Morrow (written by Jerry Jeff Walker’s son - Django)
Pat sings in the tradition of some other Texas rocking country singers that people love down here, but most of you haven’t heard of:
Cory Morrow
Roger Creager
Robert Earl Kean
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Tommy Alverson
Pat plays at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and I’ve got me 6 seats right down front. Gonna see me some rodeo and PAT F*CKIN GREEN
Ah. I am familiar with Pat Green’s music, but didn’t recognize it when Bucky sang it (I’m not a hardcore fan or anything). That is a good direction for Bucky to go in… if he’s singing Pat Green today, perhaps Steve Earle is next. Or even Hank III.
Curious - who actually voted last night?
I did, many votes for Chris, Elliot and Gedion. And one vote for Ace.
I thought Gedeon did a great job last night (so much better than previous weeks) so I had to give him my vote too. Chris and Elliot are both so talented that any song they sing is good enough for me.
Ace did well also - I like falsetto. I do a “close my eyes” listen to part of each song and his appearance had nothing to do with the beautiful sound of his voice. I think it’s mean to bash a kid because he’s good looking - it doesn’t take away from his talent and it’s something he has no control over.
I think Lad Will is going home this week. (I certainly hope so- he’s had his moment, now let the Big Dogs run, son- 10 years from now you’ll still be young and you can work on the charisma and range.)
I wonder if the spoiler above is why so many people have already sung his songs on the show. Does anybody know what options they have on music- does the show have a collection of songs they have rights to sing or does the singer say “I’d like to sing this” and the legal team gets the rights or are they given a list of 10 songs and have to pick one or what exactly?
I swear I thought Ace was going to come out during his confessional last night (“This is going to surprise a lot of people to find out about me, but…”). I think more surprising than the fact he’s worked odd jobs would be that he has a degree in mathematics or once invented an artificial spleen or something. He’s beginning to grate on me- I thought his performance last night was irritating (though I have to admit a personal prejudice against falsetto- I can only take about three seconds of it at the end of a song).
I’d love to hear Taylor sing Roy Orbison, Crying or It’s Over particularly. Chris is Taylor’s only remotely near competition for my favorite. I’d also love to hear him sing Eleanor Rigby, Ring of Fire and or Jesus He Knows Me. I would love to hear Chris sing Selling the Drama (though I don’t know if you can say “raped” on American Idol and it’s one of the most frequent lyrics in the song).
I’ve watched this show every season and never voted once. But I might someday. 
Actually, my ex-husband voted, and since he was calling for the same person I wanted, I didn’t need to vote.
Well, duh.
Uh…hello, Ace? Nice falsetto.
I voted a number of times for Chris. It helps to wait at least 10-12 minutes after the show is over before calling.
Kevin sounds like Alvin and the Freaking Chipmunks. I have no idea what some of you people are listening to who think he sounds good. He has the potential to sound good, if he would see a speech therapist and lose the lithp and then work long and hard with a vocal coach to lose the vibrato. Horrifying. Utterly horrifying.
And speaking of vibrato, Chris Goatboy Daughtry cannot get off my television soon enough. His voice is TERRIBLE. Astoundingly atrocious. And that song was mind-numbingly boring. Ugh! HATE.
Taylor rocked the house.
Ace surprised me in that he did way better than I thought he would, but he did go way off into shreiksville at one point in the falsetto, which was truly cringeworthy. Had he stopped right before that spot and switched to his “regular” voice it would’ve been much better. As it was, the bad part of the falsetto stands out so much that that’s what people remember most about the performance, which is a shame, since he did the rest of the song justice.
Elliott needs to stop listening to the judges now and just go with his own gut instinct on what songs he likes and feels. That’s what rocketed him up in popularity, so he needs to stick with what was working. I think he and Taylor are the best of the bunch, followed closely by Gedeon.
March 15th is next Wednesday, which I believe will be an elimination night, not a performance with judging night. Therefore, I’d guess that the presence of the guest is merely that, as a guest, not as a guest judge (though I agree they need to bring that back for a little more interest – but with honest celebs who won’t gush at everyone like Paula does).
I don’t get it either; sometimes they say it’s good that the contestant knows what works for them and does that, sometimes they say the contestant messed up in not leaving their comfort zone.
I hope that Will and Kevin go home; it was way too much junior high talent contest (no, not even high school). Chris’s song was boring but I still loved the sound of his voice. for the women, I was disappointed that the backup singers drowned out Mandisa.
And I do have friends that say Sallmon. And “chicken pops”. But “I’m a mink” was a little much!!
And Kat pregnant by Kevin?? Wouldn’t that be statutory rape?
It’s more complicated than that.
They’re not going by a set of rules. You hear a performance, and you either like it or you don’t. THen when you’re trying to explain why, one of the reasons for liking this song might be that the performer really played to their strengths. A reason you might dislike another performance is that the performer reached and failed.
If you hear a good performer limiting themselves by doing easy stuff and not taking chances, you’re gonna wish they would push their own envelope a little more.
If you hear another singer take a chance and flub it–take the wrong chance, reach too far, whatever–you’re gonna notice that too.
I don’t see a contradiction.
Typo, dude: you accidentally included “sub” in there.
I think the difference is not that the girls are singing songs that are old, but that that the songs they are singing are too old for them – i.e., too mature in sound, subject matter, or lyrical content than a pretty little 16-year-old ought to be singing. Jennifer Holliday is great, but there’s something “off” about Lisa Tucker singing her songs (to me, anyway). Not wrong, necessarily, or even vocally bad, but not quite playing to Simon’s idea of “type,” either.
Or, in other words – “A Change is Gonna Come” is an OK song for a young man to sing, because Gavin DeGraw just put it on his “Chariot Stripped” CD, but when was the last time Britney Spears covered Bette Midler?