Dio, you’re from Minnesotta, right? What did you think of Taylor Hicks saying last week that he wears a tobaggan?
The manx is cat from the Isle of Man, which may or may not have a cute little tail.
A minx is a catty girl, who may or may not be from the Isle of Men, and may or may not have a cute little tail.
Oh, well. 
My meaningless rankings:
Katherine
Mandisa
Lisa
The Pickler
Paris
Melissa
Ayla–ghastly
Kinnik–just plain dreadful
The only ones I want to stay are Katherine and Mandisa.
Tangent: I think of “minx” as meaning a flirtatious and mischievous, but not mean, girl. Also, I named one of my cats “Minx” so I’m biased. I had never heard the word “tobaggan” in reference to a hat. A tobaggan is a kind of sled, I thought.
What other context is there? A minx is a coquettish or seductive woman. That’s how Simon used it. There is no other context.
That would be a Manx. They’re called that because they were bred on the Isle of Man. A minx is not an animal. The word is not a metaphor.
Because it’s a fairly common word and you seem to be a very well-read person. I would have assumed you’d at least have encountered the word in a book before, even if you hadn’t heard it said out loud. I didn’t know that anybody didn’t know the word.
I thought he was talking about wearing a sled on his head. I was confused. We call those knit caps “hats” up here.
It’s always amusing how one singer can be on the top of one poster’s list and the bottom of someone else’s list.
I thought Mandisa was the best, but not the best female vocal in Idol ever.
Kinnik took a big risk with an Alicia Keys song and she bombed. I think she’s going home, I don’t think she has the fan base to save her.
I didn’t think Melissa was as bad as the judges said, but singing Heart is chancey and she didn’t quite have the oomph that song needs.
I thought Ayla and The Pickler were bad and wouldn’t be surprised if either of them made the bottom 3 or went home. Pickler didn’t have the chops or emotion for that song.
And pronouncing “salmon” as “saL-man” put me further in the “She’s a big phony” camp. Oh, come on, do you live under a frickin’ rock in the Applachians that you have never, ever heard the correct pronunciation of a common food fish? Heck, it’s probably on TV several times a day in Red Lobster or Gorton’s commercials.
The rest were “meh”. Lisa was pretty good but not as good as previous performances. It was interesting to see that she can play electric guitar. I am also waiting for Paris to live up to her potential.
My rankings, as if they matter:
- Katharine – I just love her! (though that bit about the pregnancy and Kevin was in poor taste)
- Lisa – great voice, but can be boring
- Mandisa – has a lot of fun out there!
- Kellie – normally wouldn’t put her this high, but she did great tonight!
- Paris – cute and fun, but I’m so disappointed that she’s never been as good as her audition
- Melissa – I like her a lot, but I agreed with Simon that she was yelling not singing.
- Ayla – awful! And the outfit. GAH!
- Kinnik – I need to go back and rewatch the first week, because I remember being really impressed. The last two weeks have been bad. She’s outta here!
Eek, way too many exclamation points up there. Anyway, Kinnik for sure, but who will the other person be? I think Ayla, but could easily be Kellie or Melissa.
Well, I dunno. My grandma pronounced it “par-MEE-shun cheese” and “corn tor-TILL-ahs” until the day she died. She wasn’t stupid, she just didn’t eat a lot of ethnic food. Obviously.
Katharine and Kelly were the best tonight with Mandisa a close third. Kinnik and Melissa are going home and I prefer sal-mon to tuna, especially now with all the mercury warnings.
A guy is definitelygoing to win the big one though.
The point is, she chose to ask, on camera, what the word meant. This had the double bonus of drawing further attention to one of Simon’s rare compliments and making her look adorably clueless as usual. People are usually loath to admit that they don’t know something, but Kellie has chosen to disguise her lack of knowledge about some things by pretending that she doesn’t know anything. It’s a great save, because it lowers everyone’s expectations, and comes off as oh so charming.
Loved the shot of Ryan being dwarfed by Ayla! But I agree that she should have chosen a song with more range. And how was that bit about her dad a “little-known fact”?
Liked Paris’ hair. Did not like Lisa’s.
I also have to admit that the bit with Kellie’s dog was cute.
I never thought Kinnik was anything special, and now I really don’t.
Mandisa is the only real threat to the prediction of a male winner. Well, maybe Katherine.
Melissa was really straining for every note.
Hi! Well, it’s pretty obvious that this show is here to stay, so I figured I’d keep watching, if for no other reason that I could join this discussion.
Seemed like a pretty safe, bland night overall. Although, to be honest, I’m not sure what would constitute hard, edgy, or offbeat for American Idol (I’m thinking Bad Religion, Motley Crue, Deep Forest, Five Iron Frenzy, They Might Be Giants, etc., none of which have a snowball’s chance of ever being represented on this show). I actually appreciated Melissa putting in some energy, even if it was a “yelling” song (and considering the success of Celine Dion and the like, I really can’t say why that would be a negative).
Comments on the three performances I can actually remember:
Melissa - Not the greatest voice, but a power ballad doesn’t require it. I enjoyed it. I don’t think she’ll win, but I wouldn’t mind her sticking around for another week.
Mandisa - She played the disco diva role to perfection. Nice performance and a lock for next week, but I’d like to see her handle something a little more…well, subtle. And challenging. Today, the song carried her; in the future, I’d like to see the opposite.
Paris - Mmmmm…never, never, ever liked unhinged freestyle modulating, and it sounded flat-out awkward here. In a contest like this, you have to appeal to the mainstream, and being able to hold a note will take you a lot further than constantly getting down with your bad self. Could be in trouble.
And since nobody else seems willing to say this, I will: I think Simon Cowell was hideously out of line when he proclaimed who was going to be eliminated, especially that flippin’ long before the show is over, and even more so because he KNOWS damn well that his opinion has jack-all to do with who gets eliminated. I know that he’s what makes the show interesting and is brutally honest, blah blah blah, but there’s a fine line between a harsh but honest critic and an arrogant jerk. Cowell just strikes me as way, way too full of himself, and it’s tough for me to take him seriously as a judge because of that.
As always, will not be so arrogant myself as to predict eliminations. (Kinda leanin’ toward the one who struggled a bit, I think she was the fourth, but I’m not the one voting.)
She knows stuff — and has demonstrated that she knows stuff — that nice girls from rural Albemarle are supposed to know. Why some people would feel superior for knowing a different set of things than someone else is mystery enough, but why they would think that what they know is what everyone should know is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
Well, Lib, my point was that she may be shrewd enough to know that there are people who nitpick this show to death, and pick apart any misstep by a contestant. So she’s created insurance for herself by constantly giving the impression that everything beyond serving Sonic burgers is new to her, and it’s all so exciting and fun! Of course, as demonstrated here and some other places on the net, it backfires with some people, but the average viewer just thinks she’s adorable. I think it’s important to bear in mind that the Comic Book Guys of the net are not well represented among AI voters in general.
Yay, girls night is over! The good singers are on tonight!
I’m on the side of those who think Kellie is pulling our legs just a little bit. I totally believed she was an ignorant hick until the minx and the sal-mon, but now she’s gone too far.
Biggirl, is it something board-related? I was looking for the thread yesterday afternoon too, but didn’t feel up to starting it.
It was thread related, but we won’t dwell on it any longer.
Go boys!
I downloaded a few songs by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins last night. Man, I had forgotten how good real singers can be. 
Has anyone heard the rumor that Chris has been offered the lead singer spot in Fuel? Apparently their frontman quit not too long ago, and they want him to take over. I can’t find any sources aside from random blogs though.
It’s funny how polar opinions can be about this show. Actually, I thought Simon was quite a bit tamer this show than others, and his predictions were spot on in that they agreed with mine :). I have to say that about nine times out of ten, Simon gets it right.
My own test is to imagine the contestant as the act at a busy club. Would the patrons quiet down to listen to him or her? I think most of the time, the singer would just be background noise.
I’ve got an Olde Tyme Soul wish list for the guys to sing (hey, so far I’ve gotten Who’s Loving You, Moody’s Mood and, um, some song that I remember being excited about hearing but don’t remember what it was)
Never Too Much – because we can never have too much Luthor. I’d like the guy with the messed up jawline who is not Bucky to sing this song.
Black Betty-- This would be cool for Bucky.
You Are Everything or You Make Me Feel Brand New or Break Up To Make Up or ANYTHING by the Stylistics for Gedeon.
Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely or Rolling Down The Mountainside by The Main Ingredient (who was lead by none other than Cuba Gooding Sr. Thought I 'd toss in that bit of trivia) for Fred Savage.
Oh and to hear Mandisa sing To Be Real. That would be HOT!
Big-ups to DKW for mentioning TMBG in an American Idol thread! You never know what Chris is gonna break out, but I would be more likely to bet on Alive by Pearl Jam than Birdhouse in your Soul…
If I’m not mistaken, Simon has been telling contestants to pack their bags since season 1. He’s often wrong… perhaps because Americans “show him,” by voting for those contestants he’s told to pack their bags.
That being said, I think he was right - Kinnik and Melissa will be the next to go.
Somebody open another thread “Kellie Pickler: Scheming Manipulator of the Masses or Clueless Hick?” and allow all future debate on the topic to go there. It has “great debate” all over it, since it’s clearly one of the pressing issues of the day.
I saw spoilers for tonight’s show, and I won’t repeat them here title by title, but if they are correct, Chicken Little is about to get kicked off the show, Ace will suck mightily, Taylor will do fine, and Elliot is dead to me. Oh, and I never heard of the song Chris is doing or the band it’s by, but it sounded like a made-up “typical 90’s hard rock song by typical 90’s hard rock band,” and when I played it on iTunes, it sounded exactly like that.