78 replies to this topic

[trojan69]

Now AI is back to the alternate universe I remember and loathe.

Even more than last night, the agenda going into the performances was the reality - one we are never allowed to know.

How the hell did Jimmy have a basis upon which to choose that last slot? He took Paul, but he thereby booted X (Johnny???).

If EVER there were a contestant that Ameriker should be allowed the privilege of a vote, it is Charlie Askew. I can not believe they allowed it. Then again, maybe not?*

Jada called out for tonality on a song that has none to offer?

Not a single other guy brought anything special. Martha Stewart is announcing a line of cookie cutters based on tonight's show.

*Does anyone know when Ameriker finally gets the vote, without the judges paring down? Has anyone heard if and how many judges saves or some other such shenanigans there are once Ameriker supposedly decides things in a given week?

[mojoween]

Boooooooring part 2.

Nicki was incredibly inappropriate all night. Gross.

[Phan]

Jolley – He oversang. When Keith Urban basically says “thanks for singing my song, but please don’t oversing my song,” you won’t be long for IDOL. Pretty man.

Johnny – Why did he sing a Jason Mraz pop song? He is blue eyed soul. His S11 audition was great, and with more information, must have been a complete fluke. Pretty man.

JDA – He was the best of the first half of the night, though everyone else has stronger tonality. However, everyone else was like watching paint dry or frustrated me. Facially reminds me of Prince. He was pretty much in tune, too.

Kevin – Terrible song choice, interesting tone. Womp womp.

Chris – Terrible song choice, interesting tone (seems to be a theme tonight), pretty man, confidence slightly unfounded.

Devin – Strained in parts, language change was jarring, but he shows potential and one of the few guys that I want to listen to again.

Elijah – Trainwreck vocal. Maybe I just hate his tone? I thought he was out of tune, off key, just ugh for a majority of that song. Oh, Nicki, please don’t praise the cute boys because they’re cute. I didn’t tolerate it when Simon praised hot girls, either.

Charlie – WTF was that? Well… at least it was more in tune than the guy before him. I resign myself to the Charlie-Sanjaya show. Contrived and awful. We have to see five of these guys again? Seriously?

Jimmy – Really? The two country guys couldn’t find non Keith Urban songs to sing? He was a little dull, but he didn’t take the song where it didn’t need to go, Paul.

Curtis – He’s no Ruben Studdard. It was alright. Nothing special, too many runs, but he was in tune, which is more than we can say for most of the field tonight.

Results: … Elijah? Seriously? Over anyone else they cut? Am I on the same planet? I guess when the guys are this bad, it doesn’t matter who gets through. They should’ve cut two more and just shoved Isabelle and Shubha into the guys round; fuck this gender parity crap.

I'd also say I did not understand the Jimmy Iovine tiebreaker situation, if it wasn't complete and utter BS. If the tiebreaker was real, why wouldn't they wait to pair Paul Jolley with the other contestant that the judges must have been split on sending through? Damn it, show.

Edited by Phan, Feb 21, 2013 @ 10:13 PM.

[katycat74]

Johnny K is apparently destined to always be booted in Las Vegas.

I'm so sick of everyone doing damn ballads...I practically fell asleep during most of the performances. I do admit Jda's performance did perk me up a bit, he at least was interesting.

Is it weird that I have this strange soft spot for Paul Jolley? Have NO idea why. I do think the whole Jimmy Iovine save thing is shady though...

Edited by katycat74, Feb 21, 2013 @ 10:15 PM.

[Chocorokoroko]

Nicki was indeed a little inappropriate. She want's (forgot who)'s babies? Is she getting into the internet memes now?

I'm okay with the Top 5.

Can't believe Johnny didn't make it, but I wasn't rooting for him anyway. Glad the other guy made it.

Happy for Charlie and Paul.

That Eliyjah kid reminds me so much of Justin Bieber. Do not like...

Chris. Meh. He'll likely become the Jacob Lusk and Joshua Ledet.

Kind of glad JDA didn't make it; he freaked me out a little bit. But his performance wasn't bad.

Other than that, tonight was also bland and boring like last night.



I believe we finally vote in 2 weeks from Wednesday.

[BogoGog24]

I think tonight there were just as many good/bad guys as there were for the girls, essentially a mixture of good and bad, there weren't necessarily more good guys than good girls. I am overall pleased with the Final 5, except I disagree with putting the Elijah kid in, I didn't really think he was that good. And Nicki's comment about wanting to have his babies was just overly creepy- she's said some borderline creepy things before, but that was just.... it's a good thing he is just barely 18.....

Anyway...

My fave DEFINITELY was CHARLIE ASKEW!!!!! He was so bizarre and funny and weird and you just sat there like "What the hell is he doing?" but that's what made the performance.... He is just a freakin' rockstar. You can tell he is extremely influenced by Freddie Mercury. I love how even though by now we are familiar with the kind of music he likes and what his general style is, we still never know what he is going to do next, what he's going to sing, what he's going to wear.... It's like we know who he is and yet he is unpredictable at the same time. His outfit reminded me of a 1970s rock n' roll pirate and I was so confused as to why he was using a baseless mic stand and he was just jumping and running all over the stage and bending down on one knee and you could see him visibly shaking (whether it was nerves or just adrenaline I don't know). And it. Was. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! He was definitely the most interesting performer of the night, hands down. They should have saved him for last instead of Curtis. And damn when he put his sunglasses on in his intro video.... INSTANT ROCKSTAR. I just freaking love this kid so much AND HE NEEDS TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Devin was my second favorite- usually when contestants try to sing in Spanish it never really connects with the audience, but something about the way he did it felt so natural. I actually think that was the best part of the performance. He has a great voice. I can hear him on a record already.

I actually sort of liked Kevin (more than Elijah) but I could see why he wasn't put through.

I too was a little confused at the tie breaker vote- if Jimmy voted Paul through, wouldn't that mean that whoever was left was going to get the axe, even if the judges had originally voted them through? But it's true that Johnny wasn't really the best singer there and he seems kind of cocky, so I don't really care that he's gone. Paul has a better voice, he just chose a bad song and he was put in the kiss of death spot by having to go first. I'm glad he is trying to be more confident in himself.

Why did 2 of the guys sing a Keith Urban song IN FRONT OF Keith Urban? WHY????

About the audience voting- next week the other 10 girls and other 10 guys will sing and the judges will decide which 5 of each stay. The week after is finally the first live show where the Top 20 perform and the audience votes. As for how the Save works- the judges get 1 Save per season, to avoid what happened in past seasons with contestants like Chris Daughtry who were voted off early and shouldn't have been sent home. Basically, if someone is voted off and the judges think they deserve to stay, they can "save" them, but after one use, it's gone. Anyone who gets eliminated after that is gone. They used it last season for Jessica Sanchez.

[sandrajane]

What a boring night. Enough with the ballads. At least JDA was entertaining. And now Randy want's to quibble about AI being a singing competition? If it's just about the vocals the audition rounds would go much different. Whatever.

They should move Mariah and not have her go last. By the time they get to her, she just repeats whatever someone else said. Like with calling Johnny masculine and sexy after Nicki said the exact same thing.

I like the Nicki/Keith combo. They seemed to vibe off of each other. But Nicki and Randy keep talking over each other, ala Paula/Simon. Didn't like it then, don't like it now.

I have never like Paul Jolley and it's too bad only Nicki and Keith agree with that. Damn Jimmy Iovine for letting him through.

I'm pulling for Elijah and Charlie. They just need a bit more polishing, especially Charlie. I'm surprised none of the judges called him out on his nerves.

*Does anyone know when Ameriker finally gets the vote, without the judges paring down? Has anyone heard if and how many judges saves or some other such shenanigans there are once Ameriker supposedly decides things in a given week?

I think some of the info you're seeking is a bit spoilery. But I believe the first live voting is March 7th, for the top 20.

[vb68]

I thought Charlie was indeed the most interesting and had the best song choice, so I did agree with them on that.

For some reason, my station only came back from break near the end of Chris' song. Don't know what happened there.

That Eliyjah kid reminds me so much of Justin Bieber. Do not like...

Same here. I didn't see what the big deal was or why Nicki loved him so much.

But yeah, Charlie won the night hands down for me.

Edited by vb68, Feb 21, 2013 @ 10:21 PM.

[SmallTownMom]

Glad to see Paul made it through. I like him alot. Charlie, I was a fan until tonight. That schtick is going to get old fast. Liked Devin, didn't care for Elijah Bieber. And speaking of "oversinging", I thought Curtis was awful. I couldn't stand to watch the faces he made. I was kind of sorry to see Johnny and the Jimi Hendrix-type guy with the scarf go. Sorry, I forgot his name, (Chris?) but he was better than some that went through.

JDA, glad your journey ended. But the "pageant pose" when they showed all the guys waiting made me laugh.

Nicki. Just no. Quit making the weird faces. And above all, please shut up.

[sandrajane]

At the beginning, Ryan said the artists picked five songs from the genre they wanted to sing, and Kevin Harris picks a 90s power ballad from Bryan Adams? That was odd to me, and maybe a bit of backstage manipulation by the producers since they picked the song they would sing tonight.

[LennieB]

Raise your hand if you could've named at least three of the chosen before anyone sang. Charlie, Paul, and Elijah.

To JDA, Thanks for everything! Julie Newmar.

[trojan69]

I may be conflating memories with Uncle Nigel's other show, but I have a memory of jidges' involvement until the Top 14. In other years, it seemed there were a couple of weeks where they further winnowed the Top whatever to below 20 before completely turning things over to Ameriker.

Or maybe tonight's suckfest has altered MY reality!

I reeeeeeeally want to know who the fifth Beatle, er, original 5th wannabe was.

[LennieB]

BogoGog24:

You can tell he is extremely influenced by Freddie Mercury.

I could use an example of this!

Show schedule:

Wednesday, February 27 @ 8PM-10PM ET

Las Vegas Rounds – 10 males perform

Thursday, February 28 @ 8PM-10PM ET

Top 20 Revealed – 10 females perform

Tuesday, March 5 @ 8PM-10PM ET Live

Semifinalists – Top 10 males perform

Wednesday, March 6 @ 8PM-10PM ET Live

Semifinalists – 10 females perform

Thursday, March 7 @ 8PM-10PM ET Live

Top 10 Revealed

Wednesday, March 13 @ 8PM-10PM ET Live

Top 10 Finalists perform

Thursday, March 14 @ 8PM-9PM ET Live

Results show, One finalist eliminated

With the Top 20 singers determined they’ll perform again based on sex with the guys going on a special Tuesday episode and the girls following that Wednesday. America’s votes will then be tallied and revealed that first Thursday in March. Beyond that we’ll hit our stride with the usual Wednesday/Thursday and performance/elimination episodes until we reach the finale in late May 2013.

Edited by LennieB, Feb 21, 2013 @ 10:45 PM.

[kelbel]

Well, Nicki made it obvious who her favorites were that she fought to make it through. And she certainly got her way.

Did not understand her love for Elijah. He has a super high voice. Thought it was a girl singing until I looked up. And he was terribly off-key most of the time. But at least, he has good stage presence, so there's that.

I didn't think Charlie sounded good at all. I still like him, but his "I glorify weirdness" schtick is going to get old fast with the voting public.

I just can't stand Curtis. He has a good voice, no doubt. But he is such a show-off, it bugs me.

I like Paul, so I'm glad he made it through. His voice doesn't do much for me (I think he over-sings a bit) but I think he has a lot of potential.

I give JDA best of the night award for simply being entertaining. He was fun to watch. I've never seen anything like that on idol before. So at least he achieved a first before being booted.

Edited by kelbel, Feb 21, 2013 @ 10:47 PM.

[cocopuffy]

Man...based on voice alone I wouldn't have put Elijah through...he was off tune ALOT and with a high voice like that it was super noticeable. I'd rather see JDA or even that pretty boy Nicki wants to boff go through. I'm glad Devin got saved though...he has a good voice but totally bombed with the his song choice and random switch to Spanish. It was totally unnecessary and he totally lost his way once he did it.

[BogoGog24]

You can tell he is extremely influenced by Freddie Mercury.
I could use an example of this!

What do you mean you need an example? His voice sounds fairly similar, he's into classic rock (and dresses like he's from that era), and he has a very "theatrical" performance style like Freddie. I don't know how to make it any more obvious than that. Keith even said so himself.

[Elmer Fug]

Two country singers and they go all out for brownie points by singing one Keith's songs. Both were terrible and I can't believe Jimmy would save one of them.

Charlie's plays the audience like a fiddle. He's a performer and that's what he's going to ride until the viewers get tired of it. I got a chuckle out of it and I have to admit it was a ballsy choice to make.

I though Adam Lambert over the top, but JDA takes it to a whole new level.

Kevin could of killed it with a R&B classic or soul, but instead does one of the most nauseating songs from the 90s.

Elijah has pretty well locked up the tweener bloc.

When I watch Curtis singing I'm waiting for him to play out handkerchief and yell out "Praise the Lord!"

Edited by Elmer Fug, Feb 21, 2013 @ 11:23 PM.

[peggy06]

Another boring bunch of songs, boringly sung (with a couple of exceptions). Thanks go to JDa for at least bringing some life to the proceedings. And to Chris, for at least singing a good song.

I don't get why they always, always, always put through someone like Curtis *and they never win.* He has a good voice, but the runs were way over the top. The whole performance was very studied, something for which they dinged other people.

Charlie has a very good instrument, but I don't think he's that good of a singer. He sang the first few verses of Rocket Man almost uninflected, like a vocal exercise with no nuance or emotion. I still feel he sounds essentially like a musical theater performer, screaming at the end nothwithstanding. However, he has the look and seems to go over well with the crowd, so he'll probably win it all.

The judges were actually pretty good tonight, I thought. Last night it seemed like they were repeating each other a lot. Tonight they all had their own comments to make. (Althouhg it does somewhat break down into a Keith/Nicki v. Randy/Mariah pattern.) I cringe when Nicki says stuff like "I want to have your babies," but she had a lot of good advice tonight as well.

[Sparkling Beth]

I thought Curtis was just going to keep moving forward until he crawled up and over the judges' desk. None of the boys really thrilled me. But--it's early in the game. Perhaps one or two will win me over as time goes on.

[LennieB]

BogoGog24, I guess I meant that I: didn't hear any remotely Freddie-like range; saw no Freddie sartorial style (aside from the belt and earring Charlie borrowed from JDA); think that singing Elton John isn't reminiscent of Freddie; and that holding a mic-stand is kind of a generic move (Taylor Hicks's "Levon" was "theatrical," then!). As for Keith's comment: As I intimated earlier, Charlie was in like Flynn before the show began. IMCynicalO.

Edited by LennieB, Feb 21, 2013 @ 11:40 PM.

[Kali12]

Nothing tremendous, but okay final choices. I'm sorry that Kevin didn't make a better song choice (yes, R&B, for example) and no one should think they'll have an edge singing KU--really, quite the opposite.

Chris can't sing, imo, and I couldn't understand how the song choice was the best, most memorable, fit with his look. Imo, he was bad--flat--throughout it.

I really hate Nikki's eyerolls and mugging when Mariah speaks. Mariah's earned her place there through her artistry and (relatively) long successful career. She isn't drugged or loopy (..Paula...) and doesn't deserve Nikki's contempt. She needs to dial it down to "0".

She also needs to stop bullying the other judges. She gets angry every single time someone has a different opinion from hers and wants to argue about it. Hey. They're entitled to their own opinions--not the least of which, because they have more experience than you with AI (Randy) or more talent and a bigger career (Keith and Mariah). Let them say what THEY feel, not what YOU think. I find her truly obnoxious.

Edited by Kali12, Feb 21, 2013 @ 11:53 PM.

[BogoGog24]

BogoGog24, I guess I meant that I: didn't hear any remotely Freddie-like range; saw no Freddie sartorial style (aside from the belt and earring Charlie borrowed from JDA); think that singing Elton John isn't reminiscent of Freddie; and that holding a mic-stand is kind of a generic move (Taylor Hicks's "Levon" was "theatrical," then!). As for Keith's comment: As I intimated earlier, Charlie was in like Flynn before the show began. IMCynicalO.

If you watch his original audition when he sang Breakthru by Queen, he sounds VERY similar to Freddie. I meant more that his theatrical way of performing reminds me a lot of Freddie. And he has stated/wrote somewhere that Freddie is actually a big inspiration of his, so it makes sense. You can see some Elton John in him as well, basically all those '60s and '70s classic rock singers, that is what he mainly seems to listen to.

[nosoytonta]

If Keith was in my head tonight, I think he related Freddie Mercury and Woodstock to Charlie for the looks, but not the voice: The longish, curled-but-combed hair belongs to the Woodstock era, as well as the outfit, his very thin frame and his pale skin. Charlie's use of the half-microphone and the way he used it (putting it up and down in brisk movements, only to command his voice up) was very reminiscent of Freddie, particularly focusing all the nervous energy on said microphone.

I think Charlie was moved to the next round due to his potential. This performance wasn't his best at all.

[MommaJ]

Nikki wants this to be the Nikki Minaj show--the outfits, the hair, the make-up, the over-the-top comments. I find her exhausting. I think Mariah and Keith were nuts to agree to share a stage with her. I bet neither of then will be back next year if she returns. Who needs to play second fiddle to an attention whore?

Edited by MommaJ, Feb 22, 2013 @ 12:35 AM.

[corvus13]

Good Lord, what is Mariah Carey wearing?
Please pick the singers because of the way they sing, not because of what they look like. I already decided I don't like Brianna Steed because she thinks she LOOKS like and Idol. Let's wait till you sing. And same thing with Johnny Keyser. I don't care how he looks. He was offkey.
JDA is too flamboyant to be an American Idol, I don't care, and I'm not being homophobic, it's just not going to happen. If Adam Lambert was too flamboyant for FOX News...
Kevin Harris started out well but was a little flat in places, but overall I liked it. Shut up, Randy. And why does anybody need to take a note and take it 57 different places? That's what I hate about some of these performers.
Devin Velez looks older than 18. He was pretty flat.
I liked Eric Liu, even though he went flat at one point.
I've always liked Charlie, and I still do, just because he's different. But he was shaking like a leaf. Please, Keith, explain what the people are saying at home?
Curtis - wow.

[jambalaya2]

I didn't really care about anyone but Devin who was a tad off today, but so was everyone else.

Charlie wasn't as good as prior, and I think his stick is getting old.

Curtis has a good voice but I am waiting for him to get serious and stop being such an ass.

I liked Chris and wanted him to get through. I thought Jada was vocally better than a lot but Randy was icing the flaming gaymen. Although,they all seem gay to me, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Jolley is overrated. But the biggest ??? was Elijah? Really, he gave such a bad performance I knew he was out of there but nooooo....

And what was Niki smoking. She was way over the top praising a lot of mediocrity.

Edited by jambalaya2, Feb 22, 2013 @ 1:09 AM.

[Mycenaeus]

Paul has a good voice, but this was a bad song choice. I like Keith Urban, but his songs don't seem to have a lot going on vocally. Since this is a competition, you could see Paul struggle with trying to stay true to the subtlety of the song while also trying to get some glory notes in so he could stand out. It didn't quite work, but I'm glad he made it through. He's handsome, humble, and has a beautiful tone.

Elijah is current. The primary criticism leveled against AI is its inability to stay current. So I can kind of see why Elijah made it through despite a somewhat shaky performance. His voice is very high, but that can work for him. A current kid performing a current Bruno Mars song. It's sad, but that's kind of a novelty on this show, so I'm OK with him going through. It's not like the rest of the field was all that strong.

Devin has a wonderful voice. I think he was the Angela of the boys, in that he gave the best performance out of all the guys last week with his soulful rendition of "Wonderful World". I'm not usually a fan of the half English, half Spanish thing, but he kind of made it work. I hope it doesn't become a recurring shtick though.

Charlie is someone I'm torn about. Loved him in his audition, but I only liked him in Hollywood when he performed Gotye. In Vegas, I was somewhat disappointed. That just wasn't a good vocal at all. So my Charlie love seems to be losing steam with each performance. I completely agree with Mariah- there was something magical about him when he just stood there singing "Nature Boy" in his audition. But I think since Nikki started championing him, he kind of has to live up to this outlandish shtick that glorifies weirdness, so I guess that will be his thing now. They had to put him through.

Curtis is a diva. His attitude turned me off in the Hollywood rounds, but then he has an incredible set of pipes. The guy can hit notes and then some. So while I can't say that I like him, it would have been crazy if they didn't put him through. I think he will go far and then fall just short, like Joshua Ledet and Jacob Lusk.

The judges are all getting better. They improved from last night. Even Randy had some valid points. Mariah is also getting the hang of going last and finding something new to say. I like that she seems to talk to some of the contestants when the cameras are not rolling.

Edited by Mycenaeus, Feb 22, 2013 @ 1:17 AM.

[BogoGog24]

" I agree with the above statements that as hard as I stan for Charlie, tonight really wasn't his best performance, vocally-speaking. I'm surprised they didn't mention those couple of very squeaky notes he hit (or didn't hit). As for why he was shaking so much, he was doing that even after the performance and kind of interrupted the judges- I think he just had a lot of energy, which he rarely puts out into the open because of his shyness and the stage is where he lets it all out. I think he was just very into the song, he even said that he feels more comfortable on stage than anywhere else, so I think it was just energy and adrenaline that made him so excitable. I believe he was put through because he has been a frontrunner throughout the whole season and is already a clear audience favorite- his videos have some of the most views of any contestant and he already has more than 1,000 Twitter followers. The whole "awkward turtle" thing also has gained him a huge following, it's like Skylar Laine with her Skoutlaws, Jessica with the Blujays, the McCreerians and Alainers, etc. Plus he is interesting, unique, bizarre, and different- the show would be boring without him.

[jambalaya2]

Plus he is interesting, unique, bizarre, and different- the show would be boring without him.

To be honest, the show was kind of boring with him tonight. Hopefully next week will have some better, more interesting men.

[LutherMahoney]

Curtis has a good voice but I am waiting for him to get serious and stop being such an ass.

I don't think he's able to stop. He's phony and sleazy. And if you pronounce the word 'school' as 'skoo', you probably shouldn't be working in one.

If all else fails, Jimmy could always play Bo Duke in a Dukes Of Hazard remake.

I like Charlie but I had to leave the room for both his and Elijah's performances.

I might have enjoyed the show more if Randy had worn his Captain Kangaroo jacket again.

Nobody was great. I want someone to have a 'moment'. Not a manufactured one where the show pretends someone had one, but an Elliott Yamin "Moody's Mood For Love" moment where they come out of nowhere and absolutely blow you away.