American Idol, Season 5 **Official Discussion Thread**

[SC Minnie]

I agree. I'm from NC and I'm mortified everytime she opens her mouth! I believe she personifies what most people think of Southerners. She is from Albemarle, which is about an hour from Charlotte (where I live). Albemarle is not *that* far out in the country.

We do have salmon here, and even calamari and spinach salad!

While you are correct, I know many people, family included , that have never tried or wouldn't even know what those things were. They are born in small town, go to school there, and get a job at the local mill and never leave. DH feels like he is in another country when he is around them.

I liked Kellie and thought she did better last night than any other performace I have seen. She seemed much more confident.

Didn't care for Ayla, Melissa, or Kinnik last night. Paris gets on my nerves. She just sings the songs she doesn't feel them. When she sang Midnight train to Ga she soo go on my nerves. This is a love song and she was smilling and jumping around smiling. Just didn't sell the song IMO. Katherine hasn't showed that 'wow' factor yet. She did well last night but did not blow me away. Mandisa blew them away though. I am wondering if she can carry off more than one style of singing when they get to that point. Will be interesting to see.

 

[phisigprincess]

I think the best part of the entire show was at the end of Ayla's performance when Ryan stood next to her! She looked like a giant!! It was so disproportionate I was laughing out loud! Ryan is a small, small man.

 

[dturner]

Is it just me or are the girls getting worse each week instead of better???

The only time I smiled was when Katherine made mention of her ties to the Boston Conservatory and mentioned Constantine and the smoldering stare - she got votes from me for that.

I thought Mandissa was the best of the night as always.

Going home: Kinnick and it's a toss up between Melissa/Ayla

 

[MrsMud]

Which guy has a better voice than Mandisa? :-?

IMO, Chris and probably Elliott. I do love Mandisa and think she is the best of the girls, but overall I think the guys are MUCH stronger than the girls this year.

 

[Bravosntha2g]

I think Mandisa is the best of the girls, but her genre is completely dead right now (and played out). It would be a waste for her to win. Kellie is annoying, overly obnoxious, and plays up the southern belle thing way too much. Ayla is sounds very forced, is boring and is one of the worst left. I think Paris is my favorite girl, but she doesn't come close to matching Taylor (#1), Elliott (#2), or Chris (#3).

I think the top three are all guys. I really want Taylor to win, Chris is good but I know the music he would produce would be overproduced and as bad as what Bo has put out. We really need some soulful male vocalists right now because Boys II Men and Brian McKnight have faded to oblivion, Elliott could fill that void.

 

[Bravosntha2g]

I agree with Simon that Kellie may be more entertaining than Carrie. They're both terrible in two different ways. Carrie is just your run of the mill, throwaway garbage lite country pop that has ruined that genre. Kellie is an example of just one of the fakest people you will ever see, but she's not boring.

 

[Figment22]

A MINX?!! What is Simon smoking? And than Kellie thought he said MINK!

My 16 year old son heard that and said "We've got another Jessica Simpson here."

8. Kelly – oh no here comes Kelly to butcher one of my favorite songs! But wait, she actually sings it pretty well! I’m impressed. Until she says salmon…who in this day and age, has never tried salmon?

I guess the same person who's never tried a spinich salad or kaal-a-maree!


The contestant who keeps disappointing me is Paris Bennett. When I saw her at the original audition singing Billie Holiday, I thought WOW, this girl is amazing. In the three weeks we've been able to vote, I haven't seen that girl at all.

Lisa Tucker has arguably the best voice of all the girls, but she hasn't chosen a good song yet.

Mandisa is awesome! I wondered how she'd do with "I'm Every Woman". I remembered that Vonzell did a good job with the song last season, which isn't an easy song to sing. Mandisa just blew it right out of the water!!
Not that this would ever happen but I would love to see a duet with Mandisa and Taylor Hicks of "On My Own" with Mandisa singing the Patti LaBelle part and Taylor doing the Michael McDonald part. That would be just perfect.

Bring on the guys!

 

[gometros]

Okay the site is DialIdol.com - don't click the link if you don't want any form of spoiler. While they can't guarantee accuracy since statistics have a 3 point spread one way or the other, you can guarantee the 2 going will be in the bottom 3 or 4. And right now the bottom 4 has some surprises in it!

Quite frankly, I'm not surprised. Paris has dropped the "aw shucks, I'm so lucky to be here" attitude and has lost the spark we saw earlier on. And Simon is right, both she and Lisa are singing songs that are way too old for them. Kinnick is the one sure to go, based on here being in the bottom three last week and her performance last night, but for the life of me, I'm not sure who will go with her. I do have the funny feeling it will be Paris.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

I totally disagree with Simon. I think Carrie has a great voice. I also think Ayla sounds good. Last night was not her best but she has a great voice. Lisa also has great vocals but chooses bad songs. I really like Chris from the guys. I am hoping he wins.

 

[kesha]

Quite frankly, I'm not surprised. Paris has dropped the "aw shucks, I'm so lucky to be here" attitude and has lost the spark we saw earlier on. And Simon is right, both she and Lisa are singing songs that are way too old for them. Kinnick is the one sure to go, based on here being in the bottom three last week and her performance last night, but for the life of me, I'm not sure who will go with her. I do have the funny feeling it will be Paris.

I also feel it will be Kinnick but I don't think it will be Paris this week. I think Ayla can sing but last night was not her night. I do have to say WOW to Mandisa. That lady can sing!

 

[Robinrs]

I totally disagree with Simon. I think Carrie has a great voice.

I don't think he was talking about her voice, it's just HER. Even though I'd rather stab my eyes out to deal with Kellie this entire season I like her MUCH better than Carrie.

 

[damo]

Which guy has a better voice than Mandisa? :-?

Until I hear Mandisa sing a song that is technically as difficult as Elliot's song last week, I can't tell. So far, Mandisa has made excellent song choices for her voice. They have all been performance songs with simple intervals and timing. She is an excellent performer but her songs have not been difficult to sing. I find her yelling at times instead of singing.

Elliot's song last week was extremely technically difficult and he pulled it off wonderfully without yelling. So, technically, I would have to say that he has exhibited the most talent of the bunch but just because the others have chosen quite technically simple songs.

If an amateur golfer continually breaks par on his simple little home course, should we say he is the best golfer out there? Until he tries the tough courses, we can't compare.

 

[4GBLC]

Carrie is just your run of the mill, throwaway garbage lite country pop that has ruined that genre.

Oh, is that the reason her CD was number 1 for over 6 weeks?

 

[nliedel]

I figured out why I like Mandisa. She is the only female that looks like she id out there to entertain because it's in her blood. She seems to really love the audience the whole "get up and sing because you have to, it's in your soul" rather than to win a contest. She looked like she was having fun last night. Really like it did not matter what anyone said she was there to entertain. I liked that about her.

 

[Poohbear123]

BORE me to death! Except for Mandisa, I can root for her, Paris is not as good as I thought she was. BRING ON THE GUYS!!!!!

 

[damo]

The spoilers look very exciting for the guys!!! I can't wait to hear Chris since I love that song. I don't think I've even heard the song Ace is going to sing. Elliot's looks like a good choice again, too. I wonder if Kevin can pull that song off, though. It is quite the departure from his norm. I am glad that they are doing a good job on song choices. Much more current and popular songs than the girls.

I wish we knew what Bucky is singing.

 

[Robinrs]

Oh, is that the reason her CD was number 1 for over 6 weeks?

There is no accounting for taste. There have been LOTS of number ones in every genre and part of life that I didn't care for. I just contend that there are more of THEM than of ME...

 

[Caropooh]

I'm a MINK!

who ate SAL-mon for the 1st time!

 

[wvrevy]

Ok, since the gloves appear to be off, I thought I'd post my unvarnished opinions of last night's performances:

Paris: Not sure what happened with her, but she hasn't come close to living up to the potential she showed in her initial audition. She's turned into Fantasia with less talent, but definitely cuter.

Lisa: Sorry, but those of you saying she is "boring" must not have much of an ear for music outside your own preferred genre. She's got an incredible voice, and is about the only one on the show to not have a note out of key during her performance. One of only two of the girls I'd even consider buying an album from.

Melissa: Sorry, but Simon is right. She is a decent performer, but definitely not in the class of the top 5 or 6 girls left. I like the "husky" voice, but can't get over the fact that she reminds me of someone that just escaped the wet t-shirt circuit.

Kinnik: Is anyone really certain that this isn't actually a female impersonator that snuck into the competition? She looks an awful lot like Dave Chappelle in drag. Oh, and the voice won't cut it, either.

Katherine: This would be the other girl whose CD I would purchase. Tremendous voice, and she's cute as hell, which, let's face it, doesn't hurt. I also think she's about as genuinely likable (pronounce "like-able", not...) as anyone I've seen in the competition's history.

Ayla: She's definitely un-polished, but she's got the pipes to compete. Her version of "Reflection" the first week is still one of the best performances of the year, so far.

Mandisa: Not a huge fan of the type of music she would sing, but she's still pretty good. The weight thing is only a problem if she lets it become one, and she seems to big of a person (no pun intended) to allow that to happen. She's got a tremendous personality, and I could certainly see her going far in this competition (but stay AWAY from the country stuff )

Kellie: Ok, for those of you that are saying she is so "fake", I'll personally guarantee you've never been to rural North Carolina (or many really rural places at all, for that matter). And yes, she is really likable (pronounce it however you'd like). But her performances to date haven't been nearly as good as a couple of the other girls, and that takes her down a few pegs, in my eyes. She doesn't deserve to get through on personality alone, but she's good enough to make it to the final 12, even without it.

Who should go home:
Melissa - Rockin' bod with no voice to match.
Kinnick - She's no Rick James, $#@%!

 

[dturner]

The spoilers look very exciting for the guys!!! I can't wait to hear Chris since I love that song. I don't think I've even heard the song Ace is going to sing. Elliot's looks like a good choice again, too. I wonder if Kevin can pull that song off, though. It is quite the departure from his norm. I am glad that they are doing a good job on song choices. Much more current and popular songs than the girls.

I wish we knew what Bucky is singing.

Yes they do look exciting - I just wish we knew what Bucky is singing, he's really come along the last couple of weeks, I hope he does well tonight.

Ace - I don't think I know that song either and the artist made me scratch my head - what's he thinking???

Chris - I can't wait to hear what he does to this song - should be good!!! no, should be GREAT!!!!