Offical American Idol Discussion Thread

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Originally posted by gometros
That is your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I have to disagree. John's only technically bad performance was My Girl. Any other performances are subject to personal taste.

You are entitled to your opinion also, but My Girl wasn't the only bad night (not just my opinion, but the judges also) - how about Lately? (lacked emotion, pitchy, dull - RJ's rendition from Season 1 was much better - at least he put emotion into the song), Crocodile Rock? (pitchy, not on beat - completely horrible,) Mandy? (dull, no emotion). I believe this has a lot to do with him being so young, and in time, with coaching he could become the next Harry Conick, Jr., but he is way out of his league at this point in time. Everyone keeps saying he scored 100 in some other competition doing an aria (I think), but it this is not that type of competition. You shouldn't judge someone who did fine in another competition - concentrate on this one. All these kids will do well if they are talented enough - only time will tell.

 

[Nancy]

Originally posted by LOVETHATMOUSE
Everyone keeps saying he scored 100 in some other competition doing an aria (I think), but it this is not that type of competition. You shouldn't judge someone who did fine in another competition - concentrate on this one. All these kids will do well if they are talented enough - only time will tell.

Actually I'm the only one that said that...I was just tired of everyone dumping on him...it was just a statement to let people know he does have talent. And in this one I like him...all except the My Girl night. I didn't vote for him that night. My youngest DD did, but only 1 time...because he's the local boy.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Nancy
Actually I'm the only one that said that...I was just tired of everyone dumping on him...it was just a statement to let people know he does have talent. And in this one I like him...all except the My Girl night. I didn't vote for him that night. My youngest DD did, but only 1 time...because he's the local boy.

It is your opinion that he has talent. I don't think he is talented in the least whether he is 16 or 60. He cannot compare to
Harry Connick Jr. and I hate to even put those two in the same sentence. The kid is only still in the competition because either people feel sorry for him, people think he is cute, or for some strange reason a few think he can sing. I would love to see AI put a charge for each call made to vote and let's see how many vote for him.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Originally posted by Nancy
I didn't vote for him that night. My youngest DD did, but only 1 time...because he's the local boy.

And there's the problem! You don't vote for someone because he's a local kid - you vote for talent. One vote here, one vote there and they add up - which is why he is still in. Do you really think that he could be the next American Idol? You think he is so superior to the others? Or do people want him to win because he is so nice, cute and a local kid?

 

[shortbun]

Find me a trained professional musician that thinks John
deserves to be kept on the show because of his talent.
John sings much like many good high school performers and
that's nice but this isn't high school and there is much more
at stake than opening night of Brigadoon. John seems like a
nice guy. This is not "American Nice Guy", it's a competition for
a recording contract, a singing tour and some company is going
to put lots of money into promoting it. John isn't nearly as good
as the guy who won 2nd place in the first show-I can't even remember his name-but one should be at least that good to be
still in the competition. Well, anyway, John should go. Do me
a favor and vote for the best singer next week, NOT the cutest
boy or someone based on their having one acceptable performance.

 

[shortbun]

Find me a trained professional musician that thinks John
deserves to be kept on the show because of his talent.
John sings much like many good high school performers and
that's nice but this isn't high school and there is much more
at stake than opening night of Brigadoon. John seems like a
nice guy. This is not "American Nice Guy", it's a competition for
a recording contract, a singing tour and some company is going
to put lots of money into promoting it. John isn't nearly as good
as the guy who won 2nd place in the first show-I can't even remember his name-but one should be at least that good to be
still in the competition. Well, anyway, John should go. Do me
a favor and vote for the best singer next week, NOT the cutest
boy or someone based on their having one acceptable performance or being from your town or state.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Originally posted by shortbun
John isn't nearly as good as the guy who won 2nd place in the first show-I can't even remember his name-but one should be at least that good to be still in the competition. Well, anyway, John should go. Do me a favor and vote for the best singer next week, NOT the cutest boy or someone based on their having one acceptable performance or being from your town or state.

That was Justin Guarini - he was good, but his cd tanked, the company dropped him and he's got a new label and I think looking to release another CD?

 

[DemonLlama]

I'm not getting into the John debate about whether the kid has talent. Could it be, though, that

1. a number of people appreciate his distinctive style and would love to hear him do the old standards? When he does poorly in other genres, they push him through in the hopes he will get more exposure and a contract singing what he can sing very well.

and/ or

2. a number of people are reacting to last year's Rueben win by voting for the anti-Rueben in terms of genre and style?


What would work in creating a clearer picture of individual votes, versus the fanatical minority casting the majority of votes, would be for AI to establish an online voting system in addition to the phone lines and text messaging. In every case, there could only be one call/text/online vote per line or email address.

This would allow families with multiple tastes to log in with their own email addresses and cast their vote.

Could people create a million free email accounts in order to alter the voting results? Sure, but it would be a lot more work than hitting redial 1000 times and therefore probably less likely that scores of people would bother to do so.

(AI should take a page out of CBS's Survivor site and have a Fantasy AI. I'd play!)

 

[ShuisFan584]

Originally posted by shortbun
Do me a favor and vote for the best singer next week, NOT the cutest boy or someone based on their having one acceptable performance or being from your town or state.

That's exactly what I'm doing, which is why I'll be voting for John Stevens.

 

[Mskanga]

In my opinion John Stevens sounds the same in every song he sings in his genre, when he gets out of that , he's off key.
He has had more bad nights than good ones , unfortunately people are voting on popularity and not talent. Talent on AI is based on being able to sing all kinds of styles , JS is not one of the people who can do that.
I can't wait to see what he sings in latin/salsa night , I wonder what song he is going to butcher.

 

[Robinrs]

ShuisFan:

It's one thing when someone insults your taste and another when they insult everything that is YOU.

YOU were insulted so you had a right to come back swinging.

JS is taking a beating because so many people have a very strong opinion as to whether he should've left this week. It IS a competition and like in sports the fans can get somewhat "fanatic".

Believe me, if you think you're being hit at imagine how I felt last year being a Ruben fan the day AFTER the new AI was announced. The backlash was astounding! To this day I feel it. And the problem really lies in I like Clay AND JS... I don't see the need for so much nastiness.

I have to admit that it seems the download to get this amazing speed dial is technology's way of giving youth an edge. There is NO WAY this would've been discussed over the water cooler at my job... these things are uniquely for the young people who keep up with this stuff. Thank goodness Ryan and Paula outed it.

Instead of asking EVERYONE to get it I believe something should be done on their end. I still think there should be one vote per call, as the rule is for many contests, mostly all of the big ones online adhere to this rule. Big deal if there are differing opinions in the home, there are enough cellphones out there to make up for that. If there is a problem with this then let the families decide. Let's see how the voting is affected with that.

If they start charging I'm willing to bet that the parents without blocks will be paying up the ying yang to keep John Stevens on stage. I know I wouldn't pay a penny but kids who do not pay the bill will find a way to vote. This would become another thread!

 

[damo]

98% of the replies on this thread are about JS. What a bore the show would be without him. Nobody would really care. The producers are jumping up and down with the amount of "chatter" that last week's events have caused. If JS had left, people would have said, "Good he's gone, America finally got it right" and basically talk of American Idol would have subsided by Thursday at lunchtime. Now everybody can't wait to see what happens next.

Contraversy makes great entertainment.

 

[Tinkbell]

Originally posted by shortbun
Do me
a favor and vote for the best singer next week .

Agreed. However, Jennifer Hudson wasn't the best singer for me. Being booted off so early will probably help her. She's received more attention than any of the others so far. I think the AI producers love that John Stevens is still in the competition. I know some people who watch only to see what he will sing and if he gets voted off.

 

[J.Cooper]

American Idol is getting a LOT more attention from last weeks bottom 3. Now the rumor is Chicago, Jennifer Hudson's hometown was experiencing severe storms which caused a major blackout- no phones or electricity. Therefore no votes for Jennifer or the other 2 girls for that matter. This could've played a major part in the voting process this week. Jennifer will be on Entertainment Tonight at 7:30 est. on Monday, April 26th for an exclusive interview.

I still feel John Stevens is out of his league. Poor kids looks like a nervous cat. He needs to go. Remember the week he forgot his words. This is too much for him. Give him a few years, he'll mature by then. Next week will be interesting. I will definitely be casting my vote for the "best" singer.

 

[Robinrs]

Originally posted by J.Cooper
American Idol is getting a LOT more attention from last weeks bottom 3. Now the rumor is Chicago, Jennifer Hudson's hometown was experiencing severe storms which caused a major blackout- no phones or electricity. Therefore no votes for Jennifer or the other 2 girls for that matter. This could've played a major part in the voting process this week. Jennifer will be on Entertainment Tonight at 7:30 est. on Monday, April 26th for an exclusive interview.

I wonder if this mishap will cause her to be brought back??? Hmmmm....??

 

[avdeane]

I know everyone seems to be at odds about who should be still on or who certain people think should be off.

As much as the judges and Ryan tell the people that this is not a popularity contest and we should vote for the best talent, they are wrong! Case in point, Reuben and Clay...both great talent and when it came down to the wire, people had to pick which person they preferred!

The contestants are chosen because they do have talent. People vote for which talented person they Like the most! Everyone has different tastes so there is always going to be an argument over which person deserves the title. Obviously it would be a boring competition if all of the contestants sounded the same. Diversity is good for us and so, as much as many would like to say that one person doesn't deserve to be there over another, there are others who enjoy that person's performance, or their way of singing.

Also, there are many in the competition who have unique voices that won't sound good with certain venues. But we can see this with any music venue. If a country singer sings a pop song, it will most likely sound like a country song! But that doesn't mean that the song is bad or the singer can't sing.

Just my thoughts!

 

[avdeane]

In regards to the power outages, Ryan Seacrest said that he talked to the producers and the voting stands. He said that is part of having a live show.

 

[musicalSaranader]

Find me a trained professional musician that thinks John deserves to be kept on the show because of his talent.

One right here! I am a student of vocal music education and I think John has talent.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I agree with an earlier post that Jennifer has received much more attention by being voted off during a controversy than by hanging in there a few more weeks and then leaving quietly. She just gained notoriety as the contestant that "got robbed". Well bully for her -- I hope she makes the best of it!

As for John, I think they need to slip him a shot of whiskey before the next show (just kidding!). If he ever loses that deer in the headlights look and breaks out of his shell -- lookout America!!!

 

[musicalSaranader]

Originally posted by calypso*a*go-go
As for John, I think they need to slip him a shot of whiskey before the next show (just kidding!). If he ever loses that deer in the headlights look and breaks out of his shell -- lookout America!!!

Ditto!