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American Idol Season 13 running thread

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Gator, Jan 24, 2014.

  1. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Don't want to say I called it - but I called it.
    http://dudesreviewidol.com/2014/02/26/first-out-kristen-oconnor/
     
  2. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    No real loss with Kristen O'Connor. And glad to see MK in the bottom three, although after all these years I still don't know if that means lowest three vote totals, or whether they just pick people randomly for the drama.
     
  3. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    I was pissed MK didn't get out, only because it would have been hilarious to see the judges use the save in Week 1.
     
  4. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Tonight was brutal.
    http://dudesreviewidol.com/2014/03/05/american-idol-top-12-safety-dance/
     
  5. Amy

    Amy Well-Known Member

    Based on the few I saw, describing it as brutal is being too kind.

    I thought MK was going to either cry or run off the stage mid-song.

    I disagree with you on Malaya. She was earnest and tried hard which I guess was enough to seem good last night, but listen to Tamela Mann's version and see what you think about Malaya's performance.

    The other ones I saw were boring to bad.
     
  6. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    My problem with Malaya wasn't her performance as much as it was her song selection. The show is a competition and it's not a good way to get white people and idiots (like me) to vote for her.
     
  7. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    This. I listen to the Steve Harvey Morning Show on my way to work and I'm almost guaranteed to get a Kirk Franklin or Mary Mary song in that 50 minutes. One day, they had Mann on the show and they played "Take Me to the King" and I almost started crying. I don't believe in God, I am not in any way spiritual, but I'll be damned if that song didn't hit me right in the gut.
     
  8. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    I've liked C.J. Harris from the start and think he may wind up as the next American Idol. This latest wasn't his best performance -- like Harry Connick Jr., I wasn't overly impressed with anybody last night -- but Harris has a warm, rich voice that I think will carry the day if he can have a couple of powerful performances in the coming weeks.

    I agree with the judges that Sam Woolf needs to show more, but I also have liked him.

    And all along, I've wondered what MK is doing there, and I'm with others that she might just be an obvious token representative for the gay community. But talent-wise, she doesn't belong there. Not that she has no talent. But she also has no chance of winning, and that's really starting to show. Even she must know it, too, and I think that may even be why she's performed as weakly as she has the last couple of times.

    The judges were right in their parting words last night. This is a competition and the contestants need to start realizing it and performing as if they know it. There need to be some powerful performances -- some breakout, show-stopping performances-- pretty soon, or else this is just going to be a weak season in spite of the good judges' panel and their critiques/feedback.
     
  9. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    The show stopping performances are only needed for those in serious trouble - Alex, Caleb, CJ and Ben (and maybe Dexter) can put it into cruise control. A risky performance is only going to endanger their chances of surviving. Once you get Top 7, that's when you do something wild.
    Week 1 you go risky. If you're in good standing, cruise control. It's how the good ones have done well on the show.
     
  10. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    Clearly American Idol is running out of the themes, although I guess it would be tough to come up with 13 different ideas. One week after the “This is Me” theme, contestants had to sing a song that reminds them of “Home.” After some of the performance, that's exactly where they're headed.

    Jena Irene: Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
    Gina picked up the pace here a bit after last week's Coldplay song. I enjoyed it, but only because I didn't un-enjoy it. She seems to be a middle-of-the-pack contestant at this point, and if she keeps making the right song choices, she should stay there.

    Alex Preston: I Don't Wanna Be by Gavin DeGraw
    My main man Alex took a step back this week, but it won't hurt him this early in the compeition. Loved the arrangement of this song at the start, and he should have stuck with the distorted guitar alone throughout. Maybe just a small bit of percussion, but that's it. More importantly, the people who are dressing this kid need to stop. An electric blue suit? And that hair? Who are you trying to appeal to? This kid is shy. That's almost what is appealing about him. Don't put him in an electric blue suit and do his hair up.

    Jessica Meuse: White Flag by Dido
    I liked this a lot more than the judges did, only because I enjoy her voice very much. To me, she has the best tone (and some of the best range) in the competition. She's obviously a seasoned performer who seems comfortable. She needs to dump that hair, though. Horrible.

    Dexter Roberts: Lucky Man by Montgomery Gentry
    I would have preferred the version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. OK, this was good, but clearly I don't get country music. Everything sounds the same. I could turn on a country station right now and hear that same song 15 times in a row. Three chords, a bridge where the vocals come to a crescendo and a slide guitar. And you have a country hit. It helps if you mention America, beer, soldiers, cancer, hunting/fishing, that girl who broke your heart or how awesome football is in your hometown.

    Emily Piriz: “Let's Get Loud by Jennifer Lopez
    Singing a song by Jennfer Lopez in front of Jennifer Lopez is genius. Everyone seems to love Jennifer Lopez, so the natural reaction would be a love a cover version. For me, it was OK. Nothing great. And is it me or is this the forgotten contestant? Before last night, when they mentioned she is from Miami, I really didn't know much about Emily. They haven't done any extended interviews with family and friends. She's almost an afterthought.

    Caleb Johnson: Working Man by Rush
    After rocking a song nobody had ever heard last week, Caleb completely dominated a song by a band best known for its legion of fans who are also master Dungeons and Dragons players. His range continues to soar, and he is really the only one of the 12 remaining contestants who seem to be having fun on stage. It's like he's back in his North Carolina town, jamming at a local dive bar. Instead, he's performing before 3,000 people, not to mentions millions at home, and with some of the best musicians in the business. But who can tell?

    MK Nobilette: Drops of Jupiter by Train
    This had a “It's New Year's Eve, I've had too much to drink and I'm going to slur this song because it's THE GREATEST SONG IN THE WORLD!!” feel to it. While it was better than her past performances, Harry nailed it when he said she doesn't want to be there. She has never seemed comfortable, which is unfortunate because she took that coveted spot from another deserving contest with a pulse.

    CJ Harrris: Waiting on the World to Change
    I don't listen to a lot of John Mayer, but I know what his voice sounds like and this seemed like a perfect fit for CJ, who needed a lift after last week's underwhelming performance. Here's the issue with CJ sticking around: he doesn't have a real connection to a particular group. He's black but sings a wide variety of different music. He's a bit old for the teenie-poppers to be voting for him and there's another contestant from Alabama who does straight country. So that's certainly not helping his cause. Love this guy, but I think his time is running short.

    Sam Woolfe: Just One by Blind Pilot.
    Don't know much Blind Pilot, but it just seems like a band I'd hate. Don't know why. Still, this was pretty good. Smart move getting all cozy with the ladies in the front row, but he still needs to find the camera from time to time. He's always looking down. Don't got all Sanjaya, but let us know that you're there. When Keith said he'll be around next week “guaranteed,” he was right.

    Malaya Watson: Take Me to the King by Tamela Mann
    After being sent to the bottom three last week, Malaya comes back strong. Real strong. It starts a little shaky at the piano, but she gets up and just belts the final chorus three times, showing off her really big range. Hopefully the performance was enough to keep her out of the bottom three.

    Ben Briley: Turning Home by Davil Nail
    Have you ever noticed something about someone, and that from that point forward, that's all you can think about when you see him or her? That's the case with Ben Briley. When he hits a big not, his mouth kicks to the side like he's just had a stroke. It bugs me. Also, his singing voice is OK, but his talking voice doesn't fit his body. He's 6-foot, 225 pounds but sounds like Dennis the Menace.

    Majesty Rose: Fix You by Coldplay
    I like this girl. I think she has flair and has style and a voice to boot. My wife does not agree. I guess that's the best part about this show. You have the people you like (who you're certain has the most talent) and the people you don't (who shouldn't even be on the show). I wonder if the judges, deep down, feel the same. I think it's just human nature to have biases.

    One last point: What is with this 50 votes per person per device? I'm glad governmental elections aren't decided this way. I get that the show is trying to appeal to a younger audience, but it's really taking the fun out of it for people who don't watch the show while glued to Twitter (although the Facebook votes they show have an extraordinary amount of women who appear to be in their late 40s and early 50s).

    My wife used to vote once by calling the number. If she did that today, it would be utterly worthless after some 15-year-old kid swallows up her vote by voting 50 times in all of 5 seconds online.

    Bottom three: MK Nobilette, CJ Harris, Jena Irene.

    Goes home: MK Nobilette.
     
  11. MTM

    MTM Well-Known Member

    Is it just me, or has this season become really boring?

    There are a bunch of good singers -- a few better than others -- but no standouts.

    I guess there's a reason no one has commented on this thread in almost a month and we haven't even turned page 1 yet.
     
  12. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    I haven't been bored by this season, although you're right in that there aren't as many real standouts as there have been in some past seasons.

    I'll also say that I'm shocked that the judges used the save on Sam last night, and not Majesty last week. I thought Majesty going was, well, a travesty, relatively speaking, and was just a bad result of who/how many happened to vote. She was someone I actually thought had a real possibility of winning the whole thing.

    Sam, on the other hand, has a nice-but-not great voice and range but is sorely lacking in charisma and stage presence and needs to develop as a performer. His "American Idol-ness," should it occur, would be more a result of his "teen idol-ness" quotient than anything else.

    My picks to win at this point would be either, Malaya or Jena, with C.J. having an outside chance.
     
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