PREVIOUSLY and FIRST OF ALL...
Michael Johns was booted last week. Shock & awe, indeed. Ryan alluded to the fact that the effects are still being felt as we speak, and indeed fans everywhere are preparing to sweat it out voting the full two hours in hopes of keeping their favorites in for one more week. Net result: whoever has the smallest fanbase will be out.
I would be surprised if the number of votes logged DID NOT show a decrease, taking into account the fact that some people simply cease voting altogether because no-one for whom they are willing to make the effort remains in the competition.
Ryan has finally been given the green light to say that Michael's fans felt he was safe without their help. He wasn't allowed to add that they proceeded to vote for those whom they knew to be in danger. I can't believe that people are in shock. It should not come as a shock. More like, "Oops." Because someone is always booted this way each season, the fans and the contestants need to bear in mind that just trying to hold steady with another helping of the same old, same old won't galvanize new people to vote for you AND it will lull some of your fanbase to think you're safe. They figure your "regular" fanbase will vote for you. That's when you find out that you don't actually have a big enough regular fanbase.
If you're still in this competition at this point, you need to be bringing something new and impressive with a view to expanding your fan base and earn the loyalty of people who've lost or are about to lose their favorite.
With that said, let's see how many people truly meet the challenge of singing Mariah Carey songs.
MARIAH WEEK
Mariah's cute but in the outfit she wore to greet the Kids her boobs looked particularly fake. She hates the "judging" thing. :rolleyes Ryan and the other judges josh Randy for having worked with Mariah. Zzzz.
Back to the Order of Most to Least.
1. Kristy Lee Cook chose 'Forever,' another less-known song. Mariah declared she liked how Kristy sang the song even more than the way she herself does it. Well. That's high praise indeed. Another lovely outfit Kristy has chosen too. Kristy has a way of making me believe she connects with the song's meaning. I liked this performance very much! Number one baby!!! Randy blah blah pitchy and he knows he cannot go against the David Archilizard pre-pimpage. Paula reckons Kristy could have a hit in the Country/Western world. Simon said he didn't get chills. It wasn't great he said. Fuck you Simon. Kristy rocks it and you know it. Paula argued and for once she was lucid enough for me to agree with her.
If SImon is going to tell me that Archilizard, the under-developed immature teen, is the one to beat, then Simon is off his rocker anyway. I'm very glad to see Kristy doing well. I liked her a lot in the auditions. I think she's developing into a very strong performer, with the ability to truly connect with the song. She's not just "singing" but performing. And I'm not a country music fan generally. Grades: 12, 11, 6, 6, 1, 1.
2. David Cook took "Always Be My Baby" and gave it the Cooking. Mariah thought he did something really different, and that the song could stand the test of time and the fact of a male singing it. I think he's put on weight. He's growing a beard for the competition, or just for this song for extra angst. I did quite like his performance, it had that sound we hear a lot, kind of post-grunge. A bit haunting. I reckon that's the kind of song that the more I hear it, the more I like it. Randy thought David C more than anyone is ready to make an album. Randy stood up and made a meal of doing so, pointing out that he hasn't stood up for anyone else this season until now. Paula called it a contender for a movie soundtrack. (Ooooh totally!) Simon said it's out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air. This is a sign of a great potential artist, someone who takes risks. David is pleased no end, because his brother who has brain cancer and was flown in a special medical plane is in the audience and we're finally shown where he's sitting. And the coolest part is that Ryan did not mention David's brother, so not everybody realized why David was so emotional. Grades: 3, 7, 1, 2, 7, 2.
3. Jason Castro was last to perform. He received valuable advice & pointers from Mariah, one of only a few actually shown doing so. Jason had his band onstage to play this week, while he was without an instrument. He sat on a stool and sang. This song showed his range, which is bigger than we thought it was! "I Don't Wanna Cry" is the title. It started off well, I thought, but got a little dull towards the end. Randy didn't love it, Paula booed Randy, who went on to say he thought he was at a luau. Paula wanted to be at that luau, and Simon agreed with ... Paula. "Maybe wasn't the best vocal, but it was a great performance." Simon added that the guys won the night. Oh shut up, Simon. Such a daft comment. I still hope Archilizard gets turfed in another shocker elimination. Grades: 7, 5, 5, 4, 2, 3.
4. Syesha Mercado chose "Vanishing." Uh OH. Good god. She realized she's going home this week, hasn't she? Mariah had nice things to say about her. That's a lovely dress Syesha chose. You could hear the parts of the song where Mariah would probably have gone into the stratosphere with her trademark high notes, but Syesha kept them closer to earth. Randy liked she's bold and he said she did a Good Job. I could hear those capital letters, couldn't you? Paula spent most of her time talking about how fab-oh Mariah is. After a long meander, Paula said it was unbelievably magical. Simon thought technically it was really good and wondered if it was smart to choose a song people didn't know. I actually think it was smart. It's harder for the judges to make The Comparison when they realize going in that the song is less well known. Grades: 6, 1, 3, 7, 4, 4.
5. Brooke White chose "Hero," a song Mariah tells us she wrote for Gloria Estefan. Mariah gave good advice from what we were shown (as opposed to Archilzard who told us he got good advice.) Brooke played piano for this one. I felt out of breath for her. Did she take a breath during that number? It was pretty good, but it felt a little too quick. Randy noticed something about the bridge and gave her a Pretty Good too. His Pretty Good gets initial caps and mine doesn't of course. Paula babbled about the unplugged version, then said she noticed the speeding up too. Alright - validation for me, eh. Simon didn't think Brooke had much choice. What does he mean? Was she like, the last person to choose a song? Simon then produced a new analogy about ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun. Hey! That's how I feel about Archilizard. He is a big smiling bun without sesame seeds. Anyway, Simon's verdict was Brooke's voice isn't strong enough to carry the song. Randy & Paula took the hamburger analogy and ran with it, forcing Simon to amend his allegation of missing meat to missing condiments, relish, tomato. Whatever. Brooke is losing me as a fan. I'm more mesmerized by her ever-thinning stick arms, and worried that she'll run out of energy mid-song and keel over. Grades: 6, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5. She doesn't have long to go before she's out.
6. Carly Smithson told Ryan how emotional she was last week. This week has been boring without him (meaning Michael Johns, not Ryan!) Uh oh. She means that everyone felt let down without him to crack jokes. Mariah exuded excitement to meet Carly, who nabbed "Without You" for her song this evening. How was it Carly's dream come true to meet Mariah? As for the song, it fell flat for me. She didn't do enough verses, too many repetitions of the chorus. Most importantly I didn't feel like she really connected with the emotion of the song. She is our object lesson this week. She failed to picture someone whom she was about to have to live without. That's all she needed to do. Perhaps she has no one to whom she feels close enough that to live without him or her would be enough to galvanize the emotion in the song. It's actually not Mariah's version that's in most of our heads, but Nilsson's. Randy didn't like the beginning but once she hit the power notes, it was alright. Paula struggled to not be negative. Simon wanted to hear her sing this song, but didn't think she pulled it off. She was holding herself back. She looked happy giving her numbers, so if she goes she goes, I guess. I'm kind of over her after that performance. That song requires raw pain underneath it, like someone is dying, not just leaving the house for a week. Grades: 4, 2, 7, 1, 6, 6. She's in danger this week for sure.
7. David A went first. He chose "When You Believe." His voice is so forgettable because he has no timbre. He did hit a nice high note near the end and then a nice low note. Two notes! He's just basically too young to do justice to great songs; at least with the meh boring songs he picks it's easier to tune out. Randy was worried blah blah, but he reckoned David can sing anything. Then Randy exploded all over the judges' table. Paula smiled a lot. Simon thought David performed very well. All Simon needed was a bowl of treats to toss at Archi as if to a performing seal.
Simon also took the opportunity to talk about how much easier of a time he figured the guys would have since they wouldn't be so readily compared to Mariah as the girls. As far as I'm concerned, Archi earned bottom feeder status tonight with his uber-boring toneless voice. There were two notes right at the end that sounded interesting. I'll say this: if he can somehow change his whole voice to include lots more interesting notes, then I'll see about giving him a higher grade. Until then, two good notes but all the rest boring notes is the opposite of good overall. Grades: 9, 4, 10, 9, 8, 7.
BOTTOM 3 PREDICTIONS
Realistically, I most want to see Brooke leave. Even though she's rated at 5 again this week, she's never been higher than a 4 either. I did love Carly's performance one week, and those two notes of Archilizard have me intrigued. Is he going to grow up overnight? I'm interested in spite of myself.
Carly and Syesha are most likely to end up in the Bottom 3 if the judges were to have anything to say about it. I would absolutely love it if one of these three ladies wasn't in the B3 and instead Archi was.
But for now, I'll call it that Carly leaves. Please feel free to add your votes!
Thanks for reading! See you all next time!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season in the S16 forum, here.
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
Michael Johns was booted last week. Shock & awe, indeed. Ryan alluded to the fact that the effects are still being felt as we speak, and indeed fans everywhere are preparing to sweat it out voting the full two hours in hopes of keeping their favorites in for one more week. Net result: whoever has the smallest fanbase will be out.
I would be surprised if the number of votes logged DID NOT show a decrease, taking into account the fact that some people simply cease voting altogether because no-one for whom they are willing to make the effort remains in the competition.
Ryan has finally been given the green light to say that Michael's fans felt he was safe without their help. He wasn't allowed to add that they proceeded to vote for those whom they knew to be in danger. I can't believe that people are in shock. It should not come as a shock. More like, "Oops." Because someone is always booted this way each season, the fans and the contestants need to bear in mind that just trying to hold steady with another helping of the same old, same old won't galvanize new people to vote for you AND it will lull some of your fanbase to think you're safe. They figure your "regular" fanbase will vote for you. That's when you find out that you don't actually have a big enough regular fanbase.
If you're still in this competition at this point, you need to be bringing something new and impressive with a view to expanding your fan base and earn the loyalty of people who've lost or are about to lose their favorite.
With that said, let's see how many people truly meet the challenge of singing Mariah Carey songs.
MARIAH WEEK
Mariah's cute but in the outfit she wore to greet the Kids her boobs looked particularly fake. She hates the "judging" thing. :rolleyes Ryan and the other judges josh Randy for having worked with Mariah. Zzzz.
Back to the Order of Most to Least.
1. Kristy Lee Cook chose 'Forever,' another less-known song. Mariah declared she liked how Kristy sang the song even more than the way she herself does it. Well. That's high praise indeed. Another lovely outfit Kristy has chosen too. Kristy has a way of making me believe she connects with the song's meaning. I liked this performance very much! Number one baby!!! Randy blah blah pitchy and he knows he cannot go against the David Archilizard pre-pimpage. Paula reckons Kristy could have a hit in the Country/Western world. Simon said he didn't get chills. It wasn't great he said. Fuck you Simon. Kristy rocks it and you know it. Paula argued and for once she was lucid enough for me to agree with her.
If SImon is going to tell me that Archilizard, the under-developed immature teen, is the one to beat, then Simon is off his rocker anyway. I'm very glad to see Kristy doing well. I liked her a lot in the auditions. I think she's developing into a very strong performer, with the ability to truly connect with the song. She's not just "singing" but performing. And I'm not a country music fan generally. Grades: 12, 11, 6, 6, 1, 1.
2. David Cook took "Always Be My Baby" and gave it the Cooking. Mariah thought he did something really different, and that the song could stand the test of time and the fact of a male singing it. I think he's put on weight. He's growing a beard for the competition, or just for this song for extra angst. I did quite like his performance, it had that sound we hear a lot, kind of post-grunge. A bit haunting. I reckon that's the kind of song that the more I hear it, the more I like it. Randy thought David C more than anyone is ready to make an album. Randy stood up and made a meal of doing so, pointing out that he hasn't stood up for anyone else this season until now. Paula called it a contender for a movie soundtrack. (Ooooh totally!) Simon said it's out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air. This is a sign of a great potential artist, someone who takes risks. David is pleased no end, because his brother who has brain cancer and was flown in a special medical plane is in the audience and we're finally shown where he's sitting. And the coolest part is that Ryan did not mention David's brother, so not everybody realized why David was so emotional. Grades: 3, 7, 1, 2, 7, 2.
3. Jason Castro was last to perform. He received valuable advice & pointers from Mariah, one of only a few actually shown doing so. Jason had his band onstage to play this week, while he was without an instrument. He sat on a stool and sang. This song showed his range, which is bigger than we thought it was! "I Don't Wanna Cry" is the title. It started off well, I thought, but got a little dull towards the end. Randy didn't love it, Paula booed Randy, who went on to say he thought he was at a luau. Paula wanted to be at that luau, and Simon agreed with ... Paula. "Maybe wasn't the best vocal, but it was a great performance." Simon added that the guys won the night. Oh shut up, Simon. Such a daft comment. I still hope Archilizard gets turfed in another shocker elimination. Grades: 7, 5, 5, 4, 2, 3.
4. Syesha Mercado chose "Vanishing." Uh OH. Good god. She realized she's going home this week, hasn't she? Mariah had nice things to say about her. That's a lovely dress Syesha chose. You could hear the parts of the song where Mariah would probably have gone into the stratosphere with her trademark high notes, but Syesha kept them closer to earth. Randy liked she's bold and he said she did a Good Job. I could hear those capital letters, couldn't you? Paula spent most of her time talking about how fab-oh Mariah is. After a long meander, Paula said it was unbelievably magical. Simon thought technically it was really good and wondered if it was smart to choose a song people didn't know. I actually think it was smart. It's harder for the judges to make The Comparison when they realize going in that the song is less well known. Grades: 6, 1, 3, 7, 4, 4.
5. Brooke White chose "Hero," a song Mariah tells us she wrote for Gloria Estefan. Mariah gave good advice from what we were shown (as opposed to Archilzard who told us he got good advice.) Brooke played piano for this one. I felt out of breath for her. Did she take a breath during that number? It was pretty good, but it felt a little too quick. Randy noticed something about the bridge and gave her a Pretty Good too. His Pretty Good gets initial caps and mine doesn't of course. Paula babbled about the unplugged version, then said she noticed the speeding up too. Alright - validation for me, eh. Simon didn't think Brooke had much choice. What does he mean? Was she like, the last person to choose a song? Simon then produced a new analogy about ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun. Hey! That's how I feel about Archilizard. He is a big smiling bun without sesame seeds. Anyway, Simon's verdict was Brooke's voice isn't strong enough to carry the song. Randy & Paula took the hamburger analogy and ran with it, forcing Simon to amend his allegation of missing meat to missing condiments, relish, tomato. Whatever. Brooke is losing me as a fan. I'm more mesmerized by her ever-thinning stick arms, and worried that she'll run out of energy mid-song and keel over. Grades: 6, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5. She doesn't have long to go before she's out.
6. Carly Smithson told Ryan how emotional she was last week. This week has been boring without him (meaning Michael Johns, not Ryan!) Uh oh. She means that everyone felt let down without him to crack jokes. Mariah exuded excitement to meet Carly, who nabbed "Without You" for her song this evening. How was it Carly's dream come true to meet Mariah? As for the song, it fell flat for me. She didn't do enough verses, too many repetitions of the chorus. Most importantly I didn't feel like she really connected with the emotion of the song. She is our object lesson this week. She failed to picture someone whom she was about to have to live without. That's all she needed to do. Perhaps she has no one to whom she feels close enough that to live without him or her would be enough to galvanize the emotion in the song. It's actually not Mariah's version that's in most of our heads, but Nilsson's. Randy didn't like the beginning but once she hit the power notes, it was alright. Paula struggled to not be negative. Simon wanted to hear her sing this song, but didn't think she pulled it off. She was holding herself back. She looked happy giving her numbers, so if she goes she goes, I guess. I'm kind of over her after that performance. That song requires raw pain underneath it, like someone is dying, not just leaving the house for a week. Grades: 4, 2, 7, 1, 6, 6. She's in danger this week for sure.
7. David A went first. He chose "When You Believe." His voice is so forgettable because he has no timbre. He did hit a nice high note near the end and then a nice low note. Two notes! He's just basically too young to do justice to great songs; at least with the meh boring songs he picks it's easier to tune out. Randy was worried blah blah, but he reckoned David can sing anything. Then Randy exploded all over the judges' table. Paula smiled a lot. Simon thought David performed very well. All Simon needed was a bowl of treats to toss at Archi as if to a performing seal.
Simon also took the opportunity to talk about how much easier of a time he figured the guys would have since they wouldn't be so readily compared to Mariah as the girls. As far as I'm concerned, Archi earned bottom feeder status tonight with his uber-boring toneless voice. There were two notes right at the end that sounded interesting. I'll say this: if he can somehow change his whole voice to include lots more interesting notes, then I'll see about giving him a higher grade. Until then, two good notes but all the rest boring notes is the opposite of good overall. Grades: 9, 4, 10, 9, 8, 7.
BOTTOM 3 PREDICTIONS
Realistically, I most want to see Brooke leave. Even though she's rated at 5 again this week, she's never been higher than a 4 either. I did love Carly's performance one week, and those two notes of Archilizard have me intrigued. Is he going to grow up overnight? I'm interested in spite of myself.
Carly and Syesha are most likely to end up in the Bottom 3 if the judges were to have anything to say about it. I would absolutely love it if one of these three ladies wasn't in the B3 and instead Archi was.
But for now, I'll call it that Carly leaves. Please feel free to add your votes!
Thanks for reading! See you all next time!!
* * *
Fans of Survivor - enjoy my weekly essay on the Half-Ass Season in the S16 forum, here.
Check out Sir Links A Lot American Idol for more articles and recaps for this show.
