American Idol

Drama! One of the contestants is getting kicked off tomorrow for hiding their criminal history. Warning don't hover over the link unless you want to be spoiled.

Whoa! Drama indeed.

Seems like they have a scandal exactly like this every year. Almost one might suspect that the producers don't screen people very closely so that they can have some drama later on.

Spoiler:

Not one of the ones I've been especially rooting for, but sad to see nonetheless.

Spoiler:

Good Lord, where did Joshua pull that out from? That's the biggest shocker to me since Constantine nailed "My Funny Valentine", and a far better performance than the one given by him.

I love Joshua so I was thrilled! Still, nothing he's sung on the show to date has topped his performance of "Jar of Hearts" (I know!) in the Hollywood rounds for me. Part of that was the surprise factor. I adore him though. How awkward was that thing with the crayfish (crawfish?) and the little girls from the audience who just stood there frozen while Ryan and Joshua dug in? I laughed so hard at that.

I hope Elise sticks around. Someone clearly told her (probably at gunpoint) to smile and be cheerful, and it did help. I just dig her voice, and I love "Let's Stay Together" so that certainly didn't hurt. At this point I could let Erika go though. She has yet to wow me.

Try as I might I cannot get excited about Deandre.

Despite the tepid reception from the judges I thought Jessica was really great, maybe because I didn't know every single note of the song like I did last time (I do KNOW the song though and it did seem like she was doing it a little differently).

I was SOOOOOO disappointed when someone suggested "Spider Webs" or some old No Doubt song for Shannon and she went with the most bland Mariah song EVAAAAAARRRR. (Then I was also extremely depressed realizing that this nearly six-foot person was a newborn when that song came out what feels like yesterday to me.) These people need to stop being so super boring. Also when they were throwing around ideas for Skylar that she could put a country twist on that would be awesome, and she was like "Nah, I'll just do Reba." (ETA: Whoops, it was Bonnie Raitt. Well, I wasn't listening, clearly.) And I like Hollie but Celine Dion, really? At this point I almost wish they would force them to do '70s or something.

You know, I listened to Jerome's reasoning and I thought it made logical sense, whatever you might think about his ethics: if he'd been honest up front, they actually SAID last night that they'd have had to let him go. By lying, there was a distant chance, however small, that he'd make it through. And he got pretty far.

Also, Idol was so obviously exploiting this for ratings that I don't think they have any kind of moral high ground.
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My vote went to Holly. I thought she hit it out of the park.

particle_person wrote:Also, Idol was so obviously exploiting this for ratings that I don't think they have any kind of moral high ground.

Seriously. That whole thing made me uncomfortable, because I was like, why am I watching this? Ryan seemed to be treating it like this unpleasant thing that haaaaaad to be videotaped and shown to the entire television audience of 40 million people. Although I am always happy to see Uncle Nigel.

So do you think they'll "surprise" not eliminate anyone tonight?

Instant Monkeys wrote:

particle_person wrote:Also, Idol was so obviously exploiting this for ratings that I don't think they have any kind of moral high ground.

Seriously. That whole thing made me uncomfortable, because I was like, why am I watching this? Ryan seemed to be treating it like this unpleasant thing that haaaaaad to be videotaped and shown to the entire television audience of 40 million people. Although I am always happy to see Uncle Nigel.

So do you think they'll "surprise" not eliminate anyone tonight?

They've done it before in similar circumstances, and I did notice that Ryan used the term "eligible for elimination" or some other weasel phrase rather than "will be sent home".

Maybe eligible for elimination refers to the save (are they bringing that back this year?) but I agree it's most likely no one is going home this week. The season is set up for thirteen finalists like last year, so they'd have to end it a week early if two people (Jermaine and lowest votegetter) were eliminated in one week.

Why so many covers? It was looking forward to more actual 80s and 90s songs but even oldies stations have fresher playlists than what we saw on Idol last night.

Arabella wrote:Maybe eligible for elimination refers to the save (are they bringing that back this year?) but I agree it's most likely no one is going home this week. The season is set up for thirteen finalists like last year, so they'd have to end it a week early if two people (Jermaine and lowest votegetter) were eliminated in one week.

So it looks like they are bringing back the save, but they chose not to use it. Made sense, as I had to check twice to remember the name of the person who was eliminated, and what she sang.

The season is still a week ahead of schedule so they'll have to use The Save at some point, even if only for the sake of it like they did in Season 8, and then only kick off one person afterwards instead of the typical double elimination.

Shannon sang the song that got her eliminated when she was trying for The Save. Last year they let them sing something else, which seems like a much better idea.

Lana Del Rey is going to be on next week. They taped her performance last night after the show because of "scheduling conflicts" *cough*sotheycouldautotuneit*cough*.

Colton's hair, it bothers me so much. I know they saved him for the final performance, but I didn't like it. What is up with those little squeaks in his voice?

I thought Hee Jun improved over last week, the tone of his voice is right up my alley, too bad he isn't very polished. LOVED Phillip Phillips, his style is growing on me. I hate that Black Crowes song he did last week, so glad it was Billy Joel this time.

It was spooky quiet during Holly's feedback. Also, if Jessica gets booted before the top 3, I think her meltdown will be epic. I am getting to love Elise; too bad she's more mature, she won't have the crazy, younger fans speed dialing for her. Erika's new look was nice. I am so over Joshua.

That was...actually a rather remarkable night, all things considered. Poor Hollie Cavanagh. Any night that the quality is so consistently high that even Heejun gets a standing O from the judges and you get mixed reviews has to be a bad night.

It was! I did think ol' Heejun was pretty darn good, and Joshua, and even Phil, and Elise was the best of everybody, man, I could have listened to that song over and over again. One of the judges' favorite things to say is "FINALLY, the [contestant] I know showed up tonight; finally America can see what you do!" They didn't say it for her, I don't think, but that's what it was with her tonight, for me. I have liked Elise from the beginning, but with this she was clearly in her element, way more than singing like a Whitney Houston song or a Billy Joel song. She was tremendous.

I like Hollie but she is so pitchy all the time and I have never felt that she's NOT pitchy. She always has some nice parts to her song, but she's never gotten through an entire song, for me, without making me cringe at some of her notes. Plus she picks THE MOST BORING SONGS OF ALL TIME, as I think I've mentioned. I do think Jessica is much stronger than she is. Skylar is great, but I have so little interest in her type of music that it's hard for me to tell if she's really boring and repetitive or that's just my reaction to the country music. Nothing she sings ever really registers with me.

I CONTINUE not to understand the point of Deandre. HE WAS SO PITCHY. JLo was literally begging people to vote for him. I hope when they watch it back they're like "Oh DEAR." Otherwise I can't understand why they were so excited about him. And I hope NO ONE votes for him. I would be so fine if he went home.

Colton is such a total yawner for me. I just don't think he's that interesting a singer.

O HAI I'M MAKING A POWERPOINT ABOUT BAUHAUS. And it's 4 in the morning. I HAVE HAD A LOT OF TEA. I'm not almost done either. I'm getting there, but not there. Groan. I think I'm going to go into work late tomorrow. It was nice having Idol on in the background while working -- I can zone in and out. For once I was really happy about it being two hours.

I agree that Elise was the standout last night, and I can see why they left her performance till the end. Along with Fantasia's "Summertime" (my gold standard) and a couple of other performances, that was easily one of the most impressive things that I've ever seen on the show.

Also agreed on Hollie, Colton, and DeAndre. Hollie certainly deserves her top ten spot, but it's about time for her to go home. Colton is dull as hell, though it's possible that I'm being influenced by my distaste for modern worship music. DeAndre? I'm not a fan of falsetto unless the singer can put some oomph into it. My current suspicion for the top two is Jessica and Philip, with Joshua and Elise as the dark horses in the race. I've know that there's a general thought that Jessica will get Pia'd, but she hasn't been in the bottom three even once if I recall correctly, and she strikes me as being able to project more personality into her performances than Pia did.

Finally, while I think that Hollie probably should go home, I'm wondering if Heejun didn't miscalculate just a tiny bit. It wouldn't surprise me if a number of people were voting for the "funny guy". While his performance last night was excellent, he decided to take things seriously on the one night that nearly everyone gave excellent performances, and without his signature humor, I'm wondering if he won't get lost in the crowd.

EDIT: Is it just me, or is this one of the strongest lineups that they've had in years? I've skipped a couple of seasons, so I can't really say.

Eris Rising wrote:Finally, while I think that Hollie probably should go home, I'm wondering if Heejun didn't miscalculate just a tiny bit. It wouldn't surprise me if a number of people were voting for the "funny guy". While his performance last night was excellent, he decided to take things seriously on the one night that nearly everyone gave excellent performances, and without his signature humor, I'm wondering if he won't get lost in the crowd.

Interesting. My first instinct is to say no, or not yet. I think he needed to turn the ship around after last week, because the mood on him was starting to turn. My feeling is that this week, going serious, and NAILING it (you know, nailing it as much as Heejun can do) was the right thing with the right amount of novelty. I have a feeling that his fan bloc will feel he's done a great thing and will vote. Where I would be concerned is if he KEEPS playing it only straight, because then I think the novelty will wear off for people and he'll lose votes.

However, there is a bit of a wild card with the fact that last night was so strong for so many people. If this were a middle-of-the-road week I'd say he's fine, no question. This week, it's possible it won't be enough, though I'm still guessing it will be.

My guess to go home is Hollie. As far as MY "arc" goes, I'm ready to lose Deandre, but as far as the voters' arc, I think he's good for another week or two.

And yeah, I think the lineup is above average this year. There was some chaff at the beginning as usual (Jeremy, oh lordy), but it seems getting to the "everyone left is actually pretty good" place happened earlier than usual.

I find Eric Benet's music so awful and boring, and I don't get the Deandre love (although I like him more as a personality as the weeks go on; he seems to have a sense of humor in there) so as soon as Deandre went with one of his songs, I was like, "Well, that's it for me." I hope he goes and Hollie gets another chance. I really LIKE her, but yeah, I don't know if she can hold her own. Then again, I am the only person in the world that thinks Phillip Phillips is awful and samey, so what do I know.

Heather wrote:I find Eric Benet's music so awful and boring, and I don't get the Deandre love (although I like him more as a personality as the weeks go on; he seems to have a sense of humor in there) so as soon as Deandre went with one of his songs, I was like, "Well, that's it for me." I hope he goes and Hollie gets another chance. I really LIKE her, but yeah, I don't know if she can hold her own. Then again, I am the only person in the world that thinks Phillip Phillips is awful and samey, so what do I know.

I don't think that he's necessarily awful, but I do think that people in previous seasons have done his shtick better. My current suspicions:

Who should be in the bottom three: DeAndre, Hollie, Colton

Who will be in the bottom three: DeAndre, Hollie, Heejun

Who should leave: DeAndre

Who will leave: Hollie

Heather wrote:I find Eric Benet's music so awful and boring, and I don't get the Deandre love (although I like him more as a personality as the weeks go on; he seems to have a sense of humor in there) so as soon as Deandre went with one of his songs, I was like, "Well, that's it for me." I hope he goes and Hollie gets another chance. I really LIKE her, but yeah, I don't know if she can hold her own. Then again, I am the only person in the world that thinks Phillip Phillips is awful and samey, so what do I know.

I agree with you about Phil Philips. He reminds me of a prettier version of Lee Dwyeze or whatever his name is. Or a funhouse mirror of Dave Mathews (but in a bad way). I feel like he does the same thing each week and the judges just fall over themselves loving it.

I like Deandre just because he's adorable. He can go at any time though and he can take Heejun with him. Both are on the tour, it's ok.

Hollie really needs to do something else. There's no oomph to her. It's ballad after ballad after ballad. And it's not even a certain type of ballad. She's not all country ballad or adult contemporary or even power ballad. If it's a slow song she's singing it.

Heather wrote:

Hollie really needs to do something else. There's no oomph to her. It's ballad after ballad after ballad. And it's not even a certain type of ballad. She's not all country ballad or adult contemporary or even power ballad. If it's a slow song she's singing it.

And that's just it. She's essentially the Kellie Pickler to Jessica's Carrie Underwood. If you have the same style as someone else in the competition, make sure that you're either doing it better, or that you have more crossover appeal. She's not doing either.

Yes! She has Jessica who also does ballads but she'll also do more uptempos and she wants to do them whereas I feel like Hollie will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into something that's not slow.

I think this season there are a lot of different styles present for once. Colton isn't just like Phil who isn't just like Joshua and so on and so on. But Jessica and Hollie are both fighting for the same fanbase almost. The same way Erika and Elise were sharing the same fanbase I think.

On that note, Skylar lucked out with the lack of serious country competition this year. She's still somehow my sentimental favorite despite the fact that I'm not a major country fan.

The theme is 1980s next week. I hope it's not just a bunch of power ballads (I like ballads, but this group likes them just a little too much).

Eris, you were right! It's for the best. I like Heejun, but he really just doesn't sing as well as the others do.

TiffanyNichelle, I was just thinking that last night -- that they actually did a good job picking people of different genres/styles/types this year. It does make for a nice varied show. But yeah, Hollie is sort of the piece that doesn't fit. I did think she was going to go home tonight, but I still think she'll go soon if she doesn't change something up and/or figure out her pitch issues. Because Jessica is better in every way.