"American Idol" 2008 Discussion

[blackcauldron85]

I'm late in posting my thoughts, but here they are:

Ramiele- She's awesome, but a little pitchy.

Jason- Yay acousticness! He's in his element.

Syesha- She's back! What a great performance! The best so far!

Chikezie- Very nice!

Brooke- I love this song, so her version, to me, can't hold a candle to the original, but it was alright. It was good.

Michael- Good, but a little predictable. Great song choices. Not terrific, but good.

Carly- Very nice! Amazing song choice! Best of the night, IMO.

David A.- I don't know the song, so that may have made it more boring. He's always great- he's extremely talented.

Kristy- Kristy was actually good! I expected the worst. Her countryness worked on this song.

David C.- I'm not familiar with this version of the song. My favorite MJ song, though. I like how he stays true to himself. He's already like a rockstar. Tied for first.

My ranking order was:

#1- Carly & David C. (I voted for these 2.)
#2- Syesha, Chikezie, & Kristy
#2.5- Ramiele, Jason, David A.
#3- Brooke, Michael

And, it was mentioned on the show that David's version was the Chris Cornell version (I remember someone said the name before David sang, and I couldn't understand whose name they said).

I actually really enjoyed Chikeze's performance, but I feel the same way Paula did last night- at this stage in the competition, everyone is good, but someone needs to go home every week. In the first couple of weeks, I didn't like Chikeze, but I've enjoyed the majority of his performances. I didn't want to see Jason or Syesha (was WAS she doing in the Bottom 3, anyway?!?! I should've voted for her...!) go, so, all in all, I'm glad Chikeze went, but I'm glad that he'll be on tour.

And, I didn't think that Michael did a bad job with the Queen songs, but the fact that he didn't bring anything new to the table turned me off, I guess. But, yes, he did do a good job as far as vocals go (and I guess that that's the whole point of the competition, anyway).

[Disney's Divinity]

Pretty good night. My picks for bottom three are Ramiele, Syesha, and Kristy (with either of the latter two leaving). Syesha's a Houston wannabe and Kristy's a Rhymes wannabe. My mom predicted Syesha would be singing "I Will Always Love You" from the get-go. Both the Davids were great, with Brooke and Jason close behind. Carly did good, too, I guess.

[blackcauldron85]

Dolly Parton Week
I just want to say that I thought that everyone was good tonight- even my two least favorites of the night still did a good job, IMO.

My thoughts, in order of appearance:

1. Brooke White- "Jolene"- Her voice was a little shaky in the beginning. A good performance.

2. David Cook- "Little Sparrow"- He's great.

3. Ramiele Malubay- "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"- Not her best, but not bad. She is still talented. (side note: I think she's paling in comparison to some other performers now, though. She needs to step it up a notch.)

4. Jason Castro- "Travelin' Through"- Very nice! He's in his element.

5. Carly Smithson- "Here I Go Again"- Seems like a good song choice for her. Very, very nice!

6. David Archuleta- "Smoky Mountain Memories"- Great. Very nice.

7. Kristy Lee Cook- "Coat of Many Colors"- She's in her element. Very good.

8. Syesha Mercado- "I Will Always Love You"- Wonderful. Good choice to sing this during Dolly week, so she can't be compared too much to Whitney, because Whitney/Mariah/Christina songs never bring good judgments. Great power note at the end!

9. Michael Johns- ?- Seems like a good song choice for him. Very nice.

My ranking is:
1. Syesha
2. David Cook, Jason, Carly
3. David Archuleta, Michael
4. Kristy
5. Brooke, Ramiele

I voted for Syesha, David C., Jason, & Carly.

I'm not familiar with Dolly Parton songs (besides "I Will Always Love You" and "9 to 5"), and I was pleasantly surprised! I really liked some of the songs. They reminded me of Johnny Horton with some Bob Denver mixed in.

[Widdi]

A surprisingly good week. If I had of known it was just "Dolly Parton Week" I wouldn't have been dreading it so much. I like Dolly Parton.

On to the rankings.

1. Jason Castro - I really loved him this week. Jason is back.
2. Michael Johns - I'm not a big fan of the song, but I love his voice and he did a great job with the tune.
3. Carly Smithson - Excellent. She's easily the best of the girls this year.
4. David Cook - I wasn't jumping up and down, but it was nice to see him not rip someone else's arrangement off tonight. It was pretty good.
5. Kristy Lee Cook - She's in her element. Not as good as last week, but better than she has been in the past.
6. Brooke White - She sang it too fast. It wasn't terrible, but I think it's the worst she's been all through the competition.
7. David Archuleta - I just don't like him. Sorry, I just don't.
8. Syesha Mercardo - The first part was really pitchy sounding to me. The second part sounded like she was screaming. She held the notes too long.
9. Ramiele Malubay - Boring and forgettable as always. It is a good thing she has a fairly large fan-base.

Bottom 3

Brooke White - A warning for her. She's got to get back to her A game performances.

Syesha Mercardo - She doesn't have the fan-base to carry her much longer. As Paula said: "everybody's gotta go sometime."

Ramiele Malubay - Fourth time is the charm... right? Anybody?

I shall sing who goes home:
"Annddddddddd theyyyyyyyyyyehehhehehhhhhhhhh will always foorrrrgettttttttt youuuuuuuu"

*Cough*

That's enough of that. Syesha Mercardo, your tribe has spoken. It's time for you to go.

[dvdjunkie]

It's time for the Dreads to go.........Jason Castro played it absolutely safe, and didn't offer anything different from the past weeks. I think he has a talent, but that dreaded head of hair has got to go. Maybe someone can suggest a nice hair style that would suit him and maybe I could like him more. He was in the bottom three last week, I think that is where we will find him this week.

I am so afraid that we have seen the last of Kristy Lee Cook, she just has no stage presence. Her version of "Coat of Many Colours" was absolutely spot-on, but she has the personality of a wall - knock, knock Kristy, I believe you are gone.

Syesha did a great job on "I Will Always Love You", but again the comparisons to Whitney came from the judges. It just isn't fair. I liked it and hope that she stays around, I think she is peaking at the right time.

Ramiele is spending too much time second-guessing herself, and not singing the song. She will probably be in the bottom three, but skate by.

David Cook, David Archuleta, and Michael Johns were the cream of the crop for the guys, and all will be seeing the next round for sure.

Carly Smithson, Brooke White, did very well, and will be around for another go at Randy, Paula and Simon.

Since the show usually goes boy, girl, boy, in their eliminations, we will probably see one of the girls go this week since it was Chickezie's turn last week.

[blackcauldron85]

But looks don't matter, Bill! Jason is on the show for his voice, not his hair! I think that he has such a strong fanbase that he won't be going home yet.

As for Syesha, it's interesting how Widdi and dvdjunkie have such different opinions. A teacher of mine and a girl in that class both didn't really like Syesha's performance...and I thought that it was great. I think what saved her was the hint of Dolly Parton in her performance- she didn't full-out pull a second-rate Whitney on us.

If I had to guess the bottom three tonight, it would be Ramiele, Brooke, and Syesha. Maybe switch Kristy and Brooke, though, since Kristy is always in the bottom three. I'm only saying that Syesha will be there based on comments I heard at school and on Widdi's comment.

[dvdjunkie]

Looks do matter in today's entertainment field. Jason Castro has the voice, the talent, and that smile that melts your heart from across the room, but listening to all the people at work, and all of my friends (most of them female) 'his hairstyle has got to be updated'. He does have a great fan base, I will give you that, but as far as the next "Idol" goes, he doesn't stand a chance with some of the other talent that is on that same stage.

It is like last year's Sanjaya, it's all the little teeny-boppers with their text-messages that mom and dad pay for that save him. Soon they will be outnumbered, and the real talent will end up on the center stage.

I really think that Jason will not make the Final Four - unless he changes his hair style. I think that is truly what is holding him back at this point.

My two favorites so far are still David Cook and Carly Smithson, with David Archuleta and Michael Johns coming in strong third and fourth. Will they be the final four?? Who knows, I wouldn't complain if it was.

[blackcauldron85]

I agree that Jason has a strong female fanbase (and, regardless of his hair, he's really cute), but he in no way should be compared to Sanjaya- Jason is definitely talented, and he belongs in the competition- Sanjaya, not so much. Sanjaya overstayed his welcome- I think I liked him singing that Spanish song (I think that was the week I liked him), but that was it, I think- he should have gone home ages before he did. Jason, on the other hand, still deserves to stay in the competition. His hair makes him stand out- he doesn't want to be like everyone else, and I applaud that.

[dvdjunkie]

Goodbye Ramiele!!!

Tonight's farewell was very sad for a lot of people including me. I really thought that Ramiele would get a lot further in the competition.

I am glad that Brooke didn't get X'ed out, but I would have rather seen Kristy go than Ramiele, but the American public is very fickle and they wanted to keep Jason and Kristy in the competition another week.

The bonus entertainment was good and bad. Dolly was amazing, but The Clark Brothers won't be around very long. I didn't realize that they had won America's Next Band competition. They just seemed out of place there on the Idol stage. We will see what the future holds for them, but I personally don't think that there is much there.

Next week we have the 2nd Annual Idol Gives Back Show, and it sounds like they have lined up some pretty decent talent, and have some pretty good plans on trying to raise more than the $76 million they raised last year.

[Widdi]

America made the right choice for once. Ramiele has been consistently forgettable, and there is nothing I hate more than a floater (well maybe David Archuleta...). At least bad contestants are entertaining.

I guess America liked Syesha enough to let her float for another week, though she won't make it past Top 6.

[The Tickler]

Great bottom three tonight, and an even better bottom two. This was the first full week that I've watched of American Idol this season, so my judgment is really only based on the last couple of days. I agree that Syesha wasn't spot-on yesterday (her long high note did get pitchy near its end, which made me cringe a little), but to say she deserved to be in the bottom two is a tad ludicrous, Wids. Yeah, she's a bit of a second-rate Tamyra Gray, but America did well in letting her stay another week.

Also, I sit here every week reading about your hatred for Archuleta, but after listening to him this week, I'm having trouble understanding the basis of it. He is a little too "cute" for my liking, but there certainly wasn't anything wrong with his performance this week. Maybe in the coming weeks, I'll be able to see what you're seeing.

[blackcauldron85]

I had liked Ramiele for a while, but lately her performances haven't been up to par. I thought that Kristy was pretty good on Tuesday, so I was, all in all, glad to see Ramiele go, even though she seems like a sweet girl and will miss her personality on the show. I wasn't surprised at all with the bottom three, and I almost hoped that Brooke had gone- her personality has been getting on my nerves lately, but I can't really explain why. I used to like her...

Does anyone know what next week's theme is?

[Widdi]

I don't like David Archuleta for a number of reasons.

1. He is over hyped and as far as I'm concerned over praised by the judges. He plays it safe every week by singing the same type of ballad-y song that he's good at singing, yet never gets called for it while other contestants are ripped up one side and down the other for doing the same thing. Randy said a couple of weeks ago that a good singer should be able to sing anything. I wanna see him rock out or hit us with a dance track.

2. He sounds the same every week. His voice is very monotonous. Even when it gets a bit higher or lower it doesn't ever seem to really change. He just drolls on for a minute and a half. He's boring.

3. He has no stage presence while he is singing. I think the kid had a charming personality during his intro videos but when he gets on stage he loses it all and becomes a boring ballad singer. He is not interesting to watch unless you are counting how many times he licks his lips during his song... which is usually a lot.

He just doesn't do anything for me, and I feel like the way he has been hyped on the show is not justified. Yes, he does get a negative comment from the judges every now and then, but I still feel like the show is setting him up to win a lot more so than anybody else.

[Disney's Divinity]

They did the same with Melinda Doolittle last year, but she didn't win, did she? Besides, I think they've been setting Carly Smithson up just as high.

Honestly, I don't think Archuleta's been anymore repetitious than the others. Cook always sings a rock version of whatever song he's doing, Castro sounds the same with everything, Kristy twangs it up every week, and Carly Smithson and Syesha always choose "loud" songs. It's only natural for contestants to exploit what they're best at. Does Mariah sing country one day, rock the next and then pop? No, she sticks to one thing nearly all of the time. Saying they should be able to sing everything is ridiculus and stretches them so far that they don't have a musical personality anymore.

As for the lip-licking thing, I noticed that originally, but he's apparently learned better as he doesn't do it very often (to me, of course). He even pulls the microphone away from him when he breathes now. His stage prescence is really all that's lacking for me (though not nearly to the extent as it does for you).

[dvdjunkie]

Next week's theme is "Songs of Inspiration" to get us all in the mood for the 2 1/2 hour "Idol Gives Back" Special on Wednesday night. If you remember part of the show last year was they didn't eliminate anyone, but this year's show is going to be different. There will be the elmination show on Thursday night, so we will go from eight to seven next week.

[DarthPrime]

Its been a tough season. There are a lot of really good singers/performers this season. For the first time I found Jason Castro's performance good. I liked him this week, as well as Michael Johns.

I really can see Jason Cook winning this thing. He has been doing well, and I think he would be very marketable if he won the competition.

David Archuleta is the next Clay Aiken, although I think Clay was a far better singer. I just don't understand all the hype behind Archuleta. He is good, but hes not as great as he is made out to be. He will be in the final 2 or 3, and I can almost guarantee he will have a album out.

I'm not a Dolly Parton fan, but surprisingly this was one of the best weeks so far on Idol this season. As far as Ramiele Malubay... America got it right. It was her time to go, and I think Kristy Lee Cook will be gone in a week or two.

The only female contestant I really like so far is Carly Smithson. I think she will go pretty far, but want win Idol. I think the final two will end up being David Archuleta and Jason Cook.

[lord-of-sith]

I agree, DAVID Cook is very good and could possibly win this season. My favorites are him, Carly, and Brooke. I also think that David Archuleta is over-rated.

As much as I love Brooke, she is far too inconsistent to win.

My dream (but realistic) final three would be:

Carly Smithson (win/runner-up)
David Cook (win/runner-up)
Micheal Johns (3rd place)

But I have a feeling that David Archuleta will squirm his way in there. I hope that Brooke getting in the bottom three scared her this week, so she'll bring back some of the truly great performances we know she can do!

[Mr. Toad]

Just watching Journey's greatest hit on DVD and had no idea Randy Jackson was ever in the band. He looks so 80s. Had to look it up in wikipedia just to make sure.

[MerXAN]

Now that Ramiele's gone. I'll go with Carly.

[dvdjunkie]

Don't know how many of have the Fox Reality Channel, it is generally just a waste of time, but every once in a while they come up with something unique and last night they were backstage at American Idol's taping of "Idol Gives Back" and there were all sorts of goings on there. The show went over three hours, and will be edited down to the two and a half hour time slot for Wednesday.

Carrie Underwood sang a George Michael song, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal made brief appearances. One of the highlights of the show for me was the appearance of "Heart with Fergie" doing "Barracuda". That song just really rocks.

Brad Pitt was there live, and all three Presidential Candidates sent in taped messages. Last year they raised $76 million for various charities and this year the goal is $100. If you watch the show Wednesday there will phone numbers scrolling across the bottom of the screen that you can call to make any donation you feel you can afford. As usual, I will opt out for buying one DVD and send that money as a donation to the cause.

Tuesday night the Idol contestants are live, and Thursday night we lose one.

Gonna be a big week for American Idol.