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American Idol Discussion
Who else is following American Idol this season? What do you think of Cara? I wish they would get to Hollywood already.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gary Stuart on
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Does anyone else dislike the format of this phase of the show as much as I do?
The best part of AI is getting to know the contestants. Hollywood was fun, because the cameras could go anywhere (even bedrooms), exposing the entire group seemingly all at once. I particularly liked the group song/skits because the camera was always filled with lots of bodies, and drama.
But this latest phase is a real letdown. Three groups of 12 spread out over three weeks. I’ve forgotten who the contestants are! And even more disappointing is that many of the singers are just not good enough to be worth watching. Fortunately, I pvr the shows to skip through the worst performances (and interminable commercials – the show is probably making a billion dollars a year, so couldn’t they skew the content-commercial ratio a bit more to the former?).
I have also been thinking about the mathematics of the selection process a bit.
In the audition phase, in each city out of thousands of hopefuls only 10 or 12 are picked. The Hollywood phase quickly weans the group of 100+ down to just 36. In the current phase, only three of 12 go through in each group. If talent is equal, that’s a ¼ chance. Even if only six have a legitimate shot, it’s still only a ½ probability of going through to the final 12. So the odds of going home or being in the wild-card round are very high.
However, once you make the final 12, the odds of survival to the next week improve dramatically because only one or two are voted out each week. Given that the talent pool will be fairly balanced, that means that a contestant will have a 11/12 or 10/12 chance of going through the first week. Even when there are only 5 contestants left, the odds of staying will be 4/5.
Of course, this is how it should be. Reduce the group to a tiny number of people who could actually win and then showcase them to death so that they all can be famous one day under the caring guidance of the AI machine.
Still, Nick and Tatiana, we’ll miss you! Unless, of course, we see you in the wild-card round. My fingers are crossed.
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Permalink Reply by Debbie Fantin on
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I LOVE American Idol & Canadian Idol (of course, being Canadian myself). It's terrible but I won't even answer my phone when it's on!!
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Permalink Reply by Laura on
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Just to clear up some idol rumours:
Paula recently announced that her AI contract is up this year. Of course, the press took that to mean that she's not getting along with the other judges and she wants off the show. Apparently (according to Neil Patrick Harris - friend of Kara's and fan of the show), the judges are all great friends. To that I say: Psh!!...we don't see what goes on when the two ladies slide under the table, but if you ask me it's probably a whole lot of b*tch slapping. Kara's the new hot thing and, frankly, Paula's losing her edge. I mean, she already had to use her favourite line: "you can sing the phone book." Get some new material Paula!
Another rumour, or perhaps just a personal theory, is that the contestants actually CAN sing, they just don't sound as good through the TV set... WRONG! According to NPH (who went to both episodes so far), the contestants are seriously lousy (except for the few who made it through).
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's episode. Third time's a charm right?...let's just hope there's a larger talent pool in this next group or we may be seeing Tatiana in the top 12...please God no!
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Permalink Reply by Dorothy McDonall on
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Von Smith rocks!
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She's ba ...ack! Tatiana ... oh the drama!!! I'm happy Von Smith gets a second chance, and Anoop.
Jorge is awesome; Lil Rounds is too much of a yeller for my taste but that's probably what will take her further than some; Scott McIntyre was good, but I think there were better ... Ju'not, for instance.
At any rate, tomorrow night's wild card show should be really interesting. Who will rise to the occasion? Find out on the next episode of .... American Idol!!!!!!!!
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Ok, someone needs to tell the AI producers that they're doing the kick off shows all wrong and, as a result, the show is becoming ridiculously predictable. When a girl goes through to the top 12 the next person they put through HAS to be a guy if they want to maintain any sort of suspense. So, when Ryan makes guys and girls stand up together you KNOW that none of those girls are going through... does that make sense? It does in my head anyways...Let me clarify: When Lil Rounds went through we knew the next person to go through had to be a guy. When Ryan made both guys and girls stand up we know 100% that one of the guys has to go through (in this case Scott). Instead they should make only guys stand up, then you'd have NO idea which one makes the top 12. Ok, I think that made more sense. What they REALLY should do is give me the job...yup... that would be the best move I think.
Oh Tatiana...*sigh*... No surprise there but I suppose we can still hope she doesn't make the top 12. Those darn producers are probably pushing for her as a wild card though...as if AI needs higher ratings...psh.
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Top moment of the year (and not just on AI): Tatiana blubbering shamelessly while the judges laugh.
Or was that the bottom moment of the year (and not just on AI)?
Anyway, I LOVED it.
Aside from Lil Rounds (the obvious pick for this year's AI winner), who else are we going to remember from this uninspiring group? I know: Nick/Norman. Norman: We hardly knew you. Nick: We never knew you.
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Matt, Danny and Adam ... those are my picks.
Bye, bye Tatiana ...
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Yawn!!!
Well, I guess I deserved it. I've been complaining about the inconsistency of the singers for a couple of years now. Always seems to be a couple of really good ones and then a whole bunch of filler.
Remember the two David's from last year? Even if you agree with me that the younger David was incredibly BORING, he could really sing. But hearing David Cook belt out Eleanor Rigby was one of the high points of my life (partly because I love the song, but also because I thought he did it AMAZINGLY). And when Cook did a brand new song in the last episode (much to the anger of Simon who blasted him for not repeating one of Cook's previous hits – although Tatiana repeated a song three times this year which was exactly one time too many and ended her chances (and maybe her life!)), Cook, as he said, was just evolving as a singer.
Good lord, maybe Darwin was right!
But I digress. This year the consistency of the group has me reeling. First of all, I can't guess who should be kicked off. How about that poor Dolly Parton look-alike (Alexis Grace) last week, told to sing for her life by Simon, doing so brilliantly (even Simon gave her props) but still getting the boot, probably because the top 10 go on tour and so you can't have a top 11 or 9! Yikes, now I'm sounding like Barnmice member Laura F. who is constantly guessing what is going to happen just by the way people are positioned on stage. And since she's always right, I think that she must be a genius, own a pensieve or, more likely, watch way too much TV!
Secondly, the group is so homogeneous. Everyone is polite, unruffled by criticism, talks back just the right amount to the judges when necessary, typically holds up fingers so we know whom to phone in for, etc.
I WANT SOME DRAMA!!!
I mean, Adam Lambert at least is trying to stand out. Finally, someone that knows how to make a country and western song sound good – turn it into a rock song! They should seriously think about cancelling country and western theme night (Simon and I agree on this point).
Now I must admit that Megan was pretty impressive given that she had the flu the day of the show and was in the hospital. Last time I had the flu I actually did very little singing (even when I was conscious). So props to her. And boy can she dance.
And I was interested to learn the "Lil" was short for "Little". Should have known. Remember the comic L'il Abner? So Simon was right!
And I did enjoy the fight between Simon and Paula over whether Scott MacIntyre should try signing without his piano (Simon is right again).
And Matt is REALLY good.
Hmmm… maybe AI isn't so bad after all. Can't believe that I have to wait until Wednesday to watch it this week!
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Well, another episode behind us. Personally I don't think Michael deserved to be kicked off, but at least he's still going to be on the tour. He seems like such a decent guy and he's got a great set of pipes. Scott should have left ... nice guy but he doesn't really have the presence.
Matt, Danny and Adam are still hot and I'm thinking they're going the distance.
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Okay, down to the final nine. Anoop and Megan have gotta go. To me the race is clearly between Adam, Chris, Danny or, if he can ever pull the right song out of his hat, Matt. I loved Chris singing "Ain't no sunshine" last night ... that was masterful and a lovely contrast to Adam's performance ... both were equally good.
No drama, Gary, but lots of great artistry. I think the only drama now is those singers who actually feel they can contradict Simon when he says their performance was "rubbish." Nine times out of 10 Simon's opinion is right on the money ... and I guess that's why they pay him the big bucks. At this stage of the game these kids should be listening, not just opening their mouth to sing. I liked what Randy said last night ... "Just because you love a particular song doesn't mean it's the right one for you to sing."
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Megan's gone ... not surprised.
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