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Seamonkey
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 6:50 pm
I see, but I also watched it and didn't see it the same way, she just wasn't grinning like a fool. And then after reading about the contract from a link up thread, I could see how she might just feel manipulated.
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Maris
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 7:04 pm
Certainly it would rub someone the wrong way if that is what was being said but I dont recall anyone saying poor Kelly had to slum it with schleps from other countries. I thought she was probably led to believe she would win which would explain her shock at not winning. It certainly isnt her fault she was put out there at the end of every clip nor was it her fault that the british hosts kept hyping her either. I think most objective viewers would agree that she seemed to be in shock and it appeared as though she was asked to play the role of hostess of the show. Now it is entirely possible that the countries respective winners had the same role in their own countries, who knows. The Belgian contestant himself said that they had to be there because it was the only way someone from a small country could get exposure. That is just a fact based on the population and revenue that can be gained from US exposure.
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Maris
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 9:49 pm
You can always count on NY Post to dish the dirt: KELLY RAN OUT WHEN KURT WON By DON KAPLAN January 3, 2004 -- STUNNED "American Idol" champ Kelly Clarkson abruptly left the set of "World Idol" New Years' night after fans snubbed her in favor of a gap-toothed plumber from Norway. Clarkson, who had been favored to win the competition, appeared dazed by the loss and did not stick around to congratulate Kurt Nilsen, 24, the good-natured father of two who won. Clarkson placed second. "We didn't get to talk. I think she went back to her hotel I guess," Nilsen told The Post yesterday. The talk of the "Idol" world yesterday was how upset Clarkson appeared on the show, which was taped Thursday afternoon in London and broadcast through various time zones across the world. She appeared to grow increasingly disgruntled as the votes from different regions were tallied and it became clear she was losing to an otherwise-unknown singer from a small Scandinavian country. Nilsen is a fan of Clarkson. He traveled all the way to New York from Norway last year to hear her sing at Giant Stadium. It was his first trip to the U.S. Kurt, too, seemed surprised he could not find her after the show. "Everybody wanted to talk to me and take pictures," he said. "I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." What was clear was that winning the first annual showdown of "Idol" winners from around the world will change the young man's life dramatically. His single is being a released this week in England and discussions are underway to see if it will get a U.S. release. "We have to now take the next couple of weeks to have meetings," says his manager Jan Fredrik. If his record is released here, Nilsen will have to deal again with the idea that he doesn't have the classic good looks of a pop music idol. Despite his new, relative wealth, Kurt says he will not have his teeth fixed to remove what has become his trademark - a wide space between his front teeth. "I'm really happy the way I am because if I changed my look I think people would think that I had [sold out]," Nilsen said. Nilsen returned to Norway yesterday after spending New Year's day in a London studio were the holiday show was filmed. He was greeted at the airport in the seaside city of Bergen, by thousands of hysterical fans, a marching band the city's mayor and other assorted dignitaries. He later was congratulated via phone by Norway's Prime Minister. It was Nilsen's strong performance of U2's hit "Beautiful Day" in a "World Idol" special that aired on Christmas Day that left "Idol" judges and millions of viewers from around the world star-struck and ultimately helped him snare the title of "World Idol." The show aired in more than 22 countries and was seen by millions of viewers. link
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Demeter
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 10:20 pm
I saw Kelly as being surprised and disappointed that she did not place first. I was uncomfortable watching her during the New Year's day show because whether or not she was disappointed, it seemed as though she could have been a bit more gracious about it. I voted for Kurt to win and I think on that night (Christmas) he was the best of the bunch. His song moved me and Kelly's did not. Maybe I'm just too old, but her version just didn't seem to have the passion that the original version had. If Kelly truly did just walk off, she then leaves the impression of being a spoiled and arrogant American. I find that sad, because for those of us who are on the fence about her, it doesn't pull us in her direction. (I'm an American. I didn't watch the first season and I've yet to hear Kelly sing a song that I felt, "that was incredible", but it seems as though lots of folks like her and I've tried to learn to like her, but she just doesn't do it for me.)
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Shelb724
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 7:48 am
first of all, i was also a little weirded out by Ryan Seacrest plugging his show. that was just dumb. and i really thought he was beyond doing something like that, he always seemed like the anti host to me for some reason. didn't know that about kelly. that is really a bad attitude. granted, she was committed to being on the show (for $1400) so i'm sure she really felt like it was a huge waste of time for her. but to not win after all that. i will say that it does not excuse her for what she did tho, that wasn't right.
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Llkoolaid
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 9:22 am
{{I tend to think that there was some politics involved in peoples voting. We're the US and most of the rest of the world is jealous and would love for us not to be number 1 at something. Maybe that's synical but I believe it.}} Sorry Iscreamer, and please don't take this the wrong way but this post bugs me, so I have to respond. I don't think if it is political it is about jealousy. I like being next door neighbours to the U.S. and think for the most part the people are just like anywhere else just trying to get by in this world so I won't go any further than that other than to say if people voted politically you can bet it wasn't about jealousy. I think your saying Kelly wasn't voted for because people are jealous is as wrong to say as it would be for me to say that girl from Pan Arabic got so many U.S. votes because of guilt. I loved Kelly when she was competing for A1, I think we all heard her best voice there. I voted for her because of the voice I heard during the A1 show not the WI show. I think Kurt beat her there but because I knew how good she really was I gave her my vote. I really like how they did the voting on this show and think it was the fairest possible way, Australia, Britian, and Canada are all friends of the States and they put Kurt first, so it is what it is. I think the real reason Kelly didn't win is because I voted for her, I haven't picked a winner yet when I could vote.
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Maris
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 10:00 am
I agree LL, Kurt was the best performer and the winner by far. He outperformed everyone on that show and I think more importantly, he seemed to really be enjoying himself and the song. It came through that he loved what he was doing.
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Eliz87
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 11:29 am
Kurt sounds almost identical to Bono, only better, IMO. Bono on his high notes has kind of a "nails against a chalkboard" quality that gives me chills...and not the good kind! I think Kelly is good, but even during AI1, I was rooting for Justin to win. I think the one judge was absolutely correct in saying that although she's decent, she's certainly not up there with "the divas". Too bad that judge got shooshed. Kelly good, but for heaven's sake, she's not golden. As for her attitude, well, she always turned me off during AI1, but I was always "shooshed" too when I said something about it on the AI message boards (although a few did agree with me). But I guess in this case I can give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she was probably just in a hurry to get back to her family and friends as it was the holiday season after all. However, England wouldn't be such a horrible place to spend New Year's! But really, what do I know? I thought Guy from Australia was really good and I think he just came in 6th or something in America.
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Kellirippa
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 12:29 pm
If they ever decide to do World Idol Two, I hope they run it over a couple of nights and give them a chance to do more songs and show more than one side of their voice. In AI and CI, even the most talented made poor song choices on occasion.
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Seamonkey
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 2:51 pm
When I said it was political I was thiniking more how some countries put the British and Candian idols so far down on the list and how most countries put Diana so far down their lists and yeah, I thought the Aussie was way better than his results indicated. I think some votes WERE against Kelly since they'd been broadcasting the odds of winning .. Personally I'd love to see it done with NO fanfare, no "expectations". And, a different Polish judge .. And I heartily agree, for heaven's sake, let them sing.. and sing again.. cut the chatter. and don't force ANY of them to play "commentator".
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Scorpiomoon
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 3:13 pm
With all this debate going on, I have to wonder: Maybe, besides the fact that Kurt sang well, people didn't vote for Kelly because she was expected to win and people wanted to vote for an "underdog". Out of the bunch, Kurt really did come across as the most likable underdog. And that leads me to wonder, is the desire to vote for an underdog human nature--something we all share no matter where we live on what culture we are immersed in?
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Kitt
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 5:33 pm
I think the underdog thing was part of Kurt's appeal, plus the fact that, as Pete Waterman said, he has the face of an angel. But mostly Kurt picked the perfect song for his amazing voice, a song whose original version was a huge hit just about everywhere World Idol was shown, full of emotion and energy, and Kurt more than did it justice. While I really like Kelly and think she has an exceptional voice, we are used to female vocalists singing good songs, and the song she chose didn't really have much emotion or allow her to show much personality. I was worried about there being some political element to the voting too, but if so it was minimal as the voting was so consistent across all the countries. I think in the end Kelly, on the night, was just outperformed.
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Azriel
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 8:33 pm
I don't think that Kelly losing had anything to do with politics. She has a great voice. She needs to just sing the dang song and quit all her caterwauling. I don't want to hear it and I'm not surprised that the rest of the world doesn't want to hear it either.
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Babyboo
| Sunday, January 04, 2004 - 11:27 pm
Thanks Eliz87, I was trying to figure out who it was that Kurt sounds like and you hit the nail on the head, They sound very much alike, but you're right Kurt sounds a wee bit better.
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Clutterfree
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 2:54 am
I thought Kitt said it for me--based on the one song performance, I thought Kurt did the better job. I remember the minute he finished, i thought WOW! and Kelly pretty much said the same: "Kurt was awesome..Kurt might win it!" I was actually relieved he won; that everyone else saw that particular spark in that particular rendition on that particular night. It was the same way I felt the first time I heard Clay Aiken sing. And I love the fact that talent matters more than looks. I thought it was wonderful that someone who would really be given a boost by this win did win it. It actually restored my faith in human nature; that people just could not deny a fabulous performance. I was disappointed in the Australian Guy's results, but I don't think his choice of song was as strong as Kurt's. Another time, maybe they will have them do more than one song, but this time round based on a single shot, I think Kurt was the well-deserved natural winner!
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Brenda1966
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 1:17 pm
I was so glad to see Kurt win. I thought he performed the best and tried to vote for him but only got a busy signal (and that was hours after the show aired). I was disappointed to see Kelly's reaction. Maybe she was jet lagged or hung over. Or maybe she was just really disappointed. I would have liked to see a more gracious finish for her. If she was led to believe she'd walk away with the win, then shame on those people who told her that. There's no way to predict how the public will vote in a talent contest. I think the best talent in that competition won, but like others would have preferred seeing them sing 2 songs each.
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March
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 1:38 pm
I am not seeing where this could have been a political vote against the US or against Kelly. She came in second in almost every country. It was very obvious by the look on her face that she had been pumped up to believe that she was going to win, hands down. I mean even the hosts were saying that it was Kelly against the World and things like that.
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Llkoolaid
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 1:44 pm
I think Kelly looked disappointed but heck that is real, of course she wanted to win and she stood a good chance of doing that. I have absolutely no problem with her being disappointed and not faking silly smiles. I really wish they had sung more songs, one shot for world idol isn't much. I loved Kurts voice but I think some of the comments about his looks by the judges might have swayed some votes in his favor. Everyone loves to save the underdog and backlash to the judges comments are not unheard of in American Idol and for those of you who watched Canadian Idol it happened almost every week in my opinion. Not saying Kurt didn't deserve the win, I think he won that night, just saying that the judges rude comments might have helped him if a person couldn't decide.
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Realfan
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 2:33 pm
Quote:I really like the fella who won and I am relieved Kelly did not get it. Not that I did not appreciate her performance, but it seemed to me that it was an obvious choice (Even at the end of the first break before commercials, the announcer said something like "Will this be Kelly Clarksons night?"
I got the impression that the hosts had taped break-away commentary for each country, saying similar things about their stars, as Iscreamer and others have also said. I really can’t believe they had them taking about Kelly to the Pan Arab countries, for instance. Why would they care? Same with the Kelly commentaries—I’m pretty sure that was for the U.S. viewers only (maybe Canada, too?). If not, that would be really weird—putting a competitor in the same category as a commentator! Bizarre. It already felt weird seeing her comment on the to her singers, even to U.S. folks.
Quote:There are lots of famous rock stars that most would not consider "good looking" by general standards (Mick Jagger, Elton John, Rod Stewart, etc.), but have screaming fans that adore them.
Exactly, Jimmer. I think of exactly those people every time any judge makes a stupid comment about looks. Especially obvious how inconsequential looks are when their special performing guest was ELTON JOHN! If anyone looks like a hobbit, it’s Elton. I adore Elton, but he’s never been a sex symbol. In fact, Kurt rather reminds me of him. The thing is, unless you’re looking for a star to appeal to teeny-boppers as magazine pinups, who cares what they look like? Even then, if they’re like Clay, they WILL appeal because of their personality and how nice they “clean up.” (I adore Clay). On the politics of the vote, my hubby called it the Bush Effect. I don’t think other countries are jealous, but I do think many are angry at our politics, and I don’t blame them. We're seen as very arrogant. I think maybe that influenced some voting, then other times I think not at all because I was quite impressed with the consistency for Kurt across the board (and majorly impressed with his performance!!). Which showed to me that other countries also saw how good he was. I was rooting for Kurt, just because I’m tired of hearing about Kelly and because he was AWESOME. (I never like to be told who should win—it’s that “underdog” phenomenon, I think, which does transcend cultures—look at the fairytales and legends to see how underdogs come out on top). Kelly’s OK as a singer, but her song in the show didn't do it for me. My husband thought she was clearly the best, though, and got “Bushwacked.” Who’s to say? All I know is Kelly should have been prepared for a loss—she’s been riding high so long, she never thought it would end, but not everything will be perfect for her always. And I want to hear more from Kurt—this could really boost his career!
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Oregonfire
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 3:08 pm
I'm sorry that Kelly "lost," but coming in second on WI when you've already got a successful career isn't the worst thing to ever happen to someone. The greater good is that Kurt and the other lesser-known performers like him get more exposure to the rest of the world. Unfortunately I missed the final show (major bummer!) so can't comment on Kelly's facial expessions. But I did think that the difference between her performance and Kurt's is that she seemed to have an attitude of, "I'll show up, I'll do my trills and power notes, and I'll walk away the winner." But Kurt gave it his all, gave an inspiring performance, and fortunately had the talent to back it up.
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Curlyq
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 3:23 pm
Sadly, that's the difference between then and now. Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Rod Stewart all got famous before the music video era, when image became so important. Now it's as though musicians aren't considered marketable unless they can inspire millions of teenagers to want to look just like them. When you think of all the famous singers of the past it's scary to think how many voices we'd have never heard if they'd had to have just the right look, the perfect body, and the dance moves. I'm sitting here watching Shania Twain on Oprah singing about not being just a pretty face, and I'm thinking "This is the highest selling female vocalist of all time?" Mind you, I have nothing against Shania Twain. I've enjoyed some of her songs and her voice is nice and unique, but it's not the best of all time and her songs all end up sounding the same after a while. However, she looks like a Miss Universe and I can't help but wonder how much more marketable that made her.
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Realfan
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 4:13 pm
True, Curly. There was, however, a "pretty" standard in the '50s and early '60s, I think. Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Vee were all bo-hunks who sang. Pin-up boys. So I don't think it's a new phenomenon. I think it's a trend thing--it was "cool" in the late '60s-'70s to buck the trend and be counter-culture and defy the standards of conventional prettiness. Now, it seems sometimes it's more cool to be on the conservative side or even a little geeky (Go, Clay!). Of course, stars usually strive to appear "in fashion" or "trendy"--and Simon types seem to think that kind of conforming is awfully important. On Kelly's singing--does anyone else get exhausted listening to her? All her trills and runs and lack of sustained notes wears me out. Ruben does the same thing, though not to the same extent. I think she has a powerful instrument in her voice, but the trilling sometimes detracts from the emotion in her voice.
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Maris
| Monday, January 05, 2004 - 4:28 pm
Mick Jagger was considered very good looking in his youth especially with those lips. That together with the songs he sang such as Sweet Lady Jane, Wild horses and other ballads made him very appealing. Also, Jagger, John and stewart were more than performers they wrote great lyrics and music. Then you have to look at the times when Jagger, John and Stewart were huge hits. In the early day of the Small Faces, The Stones and Elton John to a certain extent, marketing was not a huge factor in making them stars. There were no corporate underwriting of concerts, it was all sales and the record industry did very little in terms of marketing. I dont think of Kelly in the same league. Kelly was manufactured by the industry and marketing.
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Texannie
| Tuesday, January 06, 2004 - 8:14 am
Kelly Clarkson reportedly "abruptly left the set of World Idol after losing." Going into the competition, Kelly Clarkson was the favorite to win World Idol; leaving the competition, Kelly reportedly didn't even congratulate the winner. Winner Kurt Nilsen tells the New York Post they "didn't get to talk. I think she went back to her hotel I guess." Earlier, he made his first trip to the United States to hear Kelly in concert. The paper reports Kelly "appeared to grow increasingly disgruntled as the votes from different regions were tallied and it became clear she was losing to an otherwise-unknown singer from a small Scandinavian country," and "appeared dazed by the loss." http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/
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Scorpiomoon
| Tuesday, January 06, 2004 - 9:33 am
Realfan wrote: "On Kelly's singing--does anyone else get exhausted listening to her? All her trills and runs and lack of sustained notes wears me out." I'm with you. All of her vocal gymnastics do nothing for me. I don't find her, nor her vocal skills, to have much depth. I wouldn't be listening to Kelly if I wanted to be soothed after a bad experience or I wanted to listen to music to heighten a good mood. A good vocalist moves you to feel something. I feel nothing listening to Kelly.
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