| Author |
Message |
Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 2:57 pm 
Last year, they kept beating up on Philip Phillips in the final weeks because they wanted that young girl to win. I always enjoyed his performances on AI, even when they tried to make him a different kind of singer than he was. I felt his connection to the music when it was right for him. In the end, he ended up winning everything and having a number 1 record that is used now for commercials and the Olympics... So, I guess what I am saying is that sometimes, the judges haven't got a clue.
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Lazylu
Member
04-09-2010
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 3:27 pm
Carrie Underwood didn't have much stage presence when she won, but she is doing ok now. 
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:00 pm
Absolutely, Lazylu. I couldn't believe Carrie Underwood won at the time, but love her now. Wasn't so crazy about PP (in fact, we didn't even watch the final week last year, we were so disappointed), but I do like his couple of songs I've heard.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: It doesn't matter who wins this show. Talent and marketing will win out in the end. Look how many successes this show has produced with non-winners: Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Daughtry, etc. Amber is very talented and pretty, but for some reason she just can't connect with the voters. I don't think she has a chance of winning. In fact, I fully expect her to go home tonight (unless those tears last night won her some sympathy votes). She could still be very successful. I just don't think she'll win.
Loved when Harry had to explain the lyrics to Amber. She didn't have a clue. Too bad he couldn't have explained "McArthur Park" to her also.
I think last night was Candice's night. Gave her all my FB votes.
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:01 pm
P.S. Remember that last night's votes will be added to last week's, so who knows what can happen?
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Lazylu
Member
04-09-2010
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:11 pm
I really liked Carrie, thought she had a great voice and also liked Phillip and voted for both.
I thought Amber absolutely destroyed My Funny Valentine, but then I am old and remember how the classic song should be sung.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:16 pm
Lazylu.... you mean like Harry Connick Jr tried to get her to sing it????? LOL.
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Lazylu
Member
04-09-2010
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:24 pm
Yeah, that way.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:28 pm
I didn't especially love Amber's My Funny Valentine, either, but I didn't think Mr Connick did much to help her out with his reliance upon what we commonly refer to as the "biographical fallacy." Whatever Mr Hart may have felt about himself--what Mr Connick refers to his "lack of confidence"--is somewhat immaterial because, ya know, the song was written for a character in a play. Would he have said that Mr Hart's song "Manhattan" was written because Mr Hart wanted to assert his eminence over the island? No, because it would be absurd,....because, just like Funny Valentine, the song comes from a character. Or why pretend it's about his "lack of confidence" and just omit the facts that L0renz Hart was an alcoholic who drank, in part, because he was forced by time and circumstance to live his life in the closet? It'd be as truthful as, and more interesting than, COnnick's woefully reductive psychobabble.
At any rate, there is enough tension in the song itself that all the melisma Amber engaged in during the last third of the song was completely unnecessary. But then again melisma is beloved most of the time on AI and Amber's overuse of it was nothing in comparison to, say, Kree's.
Anyhow, Funny Valentine has been sung by all the greats--Ella, Frank, Billie, Streisand, etc--and all of them have done it differently, so I don't know, I guess, what a "classic" version of it is supposed to sound like. I just know there are good and bad versions of it and I'd place Amber's in the average category
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Texasdeb
Member
05-23-2003
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 4:48 pm
I'm an Angie fan with Kree as my 2nd fav. Angie is more my fav than Kree only because of personality.
Candice has a beautiful voice but, IMO she's the most lacking in personality & stage pres.
Amber is a beautiful young woman & I can honestly see her being the most marketable of the 4. I thought she did amazing last night as well. However, I'm just not "into" her & I believe she will go tonight. I don't know what it is. Maybe Harry knew........maybe, she doesn't dig deep to understand the songs. I do see her having more personality than Kree & Candice though.
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Texasdeb
Member
05-23-2003
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 6:06 pm
Yep, I called it! Amber goes home.
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Longbeachbbfan
Member
08-17-2005
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 6:16 pm
Wow, Tish...powerful insight! I would like your insight on Kree's rendition of Stormy Weather and if, like Randy said, she should have went more bluesy or, like Harry said, just did it Kree style? What is melisma?
BTW, are you a music teacher? You seem to know your music, my dear.
I checked Youtube and found Viola Will version of Stormy Weather...Viola ROCKED it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52YChT4z488
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 6:54 pm
Amber needed to go, She's a beautiful person, but this is too much for her. I could not listen to her for another week.
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Lazylu
Member
04-09-2010
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 8:29 pm
It was nice to see David Cook, I liked his song a lot.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 8:56 pm
I was pretty surprised that Amber went. They did everything that they could do to push her forward but I guess America pushed back and (rightly) doesn't care what the judges think.
I think Angie is the obvious choice out of the ones remaining but again nothing will surprise me about this show at this point.
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 9:54 pm
Yep, I called it! Amber goes home
No, Texasdeb, I called it! 
I think I would be happy with any of them to win this year. They're all very talented girls. I hate that they make them sing when they're obviously sad and upset at the end. That's the worst I've ever heard Amber sing, and it's not fair that that's how we'll remember her. I was very touched when Ryan brought her dad up to comfort her. She'll be okay. She'll be back on the AI stage with her latest release next year.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 4:11 am
Contrary to views here at TVCH, there are a LOT of people out there that love Amber. It wasn't "against the will of America" that Amber made it to top 4. It was America that put her there. Maybe it was against the will of America that she got an extra week in the top 4 when they didn't eliminate anybody last week, but that's it.
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Maineiac
Member
08-24-2009
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 8:10 am
Don't laugh everyone but I think Idol puts too much emphasis on singing ability and not enough emphasis on performing, personality, individuality and stage presence. Sure it's great to hit those big notes but that's not all it is all about.
Jimmer, I totally agree 100%. It has to be the whole package.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 9:55 am
Naja, I agree that there are plenty of Amber fans, but America DID put her number four, so they saved her and this week she was AGAIN number four. The first time they saved her it was basically against the will of America (as defined by those voting in all the ways one can vote).
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 10:00 am
And while I don't fault her reaction to being out (the inability to pull it together and smile while watching the video and to sing through the pain.. which quite a few disappointed young people have managed to do over the years), it does show me she may not be quite as ready as she thinks for the rough world of making it in the music business.
And I doubt that she and her family will want to take the time to improve her actual singing.. you cannot always have autotune around.. and to mature and grow a thicker skin, which would serve her very well, IMO. Young singers actually do work hard and even when they make buckets of money, they also live with stress and the job of supporting all of their support team.
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 10:13 am
She was only 18, the youngest contestant. I am always amazed at how the younger people can take the criticism on this show since it is so arbitrary. I would prefer older contestants as they are adults and know more about life and not to believe what ever the judges say.
I disagree Maineiac, I don't think they honestly acknowledge the voice onthis show but tend to get hung up on trivial things. I don't think Amber is as entertaining as some of the others. She seemed limited in her performance skills. They all have issues, as no one is perfect, but Amber seemed to be picked for her appearance more than anything else. One of my favorite years, the pretty people got voted out pretty quick, leaving the more talented less attractive. As a whole, I think Idol contestants tend to be less pretty than other shows, and end up more successful. I wish I could start a thread to list the successes of so many people who were on this show. The failures are fewer. Singing on a cruise ship is success to some people, they are making a living from their voice or show business in general ( like a geeky boy who can't really sing that well, but has a lot of small parts in Hollywood now on TV and in movies).
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 11:02 am
My view of the show is that, while saying they are mentoring the contestants, the performances always seem so formulatic to me. Start slow, build up, hit the high note and come back down softly... or not. Phillip Phillips did not 'fit' into this mold, which is why I really liked him and still do.
When they come down to their Final 12, 20, 18 or whatever number they decide for the year, they have certain 'roles' that are cast with the contestants.... the 'overcome major odds' singer, the country singer, the young talented singer that can hit the high notes, the rocker, the rapper ....etc. They also seem to have some 'filler' singers that are expendable through the early performances. Early on, the good singers are praised and praised, with very little criticsm. Then, when all the 'filler' or less talented singers are voted out, the good singers are all of a sudden criticized very strongly, which they are not used to after all the praise. They tend to get lost at that point if they don't have their 'own' style or confidence to make it through that phase of the show. I think this is much harder on the younger contestants. If the critiques were more even throughout the season, that would be better.
And yes, I agree that there are alot of singers who go onto to better things from this show... possibly due to all the connections that are made through the season.
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Friday, May 03, 2013 - 1:15 pm
Keep in mind, this show is a killer for the work these people have to do. This year has made it worse - they are having the contestants all write songs and recording their "album" so they can release it after the show when the tour is on. Add this to learning so many songs and you have a killer schedule for these girls.
In reading another article, it is time they stop arguing about the choice - For the then songs, they had 15 songs to chose from. The limited choices are approved before hand, cheap show. I should add, this seems like an improvement for the show. I remember when they had singers picking songs for the top 12 and there were only 25 songs to chose from.
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Llkoolaid
Member
08-01-2001
| Sunday, May 05, 2013 - 7:23 am
just popping in to see who went home last week, thought I was going to enjoy this year, but it bores me, not taking anything away from the girls because they are full of talent. I started losing interest when the last couple of years but was still a faithful viewer, now, not so much. Same with survivor, same old , same old. Guess I am getting old and cranky lol.
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Lazylu
Member
04-09-2010
| Sunday, May 05, 2013 - 10:59 am
The judges have bored me silly this year. Too many standing ovations, too much we love, love, love you and then we don't like you anymore. Cheap show, pay the money and get some current songs for them to sing. I do think there are two beautiful voices left in the competition.
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Auntiemike
Member
09-17-2001
| Tuesday, May 07, 2013 - 10:15 am
Watching the Today Show this morning and there has been quite a discussion of the interview attempt and twitters with Nicki Minaj. She has been described as the female Kanye. Unfortunately she is beginning to be more and more immature and nasty in her comments to the public.
Apparently she has it out for Mariah and makes numerous references to her age.... I think Mariah has worked long and hard and is very, very talented. That takes time. Her maturity is far beyond that of Ms. Nicki. It was noted that Mariah was saying she might not be on AI on Wednesday because she had had enough of Nicki.
Why, oh why, do we have to have this distracting turmoil? Why can't we have the total focus on the singers? Maybe a little self indulgent on Nicki's part.... just sayin'.
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