JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Official American Idol Discussion

Yeah, I think we all see how commercial the show has become...yet we watch it anyways. One "story" I heard about Paula was that those were her notes from the dress rehearsal, which is why she had comments on "both" songs. She never has been the sharpest tack in the drawer.

I'm glad Brooke's gone. Was she crying because she was under the delusion that she might win? She's still going on tour and will probably get some sort of small label deal during that time. I listened to the 30-second bits of the CD she already produced on an Indie label and she actually sounds pretty good when she's NOT playing an instrument and after the vocals are tuned.

Next week, it will be between Syesha and Jason to go home. I'm going to vote a LOT for Syesha.

This is definitely going to be between the two Davids. David C is definitely the better artist of the two, but David A can probably sell a lot of CDs to the "tweenies".

Post deleted by TAMERA64

We all think Paula's drunk at our house.
If it's a medical condition/needed medication causing the loopiness, then I'm truly sorry to say that - but that's how she comes across.

I halfway suspect Simon's spiking her Coke just to watch her get more loopy and embarrass herself... but that's just my twisted brain at work.

I agree with Tammy - David A could have a good Josh-Groban-like career, but he's not a rock singer, and he gets on our nerves over here more every week. Yes, he can sing OK. But he's not entertaining really. He's plain vanilla.

We like David COOK more and MORE every week. And Syesha just keeps improving and impressing us. It should be one of those two.

My daughter who voted for Jason a lot at the beginning, now just wants him to go home. She says he's had only two good songs - Daydream and Hallelujah.

Every week I find I don't even miss, the following week, whoever is gone. I'm going, "so who's missing?" I will probably miss Brooke though. I don't watch the results shows - they're just too cruel. I pop online to find out who's gone.

I strongly suspect the show has tried to "pre-load" the winners or picks out the winners themselves and just makes whatever money off the voting they can. After all... they NEVER tell you - anywhere - what the vote counts were. They just say, "America voted.... [PAUSE] .... and you're safe/going home."

Why can't they say "The winner tonight, with 28.6 million votes..." or "In last place with only 12.2 million votes..." Yeah.

The voting is so weird - and seems to be preconditioned for shock value (voting off some talent early - leaving on weird ones too long) - that I'm more and more suspicious it's all rigged. I'm not saying illegal. Just saying there's probably some loophole somewhere that allows them to fix the contest.

I wonder - if it wasn't fixed at all - and if you could prove that - what would ACTUALLY happen.

And I wonder what would happen if they gave the judges 50% of the voting power - we might have a better competition. Some who shouldn't be on would GO, and those who shouldn't be gone would STAY.

But it's all in the money. Follow the money. Who's making it? on what aspects of the competition? Who's sponsoring, and what do they have to lose or win? And hm, let's look at everything everyone in the money path has to lose if "America" picks a stinker. Embarrassing. Right? So - moneywise - I don't see how they can "afford" not to tweak with it - BUT - I also don't think the "tweaking" is working.

OK, I've ranted enough. I haven't even been posting or emailing anywhere.... I'm almost entirely offline right now... yet I had to pop in here and vent. Rolling my eyes at myself.

The thread is enjoyable to read through. I got a kick out of LWilliam's prediction of the future. TOO funny!

Linda

[PS - And you can tell how scatterbrained *I've* been lately when you read this post - I'm all over the place. Yup. Trying not to post much till I've sorted things out better and my brain's working more normally again. (I've had 6 deaths to cope with in April - 2 serious, the other 4 people I or my husband have watched over and tried to help. 3 of those natural causes, the 4th may have been a suicide... we're not sure yet.) So... at least I have an excuse if my thoughts are jumpy. Catch y'all later....]

Really nothing to add...I liked David Cook better than you did this week Brian...but by what you said, I think listening to CDs for the awards is giving you the slant you have...but remember...alot of those CD singers might not sound nearly as good LIVE. without all the stuff added to the vocal. I find alot of artists don't sound nearly as good live as they do on CD

Go ahead and review the top five for past years and see if you still think this is the worst bunch. I think there were a couple of outstanding singers such as Kelly Clarkson and Katherine McPhee, and Carrie has certainly come a long way, but last year didn't have an equivalent to David Cook. Season five had Chris Daughtry, and I think David C's in the same league - maybe even better. I remember hearing some seriously pitchy moments with Cris' singing. David C seems to nail the pitch pretty well.

Syesha is every bit as good as Jordin Sparks, IMHO. I don't think either are as good as Melinda Dolittle, but Melinda got voted off as 3rd, I think.

David A, even though he may not be a great singer, is a much better singer than the Beatbox guy, Blake Lewis, from last year, who isn't exactly setting the charts on fire. I also heard him sing his latest on American Idol Extra and he was very pitchy. Sorry, the guy is not a good singer - he simply has a gimmick.

The top six last year were Melinda Dolittle, Jordin Sparks, LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, and Phil Stacey. I think they let two go at once (Chris and Phil), so I don't think there was a top five.

Top Five, Season Five: Taylor Hicks, Katherine McPhee, Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennett

Top Five Season Four: Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, Vonzell Solomon, Anthony Fedorov, and Scott Savol

Top Five Season Three: Fantasia Barrino, Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, La Toya London, George Huff

Top Five Season Two: Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Kimberley Locke, Joshua Gracin, Trenyce

Top Five Season One: Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray, RJ Helton

It seems like there was one (maybe two) successful artists from each year from the top five, but not necessarily the winner. Season three actually seems the weakest to me.

This year, I think both Davids as well as Syesha have a serious shot at a successful career. Having THREE successful artists out of the top five would be an improvement over past top fives, wouldn't it?

Actually looking that the various Top 5's, I still think this is the weakest ever. There's always an R&B singer of Syesha's quality in the top 5 (Tamyra, Kimberley & Rueben, La Toya & Fantasia, Vonzell, Paris, Jordin, Lakisha, Melinda) and usually someone else who is the equal to or better than Mark Cook. Since the other 3 in this year's top 5 are horrible, I think every other year has at least 1 good singer in the top 5 that beats this year's top 5.

I simply will not accept David A as a great singer, or even a great entertainer. He's 100% boring and 100% monotonous as a vocalist. He has zero personality and even less than zero diversity. If he wins, he'll be the worst winner by a large margin, even over Taylor Hicks and Ruben, the two other weakest winners.

You expect 1 weak singer might slip into in the Top 5. (Nikki, Jasmine, Anthony were the weakest in past years). We've never had a Jason, Brooke and David A. all in the same year. The closest to it would have been Season 1 with Nikki, RJ and Justin). But when you have a Kelly Clarkson and Tamyra, they can make you forget the others pretty quickly. I don't think Mark Cook and Syesha are good enough this year to make us forget the other 3 pieces of dead wood.... David A. is the worst contestant ever with a real shot at winning...

warm up the shark folks and polish up the water skis...

Brian

I can't believe no one has posted on this thread since Friday. You'd think we all had lives or something.

Anyway, I missed the first part of last night's show and turned it on during Jason's "I Shot the Sheriff". I think Jason is going home this week.

I couldn't believe how much all the judges were gushing over David A. He does the same performance week after week. I think I have figured out why the judges are so crazy about him. He DOES listen to what the judges and mentors suggest, showing that he is capable of being molded into whatever kind of package they can see fit to market.

Syesha sounded pretty good, and I think she has a chance of doing stage-work or maybe even movies.

David Cook SHOULD be the winner, but then again, when I was working in radio back in the 80's, I once said on the air that I thought Cyndi Lauper was great, but she would never make the big time, so what do I know?

Syesha was hands down the best last night while the judges seem to still want to crown David Archuleta king.

David Cook IMO blew his chance to win it last night. A rocker gets the chance to do anything from the R & R Hall of Fame and he pulls out two arrangements that just didn't rock. Part of the problem is the 90 second version that they perform, but by now he should have figured out how to take a song from 0 to redline in that format. His Teenage Wasteland was starting to get revved up at the end but he never got there.

Jason Castro was an absolute disaster but I'm wondering how many dreadhead reggae fans were toking and texting for two hours at the end of the show to keep him going.

David A was his typical lounge singer routine - but given the performances by David C and Jason last night, for the first time I'll say he belongs in the top two, if only because the other two guys belong in the bottom two.

I think Idol is the worst thing that has ever happened to live music.
I will not watch or support it and I'm kind of surprised that you folks watch it.
Because of this horrible show many of the clubs/bars that we used to play at just do the kareoke crap instead of live music.
People are so dumbed down that they have no concept of what it takes to be a musician/entertainer.
Live music used to be an event that people would plan their day around.
I hate kareoke and I despise the biggest kareoke show in the world,American Idol !

JJ

I guess I only know the Eric Clapton version of "I shot the sherriff" because the version last night was terrible. I don't know who to blame, Bob Marley or Jason Castro. I got the impression last night that Jason Castro was "begging" to go home! I don't think he wants to be there anymore and tonight (Wednesday) he finally gets the boot. Even his biggests fans couldn't ignore the mess. When he picked the most generic folk rock song possible (Mr. Tamborine man) and then didn't even bother to learn the words tells me this kid has had enough of the American Idol experience.

The last three standing all have carreers secure I think. Syesha on Broadway or musical theater, David Cook rock tours, and David Archuleta at Disney World, and on Disney TV. I don't think we will hear from the rest of them except perhaps Cristi Cook in country music and Jason Castro might make a comeback in a couple of years when he sorts out where he wants to go. Remember, his family are opera singers and he had only preformed live 5 times before he tried out for American Idol. He knows he is outclassed. He wouldn't even sing in front of his family until two years ago. That is why consciously or subconsciously I think he sabotauged his songs last night. Actually he has been doing that for the last three weeks.

I felt rather uninspired by the show & was left with more questions than answers. What are the judges judging, and are they judging with integrity? Are they trying to influence the results? I ask this, because Syesha is clearly - CLEARLY - an extremely talented singer and also a very beautiful woman but the judges don't seem to support her at all. Whereas David A gets all the praise for playing it safe and singing hokey old songs -- where was the comment that he didn't change them up to be 'today' and that they made him look 'mature'. Makes you wonder, makes you wonder. David C is very talented & rocks it up well. Jason should never have made it to the top 10, but he did, and we may have to deal with the fact that he makes it to the finals.

DAVID COOK
Hungry Like a Wolf - he was in his element, rocked it out, but I wondered if he should have showed more range.

Teenage Wasteland - here David showed vocal quality and strength and musicality.

SYESHA
Proud Mary - I thought she came across as sexy, versatile, and powerful. Excellent musicality.

A Change is Gonna Come - this song does not have a lot of range, and sits pretty low in tessatura, but even though it was rather low, she never once went off pitch which shows great vocal ability. She sang something that really mattered to her. I thought she handled it well and I disagreed with the judging.

DAVID A.
Stand by Me - I felt it was a predictable, karoke style performance of a boring song.

Love Me Tender - another boring song, but sung with better tone & some interesting changes in the melody line. Still, with the hundreds of great songs in the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, it's odd to pick this one. I disagreed that his performance of both songs were the best of the night. No they weren't. Syesha could outsing this boy with both hands tied behind her back.

JASON
I Shot the Sheriff - jazzy sort of folk version, showed some vocal tone, sang it okay.

Mr Tamborine Man - another strange song choice, for me. He forgot the words. But you know, the fact of the matter is that Jason is a folk singer, and he just doesn't have the ability or range to sing anything like David C or Syesha.


Personally, I think Jason should go home (as I've been saying for weeks), but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Syesha, clearly the judges are not supporting her.

I bet Castro will stay and Syesha will leave

The judges are definitely propping up David A. I thought Syesha had the best performances. David Cook wasn't at his best, but was still pretty solid.

I agree that that David A, David C, and Syesha will all have successful careers in music regardless of the final order or who is crowned the American Idol.

Jason was a disaster - more so than usual with forgeting the lyrics to Tamborine Man. I couldn't believe he picked that out of 500 songs. Why would a "singer" who is trying to prove he can sing, pick a Bob Dylan song? Bob was a great songwriter, but as a vocalist, the guy was terrible: not someone you would try to emulate as a vocalist.

Dial Idol is predicting (by a comfortable margin) that Jason will go home. He's long overdue.

Post deleted by TAMERA64

I agree with all who say Jason should go home. I agree with Samuel that he needs to know where he wants to go but first, I'd suggest he find out where he is. I mean, I like the guy. He seems nice and all but he just doesn't seem like he's all there. It may just be his personality but the kid just doesn't seem to care - last night was the final proof if there ever was any proof. I'm not sure why he doesn't pull himself out instead of waiting to see how long his fans will allow him to torture us.

IMO, Syesha should be next to go. While last night was great for her, she continued to prove (to me) that she is a mimic. She has no style or personality that belongs to her. Early on in the contest, she mimicked Whitney. Then, when the judges were giving her credit for sounding Broadway, she sounded a whole lot like Vanessa Williams doing Disney. Last night, in her pre-performance comments, I had some hope that FINALLY, we were going to see the real Syesha. and it was sounding great on the Tina Turner, Proud Mary song. But then she started doing it... She started making all the moves that Tina makes when she performs that song live. If you remember her performance, look up one of Tina Turner's live versions of the song on YouTube and you will see what I mean. I'm sad for her because I think she could be the best of the bunch. All she needs to do is find out who she really is. At least, unlike Jason, she does know where she is.

David A. What's to say about David A? I like the kid. He seems genuinely nice and likable. But as Kevin (and I'm sure others) has noted above, the kid does the same performance over and over. I mean really... How many more classic melodies is he going to be allowed to change into his uninspired "generic-superstar-wannabe" melody before people have heard enough? If the tweens like him because they think he's cute, fine. But let's not call this a singing contest.

David Cook is the best of the rest hands down. Last night, I found myself a little disappointed. Marty is right... His version of Baba O'Riley (a.k.a. Teenage Wasteland) took too long to get there. I think David has the best ability of all of them to take classic songs, make them his and make them sound contemporary. If there is a fault in doing that it's that sometimes it's just not necessary. Baba O'Riley, as written and performed by The Who, is perfect for David's voice. Had he performed it like it was meant to be performed, I don't think we'd be having this discussion right now. He would be the clear winner.

I guess what bothers me most about these contestants is they apparently do not receive any coaching at all from the AI staff during the season. I had been under the impression that they did get coaching in previous seasons but this season it appears that it just doesn't happen. All of the last four, minus Jason Castro, could be so much better than they are with the right coaching.

Oh well, I think it's going to come down to David Cook vs. David A or Syesha. Either way, unless he totally blows it bad, Cook should be the winner hands down if talent has anything to do with it.

Well.. if you go back to the start of all this, I've been saying David A. is a puppet being propped up by the judges and that he is generic and does the same thing every week. At that time, most didn't agree with me.. glad that folks are finally on board. I also said from the start that Syesha was the most talented vocalist and with her looks and personality would be a great artists to work with. It's nice that most everyone is on board with that now as well.

I thought David Cook wasn't connecting last night. I like him and think he's probably the most deserving winner right now of the 4 because his highlights have been the best of the season and the weeks he's been off, he's still sings well but has usually just chosen bad songs. The week of Andrew Lloyd Webber, oddly enough, I thought Cook had the best performance of the season doing theater. He's really been the only artist of all of them who has risen above where he started in the auditions... Syesha stayed about the same (she's always been good, but hasn't gotten better) and David A. has sung the exact same way every single song every single week. He's starting to make elevator music sound exciting and risky. Jason Castro peaked during the Pre-Top 12 weeks. He's gone steadily downhill since. I agree that he seems to like he could not care less about how bad he's doing. A stoner til the end.

As I have said all season, the judges clearly have an agenda.. they want David A. The reason they don't want Syesha? I'll give you several: Rueben Studdard, Tamyra Gray, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle, all successful finalists, but none have really sold many records and they simply don't want another R&B singer winner. And there's zero chance of her winning no matter how much she outperforms the others. The pre-ordained David A. since he's the Disney kid their marketing department has dreamed about. But he's no Miley Cyrus and he's no Jonas Brothers. They'll find out that once he's 21, no one is going to care about his tired generic style and limited appeal once the "kid" appeal has worn off. Can you imaging people caring about him in 10 years like Kelly Clarkson? Ha! He's like the typical "child actor" that everyone loves til he grows up to be an awkward adult. Fortunately, the voters often pick the best of the final two. (I never liked McPhee, though I am sure Larry will disagree... and Clay Aiken was the ultimate geek versus the sentimental favorite that year...).

Ack. The only thing left to hope for is that a JPF member wins the Song Contest. We have a 50/50 chance.

Brian

What I don't understand is that if David A won Star Search, why does he need American Idol? Doesn't the winner get a record deal?

He's never appealed to me and I can't imagine him winning. And I guess I was naive to think the judges wouldn't have an agenda, but I can see it now in their comments, especially with Syesha.

Yes, let's hope a JPF member wins the song contest!! I wish the contenders the best of luck!

Brian, I actually haven't gone back and read this entire thread. I have somewhat scanned a good deal of the last few pages but I'm a little late to the JPF AI bashing party...

I'm glad to see Jason go but I have to admit. I've enjoyed him being on the show. Not because he was that good a singer but there was just something I liked about him. He kind of reminds me of the guy singing in the loft of the local Pot Belly sandwich shop - someone you don't really mind listening to but not necessarily someone you want to hear again. But he really should have been out of it a long time ago.

At any rate, it looks like you and I would have mostly agreed from the beginning. The judges might well be biased against Syesha but I'm surprised none of them, to my knowledge, have mentioned her lack of identity and I'm really surprised none of them have called her out for mimicking Tina Turner with Proud Mary. Be that as it may, she is a beautiful young woman and she definitely has ability. Hopefully, someone will pick her up if AI doesn't work out and help her realize her potential. It's there but someone needs to help her find it.

I kind of feel bad for David A. He's only 17 for goodness sakes. Why doesn't someone tell him to actually learn the melodies of these songs and stop trying to do the same vocal runs and the same generic melody for every song he sings? Really, if the judges are pulling for the kid, don't you think someone should pull him aside and tell him what he's doing wrong? He might actually be pretty good if he learned to diversify.

David Cook should be the clear winner of this group. He really is talented. He's good at making a song his own but he just needs to know when not to do it and/or when not to overdo it. Other than that, he should wrap this up in a couple of weeks.

It was interesting to hear David say what I said in that something was just "off" about him last night. It's true. He just wasn't clicking even though he was in key.

Brian

I'm glad Jason finally went home. I hope David C and Syesha pull out all the stops next week.

I didn't pick up on that because when he is not "on" he is still good. I think his power vocals are as clear and strong as anyone I have ever heard. But consider this: the mind is a complex unfathomable mystery- maybe he does not want to be the American Idol winner. Maybe he would rather be the "International Rock Journyman of the 21st Century"- I think he really loves his craft. I don't think the term "Idol" fits him very well- that the label could be a negative-something he might have to live down if he has ambitions to rise to the level of people with staying power like Eric Clapton or Bonnie Raitt.

I personally believe, with only two exceptions (Kelly and Carrie), the runners-up are usually better than the winner anyway. And I think being 3rd or 4th runner up can be even more advantageous - witness Daughtry. In other words, I agree with you. Perhaps David sees the advantages of not being the winner in the end.

Chances are David C sees the writing on the wall. It's obvious to anyone with brains that David A is being pitched as the winner, because the powers-that-be know he has the most appeal to the tweenies and that equals pots of money. Plus he's young enough to be "handled".

Ages ago I predicted it would come down to the two Davids, and I stand by that prediction.

Did anyone notice that unlike just about every other contestant that got voted off, Jason was smiling and HAPPY when singing his swan song? He actually did a much better job than the previous night (I Shot the Sheriff). I think the guy wanted to go home and Simon had it right when he told him he didn't seem to care enough about the contest.

Of the last three, I really don't think it makes any difference who gets the "crown". There have been successful people out of the top 5 just about every year. I'm 99.999% certain the finale will be the battle of the Davids. NOT winning might actually be a career advantage since the runner up may get a record deal with a little more choice in the material selected than the AI winner.

The judges are really propping David A since they haven't tried to market a teenie-bopper idol that I recall. Jordin is young, but not necessarily being marketed to the 10-15 year-olds as David A could be. Hey, if Miley can sell to that age group, they're probably figuring he can, too.

Brian, I think you're right in that the judges don't want Syesha to win. She's a good singer, but not particularly unique or original as an "artist". As you mention, AI and 19 Entertainment have not had a very successful run with R&B singers. I think she'll do fine in musical theatre or even as a TV or movie actress.

I thought David A took WAY too many liberties with the melody on Love Me Tender, and was too "pat" on Stand By Me. His melodic embellishments are getting a bit repetitive and predictable at this point.

I found it interesting that Ryan mentioned that out of 51 million votes, there were only about a million votes separating each of the top three. That means that as the lowest vote-getter, Jason, got the boot but good. I think the guy is an airhead myself. He needs to figure out if this is really what he wants or whether he should flip burgers for a while. If he becomes successful in music (as in having a song on the Billboard chart), I will be quite amazed.

Next week:

"Next week the Top 3 finalists will compete head-to-head on the live AMERICAN IDOL performance show Tuesday, May 13 (8:00-9:02 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed). Each contestant will sing three songs - judges' choice, producers' choice and finalist's choice - on the season's second-to-last performance show."

Let's see what the judges choose for the contestants to sing.

Good job with the prediction. I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I was just watching to see if anyone would step it up along the way. No one really has. I think David Cook had his ability all along but he sometimes makes a bad call - no biggie. The others haven't changed anything that I've noticed.

For David A, the judges should try to find the song which best fits the generic melody he always uses.

For Syesha, they have two choices... Either select a song by an artist she can't imitate to find out what she's made of or select a song by an artist she imitates very well so she doesn't embarrass herself.

David Cook... pretty much any good rocking song.

I don't know if anyone saw American Idol Extra with Jason's "exit interview", but I thought it demonstrated that regardless of whether or not you think he was a good or bad singer (I'm in the latter group), some people are just NOT cut out for fame - it's harder work than most of us imagine. He admitted that he was really glad he was going home, he could handle the "pace" for a month or so, but really couldn't continue any longer at that pace. He was extremely trepidatious about having to learn 3 songs in one week.

It just makes me wonder how many people who are more talented than this particular bunch would have had the stamina to stick it out had they had the opportunity. It's sort of a rhetorical question, but simply having talent (such as vocal talent) is nowhere near enough to ensure success in this business. It really is a combination of talents, including perseverence.

Jason castro was funny

FYI, there has been a change of protocol at AI, and the judges choices for tomorrow night have been revealed:

Simon chose for David Cook "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (apparently, Leona Lewis has a version of this out!)

Randy chose for Syesha "If I Ain't Got You"

Paula chose for David A. "And So It Goes"

There was also talk that David Cook chose for himself Collective Souls "The World I know", the producers chose for him "American Woman"; producers picked for David A. "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg.

While these could all be just hearsay, they were listed (at least the judges picks) by the AI board moderators, under the SPOILER alert.

Guess we'll have to see for ourselves!!

Later,
Beth

David C will rock out on American Woman! That's a great tune for him. I find it a very strange choice for him to sing "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face".

Did you notice that the "Worst" site is now pitching David A as the "worst" of the three?

I hadn't seen that, no....

But I agree, David C. will do well with American Woman If that's correct)...as for FTEISYF, I'm just wondering if Simon wants to see what he can do with it since Leona Lewis did a version too.

As for the winner, while I like his performing the least, I hope it's David A. I think he would do well for and by American Idol (seems manageable), and both David C. and Syesha I think would ultimately be hampered by the American Idol crown.

Really though, at this stage, anything is possible. Fun fun fun!

Conspiracy theory. We all know the lyrics to "American Woman", since the judges want David A to win ........

Always, thought that Cummings/Bachman were the third best Canadian songwriters. Behind Joni and Neil of course.

No, they'd would have to be fourth, because Gordon Lightfoot would be number one and Leonard Cohen would be in there too.

Just my opinion as well as yours. Maybe because Joni Mitchell and Neil Young are my two all time favorite songwriters regardless of country of origin.

You're my kinda kid, checkerboard.

I think the judges should really make them sweat. They should make David Cook gag on, "Killing me softly with his song" and then make David Archaleta sing James Taylor's "Steam Roller" or the Stones "Honk Tonk Woman" That would be a riot!

"Harvest Moon" one of my all time faves...

Then Syesha would have to sing "Red River Valley".

Actually, isn't "First Time Ever..." in the same class as "Killing me Softly"?

Archuleta could do ZZ Top's "Waitin' for the Bus", or "Jesus Just Left Chicago", or Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs"...

Archuleta doing...."Highway to Hell" wwoo hhhoooo

Cookie "the first time?" You gotta be kidding ! ! !

I'd love to hear Syesha sing a Joni Mitchell song (speaking of her) She would do a great "Twisted"

Similar in "mood" but "First time Ever" was first written by Ewan MacColl in 1957 and was first sung by a guy (maybe it was even Ewan) before Roberta Flack recorded it. If David does a Roberta Flack version of it, I think I will be sick; but if he sings it unsentimentally, like the orignal recording, sung by a guy (with a heavy Scottish accent if I recall), it could work for him.

Haven't seen a word of this thread, but I guess this is on topic.

Did ya'll catch Randy's Freudian slip? "Glad you're peaking at the right time, Syesha. That's what got you to number 3!

Simon told Archuleta he should get thru. Cook is coming up. (Not that any of this is surprising. The 2 guys have been the picks for weeks.

Well,
I listened thru the whole show. Each of the last three have some assets but not sure any of them are the total package. Will anyone of them make an album that you will want in your collection. It is a tossup of which one will be the winner.

I think they all have potential CD sales if marketed right.

I was surprised that David Cook did as well on "First Time Ever..." as he did.

When we're down to the wire like this, I'm going to have to put my eggs in David Cook's basket. Of the three, he is the most likely to make a CD that I would buy. It's not any more complicated than that.

Archie had a very nice opening number, but didn't give an "Idol-worthy" performance after that. Syesha still seems a bit copycat - without her own identity.

As many have predicted, it will most likely be a finale between the two Davids, with Syesha going home tomorrow. She'll do fine without winning, however.

MAY 13TH - TOP 3

I wasn't all that thrilled with tonight's show. Some of the song choices were lame.

David Cook showed his range & musicality, and particularly showed his great vocal tone in First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

Unfortunately, Syesha had a chance to shine but chose less than stellar songs. She has great vocal tone but makes wierd song choices & has arrangements that make her gravel around in the low end of her range, Why, when you could sing any pop song around, would you choose to sing Fever. If nothing else you could choose to do a Girlicious version of an old standard. She would have sounded great doing an awesome Latin pop song.

David A was pretty predicible. Soppy ballad & bubble gum pop.

Bottom two should be Syesha & David A. Unless there is some huge surprise, Syesha will go home.

It was as lame as most weeks. After the first round, both guys sucked badly. David Cook blew out his voice on his second song (Which I thought was horrible) and by the third had little left to go on. I was hoping he'd be doing American Woman as was suggested earlier today (in fact, it seems most of those songs listed were correct.. except that one). The Diane Warren thing was really weak. He's no Steven Tyler by a million miles.. (or LeAnn Rhimes for that matter). Archuletta is so boring I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy or listen to his music no matter what he does. He may be the most boring finalist ever.

Syesha was the best overall of the night because she was best in Round 2 and 3 both and second best in round 1. And yes, I caught Randy's statement that she was 3rd. Rigged? I don't know. But if David A. wins it has to be... there can't be that many little girls out there voting who like boring music.

Brian

For the conspiracy fans, keep in mind that Syesha only picked one of the three songs and the one she picked was a 60 year old novelity song (Fever). But the other two were picked by a judge and producer and they were lame choices too. Her last song was so generically R and B, any voice could have been substituted for hers- they didn't do her any favors- and now she will be booted.

David Archuleta sounded great on his first number but his (personal) choice was awful. Did you check the lyrics on his choice?- The worst lyrics I have ever heard on AI.

Here is one way to evaluate the remaining two guys. You can imagine David Cook singing anything they throw at him; and they did throw a bomb at him with "First Time..." but, there are so many songs that would make you laugh if David Archuleta attempted them- in other words, David A is "limited" and David C is not. Who will win is a total toss up because the fan base is as different as candy and steak.

I noticed that his voice cracked in the second number and I guess he didn't recover very well on the last number. He was pushing so hard at the limits of "First Time..", I was afraid he was going to blow his voice on that song. I think he is trying way too hard. It annoys me that the contestants only sing 90 second songs. Have we ever heard them sing a whole song?- and if they did, wouldn't that be a better indicator of how good they are?

And isn't it strange that Syshesa can be so pretty, so charming, so funny, so talented- and still all of us knows she has zero chance of winning. What is going on?

I think Syesha and David Cook should be in the finals but I have a feeling that they want it to come down to both Davids in the finals. It too bad. Because is clear that vocally Syesha and David Cook are the top 2. But that is not how this show is run. In my opinion Syesha can sing circles around David A. and I can't believe how she was practically crucified on the show last night. It was ridiculous! They continually praise David A. like he can do no wrong. It is unbelievable. I sit here with my mouth open. I have grown so tired of David A. He has just an average voice. Honestly. Syesha is a star! I think she deserves to win it. She is the whole package and I think its fantastic that she chose a broadway song in the midst of her other songs. So what! It just shows her versitality. You need to be able to be more than just vanilla when you get a place at the top. That is what you would get with David A. And as far as David Cook. He could easily win it too. I think he is a great rocker and it has been amazing to see him keep it all together while his brother is so very ill. That has to effect everything about you. He is to be commended. Now we just have to see what happens.

Tammy

www.myspace.com/tammyedwards2
www.tammyedwards2

I think it's simply that she doesn't have a uniquely identifiable singing style or voice like the other two. I don't think any of us could identify her singing in say, 4 notes, like you could with many superstar acts like Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Beyonce, Whitney, Madonna, Mariah, Norah Jones, Enya, etc.

She's talented, it's just a matter of is she unique enough...

Look what happened when they tried to market Jordin Sparks in the pop/R&B market. From what I've been able to tell, she hasn't exactly been selling tons of CDs. I don't think Syesha is as good a singer as Jordin. She's also no Beyonce, so what to do with her?

I think Syesha would be great in a weekly sitcom, with music as a sideline for her. However, that's just my opinion...and we all know that opinions will vary...