DBSTalk Forum banner

Who are your favorites?

  • Adam Lambert

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Allison Iraheta

    Votes: 44 69.8%
  • Anoop Desai

    Votes: 33 52.4%
  • Danny Gokey

    Votes: 7 11.1%
  • Kris Allen

    Votes: 19 30.2%
  • Lil Rounds

    Votes: 37 58.7%
  • Matt Giraud

    Votes: 0 0.0%

American Idol (Top 7 - redux)

6K views 152 replies 25 participants last post by  peak_reception 
#1 ·
Well we get to do it all over again .. with Disco no less :)

Don't forget to pad those recordings. We went over last week with only 2 Judges per contestant and I'm not sure they are going to do that again. It's currently scheduled for 61 minutes and I wouldn't be shocked to see 65 or more minutes.
 
#103 ·
Steve said:
I like Kris too, but I'm still waiting for a McPhee "Over the rainbow" or Archuletta "Imagine" moment from him. Haven't really felt it yet. I just came across Jordin's Idol performance of "She Works Hard For The Money", BTW. Forgot how enjoyable it was. :) /steve
Yeah, I'm not particularly a huge Kris fan; I can just see a possibility where he could win it. At this point, I don't think it matters who wins. None of them can really be viewed as also-rans, which could have been a real possibility for both Allison and Kris early on; and there's always been that theory that it's better not to win the show as it gives the singer more control over the direction of his/her career.

But what do I know, I was mostly disgusted by McPhee sexing-up "Over the Rainbow" and Archuletta intellectually neutering "Imagine," but it certainly worked for their fan bases.
 
#104 ·
Steve said:
Sparks's "She Works Hard..." wasn't her "moment", IMHO. Just put it up there for comparison to Kris last week.

Her "moments" for me were "You'll Never Walk Alone", "I Who Have Nothing" and even... "This Is My Moment"! :lol:

Just my .02. /steve
Sorry, Steve ... I should have been clearer ... I was "never" bowled over by Archuleta or Sparks.
 
#105 ·
Steve said:
I like Kris too, but I'm still waiting for a McPhee "Over the rainbow" or Archuletta "Imagine" moment from him. Haven't really felt it yet. I just came across Jordin's Idol performance of "She Works Hard For The Money", BTW. Forgot how enjoyable it was. :) /steve
Thanks for posting the Sparks link Steve. I've been reading a lot on here lately about Jordin and Melinda. That was a season I didn't watch much of so I had no recollection of either one. After viewing Jordin I watched a Melinda video for comparison (her "Sway" performance). I enjoyed both of them.

Melinda's musical personality is very strong and she was all over "Sway" in a good way. Jordin's style is more direct and she stays within herself and the song (without being karaoke) in the way I kept hoping Lil Rounds would and never could (or at least never did).

On the limited basis of those two viewings I'd say Melinda is the more musically adventurous, and artistic. On the other hand, Jordin's direct and centered delivery is enjoyable too, not to be underestimated. Viewing those two clips makes me think I should've watched more of that season if these two represented the level of talent that year.
 
#106 ·
QuickDrop said:
But what do I know, I was mostly disgusted by McPhee sexing-up "Over the Rainbow" and Archuletta intellectually neutering "Imagine," but it certainly worked for their fan bases.
"Sexing up" Over The Rainbow? I suppose she did but she can't help it; she's sexy! :) As for Archuletta, he may have neutered Imagine but I doubt it came from an intellectual angle. Probably more from his youth and innocence. He certainly gave it a sweet rendition. Maybe he should've done Over The Rainbow instead of Katharine? ;)
 
#108 ·
QuickDrop said:
Completely agree. I would compare it to the Melinda Doolittle - Jordan Sparks dynamic of a couple of seasons ago. Melinda/Adam were/are almost expected to blow the roof off the place while Jordan/Kris are content with being consistently good. If Kris manages to gives his "great" performance during an off week (by his standards) for Adam, I can easily see him squeaking through.
Hard to imagine Adam having an off week (barring illness etc) but i suppose anything's possible. However, it's easy to imagine him not being quite mainstream enough to take 1st Place in the end.

Kris, on the other hand, has kind of flown under the radar for a lot of people so far. That's changing now and his performances will be more closely scrutinized. Will he hold up to the closer listen?
 
#109 ·
HDG said:
Totally agree with the McPhee moment, but I wasn't bowled over with Archuleta or Sparks. Kris better hurry and have his moment, or he'll wither on the vine. If the judges tire of waiting, they'll turn and do a Lil number on him.
I doubt that Kris will have any Adam/ Allison/ or even Danny moment. If he wins it will be by being Mr. Reliable and Mr. Likeable. Nothing wrong with either of those of course.
 
#110 ·
machavez00 said:
Adam=Clay in that they have voices that are more suited to musical theater.
Allison will sing "Take it or Leave it" (original song?)as her contestant's choice for the Top Three.
Interesting. I wonder if she wrote that all on her own? How many Allisons are singing? ;) A live version would probably be quite different. Even if someone does their own song Simon would probably still dismiss it as karaoke :D
 
#111 ·
Ok, last post for tonight.
Steve said:
I was happy to see the way they handled the Lil elimination right up front and in a classy manner.
To me it looked like they were dispatching with her right away whether or not she had the lowest number of votes. It's no secret that they wanted her gone.
I was surprised to see Anoop go and not Matt, but I think at this point it's probably a given that Adam's gonna win, so what difference does it make what order the others fall by the wayside?
Me too but Anoop is going to tap into his fan base in India and be just fine. Adam is looking strong right now but Kris or Danny could win too. Allison and Matt probably not.
what if Adam and Allison are the "blue state" picks, and Kris and Danny the "red state" picks?
Hmmm, hadn't thought of it that way. That would explain Matt's lack of support too since he doesn't have a clear cut appeal to either shade of state.
If that logic holds up, I would expect to see an Adam vs. Kris or Danny finale, even though I'd personally like to see an Adam vs. Allison finale. :)
I agree on both counts.
 
#112 ·
peak_reception said:
"Sexing up" Over The Rainbow? I suppose she did but she can't help it; she's sexy! :) As for Archuletta, he may have neutered Imagine but I doubt it came from an intellectual angle. Probably more from his youth and innocence. He certainly gave it a sweet rendition. Maybe he should've done Over The Rainbow instead of Katharine? ;)
If she didn't start it, McPhee certainly perfected the AI contestant using sex appeal to overcome her deficiencies. It's possible I'm confusing performances, but there something so Freudian about a woman in a low cut dress singing a song most people know from childhood while basically lying prone on stage. It's kinda funny that so many people lapped it up. Though really, good for her. I think she wanted to be an actress more than a singer anyway and she certainly acted her way into the final two.

As for Archuleta, his neutering of Imagine definitely came from an intellectual angle. Randy Jackson actually called him on it the first time he performed it. Imagine, though, is a strange song in our culture. It's probably one of the few songs that have become a "standard" during the rock era of pop music and is widely beloved here in a country that is probably the most dogmatically Christian and capitalistic in the world, yet the whole point of the song is how great an atheistic communist utopia would be. For me, what made John Lennon solo career interesting was he married very personal or political lyrics to a 1950s era rock n' roll sound to show that musically "rocking out" didn't necessarily mean singing vapid lyrics. If he didn't like what the song said he should have found a song with lyrics he was more comfortable with. Last year, Brooke White, who adheres to the same religion as Archuleta and seemed to be personally very religious, said in interviews that there were songs she wanted to perform but after reading the lyrics realize she couldn't because they conflicted too much with her belief system, which I consider a much more honest approach than Archuleta ignoring the majority of Imagine.

Of course, his performance probably helped to sell Lennon's original to people who might not otherwise have bought it. And there is something very subversive in turning an anti-religion song into a hymn (I might be the first ever to call David Archuleta "subversive."), but my favorite subversion of Imagine came from Paul McCartney's friend Elvis Costello, who in a song wrote, "Was it a millionaire who said 'imagine no possessions'?
 
#113 ·
QuickDrop said:
If she didn't start it, McPhee certainly perfected the AI contestant using sex appeal to overcome her deficiencies.
Well said. I never thought she was that good, and the fact that even Taylor was able to best her made watching that whole season's eliminations extremely frustrating.

OTOH, that performance probably helped her land her rich husband. :) /steve
 
#115 ·
Thanks for the link. Enjoyed the "studio" versions of Allison's and Kris's performances even more than the TV performances.

Her diction on the studio cut of "Hot Stuff" was much clearer, and listening to it now, I realize that song was not really age-appropriate for Allison! Not that I'm a prude, but I wonder how comfortable her parents were with their 16-year old singing those lyrics? Great performance, tho, IMHO. Still not sure why a couple of the judges disliked the arrangement. /steve
 
#116 ·
peak_reception said:
I doubt that Kris will have any Adam/ Allison/ or even Danny moment. If he wins it will be by being Mr. Reliable and Mr. Likeable. Nothing wrong with either of those of course.
I don't think anyone can argue that Kris hasn't had his moment yet. If he ever has one and when, is anyone's guess. No, I don't think he has a chance at winning, but I'd like to think he gets some sort of lasting recognition out of it.
 
#117 ·
QuickDrop said:
If she didn't start it, McPhee certainly perfected the AI contestant using sex appeal to overcome her deficiencies. It's possible I'm confusing performances, but there something so Freudian about a woman in a low cut dress singing a song most people know from childhood while basically lying prone on stage.
First of all, what deficiencies are you referring to? I'm not suggesting she didn't have them, rather am just interested in hearing what you deem them to be.
Secondly, she was never lying down while singing the song. She was sitting on stage the first time she did it. Some opera singers manage to sing arias while lying down (for dramatic effect) but it is far from an ideal position to sing in and yields far from optimal results. Thirdly, if she was lying in a "prone" position as you say, that means lying face down which would complicate vocal projection even more ;)
It's kinda funny that so many people lapped it up. Though really, good for her. I think she wanted to be an actress more than a singer anyway and she certainly acted her way into the final two.
Sounds like you were never a fan :D She had strenths and weaknesses like everyone else inside and outside the show.

As for Archuleta, his neutering of Imagine definitely came from an intellectual angle. Randy Jackson actually called him on it the first time he performed it.
If he was neutering the song for moral reasons then it came from a moral angle. If he was neutering the song for political reasons then it came from a political angle. Either way I doubt it came from David. More likely from whomever he consulted on song choice etc. Maybe his father? He certainly had a reputation of being a, shall we say, keenly interested party. David was only, what, 17 years old at the time. Seems unlikely that his major goal was to sublimate, neutralize, or commoditize John Lennon's left-wing politics. I think a better word for David would be guileless and there's certainly no crime in that for a teenager.
Imagine, though, is a strange song in our culture. It's probably one of the few songs that have become a "standard" during the rock era of pop music and is widely beloved here in a country that is probably the most dogmatically Christian and capitalistic in the world, yet the whole point of the song is how great an atheistic communist utopia would be. For me, what made John Lennon solo career interesting was he married very personal or political lyrics to a 1950s era rock n' roll sound to show that musically "rocking out" didn't necessarily mean singing vapid lyrics.
Yes, most of us knew all that. It also has a soft, lyrical melody which is as easy on the ears as the politics are hard on the ears.
If he didn't like what the song said he should have found a song with lyrics he was more comfortable with.
Most songs on A.I. are truncated anyway. Why not edit out the politics and focus on the beautiful melody and longing sentiment? Most people don't want to be beat over the head by politics in art anyway except those who share in the political mission (for, in this case, an atheistic, communist utopia). Needless to say, most American Idol viewers are not on that mission.
Last year, Brooke White, who adheres to the same religion as Archuleta and seemed to be personally very religious, said in interviews that there were songs she wanted to perform but after reading the lyrics realize she couldn't because they conflicted too much with her belief system, which I consider a much more honest approach than Archuleta ignoring the majority of Imagine.
Ok, but as I say, lots of songs get trimmed for A.I. performance. The version David sang skipped over Lennon's political message, true, but we don't know that David is the one who crafted the lite version. He sang Lennon (politics) lite but the music itself was not changed so far as I know. The convergence is that Arch gave it the same yearning, longing simplicity that Lennon did without the politics. If that's "intellectually neutering" the song then so be it, but we still don't know it was David's idea.
Of course, his performance probably helped to sell Lennon's original to people who might not otherwise have bought it. And there is something very subversive in turning an anti-religion song into a hymn (I might be the first ever to call David Archuleta "subversive.")...
Ah ha! Yes, that was probably David A's real intention, to subvert and bring about the fall of World Capitalism! :D What an evil genius David Archuletta was! :lol:
 
#118 ·
HDG said:
I don't think anyone can argue that Kris hasn't had his moment yet.
That means that he's had his moment :p (double negative pothole alert).
If he ever has one and when, is anyone's guess. No, I don't think he has a chance at winning, but I'd like to think he gets some sort of lasting recognition out of it.
I actually think he'll do very well, both in this competition and afterward. To me his voice and style will wear very well for repeat CD album listening. Adam, otoh, will not. His fans will want to see him "LIVE" to get the full Adam impact. Both will do just fine. Danny, not sure. He's not my cup 'o tea but he has his committed fans too.
 
#120 ·
Steve said:
I disagree. I think HDG phrased it correctly. How would you say it? :) /steve
If he meant that Kris has not had his moment yet (which his following sentence strongly suggests) then the sentence should read:

>>> I don't think anyone can argue that Kris has had his moment yet.<<<

Otherwise he wrote the opposite of what he meant to write. It wasn't a big deal to me (I stuck out my tongue in a fun icon) but you too are mistaken in claiming that he phrased it correctly :p

Geez. sorry i mentioned it :(
 
#122 ·
I think Kris has done well .. I think the girls like him as well. Next out will be either Matt or Allison. I don't know who Anoop's votes will go to, but it very well could be Kris .. although more likely it will be Adam or Danny
 
#125 ·
peak_reception said:
First of all, what deficiencies are you referring to? I'm not suggesting she didn't have them, rather am just interested in hearing what you deem them to be.
I meant I didn't think she was very good and used her looks to overcome it. That's a matter of taste. At least one other person here has agreed with me. You yourself said she had strengths and weaknesses, which you didn't think needed to be explained either.

peak_reception said:
Secondly, she was never lying down while singing the song. She was sitting on stage the first time she did it. Some opera singers manage to sing arias while lying down (for dramatic effect) but it is far from an ideal position to sing in and yields far from optimal results. Thirdly, if she was lying in a "prone" position as you say, that means lying face down which would complicate vocal projection even more ;)
As I said in my original post, I couldn't quite remember the original performance and admittedly I purposely used some hyperbole. You are right about my misuse of the word prone in it's most correct usage. I should have said something like "supine." Nothing you said though really contradicts why I personally disliked the performance and thought it was overrated. She sang a song most people know from childhood from what could be described as a sexually submissive position. And as I said, good for her for playing the audience like that. (In case you missed it, I'm actually giving McPhee some credit for her intellect.)

peak_reception said:
If he was neutering the song for moral reasons then it came from a moral angle. If he was neutering the song for political reasons then it came from a political angle. Either way I doubt it came from David. More likely from whomever he consulted on song choice etc. Maybe his father? He certainly had a reputation of being a, shall we say, keenly interested party. David was only, what, 17 years old at the time. Seems unlikely that his major goal was to sublimate, neutralize, or commoditize John Lennon's left-wing politics. I think a better word for David would be guileless and there's certainly no crime in that for a teenager.
Um, I'm not even sure why you're arguing this point. So it would have been okay if I had wrote that Archuleta had morally or politically neutered the song, but all heck breaks loose because I wrote "intellectually neutered." Personally, I've always thought moral and political arguments were at least in part intellectual arguments. As I said, Randy Jackson did originally question why Archuleta sang the song the way he did. What I didn't say was Archuleta said something like he sang his favorite part. I think that response showed a decent amount of guile, as he didn't want to create any controversy by saying he strongly disagreed with most of the other lyrics of a song he chose to sing. I agree with you that David Archuleta's father probably tailored the song for him for the greatest affect.

peak_reception said:
Yes, most of us knew all that. It also has a soft, lyrical melody which is as easy on the ears as the politics are hard on the ears.
Actually, this is what I was probably most wrong about in my post. My description of Lennon's music better applied to songs like Crippled Inside, I Found Out, and Well, Well, Well. Songs that featured Lennon's personal and/or political feelings, but also had a sort of the 1950s backbeat. (Unlike his writing partner in The Beatles, Lennon always seemed more attracted to the basics of the rock n' roll sound than the experimental side, which is why I find his song How Can You Sleep unintentionally hilarious, though still a pretty entertaining song all in all.) Imagine is pretty much just an earnest ballad. I simplified my critique because I thought it was sort of dumb to write all that out. That didn't work out very well for me.

peak_reception said:
Most songs on A.I. are truncated anyway. Why not edit out the politics and focus on the beautiful melody and longing sentiment? Most people don't want to be beat over the head by politics in art anyway except those who share in the political mission (for, in this case, an atheistic, communist utopia). Needless to say, most American Idol viewers are not on that mission.
Several times each year, I hear singers sing songs that express their religious faith/worldview . A lot of people can feel that qualifies as getting "beat over the head" too, especially since it's almost always a "Christian" worldview. Personally, I have no problem with that. I believe the contestants should express themselves however they wish. (And as Simon once pointed out, sometimes they do it rather cleverly too.) Along these lines, my only problem was once during the "Give Back Show" last year the producers had the contestants do a group medley which was explicitly Christian in nature, which since it represented the show itself and not individual contestants I thought was very offensive to people of other religions/points of view.

peak_reception said:
The version David sang skipped over Lennon's political message, true, but we don't know that David is the one who crafted the lite version. He sang Lennon (politics) lite but the music itself was not changed so far as I know. The convergence is that Arch gave it the same yearning, longing simplicity that Lennon did without the politics. If that's "intellectually neutering" the song then so be it, but we still don't know it was David's idea.

Ah ha! Yes, that was probably David A's real intention, to subvert and bring about the fall of World Capitalism! :D What an evil genius David Archuletta was! :lol:
I was asked why I didn't like Archuleta's performance and I gave the reason for my opinion. That's All. The Archuleta subversiveness comment was obviously a joke (Is there a person who comes across as less subversive than David Archuleta?), of which you apparently completely missed the point. I said, once again jokingly, that Archuleta was intentionally subverting Lennon's atheistic song into basically a Christian hymn, so it's John Lennon's worldview he's subverting not "World Capitalism," which seems to be doing a pretty decent job of subverting itself at the moment. Since you didn't bring it up, I guess you also missed the joke I made about the hypocrisy of Lennon's leftist politics.
 
#126 ·
Steve said:
Her diction on the studio cut of "Hot Stuff" was much clearer, and listening to it now, I realize that song was not really age-appropriate for Allison! Not that I'm a prude, but I wonder how comfortable her parents were with their 16-year old singing those lyrics? Great performance, tho, IMHO. Still not sure why a couple of the judges disliked the arrangement. /steve
It's not quite the same thing (though eras and what is considered "sexually suggestive" have certainly changed in 40 years), but go back and listen to The Box Tops's The Letter from the mid 60s and realize, with that voice, Alex Chilton was also only 16 when he sang that song. I think that's why you have more critics/journalists crazy for Allison than she seems to have among the general public. Her voice has "rock n' roll" written all over it. If she was a bit taller, blond, and wore a push-up bra, she would be giving Adam a real run for his money.

Happily, A.I. probably won't last more than five more years, so even if the producers get their grubby hands on her she'll still have a couple decades in her "youth" to sing the kind of music she's meant to sing.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top