American Idol Season 6
 

American Idol started today. I know a fair few of you have zero respect for it, but I find it hilarious in the beginning and actually quite engaging later on. It's certainly a fantastic excuse to be a hyper-critical music snob, and it's pumped out some decent artists.

Today's episode was kinda boring, though. Jewel was nice at times and slightly mean, but not often. And the idiots, while mildly entertaining, weren't fantastically funny. Tomorrow's episode looks bone-chillingly disturbing, though. There are some serious freaks living in Seattle.


PS, I think Simon Cowell would fit in at Gamingforce all too well. :(

I don't see how this show will recover after allowing Taylor Hicks to win.

Tonight's episode kind of reflects what he has done to the quality of contestants. They were neither talented nor funny.

Perhaps it was just the city, but I hope Seattle will pull through.

I vowed not to watch because it's taking over my House time :( But I did. Some of those people who sucked and whined about it, I hope they are watching themselves now and finally understanding.

I usually start watching when the last few episodes are on. I am not much for watching people singing, but the panel is fun to listen to. I wonder when they are going to stop this show.... I guess when it becomes unpopular.

Wow today was painful. x_X Sometimes I wonder how they can let those people have their full audition time. I honestly had to mute a few of them, and for that freaky kid with the wide creepy eyes and the disgustingly off-pitch voice I had to mute it and avert my eyes. Some of them were pretty funny, though, like that mom-daughter combo. Almost as good as that infinitely ditzy mother-daughter from last year. Yeah.

Also, that one black 16-year-old girl was fantastic.

I really wanted to watch the episode with Seattle(because Seattle is like home!), but I can't. My channel 13 sucks! It's all blurry and I can't make out anything.

Truth. Now, if only Bigblah would introduce an English accent function into these forums...

Anyway, instant winnar : Red's Bohemian Rhapsody. I was falling out of my chair laughing at that one. (Oh, Freddie Mercury, what have you wrought?)

I was impressed with that 16-year-old singer. I can see her going far in the competition.

I was literally afraid of the guy with the weird eyes and butt cut who sang Unchained Melody. Did anyone else notice how when he was feeling uber uncomfortable he'd sort of make this fist and punch it into his own side? What. the. hell. Sometimes I feel guilty in reveling in others' discomfort like that, but I can't help it. It's just too irresistible.

Last night my husband wondered how anyone could make it to adulthood and not have been told the truth about their lack of singing abilities, and he's right. I guess their families and friends were too nice for their own good. Either that, or they have been told they can't sing and just refuse to believe it. Either way, so sad.

I was thinking about that myself, but I came to a different conclusion. Their friends must encourage them on because it's just so damn hilarious. If I knew someone who sang like those people, I'd encourage them to go on Canadian Idol just for the hilarity of it.

Especially with freaky guy - he said his coworkers that convinced him to go on the show had never actually heard him sing. I can only assume that his immense social awkwardness was caused (in part at least) by some old-fashioned Utah sheltering (and possibly home schooling, since that happens a lot in the smaller towns in Utah, one of which he was from). He was SO BAD. I literally almost cried.

You know, you would think that the way this show crucifies people each year during the auditions that by now it would become a deterrent for many people, but it seems that more people from the freak show keep coming out for it. I guess they are just so socially inept that they don't see everyone laughing at them.

Seattle was definitely much better for the comedy, but the talent is still lacking. The only thing amazing about the 16 year old was the fact that she didn't look 16. I agree with Simon Cowell that she is just too sweet for her own good.

Yeah, you can tell when someone's a freak for the sake of getting onto the show, but there's still that really strong genuine-freak contingent that makes waves year in and year out.

For 16, she had the voice of a 26-year-old. She was good. They let that young guy go through (the Indian kid), and he was good, but you could tell his voice was way too young. I don't see him getting too far, because his voice won't be able to handle some of the stuff they're going to throw at him. The 16-year-old girl, on the other hand, will probably be able to handle it. Though I do agree she was a bit too sweet, and she was far from perfect in general. Just very good.

Does anyone remember the Johnny Cash-singing cow-hick from the Minneapolis episode? It said on screen that he lives in Elk River where I do, and I was laughing my ass off at him. Anyway, come to find out while I was at Applebees last night, that the dude works at the Applebees!!! It turns out that he was putting up a facade THE WHOLE TIME he was on. He went for his 5 minutes of fame and he got it. LMAO.

Fit in? I thought some of the people here took lessons from him? :D

I think the word you're looking for is delusional, in this day and age of the internets it's easy to find a group of cheerleaders for any wannabe singer to make them feel great, until that reality check slaps them in the face

Making a more general statement about the series here then a specific season, but am I the only one who finds the auditions more entertaining then the later elimination rounds?

It becomes so predictable since they normally choose the person they can market to even the lowest common denominator of people...

"screw the guy who sounds like the new james brown he's married with kids! But this guy... damn... he's young enough for the kids to have a crush on him and old enough for the adults to desire him too! A WINNER IS J00!"

Did anyone else think that he looked a lot like Brian Peppers?

Don't know who Brian Peppers is. :(

I think that a good indication of whether you'll get through the later rounds in Idol is how popular you were/are in high school. By the later rounds it's mostly popularity and looks rather than vocal quality, although there are abberations. For instance, Chris from last season was WAY more marketable than any of the eventual top 3, but he got voted off before they did.

Okay...if you saw that episode...it'd make you regret saying that.


And what the hell is up with all the news people jumping down Randy, Simon and Paula's throats about how they're "too mean". Of course they're going to be mean. Hell...all the horrid singers on there, are only on there cause they want to be the next William Hung. Honestly though, Hung doesn't sing that bad, compared to the people who want to be like him.

I think the editors have been mean in both their portrayal of people and what clips they choose to focus on, but that's about it.

And my cousin watched the Seattle episode today and I sat in on the fat kid's audition (the one AI is receiving flak for because he was Special Olympics and they think the show was unfair to him), but the judges were beyond nice to him, and though there was a bit too much focus on him, I think they were pretty fair overall.

I'm not really a fan of American Idol, I watch it from time to time when they get to Hollywood, but I just cannot sit through the bad auditions without having to change the channel halfway through. Yeah, they are supposed to be truthful, but some of those kids who go on there aren't there to be the next William Hung. Some of them actually think they can sing and before they actually go on to Randy, Paula, and Simon, they have more judges before them that say to some of the bad people that dress up crazy and whatever, "Hey, you are really good, so we want you to come back tommorrow and what you're wearing today, try to wear something like that tommorrow because we really like what we're seeing."

Anyway, some of the people on there that know they can't sing, but want attention is obvious. Then there are the people that think they can, but no one has told them they can't and people build up their hopes all the way to the final judges and then they humiliate them on national television, it's just horrible to watch. I know I'm going to get blasted with ridicule for this because, "That's what they signed up for when they decided to audition," but not everybody, actually most of the 'bad' contestants, on American Idol aren't really smart enough to realize that they can't sing and the people are lying to them just to get them through to be humiliated in front of millions.

Oh and do we really need 2-4 hours of these auditions for like 4-6 weeks?

I think (at least for Simon Cowell) the show has remained consistently mean in the past three or four years, but because some of the contestants are so pathetic now that people are starting to feel sorry for them.

But my question is, do you really think that American Idol is the only form of auditioning that is mean? I mean, maybe the only one that is broadcasted on TV for millions of people to see, but I hardly doubt auditioning for other venues outside of American Idol are any less humiliating at times.

I mean, come on. That one guy had crazy eyes. How can you market that while being taken seriously? To top it off, he can't even sing! So, Simon gave him actual reasons (granted, while being mean about it) why he will not be going through to Hollywood.

The way I see it, Randy, Paula, Simon, Ryan, and everyone else at American Idol have zero obligation to be nice or give constructive criticism. They are there to see the best.

I was in Seattle and I heard some really great singers...
Seattle is more talented than what the show made it out to be.

I did. XD.

My favorite from Seattle was the girl who sang Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me She was awesome but Simon was like, "Good song but you smiled too much"
The funniest audition was that kid who was in a rock band and kept singing like Creed (like he has a hoarse voice) and he sang Dancing Queen.

I'm not saying that American Idol is the only form of audition process that is mean. I know that there are so many auditions out there that have horrible people who say, "I'm sorry, but you cannot dance/sing/act worth crap." I've been to auditions like that. But you can't say that being humiliated in front of judges alone in a room or in a room with all dancers/singers/whatever is the same as being in that room with Randy, Paula, Simon and basically every other person in America. I know it is their job to be mean, and it has to be done, but I just hate how they focus 2 hours per show, for the next few weeks to show 30+ people that can't sing and maybe 5 who can and get invited to Hollywood.

It's mean and entertaining, if that's what people want to see, that's fine. I just think that some of those people auditioning don't know they can't sing and people tell them they can to humiliate them on tv. If you don't believe me, look at the people who come with their families and aren't there for attention and when they come out crying and everything, the families say, "I can't believe it, you're a great singer." or something like that. There is a difference between those people who havn't been told they aren't good and really believe it, and the ones who know they are bad and just want to be on tv.

I must say, Melinda Doolittle is the best thing to happen to American Idol in forever. She's amazing, pitch-perfect, has the most endearing personality combined with a huge stage presence, and if she doesn't make it to the end America has some serious owning up to do.

She's good, agreed.

More importantly, she's my ticket to big, cash prizes.

We'll gamble on just about anything at work. American Idol is no exception. When the 24 semi-finalists were announced, each of their names was placed on a popsicle stick. For $5, you got to randomly choose a stick. If the person on your stick wins, you win the whole cash pot, which is $120.

I put in $15 for three draws. I have Chris Richardson, Antonella Barba and Melinda Doolittle.

Antonella is $5 down the hole. Chris Richardson is okay, if not a little bit of a Justin Timberlake wannabe. He'll make Top 12 easily but probably won't get into the final six.

Melinda, however, has the goods to go the distance. Her only true competition could come from Lakisha Jones or possibly Chris Sligh, depending upon whether he delivers a few knockouts along the way.

Antonella might go pretty far, but she won't win. She shouldn't go far, but votefortheworst.com is supporting her. >:( You sure lucked out with Melinda, though.

If votefortheworst has any influence at all, then Sanjaya will take the gold medal. That kid's horrible.

Also, he has caterpillars for eyebrows. That is just freakish.

They're championing Sundance for the guys. I hate Sanjaya with a fiery passion. He's not a good singer at all, he's ugly and freaky looking, and I don't know why people are voting for him (according to dialidol.com he has probably been second in the voting both weeks). Amen on the eyebrows. :P

I think it is because no one want to say anything negative to attractive people. Hot girls between the ages of 18-30 rule the world. It is not until they hit their 30's that reality kicks in.

I haven't heard any comments on the Antonella pics? You guys DO know about them, or are you choosing to ignore them?

I mostly don't care about them. I mean, sure, she doesn't have the squeaky-clean image that Idol typically likes to parade around, but her abysmal singing ought to get her kicked off the show anyway. And there's nothing in the rules that states that she shouldn't have taken near-porn pics of herself before auditioning anyway. It's unfortunate, but it shouldn't take her out of the competition.

Are they saying she should be taken out of the competition because of the pics? I don't think that should have any bearing on if she can sing or not. I don't watch American Idol, but if Antonella's singing is bad; she should be kicked off becasue of that, not because of some pics.

Well, people outside of Idol are clamoring for her to get kicked off because she's not a good role model, or something. I don't think the Idol producers will do anything about it, though, because A) any press is good press, and 2) she's (hopefully) bound to get kicked off eventually anyway. I would honestly lose all trust in the system if she made it to the final grouping. Votefortheworst has outdone themselves this year.

Holy monkey, I have to post just to note how FREAKING INCREDIBLE Melinda Doolittle is. I probably come across as a bit of a broken record, but they should just cancel the show, hand her the crown, and get her in a studio to start laying down tracks for a CD. She could be kicked off today and she'd have a record contract in a heartbeat. She's AMAZING. I was floored, once again.

It's too bad the guys are stinkin' it up so bad, because the girls are really on fire this year. The overall talent pool might leave a lot to be desired when compared with last season, but the girls have it goin' on.

:p

In other news, I called the final 4 back during the round of 24, and the top 3 are who they ought to be, I think. And now there's not much of a split of demographics - it's going to be a battle royale, and I don't know who I want to go next.

It's feeling like they might send Jordin home because in all straight up honestly...she doesn't need to win this to have a successful career

None of the top 3 do, though. Melinda will be able to release whatever she wants, Blake sounds great recorded (do away with all of his flat notes by post-production) and has a real flair for making things contemporary, and Jordin will do great if she picks the right genre to stick with (unlike Katharine McPhee - fantastic voice, but I don't think she chose a smart genre to work with given her strengths). Really at this point it's more of a question of who gets to play hard ball and have a hand in determining their record deal, and who's locked into the American Idol spot. It's a trade-off, because you get a heckuvalot of advertising and built-in popularity through American Idol, but you don't determine much of anything on the contract.

Maybe it was just me, but LaKisha never really did anything as good as she did when she sang that song in the top 24. She set the bar for herself too high too early, so she was never able to surpass what she did back then.

As for the Top 3, I think they're all pretty good, and they definitely got it right this year. I'm not the biggest Melinda fan (she can sing alright, but she has no personality whatsoever), so aside from her I don't care who wins. I think Blake and Jordin should make the Top 2, but it will most likely wind up being Jordin and Melinda.

I agree that she never topped that performance, but I don't think that worked against her - on the contrary, everyone said "Oh, it's gonna be between Melinda and LaKisha" when really, LaKisha should have been maybe 6th. She was good, but so inconsistent. Instead, everyone equated her with awesome and she made it to 4th.

As for the final outcome, it will be really interesting. I don't think Melinda will get cut next week, because her following is strong, but she might not win depending on who she's up against, because of demographic displacement. Jordin and Blake share the younger demographic, but if Jordin gets cut I think more of her votes would go to Melinda than Blake's votes would. I think Jordin has more of a chance of taking Melinda out in the final than Blake would.

Bear in mind that during the Top 24 rounds, contestants are permitted to choose their own songs from any genre. It's highly likely that "And I'm Not Telling You" is a song that LaKisha had practiced hundreds of times, long before auditions, and knew she could nail.
That said, she tipped her hand far too soon. LaKisha could've sang any number of songs and still fared well, because she's obviously talented. I know you cannot rely upon being permitted to sing your comfort material each week, but some themes are rather loose and there probably could've been weeks during which LaKisha could've sang that song and gained tremendous ground when it truly counted, instead of charging out the gate and steadily losing steam.

See, this is where I disagree. I find Melinda to be far more interesting than Jordin. Jordin seems quite bland, interchangeable even. She could be any of a number of other Idol castoffs - Kimberly Locke, Trenyce, Nadia Turner, LaToya London, Lisa Tucker - and it wouldn't affect the songs she sings, nor the personality we're shown. She goes out there, sings, then stands around like a cardboard cut-out while the judges pour meaningless commentary. She doesn't make a peep. When Jordin isn't singing, she's practically invisible. And this is why she's not ready to blossom yet: Jordin lacks presence. Blake and Melinda - even LaKisha - have it. (Melinda's coyness is an act and Simon has rightly commanded her to let it go.) Jordin's performance feels like an afterthought before she's even left the stage, because once it's over, she's a shadow of herself.

The final two, in my opinion, should be Melinda and Blake. Melinda's singing has maintained the highest level of consistency throughout the competition, and Blake's unique skills are well deserving of a spot in the last episode. Both are ready for the big leagues. Jordin's not quite there yet.

And she may never be, seeing as third place Idol finishers don't exactly have a proven track record of success. Nikki McKibbin, Jasmine Trias, Vonzell Solomon and probably Elliot Yamin, soon enough, will see their careers reduced to little more than blurbs in a TV Guide retrospective and maybe being the answer on a Trivial Pursuit card.

I really don't see Melinda having more presence than Jordin. The only thing I see her doing better than Jordin is singing, but that's not all what this competition is about. I'm not saying Jordin is brimming with personality either, as they both pretty much fail in that department (Blake would win hands down if this was just about who had the best personality), but when it comes down to it, I think Jordin beats Melinda in this regard.

Just look at their performances each week. Melinda has no stage presence at all. She hardly moves around on stage, she makes really awkward looking faces while singing, and even her wardrobe is just plain. I honestly can't remember any time the judges have complimented her on her look or her ability to perform, they just keep going on about how great she sings. Jordin, on the other hand, may not sing the best each week, but she can still do it well, while also incorporating the kind of stage presence that Melinda doesn't. I honestly don't care what the judges say or any of that stuff that happens after the singing, so you're probably right about Jordin in that respect. But from what I've seen of Melinda in this regards, all she manages to do is further my dislike of her.

I just really don't think Melinda has a chance at winning, and even if she does, she hardly has a chance at having a successful career. There's just nothing very marketable about her (as Taylor Hicks definitely proved, winning the title of American Idol just isn't enough to make you successful), and I honestly can't think of what audience she could even be tried to marketed to in the first place. In this respect, Jordin, and definitely Blake, beat her, as they skew much younger and therefore have a much bigger audience they could reach out to.

I will agree that Blake and Jordin are more marketable, but that's mostly because they're more attractive, and are (and feel) younger. Stage presence isn't all about moving around and making pretty faces - stage presence is about commanding attention and demanding respect. When she's up there talking, Melinda has no apparent stage presence. Once she starts to sing, though, people who like the type of music she sings perk up, bigtime. And she knows how to move around the stage - "Have A Nice Day" and "I'm A Woman" should have proven that, among other songs. She doesn't move around on every song, I think, because it doesn't necessarily call for it, and she knows it isn't her strength. Jordin doesn't move around much, either, because her stage style is more of a ballad approach. Blake moves the entire time because he knows how, and it's part of his ticket to go places. I understand that people will dislike Melinda, but to say she has no stage presence doesn't make any sense to me.

As for a lucrative career, Melinda can definitely pull it off, if she picks the right music to do. Her biggest demographic is the 35-44 age group, although she garners support from other groups as well. Marketing her to the major supporting demographic is the smart way to go - it's how people like Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, and that sort keep the money flying in. Melinda can vocally pull of any genre that's thrown at her, but her sweet spots are in soul, old-style Aretha-type stuff, and ballads. Sticking to her strengths, I'm sure she'd do fine.

Well, it's official. America hates experience and talent.

Cookie-cutter Jordin will probably win now. She's completely bland and vanilla. She's never stuck out to me through the whole competition. I've always regarded her as more of a tag-along presence, someone creeping in the shadows of the more talented, female singers like Melinda and LaKisha.

But America likes predictability, and that's what they'll get. Jordin's album will be filled with lifeless, R&B drivel. It will flood the radio waves and if you didn't know better, you'd think it was someone more notable and interesting, like Beyonce or Brandy. But they'll tell you it was Jordin Sparks, and you'll react by saying "Oh."

Perhaps this premature departure will give Melinda Doolittle the freedom to offer creative input into her debut album, allowing it to be something worth a listener's time. Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken capitalized upon that freedom, and there's no reason Melinda can't either. I expect the same of Blake.

Meanwhile, Jordin will be locked and chained into the American Idol contract, helpless and unable to express herself musically because the producers think she should be performing uninspired R&B schlock. And that's fine with me, as a lackluster debut is the surest way to send her career to an early grave and remove her from the cultural radar.

(I'm mostly just bitter about missing out on $120 in the American Idol pool at work. Melinda was supposed to be my meal ticket. You suck, America.)

I still don't see Jordin being more bland than Melinda. Sure, Melinda can sing, but that's all she can do. That would help her if American Idol was a radio show, but since it's on television just singing isn't enough. Jordin may not be the best singer, but at least she actually moves around on the stage, while Melinda was stiff as board every freaking week. Melinda just never put on the persona of being the American Idol, in my opinion.

And honestly, nobody this season actually stuck out enough for me to actually wanna go buy their album, so I could care less what happens to them post-Idol. I might be curious enough about what Blake does to give his album a download, but spending money on any of these people is something I couldn't imagine myself doing.

I've never really followed AI until the Barry Gibb week (because I'm a pre-disco Bee Gees fanatic). It was then that my smile for seeing covers of Bee Gees songs turned to frowns, and in my agony I realized that the final four were quite bland, save for Blake's beat boxing interpretations. I actually like the original This is Where I Came In and was quite excited when I heard Blake sing it. Goes to show that people only like covers they know.

Now that it's down to Blake and Jordin, I'm just hoping Blake will win, although I doubt it because Jordin's got that innocent sweet young girl personality (although she's twice as big/tall as Ryan Seacrest!! Christ). Even then I wouldn't be happy if she or Blake won. Jordin just doesn't seem good enough and neither does Blake. His voice is quite lifeless save for the beat boxing.

I don't follow American shi Idol at all, but I just thought that I'd brag to you Sanjaya fans that I met this character on the weekend, in Seattle. That is all.

Honestly, Blake just feels like another Justin Timberlake to me. The beatboxing thing gets old after a while, and he doesn't have that amazing of a voice to begin with. I was hoping that Melinda and Jordin would be duking it out in the finals, but now I'm just praying that Jordin wins.

At least this time, it's guaranteed that the winner won't be from the south. We got a guy from Washington and a girl from Arizona. :|

Heh, I'm not sure if I made a post in this topic but I did watch season 6 from start to now and next week. I was hoping that Melinda and Jordin would make it to the final instead of Blake (he's good but not good to be in the final IMO) because it will make the final show more interesting. Now I just see Jordin winning season 6.

Since someone brought up on Sanjaya, I might as well get this off my mind: I think that votefortheworst.com (or .net or whatever's calledl; I don't know nor care) screw up season 6 for keeping Sanjaya in the competition for so long. If he was out before the final 12 I bet any of those contestant that got booted off before Sanjaya could had gotten a chance to improve themselves and change the outcome in the finals... just maybe...

Far as I understand it American idol and it's clone shows were never about talent, just who was the best overall marketable package =P

Personally, I wasn't too surprised to see Melinda go. she doesn't have the look that Jordin and Blake have. However, i think Melinda will do better selling albums.

Its a ratings ploy, by keeping him on as long as they did it made people watch more because they wanted him off. Every week he was on, more people watched to see when he'd get voted off

All else fails, Melinda will be starring in movies getting supporting actress roles for big musical movies and eventually win a Grammy for it.

Oh wait.

That's exactly right. Melinda is obviously a better singer than Blake & Jordin, but the AI producers probably thought she was much less marketable (due to her age, etc). I don't think AI wanted another repeat of Taylor Hicks (who's the same age as Melinda), and another failure at reaching that core audience of teeny boppers. LOL. American Idol is basically a complete joke.

Idol is definitely a joke and I feel like the voting process is rigged up to suit the business desires gearing the show along. I loved that early Robot Chicken send-up of AI where Seacrest says something like "you can text message your vote up to ten times...because cell phone companies make more money that way."

This season was the first that I tacitly followed, but I never wasted my time voting for anybody. As a creative musician, I disliked almost every single candidate for their out-of-touch-ness and their high-schoolish talent-show approach to performing. I almost barfed when that fat bluesy dude tried to sing 'Jeremy' with AI's LITE-FM backing band struggling to hash out a workable arrangement. A lot of the soulful and natural-sounding singers (not to mention the better-looking females) were ousted before the top-10. Antonella and Sanjaya only lasted as long as they did because of ridiculous notorieties.

I actually enjoyed Blake's presence, but I agree that he is not much of a singer. He's easily the most original and the beatboxing thing is a cool notch on his belt, but at the end he really was bound to get romped. It was cool to see someone busting out dank tunes by 311 and Jamaeroqui instead of the usual Whitney Houston and Celine Dion bullshit though.

I would have liked to see Melinda square off against Jordin, because vocally, Melinda was easily the most tasteful and powerful. Jordin does everything by the book and doesn't really have an ounce of originality. She certainly was cut a lot of breaks by America this season. If I had my way, she would have been history after the Bon Jovi week disaster.

Overall, this show is interesting entertainment for people of musical backgrounds, but the b.s. factors that take the reins so often can really be tiresome to deal with.