# American Idol (Top 11) 03/14/2012



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Who brought it and who lost it? ...


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Tough season to pick. I think I'm ready to pick my too four though. 

Colton, Hollie, Joshua and Phillip

Jessica could sneak in because she's really good, but I have a feeling she's gonna falter. 

I think Colton's gonna win it all ...


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## EdJ (Jan 9, 2007)

Why isn't there a choice of "I Don't Care"? :lol:


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

EdJ said:


> Why isn't there a choice of "I Don't Care"? :lol:


Yes...it's called don't respond and don't thread crap.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Doug Brott said:


> Who brought it and who lost it? ...


*Phillip:* Among the people I know, one complaint about PPJ is that all his stuff sounds the same. Several people I talked to last night liked that his performance show a little variety compared to his usual stuff. I agree... I liked it a lot! 

*Jessica:* Bad song choice! Granted, this girl can sing anything and it sound great, but still... it was an off week for her! I'm really ticked at Steven for telling her not to sing an up-tempo song. If she sings nothing but ballads, she's going to get a lot of criticism for it (ala Pia).

*Heejun:* I'm sorry Heejun... I like you, and I like your voice, but between the breathiness and the worse than usual pronunciation, it didn't work for me last night.

*Elise:* AWESOME!! One of my favorite performances of hers and one of my favorite performances of the night. Add in the fact that while I didn't originally think she was that attractive, I thought she came off very pretty last night.

*DeAndre:* Ehh... I like DeAndra, but he's done nothing to excite me yet, and last night was no exception. I'm not sure HIS song choice was a good fit for him, but I think the judges steered him wrong with THEIR song choice.

*Shannon:* Not my favorite performance by her, but I thought it was good. Not great, but good... certainly a step up from last week's performance. I hated the HTC plug, and I'm disappointed in the judges for not knowing about the breathing thing will.i.am told her about.

*Colton:* Ehh... I think I knew the song, but it did nothing for me. I went away from his performance thinking more about how ugly/uglier his hair was this week than usual... and more so about the fact that his Mom was hot... especially when he was born (as well as the fact that Skyler, who I am a fan of, will probably look like her mom did when Colton was born in a few years...).

*Erika:* Sounded better in the studio. She was good, but it needed... less.

*Skyler:* It was decent once she got going, but not that great when she started. I'm not really a fan of hers, but it was pretty good.

*Joshua:* SUH-WEET!! Nothing much more to say...

*Hollie:* Not quite as good as Joshua, but still extremely good. Best yet... we know why she has an accent... though I still think she talks with an Australian (hey... we have something in common) accent and her parents talk with a British accent, so I'd like to understand that better, but...

*MY FAVORITES:* Joshua, Hollie, Elise, Phillip.
*MY VOTES:* Phillip, Jessica, Elise, Shannon, Joshua, Hollie

*Who's Going Home?! (My Take):* If I was going off performances, I'd say Heejun, but between the fact that his personality will get him some votes, and the fact that Randy stating he was in trouble will rally his fan base, he could very well be safe. Picking a virtually unknown song can hurt people, but I expect Colton to probably be safe this early on. Shannon COULD be in trouble, but I expect it to be one of the two Wild Cards... either Erika or DeAndre... probably the latter.

~Alan


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> Tough season to pick. I think I'm ready to pick my too four though.
> 
> Colton, Hollie, Joshua and Phillip
> 
> ...


Here goes, in the order listed...

_1. Joshua 
2. Jessica
3. Phillip
4. Skylar_

Of course the order is subject to change. _Joshua's_ "botton-three" placement last week was, IMHO, an aberration, but it brought _Pia_ (Season 10) painfully to mind. I hope we're not in for another "teeny-bopper" season.

I agree with the judges that _Jessica_ is much better suited to ballads because of her vibrato. If she has any more bad nights...

I also think the _Joshua _had the "moment" of the night.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Doug Brott said:


> Tough season to pick. I think I'm ready to pick my too four though.
> 
> Colton, Hollie, Joshua and Phillip
> 
> Jessica could sneak in because she's really good, but I have a feeling she's gonna falter.


Replace Colton with Jessica, and you have my four favorites. 

Talent wise, I'd say _MY_ four will be the top four, but I think it's too early for me to predict. I could see Colton sneaking in, as well as Elise sneaking in if she manages to pick better song choices than she did last week... since she has a similar style as Haley R.

As much as I hate to say it, with a predominantly white rural voter group, I'd see Joshua and Jessica both having an uphill battle.



Doug Brott said:


> I think Colton's gonna win it all ...


Lauren Alaina made the same prediction...  Some people might have assumed she'd pick Phillip Phillip, Jr. given that they're both from Georgia (heck... Lauren's tour-mate Luke Bryan went to the same high school as PPJ), but Lauren grew up in North Georgia... far closer to where Colton lives than where PPJ does, not to mention that she and Colton probably knew each other from last season. Of course, she could simply think he's better... I'm just stating that I don't see why people assumed she'd pick PPJ.

Unlike your Scotty prediction last year (which I'm still mad at you about, regardless of the fact it turned out true), I'm not as offended by Colton, because at least his performances don't make me want to cringe, but aside from one performance by him prior to live voting, I simply haven't heard anything that spoke to me personally. 

Not to mention that unlike last year where I (unfortunately) knew several people that liked Scotty, I don't really know any people who like Colton that much... heck, I know more Jermaine Jones fans than Colton Dixon fans.

If vocal talent doesn't win out (Joshua, Jessica, Hollie), I still see PPJ winning over Colton. Taking the WGWG thing out of the picture, PPJ seems to have a lot of the young girls votes... though it's possible Colton might have more. I don't know...

It's still too early for me to make any prediction I feel comfortable with. It's only the third week of live voting.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> _Joshua's_ "botton-three" placement last week was, IMHO, an aberration, but it brought _Pia_ (Season 10) painfully to mind. I hope we're not in for another "teeny-bopper" season.


My hope is that it was an aberration, but while he's my Mom's favorite so far, and one of my favorites, of the several people I've spoken to, he's not one of their favorites. Interestingly enough, I'm hearing from them similar reasons for why they didn't care that much for Pia eek2.



Henry said:


> I agree with the judges that _Jessica_ is much better suited to ballads because of her vibrato. If she has any more bad nights...


I think she would have been fine if she had picked a better song for her. People were criticizing Pia last year for mostly singing ballads. She needs to mix it up...



Henry said:


> I also think the _Joshua _had the "moment" of the night.


Indeed...

~Alan


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

I hope Heejun gets axed. I don't like him. Decent voice but ever since the attitude he showed during the auditions, I hope he goes home sooner rather than later.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Chris Blount said:


> I hope Heejun gets axed. I don't like him. Decent voice but ever since the attitude he showed during the auditions, I hope he goes home sooner rather than later.


WOW!!! :eek2:

~Alan


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

My favorites: I think *Phillip* is really talented, and *Hollie *really surprised me last night. I thought *Jessica *was great last week but not so good this week. I need to see them more to know for sure. *Colton *is my final pick for my current favorites. He's different and the show needs different.


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Chris Blount said:


> I hope Heejun gets axed. I don't like him. Decent voice but ever since the attitude he showed during the auditions, I hope he goes home sooner rather than later.


+1


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> My favorites: I think *Phillip* is really talented, and *Hollie *really surprised me last night. I thought *Jessica *was great last week but not so good this week. I need to see them more to know for sure. *Colton *is my final pick for my current favorites. He's different and the show needs different.


_Phillip_ and _Hollie_ were excellent. To a lesser degree, so was _Jessica_. But I think _Joshua_ took the prize last night.

_Colton_, on the other hand seems to come from the rocker-dime-a-dozen club. IMHO he doesn't appear "different" to me. I think of _Daughtry_ and _Lambert_ and it sorta puts _Colton_ into perspective... and neither one of them won either.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> _Colton_, on the other hand seems to come from the rocker-dime-a-dozen club. IMHO he doesn't appear "different" to me. I think of _Daughtry_ and _Lambert_ and it sorta puts _Colton_ into perspective... and neither one of them won either.


If Daughtry had won over McPhee, or McPhee over Daughtry, I would have been happy either way. To me... Daughtry was one of the greatest contestants that AI has ever had.

Lambert was also something special...

Colton... well, I wouldn't consider him in the rocker dime-a-dozen club, but I don't consider him "special." I think he has the potential to be... I just don't think he's there yet.

~Alan


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> If Daughtry had won over McPhee, or McPhee over Daughtry, I would have been happy either way. To me... Daughtry was one of the greatest contestants that AI has ever had.
> 
> Lambert was also something special...
> 
> ...


.

Ok, I let my emotions get to me... of course _Colton_ has the _p o t e n t i a l_. He just needs to work at it.

I don't think _Daughtry_ deserves the compliment you pay him. As for me, I can't come up with a candidate for best-ever contestant until I recover from a mysterious relapse of McPheever.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Ok, I let my emotions get to me... of course _Colton_ has the _p o t e n t i a l_. He just needs to work at it.


I'd like to be truly impressed by him... I just haven't been. 



Henry said:


> I don't think _Daughtry_ deserves the compliment you pay him. As for me, I can't come up with a candidate for best-ever contestant until I recover from a mysterious relapse of McPheever.


I said "one of". I'm not going to pick a favorite.... I'm a fan of multiple ones with different styles, different strengths.

~Alan


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> I'd like to be truly impressed by him... I just haven't been.


Assuming he works at it, he may very well impress you some day ... just not in time for this week's elimination.



Alan Gordon said:


> I said "one of". I'm not going to pick a favorite.... I'm a fan of multiple ones with different styles, different strengths.


Wow, sounds like a tag line for Marvel comic books. :lol:


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Finally watched it. My "top 3" this week turned out to actually be a "top 4"

Joshua (wow!)
Hollie
Phillip/Colton tied

Looks like Joshua had a week like Jessica had last week. I hope being so good so early doesn't disappoint voters who expect that from them each time out!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Wow. Can't believe they didn't save



Spoiler



Shannon


.

I thought it was a great "sing for your life" performance, especially considering the pressure that must have been felt while singing it. Judges are tough this year!

Also, I thought America got the bottom 3 wrong. I personally would have put Heejun and DeAndre in there, instead of any 2 of the 3 that were there.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

The person gone deserved the boot...they were bad.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> The person gone deserved the boot...they were bad.


I agree that person likely wasn't going to win, but you think worse than Heejun or DeAndre, so far?


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Assuming he works at it, he may very well impress you some day ... just not in time for this week's elimination.


Correct...

Sadly, I also thought he showed (for the second time) a little cockiness on a clip tonight. JJ did it last week... and CD tonight.



Henry said:


> Wow, sounds like a tag line for Marvel comic books. :lol:


I grew up on comics... perhaps Stan Lee's influence crept in... 



Steve said:


> Wow. Can't believe they didn't save
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I thought they had some cracks in their "sing for your life" song, but I knew they weren't going to use their save... only one person in the bottom three stood a chance of getting the save this early in the competition.

I agree... America got the bottom three wrong... I think two individuals who were safe were far worse last night than any three in the bottom three tonight.... not to mention that one of the bottom three was one of my favorite performances last night. 



Steve said:


> I agree that person likely wasn't going to win, but you think worse than Heejun or DeAndre, so far?


... speaking of the two individuals... 

~Alan


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> Also, I thought America got the bottom 3 wrong. I personally would have put Heejun and DeAndre in there, instead of any 2 of the 3 that were there.


I agree with your alternate selections. Elise definitely should not have been in the bottom of three.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Drew2k said:


> I agree with your alternate selections. Elise definitely should not have been in the bottom of three.


Two weeks in a row... she wasn't surprised when she was announced to be there. She had one of the top 3 performances last night, IMHO, and she should not have been there. I think that she was a victim of not having her personality come through as well as Heejun or DeAndre... though DeAndre probably got by partially due to his looks as well. Thankfully, she was saved.

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

I hate Shannon went home... she wasn't the worst last night by far, and I thought she was a shoo-in for the Top 10... I even gave her some votes last night after passing last week due to her bad performance.

However, she hasn't been as successful vocally since she made the Top 13. 

~Alan


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Steve said:


> I agree that person likely wasn't going to win, but you think worse than Heejun or DeAndre, so far?


Exactly how I felt, but in the end, Heejun and DeAndre in the Top-10 tour is probably a better draw.

Ok, let me quantify my thoughts on why I think Colton will win it in the end. Certainly I could prove to be wrong ....

Yeah, Colton's a Rocker, but the good (or even moderately good) rockers always do good on this show and there's no Scottie on the bench this year. I think Jessica has peaked. I hope not because I think she's got a great career ahead of her. However, I expect either nerves or voice issues to get in her way leaving who I think will be the top four in Phillip, Colton, Hollie and Joshua (Really, do we think Heejun, Erika, DeAndre, Elise, or Skylar are going to win? - Maybe Skylar, but that's pushing it, IMHO).

So, if we can concede (hypothetically) that the final four are in fact:

Colton, Hollie, Joshua and Phillip

Then, the 12-year old girls are gonna vote Colton (biggest group)
The Grandmas are gonna likely split between all 4 for various reasons (wash)
And any guys that vote are probably gonna lean towards Hollie

That makes the final 2 -> Hollie & Colton with the kiddies winning the voting war and bringing Colton the checkered flag.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it .. But no, there's no sure fire winner this year like there was last year.

Oh, and my personal favorite so far this year is Hollie ....


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Doug Brott said:


> there's no Scottie on the bench this year.


:icon_bb:



Doug Brott said:


> (Really, do we think Heejun, Erika, DeAndre, Elise, or Skylar are going to win? - Maybe Skylar, but that's pushing it, IMHO).


Total agreement here anyway... 

So, if we can concede (hypothetically) that the final four are in fact:



Doug Brott said:


> Colton, Hollie, Joshua and Phillip


:eek2:



Doug Brott said:


> Then, the 12-year old girls are gonna vote Colton (biggest group)


I disagree... I think they'll vote for Phillip. That's just my opinion, but I see him getting the edge (in that demographic) over Colton.



Doug Brott said:


> But no, there's no sure fire winner this year like there was last year.


YOU'RE KILLING ME MAN, YOU'RE KILLING ME!!! :nono2:

It's bad enough I have to hear him butcher a Tim McGraw song every Thursday night, you have to keep pouring salt in the wound... :nono2:



Doug Brott said:


> Oh, and my personal favorite so far this year is Hollie ....


I've narrowed my favorites down to Jessica, Hollie & Joshua, with Phillip getting an honorary nod. Last week, Jessica rose to the top, Joshua and Hollie rose above her this week... with Joshua getting the slight nod this week. I'll need more performances before I make up my mind.

~Alan


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I feel for _Shannon_, but in all fairness, her voice cracked during the Wednesday performance and again (in about the same spot of the song last night) during her "sing for your life" performance. Sadly, last night she over-sang the song, letting everyone note her desperation. I was sorry to see her be a 'no-save' and go. She was both charming and talented.

I too am tending to lean towards the elimination of _Heejun_ or _Colton_.

_Heejun_ because even if his singing improved, it would still come out with an Asian accent. While his ethnicity doesn't bother me, his accent in a song does. He also needs to manage his quips to more appropriate moments. He has a great sense of humor, but that can (and probably will) come back to haunt him.

_Colton_ is a mystery to me. I can't put a finger on it, but I just don't like him. That's unfair, I know, but I'm trying to be honest. Or maybe I just don't care for Hard Rock&#8230; not sure. If he ends up in the finals, I hope he goes in 4th place, like _Daughtry_ (whose number last night bored me to no end).

But the night had a silver lining. All of my favorites were safe early on and I was able to watch the rest of the show without subliminal worry. They are (I added _Hollie_ today)&#8230;

_1. Joshua 
2. Jessica_
_3. Phillip_
_4. Hollie
5. Skylar 
_ 
Note:

When a singer has the vocal command that_ Joshua_ has, what he sings becomes secondary to how he sings it. Maybe that's his secret. I look forward to hear him sing &#8230; a n y t h i n g! And when a singer can do that, he/she has got to be a winner &#8230; even if only in name..


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> Exactly how I felt, but in the end, Heejun and DeAndre in the Top-10 tour is probably a better draw.
> 
> Ok, let me quantify my thoughts on why I think Colton will win it in the end. Certainly I could prove to be wrong ....
> 
> ...


A likely scenario as any. Results are TBD, lots of performances to go. 
Some may falter (Jessica?), some may get better (your pick here), and we may just get tired of others if everything sounds the same (Colton, Philip and Joshua). 
Maybe Tommy Hilfiger can do something with Colton.



Steve said:


> Wow. Can't believe they didn't save
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Heejun and DeAndre for sure. America got it right and the judges wrong when DeAndre was saved.
Jessica and Skylar are distinctive but I had trouble keeping the other girls straight as to who was who.
Well, I guess Hollie is separating herself for a longer stay.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> I feel for _Shannon_, but in all fairness, her voice cracked during the Wednesday performance and again (in about the same spot of the song last night) during her "sing for your life" performance. Sadly, last night she over-sang the song, letting everyone note her desperation. I was sorry to see her be a 'no-save' and go. She was both charming and talented.


I thought she sounded pretty good Wednesday... not her best performance by any means, but pretty good. Thursday's was pretty bad, but while some people do a better performance for their "save me" song, some let their emotions get the best of them, and she did.



Henry said:


> _Heejun_ because even if his singing improved, it would still come out with an Asian accent. While his ethnicity doesn't bother me, his accent in a song does. He also needs to manage his quips to more appropriate moments. He has a great sense of humor, but that can (and probably will) come back to haunt him.


I've been saying his accent, but honestly, it's his pronunciations that's been bothering me. Jimmy and will.i.am called him on it the other night... I think he'd have a lot of potential if it wasn't for that.



Henry said:


> _Colton_ is a mystery to me. I can't put a finger on it, but I just don't like him. That's unfair, I know, but I'm trying to be honest. Or maybe I just don't care for Hard Rock&#8230; not sure. If he ends up in the finals, I hope he goes in 4th place, like _Daughtry_ (whose number last night bored me to no end).


Several people I know thinks he comes off cocky... I agree. He might not be, but he gives that impression.

Also, Colton is not "Hard Rock." He's more Alternative Rock Pop... kind of "Coldplay" like....

~Alan


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

dettxw said:


> America got it right and the judges wrong when DeAndre was saved.


Though I would have preferred Jen or Creighton... heck, even Reed who faltered once live performances began... I have to admit, DeAndre gave a HECK of a "save me" song for one of the Wild Card spots.

~Alan


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Maybe you should listen to her Wed. performance again ... it's there.

Accent, pronunciation, tone, modulation. 

Goes to show you what I know about Rock. In my younger years it was _Rock n Roll,_ and the image that came to mind was _Elvis_ on guitar or _Jerry Lee_ on piano (literally). Later it was _The Boss_. Today, it's a plethora of names all meaning a similar noise.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Colton is definitely indie(esque) and will play well as the weeks go on. He said himself he'll start picking well known songs and that should help. He's one of the few that has a "look" this year as it stands. That already puts him a leg up on some of the others (Heejun also has a "look" too, so it does depend I suppose).

As for Shannon. She'll be singing in a few years. She is good, but it didn't work. She's only 16.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Maybe you should listen to her Wed. performance again ... it's there.
> 
> Accent, pronunciation, tone, modulation.


I trust you... I never said it was great... though maybe if you compared it to her "save me" song.



Doug Brott said:


> Colton is definitely indie(esque) and will play well as the weeks go on. He said himself he'll start picking well known songs and that should help. He's one of the few that has a "look" this year as it stands. That already puts him a leg up on some of the others (Heejun also has a "look" too, so it does depend I suppose).
> 
> As for Shannon. She'll be singing in a few years. She is good, but it didn't work. She's only 16.


Again... though I may not care for some of the things he's said... I think he's talented... I just don't think he's better than four or five of the contestants, nor do I think he should win. Though I once again disagree with your prediction, the prospect doesn't anger me (like with Scotty).

Looking at Shannon's parents' house, I think her parents' must have invested their money well, so I suspect she'll do alright regardless... 

~Alan


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Alan Gordon said:


> Looking at Shannon's parents' house, I think her parents' must have invested their money well, so I suspect she'll do alright regardless...


Hopefully you're right. Dad made about $4 million over an 8-year career that ended in '96.

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/baseball/mlb/salaries/player/Joe-Magrane


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> [...] Again... though I may not care for some of the things he's said... I think he's talented... I just don't think he's better than four or five of the contestants, nor do I think he should win. Though I once again disagree with your prediction, the prospect doesn't anger me (like with Scotty). [...]


+1


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## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I wish her the best in spite of her parents' vanities.


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