# American Idol (Top 12) 3/16/2011



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Ashton's gone and the rest are back.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Hard for me to say who was best, but If I was hearing them all sing for the first time tonight, my "bottom three" would be Naima, Paul and Karen. My guess is Karen will be leaving us tomorrow night. Just my .02.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Well, I'm sorry to say that I found tonight's show to be very disappointing. So flat (for the most part) that I don't even feel like writing about it (I can hear some of you cheering ). But I will do a short recap of how I heard it:

1) Naima. Better than the judges said. Wasn't that "pitchy" and to the extent it was, it's because she actually moves and puts on a show. That puts extra stress on a voice. Could be a 'diamond in the rough' Maruuk. Needs time and work that's all. More than she'll get in time to compete to the end of this season though.

2) Paul McDonald. The problem is that he's not a Big Stage guy. His singer-songwriter thing will be great for the recording studio but it really falls flat when he's solo on stage. And that drunken-looking falling around with his arms flailing... :nono: But at least the guy is a musician.

3) James Durbin. Judges praised him to the sky. I didn't think it was nearly as good as last week. If anything, he was the 'pitchy' one this week, which was a surprise to me. He's a gamer though. Better to come I'm sure.

4) Haley Reinhart. I think she was next. Judges didn't like her this week. I thought she was better than they said, but I agree that it wasn't anything to stand out (except for all the red and black).

5) Stefano (was he next?). The judges raved. Ok, I get that he is passionate about his singing, but it's just not that good, imo. Does he really connect with anyone? He cracks his final note *badly* and the judges don't even mention it. I am not a Stefano fan.

6) Pia Toscano. Maybe she's a bit too professional as Maruuk says, but at least it's refreshing to hear one song sung really well each week. I thought tonight was her best effort yet. Impressive. Always up among the top 3-4 each week.

7) Thia Megia. Actually i think she came earlier but I forgot to mention her. There's a reason for that. b-o-r-i-n-g. Pretty girl. Nice girl. Good Voice. what else?

8) Karen Rodriguez. Same as Thia with a lesser voice. Nice though. sweet. zzzzz.

9) Scotty McCreery. Another 'Diamond in the Rough.' The usual fare from him; the usual review; great voice, good country, needs some maturing before he becomes an interesting artist. he could definitely get there though.

10) Lauren Alaina. Sang better than last week, even with the flu. She has star potential. We're getting glimpses of it but she has yet to have a breakout performance. It's coming. She is a natural and very gifted. Very young though too so it will take awhile. Growth is the key for her. Keep getting better each week.. So far so good but she can do much better still.

11) Casey. Fearless! The judges got him right. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana! C'mon, that takes GUTS. The guy is my UnAmerican Idol. I could not care less how far he gets in the competition except that I always look forward to hearing what he will do next. Creative, musical, and fearless. Hopefully we hear more of the musical part of that equation next week. Too much howling. He's already gotten himself typecast. maybe the cast is correct?

12) Jacob. When I heard that he was going to do "Alone" I thought, 'uh-oh, train-wreck a'coming.' And it did start out badly, all maudlin and over-wrought, almost weepy sounding. He kind of got it going in the middle, then did some crazy high notes near the end. Gave it his out-of-control gospel too-much Jacob treatment. But that was really out of his comfort zone and I respect him for at least pushing the envelope of what he can do. Unfortunately I couldn't stop thinking of how much better Alison Iraheta did the song two seasons ago. Soooo much better it's not even funny. But Jacob is another Diamond in the Rough. Very rough, very young, very raw, but with a lot of potential.

Still, a very disappointing night over-all. I just think this group is capable of much, much better. At least the vocals were given more prominence this week. Last week they were not given enough weight in the recording balance. You could hear each singer _much_ better tonight, for better and for worse.

That's more than I was going to write, but that's how I heard it. Still hoping for some breakout performances next week. Not much to get excited about tonight.


----------



## ffemtreed (Jan 30, 2008)

Naima -- Complete trainwreck, horrible song choice (bottom 3)

Paul -- I really don't like his style so i'll leave it at that. (bottom 3)

Thia -- I kinda liked her performance tonight. That song fit her voice tone perfectly.

Durban -- Good performance, yes some technical music problems but he will be around for awhile. 

Haley-- Very good, a lot better than the judges gave her credit for. I love her voice.

Stefano -- I really don't like his style either, but I did enjoy that performance from him.

Pia-- What can you say? simply amazing week after week

Scotty-- I love country music and he has such a country voice. I want to see him rock out a country song. something like "how do you like me now"

Karen-- I liked her performance as well. She is very underrated as a singer, she just needs to come out of her shell and blow it out of the park! (Bottom 3)

Lauren-- You can tell she was sick but she has great potential. She was one of my early favorites to make the top 5. She needs to pick it up in the next couple of weeks. 

Casey-- 100% true performer, I would pay to go see him in concert now. 

Jacob-- awesome singer and will go far but tonight was a complete and utter disaster. To me it sounded like he was singing in a completly different key than the band was playing and really fell off pitch a few times and got out of beat with the band. I expect better from him.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

There were some parts of 'Alone' from Jacob that I thought were really good. There was the rest of it that I thought was really bad. If Jacob had stuck with the "good" style throughout the song it would have been off the charts (IMHO). As it is, I didn't even give him a vote (above).

Jacob needs to follow the "less is more" mantra because his singing is turning into screaming (even if it is on key). I think he failed this week.

Thia .. One of my favorite soft ballads from 1995 .. "As I Lay me Down" from Sophie B. Hawkins. That would have been right in her wheelhouse and would have made me happy. Not sure if it would have made her any memorable or not.

One thing she does have going for her is that with all of the power singers this year, she actually stands out as softer even though (as evidenced last night) she really does have a strong voice. Standing out in a competition like this is a good thing as long as it's not in a negative way. I disagree with Randy in that if she goes all pomp and circumstance on us she will stumble. That's what everyone else is doing and if she doesn't bring her A+++++++ game during a non-ballad, then it will look bad.


----------



## waynebtx (Dec 24, 2006)

Naima Adedapo i dont know what it is but have not liked her since day one.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Somehow I doubt Ryan will be hyping how many millions of votes were registered last night. :grin:


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

waynebtx said:


> Naima Adedapo i dont know what it is but have not liked her since day one.


I do like Naima, but I thought she was often out of tune last night. Too bad, because I love that song and was really looking forward to hearing her knock it out of the park. I think she's a diamond in the rough that needs a _lot_ of polishing, but that may not happen before she's gone.

I also like Stefano. I'm glad he sang well last night.

I only started watching on week 12, and wasn't as impressed with Pia as everyone else was the last couple of weeks. But last night, in a more "upbeat" song, I thought she was great.

Thia's another one of my favorites, but her performance last night was just OK, IMHO. Could have been song choice. Same with James's _Bon Jovi_ song.

I also loved Casey's _Kurt Cobain_, in spite of the judges' comments.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Thia made a terrible song choice, shmaltzy and insipid which played directly to her weakness, not her strength.

Can they just cast Pia on Glee and be done with her?

Jacob was truly awful last night. I'll have what the judges are smoking.

Casey was just silly with that bug-eyed scenery-chewing. Hard to take him seriously as an idol.

Haley was same as ever. Pretty good.

Karen surprisingly weak when it counted. She kind of faded on notes that should have been strong. Not a great voice there.

Paul was just plain godawful with that simpy, wimpy croak of his that never quite reaches any actual notes. I love how the judges forgive his utter inability to sing: "You had some trouble with pitch, on a lot of notes, but I don't care, I just love you!" Please.

I hate country-plasti-pop (as opposed to REAL country) so Lauren and Travis Tritt Jr. there: They sound like the unlistenable NASCAR crap on "country" radio so they're doing their job. They are unquestionably very good at that narrow genre. Send em to Nashville now, they're ready. Neither has any movie-star looks, though, these days that's a serious minus.

Stefano completely nailed it. Not a big fan, but for him, he chose just the right song and sold it very well.

The rest: like I say, since they're allowed to wallow around in their sweetspot you get same-old every week. Not a lot highs, not a lot of lows. American Oatmeal.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I think that our expectations may have been set too high due to the amazing performances of the last few weeks.

No one really changed anything last night (except for _Paul_ singing with a cold). Still, he was good enough to out-sing some of the others, IMHO, and remains almost at the top of my list of favorites.

All-in-all though I agree that _Naima_ (whom I like) was the worst compared to the rest... with _Jacob_ ( whom I also like) a close second.

_Pia, Haley_ and _Casey _out-performed the clan, and _Stefano _surprised us with real good performance. If he can be consistent from now on, he can pose a threat to some of the favorites.

_Karen_ still comes across as condescending towards the competition and singing just to _JLo_. I'd be pleasantly surprised if she got the axe tonight (singing ability notwithstanding).

_Lauren_ and _Scotty _stayed true to their Country roots. I think they did well, although many of the AI voters would probably rank them as so-so and old hat, respectively.

_Thia_ was _Thia_. She needs a bit of maturity.

Here's hoping we're not unpleasantly surprised by the elimination tonight.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Maruuk said:


> Thia made a terrible song choice, shmaltzy and insipid which played directly to her weakness, not her strength.


She needs time and some musical personality.



> Can they just cast Pia on Glee and be done with her?


 Hard for me to say; I've never watched Glee.



> Jacob was truly awful last night. I'll have what the judges are smoking.


 Hey, at least he gave a shot at something outside his comfort zone.



> Casey was just silly with that bug-eyed scenery-chewing. Hard to take him seriously as an idol.


 He needs to throw a change-up now; sing a soft song achingly beautifully. Would really surprise people with how musical he can be. Enough growling and howling for the time being.



> Haley was same as ever. Pretty good.


 You mean that fat one with the big horse teeth? 



> Karen surprisingly weak when it counted. She kind of faded on notes that should have been strong. Not a great voice there.


 Karen will go home tonight; you read it here first.



> Paul was just plain godawful with that simpy, wimpy croak of his that never quite reaches any actual notes. I love how the judges forgive his utter inability to sing: "You had some trouble with pitch, on a lot of notes, but I don't care, I just love you!" Please.


 Yeah he was awful, but could thrive in the studio with his unique voice. I'm done with that drunken staggering around the stage with the chalky Cheshire Cat grin though.



> I hate country-plasti-pop (as opposed to REAL country) so Lauren and Travis Tritt Jr. there: They sound like the unlistenable NASCAR crap on "country" radio so they're doing their job. They are unquestionably very good at that narrow genre. Send em to Nashville now, they're ready.


 Actually they're not ready. Not at all ready. Just musical babes finding their way. Both could be very special in another 5 - 10 years.



> Neither has any movie-star looks, though, these days that's a serious minus.


 Who cares. 


> Stefano completely nailed it. Not a big fan, but for him, he chose just the right song and sold it very well.


 "Sold It" is a good description. That's how Taylor Hicks won his season; he was a good salesman and the public got sucked in by his enthusiasm. Stefano is similarly enthusiastic, and there's something to be said for that. But it can also mask a lack of core musical substance, unlike an artist who can move people in a deeper sense beyond toe-tapping, hand-clapping, surface appeal.

Stefano is kind of like a frisky puppy, wagging his tail, licking at you, jumping up and down on your feet & legs. Very cute and appealing at the first encounter; then just mostly annoying once the novelty wears off.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

_You mean that fat one with the big teeth?_

Exactly!

I don't know, I can hear both Lauren and Scotty on country radio right now. Of anybody up there going after a specific commercial genre, those two best personify it. Much as I can't stand the genre. I can see Lauren as a young Gretchen Wilson right now--in fact, a GOOD Gretchen Wilson as opposed to the original.

_Who cares?_

The 30 million rabid fans of Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Shania, that's who cares! They care a LOT!

But to its credit, while alt/rock/pop/dance has a strict gene-pool winner dress and age code that cannot be violated, country-pop is way more forgiving of weight, looks and age. What else explains Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Lyle Lovett?


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

> The 30 million rabid fans of Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Shania, that's who cares! They care a LOT!


 How many records (CDs) did Susan Boyle sell worldwide following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent? Somehow all those millions of people were able to look right past her plump and frumpy exterior and cared only about how beautiful she _sounded._ What a concept!  (a green grin for St. Patrick's Day)


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

peak_reception said:


> How many records (CDs) did Susan Boyle sell worldwide following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent? Somehow all those millions of people were able to look right past her plump and frumpy exterior and cared only about how beautiful she _sounded._ What a concept!  (a green grin for St. Patrick's Day)


Her first album sold 9 million worldwide! :eek2:


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

How many records would Faith and Shania sell if they weighed 300 pounds? Skankiness isn't a dealbreaker, just ask Gretchen Wilson, it just makes it harder to break through. Like I say, that genre is the most forgiving of all (save opera!) but try to look like Wynonna and sell Alt/Rock or dance or hip-hop records. They'd laugh you off the stage.

There's always gonna be left-field freaks like William Hung and Susan Boyle and the Pants on the Ground guy. In fact, I mourn their absence in this current Idol crop.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Whoever said Haley is fat is sorely mistaken.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Once again, I found Pia and Scotty to be enjoyable but not earthshattering, but many of the rest were horribly off-key. That should be the very first step before any of the performance stuff.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

"Doug Brott" said:


> Whoever said Haley is fat is sorely mistaken.


Agree. As my Italian grandmother used to say, she's "zaftig"!


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> Whoever said Haley is fat is sorely mistaken.


+1 - I'm glad she survived the cut, but this sultry singer's repeated presense in the bottom three worries me.

Good riddance, Karen


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Doug Brott said:


> Whoever said Haley is fat is sorely mistaken.


 That would be Maruuk. Any woman in the music industry who doesn't look like Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood or Shania Twain, is a "skank."


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

peak_reception said:


> Somehow I doubt Ryan will be hyping how many millions of votes were registered last night. :grin:


Sure enough, no *"After 40 Million Votes!"* last night. Not even a peep about how many millions did or didn't vote. If things don't improve soon, the numbers will drop even more. If next week is a dud too then I may not keep tuning in. Can't take another season like the last one.


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

peak_reception said:


> That would be Maruuk. Any woman in the music industry who doesn't look like Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood or Shania Twain, is a "skank."


As I posted before...:lol:


sigma1914 said:


> Maruuk lost credibility ranking females when he thought the weirdo below was hot.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Haley's been on a crash diet--good for her! She could still go another 10lbs or so. Keep up with that Wii Fit regime, kid!

Frankly, Faith Hill and Shania are rapidly moving into the makeup-heavy post-MILF era. 

Haley is about the cutest Idol contestant at this point, but that ain't sayin' much. Weak, weak year for lookers.

Can't believe that Rod Stewart wannabee dork and Naima are still there.

I was figuring the Hispanic community would keep Karen going, but they bailed on her. However, she's in the Summer concert tour and I have no doubt this slavish and pandering insistence on singing Spanish every week on AMERICAN Idol was a naked ploy to land a lucrative Hispanic record contract. Obviously fellow Hispanic Jen was the one holdout--she appeared very upset she got outvoted. She couldn't even LOOK at the stage when Dog gave Karen the bad news.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Maruuk said:


> I was figuring the Hispanic community would keep Karen going, but they bailed on her. However, she's in the Summer concert tour...


 She is? I don't think so. It's only the Top 10 who go on that, unless it has changed this year. In fact, whomever gets voted out next week (unless there's a "save") won't make the tour either.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

peak_reception said:


> She is? I don't think so. It's only the Top 10 who go on that, unless it has changed this year. In fact, whomever gets voted out next week (unless there's a "save") won't make the tour either.


That's the way I understand it.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Correct, the tour is the top 10


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

I thought they had expanded the "Summer Ten" into the "Summer 13" when the judges made that crazy "audible" that expanded this core group.

At any rate, anybody who gets anywhere near the end can certainly start marketing themselves to third parties with record contracts in their hands, which is exactly what I figure Karen was doing.

Apparently there was a lot of talk of canceling the tour this Summer since last year was a disaster: Half-empty halls and cancellations galore. I guess that's what you get for picking Lee DeWyze as the new American Idol sex symbol. Gawd he was brutal last night. What a train wreck.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Something weird is going on with Idol this year. Could it be Jimmy Iovine? We've seen a lot of him the last two weeks giving canned pep talks to the singers. He did give Jacob some good advice (dial it back dude!) but what else is going on that we're not seeing/hearing? Are the kids being micromanaged too much, to the point where spontaneity is gone?

We've also heard some pretty bad arrangements, but that still doesn't explain the lack of connection to the audience. A great singer can connect to an audience with just about any song/arrangement.

Maybe we just don't have any potentially great singers this year? I thought maybe we did a few weeks ago on Beatles Night. "Bye Bye Blackbird" was fantastic (Paul and Chantelle) and some others were very good too. There seemed to be so much more promise and talent than we're hearing now.

Granted, it's only been two bad weeks in a row, but it's actually getting worse! American Idol has always been about getting _better_ as time goes along, not worse.

At least the balance was corrected in the vocals versus band this past week, but that only let us hear all the more clearly how mediocre or lousy the performances actually were.

Ok, a lot of the contestants are very young. Maybe that explains it. Pia is one of the few bright spots, and she is older, so maybe she just has the maturity to handle the pressure that the younger ones lack.

Is *potential* enough? I don't know. I want to hear some good singing now, not someone who may be really good five years from now.

I thought that Dud Night a week ago was an aberration which would hopefully be followed up by something really good this week. Boy was I wrong; We got Dud Night II instead. Maybe now that I'm expecting Dud Night III next week there will be some great performances and I'll be pleasantly surprised....

...yeah ...maybe.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Flu in the house .. not good on folks I'm sure. Hopefully they'll mostly kick that for next week. As an aside, I thought the group number was much better this week although the messed up the mics from a technical perspective.

Will be interesting to see what's next. I don't particularly like Country, but I still think Scotty is the one to beat so far. He has the perfect combination of personality, looks and ability to sing. James is good but freaks people out so he probably won't win even if he makes it to the final 2. Thia has something going for her and if she knocks one out of the park she really will be the dark horse. But if she doesn't, look for her to exit around 5 left. Naima? Again, someone that seems to bug people, as does Haley (don't get that one, BTW). Personality seems to be the thing that these folks are trying to create at this point.

I'm still way more excited for these guys than I was with last years group.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

That's true, I forgot about the flu. Maybe that was a bigger factor than anyone realizes. Hopefully.



> James is good but freaks people out so he probably won't win even if he makes it to the final 2.


James Durbin has the >>>Michael Lynche<<< problem (yes I had to google Season 9 to remember the name :grin. Good singer/performer but the personality/ego just grates on the nerves so much that it turns a lot of people completely off from him/them.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

peak_reception said:


> [...] James Durbin has the >>>Michael Lynche<<< problem (yes I had to google Season 9 to remember the name :grin. Good singer/performer but the personality/ego just grates on the nerves so much that it turns a lot of people completely off from him/them.


I agree. The only difference is that I liked _Big Mike_.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Doug Brott said:


> Flu in the house .. not good on folks I'm sure. Hopefully they'll mostly kick that for next week. As an aside, I thought the group number was much better this week although the messed up the mics from a technical perspective.
> 
> Will be interesting to see what's next. I don't particularly like Country, but I still think Scotty is the one to beat so far. He has the perfect combination of personality, looks and ability to sing. James is good but freaks people out so he probably won't win even if he makes it to the final 2. Thia has something going for her and if she knocks one out of the park she really will be the dark horse. But if she doesn't, look for her to exit around 5 left. Naima? Again, someone that seems to bug people, as does Haley (don't get that one, BTW). Personality seems to be the thing that these folks are trying to create at this point.
> 
> I'm still way more excited for these guys than I was with last years group.


It wouldn't surprise me if Stefano pulls a "Blake Lewis" this year, and hangs around much longer than anyone expects him too. To do so, he'd have to be real careful about song choice and hit whatever he sings out of the park, like he did this week. Would be remarkable, because if not for the judges' save, he'd already be gone.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

In the old days, it was a knock-down drag em out brawl where the singers had to weather all manner of bizarre middle-aged genres, songs from the 40's and 50's, Barry Manilow nausea, Paul Anka mildewed mush, whatever. Nobody had a chance to settle back do that ONE THING they specialized in.

Now that certainly didn't usually produce the best SINGER, but it did produce a more entertaining show (except for the horrible genres that is).

Cure: Go back to the old system BUT use real honest to god contemporary genres. Or at least more relevant ones. Do a Clash/U2/Green Day week. An Alt/Rock week. An AOR week. A Black Eyed Peas week. A White Stripes week. But recent stuff, not this Streisand/Broadway pablum. I love Gershwin but I don't want to see a bunch of teenagers butchering him. And I am so sick of ancient R&B regurge. If you're going to do R&B, make em do Beyonce or Rihanna or Usher or John Legend or even Kanye.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I don't see _Scotty_ winning. At best, he's coming across as a younger _Randy Travis_. We already have one of those.

I'm starting to think that one of the girls is destined to win, although I hasten to add that I'm not insinuating that the losers will suffer. I have some male favorites, but the girls seem to have the artistic upper hand at the moment. Win or lose, all of these kids have a future.

Unlike some other voices here, I think we should give this season a chance. They've gone to great lengths to re-engineer the show. Let's see what they give us before we try to fix what might not be broke.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Nope, the "stay safely in your genre" ploy is not working, it's boring and produces same-old, same-old week after week.

What we have here is the NHL dilemma: by going to 3-point games and a point for tying it promoted playing it safe for the point.

Here in Idol everybody knows you win by just making it to the Top Ten. Previously Top Tenners have done FAR better than winners. Thus the trick is now to not have to score knockouts every week, the Idol trick is now to rope-a-dope the judges and America into somnolence where they just pass you though to the next round until you get high enough to cash in.

And since they leave you in your specialty the whole time, folks like Laurie and Scotty have no motive to do any better than phoning in their next Travis Tritt or Gretchen Wilson karaoke cover song. Just like Vegas lounge acts. Without the free booze or the gambling.

Thus: B-o-r-i-n-g.


----------



## peak_reception (Feb 10, 2008)

Motown week coming up next.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

peak_reception said:


> Motown week coming up next.


Bring it on ... but for today, DWTS will have to do.


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Well Motown is an awfully forgiving and broad genre, but at least we get to hear our country cousins try to croak out "Tears of a Clown" and "Reflections". That should be less boring than another warmed over twang-fest.


----------

