# American Idol (Top 9) 03/28/2012



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

WOW!! A good night... 

~Alan


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Yes, this was a great night. My only complaint was the song in which gonads were tightly clinched.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

*COLTON:* I said last week that I was afraid he'd go back to his lack of connection with me, and my fears came true. I thought it was pretty good, but I had trouble understanding some of the words, and I just wasn't drawn in to the performance. What a difference a week makes... 

*SKYLAR:* I was saying yesterday afternoon that Miranda was a pretty good choice for SkylAr, but when she started off the song, I was cringing at first, but I thought it improved as she got into the song. Though far from perfect, it earned points with for me by simply offering some energy after Colton's performance.

*COLTON, ELISE, & PHILLIP:* Oh snap... THAT WAS AWESOME!!! Colton was able to draw me into his section of the medley, and with the exception of a one second section of the song, did totally awesome in my book. Elise continued her recent efforts to impress me, and as usual lately, succeeded. Phillip sounded great as well. Their harmonies impressed me, but my one complaint was that I think Phillip had a tendency to get drowned out by Colton and Elise... I suspect I know why, but I would have liked to have heard a little bit more of Phillip's voice in the harmonies. I REALLY enjoyed it! 

*HEEJUN:* I felt like Jimmy and Stevie were right on the money regarding Heejun... I've been saying that, and I'm in full agreement. There were a few words I had issues with, but overall, I could understand pretty much every word, and the sound of his voice was fantastic. I thought it was great... 

*HOLLIE:* I watched "American Idol" twice last night (don't ask!), and the first time through, I thought Hollie did good, but it fell a little flat to me. Carrie's voice adds a LOT to that song for me, and I was comparing her version to Carrie's... which was not very fair to Hollie. The second time through, I listened to HOLLIE sing the song, and I thought it was far superior to my first listen. Not my favorite performance by her, but a very good one. 

*DEANDRE:* Uhhh... WOW!! My first thought as he started singing was "OK, he sounds JUST LIKE Eric Benet." A few verses into the song, he starts throwing out sounds that had my been closed, I would have sworn was coming from Prince (whom Steven later brought up as well). I was very impressed! 

*JESSICA:* AWESOMESAUCE!! Uhhh... I can't think of a single thing to say other than it fantastic, and I think the judges did her a disservice by not giving her an ovation.

*DEANDRE, JOSHUA, & HEEJUN:* Not as good as the first trio, but thoroughly enjoyable. I thought that they all did a very good job, but that while J.Lo might have been unfair toward DeAndre and Joshua's dancing skills, she was correct about Heejun's.

*PHILLIP:* One of my criticisms regarding Phillip has been his tendency to let his "growl" control him instead of the other way around. I did not think that was a problem with this performance. I thought it was excellent. Johnny Lang's "Breakin' Me" is one of my (many) favorite songs... and Phillip's performance made me wonder how he would have sounded singing it. :grin:

*JOSHUA:* Ooh... it started off to me a little... well, off. However, he found himself fairly early on and did an excellent job. Not my favorite performance by him, but very good... certainly much better than last week IMHO.

*JESSICA, HOLLIE, & SKYLAR:* I think Jessica got a little shortchanged in her solo time. I thought they all did decent, but Hollie and even the short amount of solo time Jessica had, overshadowed SkylAr quite a bit.

*ELISE:* BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE!! I think I'm falling in love with Elise... LOL!! A month ago, I thought Elise was a decent singer and an average looking woman. Fast forward to now, and I think she's a very attractive and extremely talented woman who has managed to climb her way to the point where I'm not only excited for her performance every week, but she's become one of my favorites. Week before last, she was my third favorite performance... last week, my second, and this week my favorite. 

*MY FAVORITES OF THE NIGHT:* Elise (1), Jessica (2), Phillip (3), etc...

*LEAST FAVORITE OF THE NIGHT:* Colton

*MY VOTES:* Elise, Phillip, Hollie, Jessica, Joshua

*WHO'S GOING HOME:* ??????? A good performance night aside, the weakest link is probably Heejun. I'd normally say DeAndre will go before him, but between his good performance, and the fact that J.Lo probably energized his fan base tonight, I'm not sure he'll be going. Taking all that into account as well as the fact that AI voters have a tendency to hate women, my fear is that it will be another girl... 

~Alan


----------



## Holydoc (Feb 18, 2008)

I was not as impressed with DeAndre as you were.

My bottom three were:
DeAndre
HeeJun
Skylar or Joshua

Favorite was Elise. She killed it!


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Ya. Elise covered a song I didn't think was possible to cover, and might have given the performance of the season, so far. Amazing she was able to pull that off so well.

I also liked that glimpse of her and Stevie harmonizing after the rehearsal. I'm pretty sure Elise will remember that fondly for the rest of her life.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Holydoc said:


> I was not as impressed with DeAndre as you were.
> 
> My bottom three were:
> DeAndre
> ...


My bottom two were DeAndre and Heejun. Especially DeAndre. I don't know what the judges were hearing, because his pitch was all over the place in parts of that song, IMHO.

I'm looking forward to the week when their constituencies are no longer relatively large enough to keep those guys in the competition, because I would much rather have heard Erika sing last night than DeAndre. Just my .02.


----------



## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Steve said:


> My bottom two were DeAndre and Heejun. Especially DeAndre. I don't know what the judges were hearing, because his pitch was all over the place in parts of that song, IMHO.
> 
> I'm looking forward to the week when their constituencies are no longer relatively large enough to keep those guys in the competition, because I would much rather have heard Erika sing last night than DeAndre. Just my .02.


Yeah, what he said.

Got around to looking at VFTW and looks like Heejun is their guy. Wonder how much influence do they really have? Doesn't seem like he can last too much longer.

Can't say that I've got a favorite this go-'round. Jessica and Joshua seem to be fading a bit, afraid that Colton is going to ride his little dress and singing quirks right out of the competition (kind of like Adam lost because he insisted on screeching on every song and his in-your-face flamboyancy), Phillip growls every song, and Skylar seems limited so overcompensates with loudness and intensity.


----------



## VDP07 (Feb 22, 2006)

Elise has been my favorite since the beginning. I fear for her survival though. Like so many great performers from past seasons, for some reason, she just hasn't developed a voting following. Don't know if it's her age, her look or her singing style, but she seems to be in the bottom 3 quite often. That said, I've never voted so I really can't complain about the outcome each week.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Holydoc said:


> I was not as impressed with DeAndre as you were.
> 
> My bottom three were:
> DeAndre
> ...


Heejun and DeAndre are the two weakest links.... hence why I even though I enjoyed their performances last night, I didn't bother to vote for them. I always hate for a contestant to go out on a high note, but I really don't think it'd be fair for the other contestants if they were the ones sent home.



Steve said:


> Ya. Elise covered a song I didn't think was possible to cover, and might have given the performance of the season, so far. Amazing she was able to pull that off so well.
> 
> I also liked that glimpse of her and Stevie harmonizing after the rehearsal. I'm pretty sure Elise will remember that fondly for the rest of her life.


I still think Jessica's "I Will Always Love You" is the highlight of the season for me, but Elise's performance last night was amazing!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she will remember that... just like I suspect Phillip will remember the comments he got... LOL!!



Zap2it.com said:


> For Elise Testone, the mentoring experience was especially wonderful because she actually got to sing with the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman.
> 
> "I said, 'I sing your music,' and Jimmy [Iovine] was like 'Well here Stevie, why don't you sing a song together?' We sang 'Dreams.' She sang the chorus and I harmonized above her. I just jumped right in -- it was like we had been playing together forever."
> 
> In fact, the familiarity was apparent as soon as Testone and Nicks met. "There are certain people that I meet that I instantly feel like I have been friends with them or we know each other," she says. "I felt that way with Steven Tyler, and I felt that way with her. There's just something that we have that we just clicked. We were just friends. I was so excited and I couldn't stop giggling."


SOURCE - 'American Idol' Top 9 talk Stevie Nicks: 'My favorite mentor ever'

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Steve said:


> My bottom two were DeAndre and Heejun. Especially DeAndre. I don't know what the judges were hearing, because his pitch was all over the place in parts of that song, IMHO.
> 
> I'm looking forward to the week when their constituencies are no longer relatively large enough to keep those guys in the competition, because I would much rather have heard Erika sing last night than DeAndre. Just my .02.


I think Erika deserved to stay in longer than DeAndre and Heejun, and last week I certainly agreed with you. However, as I said, I personally thought both were superior to Colton and even Skylar, so... 



dettxw said:


> Got around to looking at VFTW and looks like Heejun is their guy. Wonder how much influence do they really have? Doesn't seem like he can last too much longer.


He's got both them and his fans. I know multiple people who are Heejun fans... I like him, and I loved last night, but he is not as skilled as many of the others and he shows too many problems in his voice when he sings. His antics last week ticked off many of his fans that I know personally, so it will be interesting to see how his new-found attitude will affect his standings tonight.



dettxw said:


> Can't say that I've got a favorite this go-'round. Jessica and Joshua seem to be fading a bit, afraid that Colton is going to ride his little dress and singing quirks right out of the competition (kind of like Adam lost because he insisted on screeching on every song and his in-your-face flamboyancy), Phillip growls every song, and Skylar seems limited so overcompensates with loudness and intensity.


Sadly, I agree that Joshua may be fading a bit, but I totally disagree with Jessica. She had an amazing song a few weeks ago... she then had a bad week due to a bad song choice, but managed to bounce back with a good performance last week and a great performance last night. I think that if you compare every song she does to her Whitney performance, pretty much every performance will pale in comparison, but I don't believe that's fair to Jessica.

Honestly, I'm afraid Doug may be correct regarding Colton. He's got the teeny-bopper vote, he's got the church-going vote... I think he will be TOUGH to beat. It sucks in my opinion, but this is what AI has turned into... 

I hear your complaint about Phillip, but I think he's learning control over his growl. Last night was another night where he managed to show restraint and control over it. He needed that in my opinion... 

I don't disagree with Skylar... 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

BEWARE the _"PIA MOMENT". _


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

VDP07 said:


> Elise has been my favorite since the beginning. I fear for her survival though. Like so many great performers from past seasons, for some reason, she just hasn't developed a voting following. Don't know if it's her age, her look or her singing style, but she seems to be in the bottom 3 quite often. That said, I've never voted so I really can't complain about the outcome each week.


Though I haven't been a fan since the beginning, I've been singing Elise's praises for weeks, and while I have some family members who have been fans these last few weeks, I have friends and co-workers who really haven't warmed up to her much. Perhaps last night will change their minds...

My Uncle gave a few votes to Elise and Phillip last night, and said he got some busy signals. I didn't experience any, so I expect that had more to do with the fact that he called right after voting began instead of the amount of votes they were getting, but my hope is that Elise will be safe from the bottom three again this week!

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> BEWARE the _"PIA MOMENT". _


I'm constantly afraid of the "Pia Moment", but to whom are you referring to this week...

Joshua?! 
Jessica?! 
Hollie?! 
Elise?! 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> I'm constantly afraid of the "Pia Moment", but to whom are you referring to this week...
> 
> Joshua?!
> Jessica?!
> ...


Yes, any one of them.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Yes, any one of them.


Yeah... I'm pretty nervous for all of them... particularly Hollie and Jessica tonight. 

~Alan


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Holydoc said:


> I was not as impressed with DeAndre as you were.
> 
> My bottom three were:
> DeAndre
> ...


+1 on those bottom picks.

DeAndre has no range of skills to delivery...and frankly...his whiney voice is getting annoying.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> Yeah... I'm pretty nervous for all of them... particularly Hollie and Jessica tonight.
> 
> ~Alan


_Hollie_ and_ Jessica_ are my favorite females in the competition. _Hollie_ became one of my favorites the night she was selected to the top 11, and _Elise_ is growing on me after last night.

_Jessica_ by herself can outsing all of the females there and most of the male contestants. You just never want her to stop.

*Tonight?*

The departure of _Heejun _or_ DeAndre_ or _Skylar_ would be justified...
_Joshua _or _Elise_ or _Phillip_ would not.
_Colton_ is one I'd like to send home, but frankly, he's a very strong competitor and his elimination now would be like a mini-"Pia Moment".
A _"Pia Moment"_ in this season would kill it for me ... I think I would stop watching the show.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Henry said:


> _Hollie_ and_ Jessica_ are my favorite females in the competition. _Hollie_ became one of my favorites the night she was selected to the top 11, and _Elise_ is growing on me after last night.
> 
> _Jessica_ by herself can outsing all of the females there and most of the male contestants. You just never want her to stop.
> 
> ...


Well at least the judges still have that save in their back pockets. Since they didn't use it to rescue Erika last week, I think their strategy is to save it for someone only if they're convinced that person has a chance of winning it all. Doing so would avoid what happened in 2006's final four voting. The analysis after that vote was America thought Chris Daughtry was a shoe-in and most voters didn't think he needed their help. As a result, Taylor Hicks, Kat McPhee and Elliot Yamin became the final three. The judges were visibly upset by that outcome, but had no recourse, at the time.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> _Hollie_ and_ Jessica_ are my favorite females in the competition. _Hollie_ became one of my favorites the night she was selected to the top 11, and _Elise_ is growing on me after last night.


Elise grew on me once I heard her sing "Let's Stay Together"... prior to that, I had no feelings for her either way.

Aside from Skylar, all of the girls left are outstanding, IMO.



Henry said:


> _Jessica_ by herself can outsing all of the females there and most of the male contestants. You just never want her to stop.


Agreed... however, Jessica is getting a lot of the same criticisms from people that Pia got last year. Criticisms like "She's too perfect" and "I don't see why people like hearing a robot sing", or that they simply can't connect to her.

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE?! YOU CAN CONNECT TO COLTON'S PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT, BUT YOU HAVE ISSUES CONNECTING TO JESSICA?!   :new_cussi



Henry said:


> *Tonight?*
> 
> The departure of _Heejun _or_ DeAndre_ or _Skylar_ would be justified...
> _Joshua _or _Elise_ or _Phillip_ would not.
> ...


I agree with part one...
I agree with part two... though I've been somewhat disappointed with Joshua these last two weeks. I'm really hoping he'll blow me out of the water next week.
I begrudgingly agree with part three...

I would LOVE for Colton to be in the bottom three this week. I think it would be an injustice for him to go home, but I would love for him to at least be in the bottom three. I don't expect that to happen, but I'd like to see it. Perhaps it might humble him some...

If I continued watching AI after Howdy Doody winning last year... I'll continue watching...  Maybe he and Nicki Minaj will sing a duet tonight... 

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Steve said:


> Well at least the judges still have that save in their back pockets. Since they didn't use it to rescue Erika last week, I think their strategy is to save it for someone only if they're convinced that person has a chance of winning it all. Doing so would avoid what happened in 2006's final four voting. The analysis after that vote was America thought Chris Daughtry was a shoe-in and most voters didn't think he needed their help. As a result, Taylor Hicks, Kat McPhee and Elliot Yamin became the final three. The judges were visibly upset by that outcome, but had no recourse, at the time.


I think the judges were ticked last year after realizing Pia was being sent home and they had already used their one save on Casey Abrams... 

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Interesting iTunes observations...

HEEJUN: I thought his ability to pronunciation last night was very good for him... yet, he had some CLEAR problems on the studio version. You'd think it would be the other way around... 

DEANDRE: I thought the studio version lacked the "magic" of last night. Disappointing...

SKYLAR: The studio version show a true improvement over last night. Far less nasally... YIKES!

COLTON: The majority of the studio version was WORSE than last night's IMHO, but the second half (once Colton starts belting it out) was considerably better. Go figure...

It's weird they didn't offer the trio performances... I though Colton, Elise and Phillip were fantastic... the other two performances are no great loss, but the lack of the first one is disappointing. 

BTW... I read an interesting review of Colton last night:



Zap2it.com said:


> *1. Colton Dixon, "Everything," Lifehouse*
> 
> Colton whips out the church talk this week. We've read things online about how people think that will hurt him, but we disagree. Faith talk seems like it will only help with the voting demographic of this show. Anyway, the song starts off very milquetoast. Breathy, boring, kinda whiny. Singing quietly doesn't mean you have to sound unsupported and it bugs. Also, the song has about four notes. We've practically lapsed into a coma by the time the chorus does anything interesting and even the "interesting" isn't that interesting.
> 
> We have a feeling Simon would call this a self-indulgent mess. And the passing-a-stone faces and being down on the knees? Bit much. Our least favorite Colton performance so far. Not saying he should go home, but that just wasn't great. The judges are nothing but complimentary, because how could they not be? If they criticize, it looks like they are criticizing his faith. Which is not what we're doing here. We like some Christian artists. But that performance didn't do it for us.


SOURCE - 'American Idol' Top 9: Stevie Nicks' mentor week is pretty strong

*A few disclaimers...*
*1:* I'm a religious guy myself, so I have no issues with Colton on that regard. I was about to roll my eyes when I thought he was Tebowing when he got on his knees, but thankfully he did not, so no issues there with me...
*2:* I LOVE passing-a-stone faces when a person is feeling a song, though I call them having a bowel movement faces...

However, the rest of it is on the money in my book...

Again I state, I agree with Doug... I think Colton may very well be the winner, so I WANTED him to have another great week like last week... but last night just didn't do it for me. 

~Alan


----------



## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> Sadly, I agree that Joshua may be fading a bit, but I totally disagree with Jessica. She had an amazing song a few weeks ago... she then had a bad week due to a bad song choice, but managed to bounce back with a good performance last week and a great performance last night. I think that if you compare every song she does to her Whitney performance, pretty much every performance will pale in comparison, but I don't believe that's fair to Jessica.


I like Jessica a lot. By fading I guess I really mean that the new might be wearing off and the current songs don't have the impact of the first ones we heard. Now we expect her to be great.

The judges keep praising Colton and Phillip for their uncompromising being who they are, but for me with a little growth, a little expansion of horizons either could run away with the competition. Don't see them changing though.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

dettxw said:


> I like Jessica a lot. By fading I guess I really mean that the new might be wearing off and the current songs don't have the impact of the first ones we heard. Now we expect her to be great.


Understandable... but not really fair to Jessica.

Elise has got it good right now in that she's just starting to come into her own... whereas Jessica will keep being compared to her Whitney song. 



dettxw said:


> The judges keep praising Colton and Phillip for their uncompromising being who they are, but for me with a little growth, a little expansion of horizons either could run away with the competition. Don't see them changing though.


I've already seen some changes from Phillip. As I stated previously, he's starting to show more restraint and control with his growl, IMHO... 

I really haven't seen any growth from Colton though... 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> [...] Understandable... but not really fair to Jessica.[...]
> 
> [...] I've already seen some changes from Phillip. [...]
> 
> ...


No it's not fair to Jessica unless the voters are penalizing her for being an AGT contestant.

It's one of my frustrations with the show in general ... people just won't vote with their heads ... they think it necessary to vote with their pelvic organs.

_Phillip_ seems to be growling less, which now makes him look like a friendly _Satchmo_.

Don't forget, _Colton_'s been told by all the judges that he is the cream of the crop. I have a little problem with that if he now starts believing it.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> It's one of my frustrations with the show in general ... people just won't vote with their heads ... they think it necessary to vote with their pelvic organs.


Or equally as bad... when they vote for a contestant because they "like" their personality...

Admittedly, I might be a little biased when you have a contestant smart off, or not take the competition seriously or the like, but to me it's all about the singing.

If you go to a restaurant and order a meal, do you concern yourself as to whether or not you'd consider that person a "good person" or could potentially be friends with them in an alternate universe?! NO! You care that they make good food...



Henry said:


> Don't forget, _Colton_'s been told by all the judges that he is the cream of the crop. I have a little problem with that if he now starts believing it.


I think he's shown an attitude a few times. It could simply have been a poor choice of words, but I'm not convinced that's the case. 

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Why'd everybody let me continue misspelling Skylar's name wrong?! 

It's correct in the poll, but I had misspelled it multiple times in my posts; oddly, sometimes it was right once in a post, and wrong the rest of the time. Either way, I corrected some of it... 

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Some of the Idols got some good feedback last night:

'American Idol': Lifehouse, Eric Benet, Jonny Lang approve of Top 9 covers

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> Why'd everybody let me continue misspelling Skylar's name wrong?!
> 
> It's correct in the poll, but I had misspelled it multiple times in my posts; oddly, sometimes it was right once in a post, and wrong the rest of the time. Either way, I corrected some of it...
> 
> ~Alan


Your thoughts are what counts ... not your spelling.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Your thoughts are what counts ... not your spelling.


I can't speak for everywhere, but where I live, people demand a certain amount of respect. If they don't get it, they'll assume that person is either from New York or California.

Now, I personally don't really see the reason for outrage for the lack of some of these things, but one thing in which I'm anal about, is I always try to spell people's name right. The ironic thing is, people constantly misspell my name, and it doesn't bother me. Go figure... 

~Alan


----------



## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> Why'd everybody let me continue misspelling Skylar's name wrong?!
> 
> It's correct in the poll, but I had misspelled it multiple times in my posts; oddly, sometimes it was right once in a post, and wrong the rest of the time. Either way, I corrected some of it...
> 
> ~Alan


:lol: I copied you and spelled it wrong, then corrected my post after reviewing the poll. 
I'll use the excuse that I was busy working so didn't think of PMing you about it.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> I can't speak for everywhere, but where I live, people demand a certain amount of respect. If they don't get it, they'll assume that person is either from New York or California.
> 
> Now, I personally don't really see the reason for outrage for the lack of some of these things, but one thing in which I'm anal about, is I always try to spell people's name right. The ironic thing is, people constantly misspell my name, and it doesn't bother me. Go figure...
> 
> ~Alan


That's me ... New York. 

Spelling is so important rolleyes that I give it no mind, and I didn't even notice your misspelling.


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

The voting turned out to be right on target for the bottom 3, as well as the departed Heejun.

The top 3 are becoming clear as everyone attempts to raise their own bar of performances. Not sure if Colton will win the whole thing, but he'll be in the top 3. A couple in the top tier didn't give their best this week. I suspect next week will anchor the positions for the best from the rest.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> The voting turned out to be right on target for the bottom 3, as well as the departed Heejun.


Hmmm ... Two things I underestimated and will find increasingly annoying.

(1) No, Hollie should never have been in the bottom three. I totally disagreed with the Judges and I disagree with the bottom three choice. However, her accent may be doing her in in much the same way that Heejun's accent probably did him in. Hopefully she'll rebound.

(2) What the heck? DeAndre wasn't even in the bottom 3. That was some of the worst ear-piercing drivel I've ever heard on the show. Please go home already. Alas, if he wasn't in the bottom three, then this guy may end up killing me as much as Scottie killed Alan last year. Sigh.

I thought Colton was excellent, I though Jessica was excellent, I thought Joshua was good, but he came really close to going "too" gospel in his runs. He should pull back from that a bit to help himself move forward. I also liked Phillip, but probably the best of the night was Elise. That girl can rock and, quite frankly, that's a good spot for post-Idol.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> The top 3 are becoming clear as everyone attempts to raise their own bar of performances. Not sure if Colton will win the whole thing, but he'll be in the top 3. A couple in the top tier didn't give their best this week. I suspect next week will anchor the positions for the best from the rest.


So if it's clear to you, who do you pick? I picked my 4 two (or three) weeks back, but two of those are starting to crumble.


----------



## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

I am a Colton fan but did not enjoy his performance this week. It was actually uncomfortable to listen to him at certain points in his singing.

Hollie wasn't as good as in the past, but I agree - she didn't deserve to be in the bottom three. DeAndre definitely should have been there with Skylar and Heejun. And DeAndre should have gone home. Heejun had his best performance of the season with that song this week.


----------



## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

What do you all think of the new result-show format this year where Jimmy Iovine gives a substantive critique of the previous night's performances? I think it's a great addition this year, and actually makes me watch the result show.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Doug Brott said:


> (2) What the heck? DeAndre wasn't even in the bottom 3. That was some of the worst ear-piercing drivel I've ever heard on the show. Please go home already. Alas, if he wasn't in the bottom three, then this guy may end up killing me as much as Scottie killed Alan last year. Sigh


+1000. I think what kept him out of the bottom 3 was a combination of VFTW and young girls votes.

It's not clear to me at all who the top 2 will be at this point. Different folks step up each week, so it should be fun watching this season play out. Hopefully they'll get rid of DeAndre next week, and the remaining seven can really battle it out.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> What do you all think of the new result-show format this year where Jimmy Iovine gives a substantive critique of the previous night's performances?


I love it. He's very objective and usually spot-on with his criticism, IMO.


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Doug Brott said:


> (1) No, Hollie should never have been in the bottom three. I totally disagreed with the Judges and I disagree with the bottom three choice. However, her accent may be doing her in in much the same way that Heejun's accent probably did him in. Hopefully she'll rebound.


This past week, for comparison reasons...she simply was below many others, so I do think they got it right in terms of ranking - I didn't see here AT the bottom.


> (2) What the heck? DeAndre wasn't even in the bottom 3. That was some of the worst ear-piercing drivel I've ever heard on the show. Please go home already. Alas, if he wasn't in the bottom three, then this guy may end up killing me as much as Scottie killed Alan last year. Sigh.


Amen. He might be popular among a band of wolves howling at the moon, but that's about it.



> I thought Colton was excellent, I though Jessica was excellent, I thought Joshua was good, but he came really close to going "too" gospel in his runs. He should pull back from that a bit to help himself move forward.


I saw him as "very good" (top 3) as opposed to excellent. He was better the previous week IMHO. He needs to leverage his strengths (including instruments) to win this whole thing.

Next week is a key week I suspect.


----------



## VDP07 (Feb 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> What do you all think of the new result-show format this year where Jimmy Iovine gives a substantive critique of the previous night's performances? I think it's a great addition this year, and actually makes me watch the result show.


I could be wrong, but I remember seeing Jimmy's pre-elimination critique during AI season 10. I do like the segment. He's usually spot on.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I didn't care for _Hollie_ being in the bottom three, either. Little female teenyboppers at work again this season. I didn't hear any accent when she sang. I'll have to keep an ear on it going forward.

I muted the audio when_ Howdy Doody_ made his appearance.

Good elimination last night, and even better that the judges didn't use the 'save'.

I agree that _DeAndre_ (AKA "_Goldilocks"_) should have been in _Hollie's_ place in the bottom. Maybe next week.

I like _Jimmy_. He's usually right on target.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> The voting turned out to be right on target for the bottom 3, as well as the departed Heejun.


I figured the bottom three would be two females and either Heejun or DeAndre. I figured Heejun over DeAndre after J.Lo rallied his fan base. I was afraid either Hollie or Jessica would be in the bottom three, and sadly, I was correct. 

I think it was far from on target... I don't know who my bottom three were last night, but I do know who my bottom two were. One of them (Skylar) was in the bottom three, and the other one (Colton)... well, I figured he wouldn't be in the bottom three. 

~Alan


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Alan Gordon said:


> I figured the bottom three would be two females and either Heejun or DeAndre. I figured Heejun over DeAndre after J.Lo rallied his fan base. I was afraid either Hollie or Jessica would be in the bottom three, and sadly, I was correct.
> 
> I think it was far from on target... I don't know who my bottom three were last night, but I do know who my bottom two were. One of them (Skylar) was in the bottom three, and the other one (Colton)... well, I figured he wouldn't be in the bottom three.
> 
> ~Alan


That's the beauty of these "contests"...everyone has a different view of each contestant. I think at this stage...they could eliminate 2 at a time each week and still have the right survivors.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Doug Brott said:


> Hmmm ... Two things I underestimated and will find increasingly annoying.
> 
> (1) No, Hollie should never have been in the bottom three. I totally disagreed with the Judges and I disagree with the bottom three choice. However, her accent may be doing her in in much the same way that Heejun's accent probably did him in. Hopefully she'll rebound.
> 
> ...


Hollie's accent pretty much disappears (unlike Heejun's), so I don't think that's it. I think the same thing happened with voters that it did with me. The first time I saw Hollie's performance, I compared it to Carrie's. The second time I saw it, I compared it to Hollie's performances. The second time was fairer and more kind to Hollie.

As for your second comment. I think DeAndre's is going home next week. He's the next weakest link... and he's not getting as much of the teeny-bopper vote as Phillip and Colton, and considering this week was his best performance since he made the Top 13, and J.Lo probably won't be rallying his fans again next week, I believe he'll be gone. However, I have to say, the fact that you'd compare my Scotty anguish last year to your anguish over DeAndre this year is pretty harsh... what'd DeAndre ever do to you?! 

I thought Colton was far from excellent last night, but I totally agree with you on the rest of your third paragraph.

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Drew2k said:


> What do you all think of the new result-show format this year where Jimmy Iovine gives a substantive critique of the previous night's performances? I think it's a great addition this year, and actually makes me watch the result show.


Jimmy did it last year. I thought he was pretty much spot-on last night.

I'm SOOOO glad he called Colton out on his performance last night, and while I enjoyed DeAndre's performance last night, I totally agree with Jimmy's assessment of DeAndre. He needs more experience...



Henry said:


> I didn't care for _Hollie_ being in the bottom three, either. Little female teenyboppers at work again this season. I didn't hear any accent when she sang. I'll have to keep an ear on it going forward.
> 
> I muted the audio when_ Howdy Doody_ made his appearance.


The accent is there, but it pretty much disappears. I don't think the accent was a factor last night. 

I fast forwarded past Nicki Minaj (not a fan) and started to with Scotty, but wanted to see if he'd improved any. He wasn't quite as corny during his performance, and it wasn't quite as painful to listen to as usual.... which is funny because...

I've already stated that while Phillip has lived in Leesburg (in the next county over from me) for years, he actually spent part of his time growing up in Sasser in the same county as me. Well, Cole Swindell who co-wrote the song that Scotty sang last night was from Bronwood... another small town in my county. I didn't know that until later last night...

~Alan


----------



## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

My wife and I have bleeding ears when Deandre is on stage.
We skip it every single night....


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Earl Bonovich said:


> My wife and I have bleeding ears when Deandre is on stage.
> We skip it every single night....


*This household agrees.

Deandre on stage...* :lol:


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> That's the beauty of these "contests"...everyone has a different view of each contestant. I think at this stage...they could eliminate 2 at a time each week and still have the right survivors.


You'd expect some differences of opinion given that every person has different tastes in music. You'd also sadly expect some manner of differences in opinion due to personalities, prejudices, favoritism, etc... but if you're strictly judging performances, you'd think there'd be a little more agreement...

FOR THE RECORD: I think DeAndre is the weakest contestant left. Though far from my favorite... or favorites, I think Colton is amazingly talented, and he was even my favorite performer last week, but I thought he blew it last night and DeAndre (and even Heejun) was able to beat him. I totally think it was a fluke night... it's never happened before, no do I expect it to happen again, but to me... both times I watched the performances, it was pretty clear. I'm just surprised at the differences of opinion on that... 

I'm glad they don't do two eliminations at a time. Gives people more opportunity to shine and consistency issues to come to light.

In my mind, DeAndre should be leaving next week, with Skylar the next. Beyond that, my mind is still being made up as to who should go home after that...

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

I think she's British, no? At any rate I couldn't tell she had an accent both speaking or singing. But as Alan says _"The accent is there, but it pretty much disappears. [...]._ So much so, that I didn't realize she was European until I saw her dad speaking. I also agree with _Alan_ that this was not a factor last night. 

Like I hinted earlier I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything _H-D (Howdy-Doody)_ sings. :nono:

_Earl_ is dead on re: _DeAndre_.


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> *This household agrees.*
> 
> *Deandre on stage...* :lol:


Hee-hee, there are a few others that fall in that category. :lol:


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> I think she's British, no? At any rate I couldn't tell she had an accent both speaking or singing. But as Alan says _"The accent is there, but it pretty much disappears. [...]._ So much so, that I didn't realize she was European until I saw her dad speaking. I also agree with _Alan_ that this was not a factor last night.


Yeah... British. Her dad sounds British, and she sounds Austrailian... but she recently stated she was born in Liverpool, so my thinking is maybe a mix of British accent meets Texas accent... 



Henry said:


> Like I hinted earlier I wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything _H-D (Howdy-Doody)_ sings. :nono:


I don't make a habit of it... LOL!!! :lol: 

~Alan


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Alan Gordon said:


> You'd expect some differences of opinion given that every person has different tastes in music. You'd also sadly expect some manner of differences in opinion due to personalities, prejudices, favoritism, etc... but if you're strictly judging performances, you'd think there'd be a little more agreement...


Quite true.


> I'm glad they don't do two eliminations at a time. *Gives people more opportunity to shine and consistency issues to come to light. *


Actually...its probably tied more to selling for TV time advertising by string things out...but yeah...second chances are probably not a bad thing.

Then again...a couple of them are on their 3rd or 4th chances already.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Actually...its probably tied more to selling for TV time advertising by string things out...but yeah...second chances are probably not a bad thing.
> 
> Then again...a couple of them are on their 3rd or 4th chances already.


Oh yeah... I wasn't doubting THEIR reasons for doing it one at a time... simply stating MY reasons for being glad it's just one per week.

I'm not sure what you're considering third or fourth chances though? 

~Alan


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

I meant to add this last week, but I read something earlier that made me think of it.

My local FOX affiliate is really promoting a local boy on Idol this year. They do interviews with him, and they sent a reporter out to Hollywood after Phillip Phillips, Jr. made it into the Top 13 and interviewed the other contestants as well. 

I don't know if this was done with your local FOX affiliates, but Wednesday night, there was a local promo for our local FOX affiliate (WFXL) with Skylar during Idol, and they had an interview with DeAndre Thursday night during the news. I missed it, but they apparently had an interview with Tommy Hilfiger regarding Phillip's sense of style... 

I also found out day before yesterday where Phillip grew up when he lived in my county... so that was pretty interesting.


The news I heard today... Gwen Stefani and Tony K. (blanking on his last name at the minute) from No Doubt will be guest mentors for 80's Week Wednesday. 

~Alan


----------



## Maruuk (Dec 5, 2007)

Jessica simply destroys everybody else week after week. And Colton is the only one up there who actually looks and sounds like they could sell a record. Apart from the ever-present country-pop females whose twangin' G-droppin' ******* moron lifestyle dirges keep the toothless hill folk happy. Idol always provides grist for that mill.

1. Jessica

2. Colton

3. Who cares? A couple of truck stop karaoke twit gals and some second rate Vegas lounge singers. Is this Idol or Midol??


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Several things happened this weekend...


I probably lost _another_ 5 pounds due to sweating from the heat... 
I let stress and some people I know get to me and went on an unsolicited rant about people I know (*something I now regret and would like to write off as a side-effect of stress and heat*  ). 
I had a prediction...

Jimmy Iovine said that he could see Elise Testone having a good week with 80's Week. This is VERY possible, but I'll be completely honest... I'm expecting that Colton will be having a great night tonight. As y'all know, I'm not a big Colton "fan," so this prediction kind of surprised me... :eek2:

One blogger wondered if he might sing U2... I was thinking more Elton John. Either way, I suspect that he'll have a great night... I'm VERY interested in finding out what happens.

I'm also curious if P2 will be singing "Thriller" again, or go with something new... 

~Alan


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Alan Gordon said:


> I'm also curious if P2 will be singing "Thriller" again, or go with something new...


If it's 80's week, he could sing something from Joe Cocker's repertoire. It would probably be right up his alley.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Steve said:


> If it's 80's week, he could sing something from Joe Cocker's repertoire. It would probably be right up his alley.


Absolutely! I know locally, we've certainly been comparing him to Cocker.... 

The same blogger that mentioned U2 for Colton mentioned a cover of "Don't You Forget About Me" that David Cook did a cover of last year. Certainly a decent song choice, but Cocker for Phillip is *gold* in my book! 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Alan Gordon said:


> Several things happened this weekend...
> 
> 
> I probably lost _another_ 5 pounds due to sweating from the heat...
> ...


Is that "prediction", or _premonition_ leading you to a prediction?

As you know, I'm not a _Colton_ fan either, but if he comes out with an _Elton_ song, I'll be listening intently. I'm not the crystal ball type, but I like anything _Elton_ has done.

I don't think the mentor team will let _P2_ repeat a past performance, but unless something else is out there, your guess is as good as mine. IMHO if _P2_ repeats a song, I'll take is as a _P2_ limitation, and that ain't good.

As always I'm a _Jessica _and _Joshua_ fan. Does that make me a _J2_ fan? :hurah:

[Edited to ask] Did _Stevie Wonder _do anything in the 80s. Now *that* would be something else!


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Is that "prediction", or _premonition_ leading you to a prediction?


Very good point... I'd normally be leery of using the word premonition, but given the heat, it could very well happen! 



Henry said:


> As you know, I'm not a _Colton_ fan either, but if he comes out with an _Elton_ song, I'll be listening intently. I'm not the crystal ball type, but I like anything _Elton_ has done.


It's possible it's already known who he's singing... but that's who I'm crossing my fingers for... 



Henry said:


> I don't think the mentor team will let _P2_ repeat a past performance, but unless something else is out there, your guess is as good as mine. IMHO if _P2_ repeats a song, I'll take is as a _P2_ limitation, and that ain't good.


He's already sung "Superstition" twice... once in his audition and once during Stevie Wonder week. I don't think of it as a limitation, but I think he'd be wise to offer up something new...



Henry said:


> As always I'm a _Jessica _and _Joshua_ fan. Does that make me a _J2_ fan? :hurah:


I'm going to say no... :grin:



Henry said:


> [Edited to ask] Did _Stevie Wonder _do anything in the 80s. Now *that* would be something else!


I'd normally assume this was a joke, but you seem serious, so I'll just say YEAH... 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

My comments in *bold*...



Alan Gordon said:


> Very good point... I'd normally be leery of using the word premonition, but given the heat, it could very well happen!
> 
> *A prediction cries out for a previous premonition.*
> 
> ...


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Set List:


Spoiler



"That's All," Genesis
"Time After Time," Cyndi Lauper
"Wind Beneath My Wings," Bette Midler
"Flashdance ... What a Feeling," Irene Cara
"If You Don't Know Me By Know," Simply Red
"I Like It," DeBarge
"How Will I Know," Whitney Houston
"I Want to Know What Love Is," Foreigner



Duets:


Spoiler



"Stop Dragging My Heart Around," Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty
"Islands in the Stream," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
"I'm So Excited," The Pointer Sisters
"I Knew You Were Waiting for Me," Aretha Franklin and George Michael



No Elton John... 

~Alan


----------



## Henry (Nov 15, 2007)

Not even a Stevie Wonder consolation song.  I like 2 or 3 of them. The rest I have heard ad-nauseam.


----------



## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Henry said:


> Not even a Stevie Wonder consolation song.  I like 2 or 3 of them. The rest I have heard ad-nauseam.


I'd be shocked if DeAndre's not the one singing


Spoiler



"I Like It" by DeBarge


. I actually had to look it up... I couldn't remember it by it's title, but hearing it, I remember, and I don't see anybody else doing it.

I figure either Hollie or (my personal bet) Joshua will be singing


Spoiler



"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler


 which is an ABSOLUTELY


Spoiler



horrible


song choice.

I figure Colton will either do


Spoiler



"That's All" by Genesis


,


Spoiler



"I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner


, or even surprise me with


Spoiler



"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper


.

I figure Phillip will probably do one of the songs that I mentioned for Colton above... probably the first one.

I figure Elise will probably do either


Spoiler



If You Don't Know Me By Know" by Simply Red


,


Spoiler



"Flashdance ... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara


, or


Spoiler



"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper


.

We'll see... 

~Alan


----------

