American Idol...your thoughts on who got cut

[Roy Tucker]

I agree with most of the comments in here. Bobby and Stevie were foregone conclusions, Becky and Paul were a bit of a surprise, we thought David and Heather were the other toastees.

Our top 3 guys are Ace, Chris, and Elliot (with Tucker as the dark horse) and top 3 women are Katharine, Lisa, and Paris (with Ayla is the dark horse).

My favorite is Katharine because that girl can *sing* but Paris seems earmarked for winning. My daughters melted at Ace's last smoldering look (which I gave them enormous amounts of crap about).

Some people go out surprisingly early, some last longer than what you think (Kevin will), but evetually, the American public seems to get it right. It's all a hoot and stupid mindless fun anyhow. Fun to talk about, but ultimately, who cares?

Although Kelly Clarkson has crossed over to a bona-fide star and now Carrie Underwood seems on her way.

[Danny Serafini]

Stevie was the easiest cut of the night, the only surprise was that she wasn't the very lowest vote getter. I thought Becky would survive the week, but she did stink this week so I'm not surprised she went. Heather was my pick to get booted, but there's always next week. I thought Barry Manilow wannabee would survive the week just based on comedy value and that the crooner would go, but oh well. Expected Patrick to get booted. He just came across way too soft. It's not the best idea for a guy to sing a song made famous by a female singer to start with, but then he underpowered it, which just made things that much worse.

Don't understand the whole fuss over Katherine. I thought her singing was just OK, and she was making so many goofy faces during her performance that it just got annoying. She worries me in that she reminds me of Kelly Clarkson, who was a complete no-talent hack who the judges inexplicably fell in love with. Katherine isn't that bad, but there were a number of girls who I thought outperformed her.

I think there's 6 people with a real shot to win: Paris, Lisa, Chris, Ace, Sway and Taylor. Everyone else is just filler.

[Tommyjohn25]

I really dig Taylor, he's my favorite by far. And I'm only 26. I just love how he seemingly "feels" his music when he sings it.


BTW...Redszone has to vote for me next year when I try out!

[max venable]

Expected Patrick to get booted. He just came across way too soft. It's not the best idea for a guy to sing a song made famous by a female singer to start with, but then he underpowered it, which just made things that much worse.

I think going first also puts contestants at a disadvantage. Two hours later, when it's time to vote, the audience has forgotten you.

[Dom Heffner]

This dude? Charlie Brown? I guess I see it but I like the Chicken Little comparison better.

Wow, you are so right.

But the guy who was cut has an amazing vocal talent and could sing circles around most of the rest of the guys. He could sing things the rest couldn't even dream of singing. But it wouldn't be in the genre that sells today. His type of vocals is not the kind that would sell very well and definitely is not a good fit for the show, so I have no problem with him getting the boot. Plus, he didn't seem to have much personality which AI is about more than ability anyhow.

Mike, which person that got cut are you referring to?

I would agree with you to a point on the "Come to My Window" singer. He had a beautiful voice during the auditions, but beautiful does not equal powerful and like I said, that song swallowed him whole with one gulp.

If you are referring to the "Copacabana" guy, I don't know. That was pretty poor. I'm just not sure why he went for something as comically non-commercial as that song. That was like a vaudeville act.

The thing that has me a little worried is the teenage girl factor and the crooner. He is a decent looking kid, and I never underestimate the American public's intelligence when it comes to looks over talent.

Hopefully the judges will keep pounding him.

People can say whatever they want about Simon, but you know what? A compliment from him means something. With Randy (dawg) and Paula, it's like getting a compliment from your grandmother.

[Redsland]

Pull the plug, hand the golden microphone to Paris, and be done with it.

[Danny Serafini]

Arsenio Hall needs to sue Randy Jackson for trademark infringement after all that "dawg pound" junk.

[max venable]

People can say whatever they want about Simon, but you know what? A compliment from him means something. With Randy (dawg) and Paula, it's like getting a compliment from your grandmother.

Dude, you are spot on! And you know what else, I usually totally agree with Simon (he just says the stuff I think but wouldn't dare say out loud).

[macro]

People can say whatever they want about Simon, but you know what? A compliment from him means something. With Randy (dawg) and Paula, it's like getting a compliment from your grandmother.

Exactly what I was saying this whole week! Paula loves them all, and told more than one this week "you're going all the way". They're all winners as far as Paula is concerned. I'm all for having a female presence and perspective on the panel, but they could've made a much better choice.

You can always depend on Cowell to say what everyone else is thinking. Last night Paula said "every single one of you has the ability to pull at the heartstrings of America" (paraphrasing) and Simon correctly said "No, not all of them!"

As for Paris, I'm going to disagree with you guys. At some point, her youth is going to catch up with her. When she's forced to sing songs that are not of her choosing and that take her out of her comfort zone, she won't be so confident and won't show up as well.

As for my picks, last night I correctly picked the two girls and one of the guys. I thought the crooner would go instead of the Arkansas guy with the good voice.

Pickler will hang around a long time because people will like her and her story. I really do like her, but find her incredibly annoying, as well. Does that make any sense at all?

[MWM]

Mike, which person that got cut are you referring to?

I would agree with you to a point on the "Come to My Window" singer. He had a beautiful voice during the auditions, but beautiful does not equal powerful and like I said, that song swallowed him whole with one gulp.

Yeah, that's the guy. The Copacabana guy was just plain bad. But Patrick has vocal ability the others simply don't have, IMO. But I agree that it doesn't always translate to certain types of singing. However, I do think he has plenty of power. I think he's trying to be too pop which dampened the power, but it's definitely there.

But I admit there's a bias towards a certain type of singer for me. I love the theatre and one thing I do when listening to these singers is consider if they could see songs from Broadway. I know those types will not sell records, but the pure vocal ability and required to sing from that genre is greater than the pop music sang on the show. Most of the people who have been on AI don't have a fraction of the talent to sing really challenging music, IMO. But that's not what the show is about and I don't think guy's like Patrick are a good fit. Honestly, he should not have auditioned. It's not a good use of his ability.

When I talk about pure vocal talent I'm talking aout someone who's versatile, has control and support, and who's voice can stand on it's own without any kind of showmanship. You get most of those guys outside of the types of songs they're singing there and they're worthless. A guy like Patrick can sing anything and vocally still sound really good. But an analogy I use in these disucssions is Pavarotti. The dude is an amazing singer, but I have no interest in listening to him.

This is certain to get some laughs because he's become the butt of a lot of jokes and his image is one most don't take too seriously, but the best male singer that's ever been on American Idol is Clay Aiken. And it's not even close. Love him or hate him, that guy can flat out sing. The range, the control, the support he showed has been unmatched on Idol. His voice can do things not many people are capable of. Now the stuff they had him try to sing on his album is a horrible use of his voice. They tried to turn him into a mix of Pop/R&B singer which he clearly isn't. They tried to make him Justin Timberlake. Aiken was never going to sell millions of records, but with his golden voice, he could have found a niche singing the right kind of music and developed a loyal following had the people in charge let him go that direction.

Danny, Katherine might not be the singer people like the most, or who is most likely to make it big in these days, but she's the best female singer in the competition, IMO. I hadn't seen her at all until this week, and the first thing I noticed when she started to sing was the control and polish she had. I agree that she was very annoying with her gyrations and such. I didn't care for her performance style much, but vocally it was a fantastic performance. She was like the pitcher who looks like they're hardly exerting any energy, yet they're throwing 95MPH. Her voice is like Ernie Els' golf swing. She's in absolute control. You can tell she's had lots of vocal training. I made that comment and my wife mentioned that her mother is a vocal teacher. That makes sense. But I don't see her winning. I think she'll get dropped somewhere between 10 and 5. She's just not that marketable. A great voice alone will not get you all that far once the top 12 starts. But she's got one. She's got great tone and really knows how to sing. Some of the people who have been on the show that I've seen in the past have really good vocal ability, but lack polish and control. You cna tell they've never had formal instruction. When I was younger, I took two years of individual vocal instruction. The first was from an opera singer who had performed on multiple occassions with Kathleen Battle. I also took a year from a more pop/belt instructor. I took a couple of vocal classes my second year of undergrad when I was still doing theatre as well. That doesn't make me more qualified to pick who's best for this type of competition, but I probably do notice things when I listen to people sing that might not come across to everyone. And it helps that I've been around so many really goo singers, too. That's why I like the Patrick's and Katherine's of the world and think the Ace's of the world are very average. He'll be exposed if he ever attempts to try anything vocally challenging at all. If he's smart, he'll play it safe every week, smile flirtatiously at the camera and sit back and look pretty. That's the best shot he has. But having said that, I don't think it's a bad thing if he goes far. It's about finding a star, not the best vocalist. He's a guy who will appeal to a lot of people and he's not a bad singer. He could really be someone big. Patrick and Katherine couldn't.

[Dom Heffner]

Part of the show's genius is that we all get to be critics.

When I talk about pure vocal talent I'm talking aout someone who's versatile, has control and support, and who's voice can stand on it's own without any kind of showmanship. You get most of those guys outside of the types of songs they're singing there and they're worthless. A guy like Patrick can sing anything and vocally still sound really good.

I see what you are saying and I think we agree for the most part- I would only add that someone who is versatile and powerful and can sing anything would not have sounded so weak on that song. Maybe he should have chosen a different style to do it, but Simon hit it on the head when he said it was a lesson learned. The voice was not the worst in the competition by any means, but you can't get by singing that song with a pop voice.

In some respects, you are going to get compared to the original, and I didn't hear any of Melissa Etheridge's raspiness, strength, etc. I heard David Gates singing it, and that sealed his doom. David Gates had a great voice, but he didn't go around singing "Freebird."

Chris would have taken that song and knocked it out of the park, though could he have sang "If"?

Versatility hasn't really mattered to me- in fact, I'd argue that we want our singers to the things they do well and stay with it. I'm not going to go out and buy Rod Stewart's Songbook series anytime soon. However, in this type of competition, versatility may be a key, I don't know. This is my first year watching it, so I'm probably not the one to ask on who is going to win the thing.

That's why I like the Patrick's and Katherine's of the world and think the Ace's of the world are very average. He'll be exposed if he ever attempts to try anything vocally challenging at all. If he's smart, he'll play it safe every week, smile flirtatiously at the camera and sit back and look pretty. That's the best shot he has.

I would very respectfully disagree with you here. Ace has now knocked out Michael Jackson and George Michael. Those are not average vocals to pull off, IMHO. If you look at everyone else who has done MJ it has been a disaster. Ace was in complete control of "She's Out of My Life," no easy task.

He's tough to give credit to because he is great for girls to look at (and apparently for Paula's friends, too), but there is some talent there.

That dude who sang Stevie Wonder- I dunno, that Amish look is going to be the death of him.

[Dom Heffner]

Exactly what I was saying this whole week! Paula loves them all, and told more than one this week "you're going all the way". They're all winners as far as Paula is concerned. I'm all for having a female presence and perspective on the panel, but they could've made a much better choice.

If you had three Simon's on the show these contestants wouldn't be able to pull themselves out of bed (the Brittenum twins still could lol). Paula and Randy add something, but I think we could all agree they could sprinkle some truth in there a bit more. Paula is flat out ridiculous- she reminds me of the girl in school who likes every single boy and she is going to marry them all at any given moment.

You can always depend on Cowell to say what everyone else is thinking. Last night Paula said "every single one of you has the ability to pull at the heartstrings of America" (paraphrasing) and Simon correctly said "No, not all of them!"

The "Shout" guy, the Brady kid, and Harry Connick, Jr., Jr.

Or the III. Or Harry Connick, Jr. II. That guy stinks.

As for Paris, I'm going to disagree with you guys. At some point, her youth is going to catch up with her. When she's forced to sing songs that are not of her choosing and that take her out of her comfort zone, she won't be so confident and won't show up as well.

You could be right, though you wouldn't know she was 16 from anything she's shown so far vocally. I like her, but there's something about her that's a little too cute for me.

As for my picks, last night I correctly picked the two girls and one of the guys. I thought the crooner would go instead of the Arkansas guy with the good voice.

That's who it should have been. Our Arkansas guy sang first, got hit pretty hard by the judges and that probably stuck.

[MWM]

I see what you are saying and I think we agree for the most part- I would only add that someone who is versatile and powerful and can sing anything would not have sounded so weak on that song. Maybe he should have chosen a different style to do it, but Simon hit it on the head when he said it was a lesson learned. The voice was not the worst in the competition by any means, but you can't get by singing that song with a pop voice.

Well, I thought his voice sounded very "strong." It just didn't seem right for the song. But I have to confess, I had never heard that song before he sang it, so I have no idea what the original sounded like.

I think you're right about not caring much about versatility and that people prefer they stick to what the're good at and do THAT really well. Most popular singers do just that and that's what they should do. It's a personal preference that I like versatile singers. I love to listen to music where I can sit back and say, "wow, what a great voice." That's why I like broadway music so much, the vocal talent is unbelievable. Doesn't make it any better than any other genre, it's just a personal preference thing. (my taste in music is my one weird thing. I'm a fairly normal guy is most respects, but my music preferences have made been the source of a lot of ridicule from friends over the years. It's makes me "weird" to some people). With few exceptions, it takes talent to make it in the music industry, regardless of the genre. The bands that people love today are talented, just much of the time it's something other than singing and has more to do with an overall sound and making likeable music within that sound. I respect that. My wife likes bands like Nickelback and Counting Crows. I've grown to like it to a point, but I've never loved it. But I've opened my mind to it and have come to enjoy it a little. But I have a hard time listening to music when the vocals just aren't good. I'm not a big fan of the harsh, grungy voices. I actually like a few of Nickelback's songs that my wife listens to all the time. The songs are good, but there's only so much of that guy's voice I can handle. It's just not a sound I enjoy. But it probably wouldn't sound right with any other type of voice.

But I also like to listen to people who sing a particular type of music well. Diana Krall is not a great singer, but she's perfect for what she does and I love her music. But if Diana Krall went on American Idol, she's be lucky to make it past the first round.

[alex trevino]

Pull the plug, hand the golden microphone to Paris, and be done with it.

I tend to agree...although I do want to see it play out. I find this group overall more likable than last year.