American Idol 4/18 and 4/25

[LawFive]

So, who goes after tonight's performances?

Kellie, Ace, and Elliott weren't so good, IMO. Methinks voters will continue to support Kellie, although after tonight she's really pushing her luck.

[Red in Chicago]

i thought calamari was just plain aweful tonight...ace wasn't too far behind...my third worse one would be the grey haired dude...

not sure what simon was thinking when he said that katheryn was the best tonight...i think she's overrated...

[BuckeyeRed27]

I thought they were all good except Kelly. She was pretty awful. I have really liked her so far and don't think she'll go home but she certainly didn't help herself at all.

I thought Ace did a good job, but I really like that song.

I thought Chris was the best and then Katherine close behind. But its pretty much like that every week since these two are clearly the best on the show.

I actually think in other years any one of this group may have won except for Ace.

[macro]

Elliott Yamin will go home tomorrow night, thanks in part to Simon's comment that he was concerned about him. As Pickler was finishing up her song, I said to my wife "she butchered that!" Kellie then said the exact same thing about herself! It was pretty bad. I don't like her because I think she's phony, but I respect her being straight up about her performance tonight.

Pickler may very well make the bottom three tomorrow night, but I doubt it. Elliott and Ace will be there, but picking the third one is tough. I'm going to go with Paris.

Looking ahead, look for Ace and Paris to follow Elliott home in the next two weeks, leaving the four heavy hitters: Chris Creed, Taylor, Kellie, and Kathryn. I include Kellie among the "heavy hitters" only because Simon and AI have declared it to be so, not because she deserves to be there.

My two personal favorites at this point are Taylor and Kathryn.

[MWM]

When I heard the theme tonight I was incredibly excited. I absolutely love these old songs. It’s my kind of music and can really show off a singer’s vocal ability. It's the anti-modern day music. You actually have to be able to sing to pull these off. This is one of the better episodes in the show’s history. Most of the performances were really good. Kellie was the only bad performance tonight, IMO.

This is one of those weeks when I think the person leaving is obvious and tomorrow night will be a little anti-climactic. Elliott is a goner. He’s just a little too boring and while he can sing, that’s not enough at this stage. He's missing that like factor. It’s too bad, because he’s head and shoulders better than Ace. But Ace showed some competence tonight and that’s all it will take for him. The bar is so much lower for Ace than the other guys. It’s sad really. Elliott has to knock your socks off at this point to stay. Ace just has to sing in tune.

Chris - I’m on the fence tonight on his performance. On one hand, I thought it was boring and dull, but he sounded really good singing it. The judges seemed to like it!

Paris – Loved it. This is EXACTLY the kind of vocal performance I could listen to all day every day. She didn’t try to modernize the song and sounded great doing it. This is my favorite Paris performance to date, and perhaps my second favorite performance of the whole season (#1 would be Katherine’s “Since I fell For You”). I thought Paris was the best performance tonight. She sounded like she could have recorded this song back in the 40s. She was almost perfect. She reminded me a little of one of my all-time favorite singers who I listen to all the time - Keely Smith.

Taylor – This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I sang back up to a really good singer for this song in high school on several occasions and have been in love with this song ever since. Actually, I've told my wife before that if I were ever on this show, I'd try to find a way to sing "You Send Me." I love Taylor but did not like his rendition of this song at all. I didn’t like the arrangement more than I didn’t like his performance. This song works so much better as a slower bluesy feel song. I think he should be OK, but I didn’t care for Taylor tonight at all. Although, I DID like the ending.

Elliott – I appreciate that he’s trying to show a little personality and enthusiasm, but it did not look natural at all. Too cheesy and forced. The vocals were pretty good. Elliott can really sing, but I know I’ve said it on here before, he has to back on the vibrato. It’s WAY too much. Overall, his was one of those “let’s be boring for most of the song, then belt out the last 10 seconds at the top of my lungs” performances. I think he mightbe gone after tonight. It wasn’t bad, but it was very forgettable.

Kellie – She didn’t have the voice for this song. I didn’t care for her at all tonight, but I’m sure she’ll get more votes than anyone else because she’s Kellie. But she was bad tonight. Just flat out bad. Of course, I’m a little biased about this song. Marin Mazzie, an incredible Broadway star, sang this song for a concert I watch regularly on DVD. So she had a tough bar to hurdle. She didn’t even come close. I think I’m starting to agree with those who think the producers of the show are trying really hard to promote her. The judges are afraid to say anything bad about her. Last week she was horrendous and this week she was not good at all and all they could say was “not great.” She got ahead of the music, her voice was all over the place, and the accent DID NOT WORK for this song.

Ace – Actually sounded pretty good tonight. But he sounded really bad when he went into his falsetto. But he doesn’t have “great” in him. He sounded good, but that’s best I can say about it. But it was a bit boring and there was no challenge in singing this song. It was very safe, but not a bad strategy for him.

Katherine – This night was tailor made for her. I figured she would be the one to shine the brightest tonight. I was sure she would blow me away. Close, but not quite. She was REALLY REALLY good, but I wasn’t blown away like I thought I would be. And I love Gershwin and love and love this song. I’ve heard it thousands of times by various singers, so maybe that’s why it failed to “blow me away.” I actually like Paris better.

[IslandRed]

Originally Posted by macro

Pickler may very well make the bottom three tomorrow night, but I doubt it. Elliott and Ace will be there, but picking the third one is tough. I'm going to go with Paris.

Looking ahead, look for Ace and Paris to follow Elliott home in the next two weeks, leaving the four heavy hitters: Chris Creed, Taylor, Kellie, and Kathryn. I include Kellie among the "heavy hitters" only because Simon and AI have declared it to be so, not because she deserves to be there.

They didn't declare her to be a heavy hitter tonight. She was bad and no one went much out of their way to sugarcoat it. The shot of Simon pretending to fall asleep while she sang was priceless. It's like they were saying "OK, cupcakes, you've been good TV but we're getting serious now." I have a hard time believing she won't be bottom three, considering that Taylor and Chris have been ahead all along by most reckonings and Katharine is in no danger. There's only four others. I can see her somehow avoiding elimination by edging Elliott or Ace, but beating them both AND Paris? After that train wreck? The only people that are going to vote for her this week are the no-matter-whats and vote-for-the-worsts.

[macro]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

They didn't declare her to be a heavy hitter tonight. She was bad and no one went much out of their way to sugarcoat it. The shot of Simon pretending to fall asleep while she sang was priceless. It's like they were saying "OK, cupcakes, you've been good TV but we're getting serious now." I have a hard time believing she won't be bottom three, considering that Taylor and Chris have been ahead all along by most reckonings and Katharine is in no danger. There's only four others. I can see her somehow avoiding elimination by edging Elliott or Ace, but beating them both AND Paris? After that train wreck? The only people that are going to vote for her this week are the no-matter-whats and vote-for-the-worsts.

Excellent points! Maybe I should reconsider my take on Pickler.

[MWM]

I think Island may be right. For Pickler to avoid the bottom three, that would mean Taylor, Paris, Katherine, or Chris would have to be there. I'm not sure I see that happening in light of tonight's performances. And at what point do they start doing the bottom 2 instead of three?

[Roy Tucker]

Yeah, it's getting to the tough part now. Everyone left is pretty good, but someone has to go.

As much as I hate to say it, Eliott, thanks to Simon's kiss of death, will probably go. I think he can sing better than Ace and Kellie, but he just doesn't have the looks that the other two do.

And it's also getting to the point where one bad performance can get you dumped. Although I think Kellie has too much of an installed base to get launched based on one week. But I wouldn't be surprised to see her in the bottom 3.

I'm glad Simon made the you talk like Minnie Mouse but sing like <someone good> to Paris. Her speaking parts have driven me nuts all season.

But Elliott and Ace are the next two to go (or maybe Eric Milton). Which leaves us with Chris, Paris, Kellie, Katherine, and Taylor. Although DialIdol.com has it different.

[max venable]

They'll probably start going to bottom two tonight. And I think you're all right when you say it'll be Elliot and Ace.

If it's three, I kinda think the third will be Kellie. Although, she's very good at getting the sympathy vote with the comments she makes after she sings. I think people look at her, even thought she sang poorly, and say "Awww...I feel sorry for her, and I like her, I'm going to vote for her because she's sooo cute and sooo nice."

Ace has got to go. I can't take "the look" for another week.

Overall, last night's show was probably my favorite one so far. For the most part, I thought it was a great and entertaining night.

Here is how I would rank the performances:

1. Katharine--she was phenominal. Probably her best performance so far.
2. Taylor--he's always fun and entertaining.
3. Paris--this genre was right up her alley. She nailed it.
4. Chris--surprisingly good with the song he chose.
5. Elliot--I don't know, dogg, it was just alright for me.
6. Ace--Below avg. IMO. I'm so ready for him to go.
7. Kellie--I like her okay. But her performance was not good...and very boring.

[IslandRed]

After some reflection, Kellie's probably in no danger of going home just because. That's why you do your best every week to win fans, so you'll have enough to get you through a rough week. But some of the bloom is off that rose permanently, I imagine. I'm no AI historian, but I don't think any of the winners (or even final two) had a week like that this late.

[max venable]

Originally Posted by IslandRed

After some reflection, Kellie's probably in no danger of going home just because. That's why you do your best every week to win fans, so you'll have enough to get you through a rough week. But some of the bloom is off that rose permanently, I imagine. I'm no AI historian, but I don't think any of the winners (or even final two) had a week like that this late.

No, there's no way Kellie wins the whole thing.

Top three: Chris, Taylor, and Kellie with Taylor winning it all.

[MWM]

My 9 year old just watched it this morning and she came up to me and said, "Ace was bad, and that pony tail was not working." She said it ina complete monotone voice that it was quite funny.

And my wife thnk's Ace has had plastic surgery on his face. I don't see it, but she swears she can.

[Danny Serafini]

Is it just me or did Ace look like an Atlantic City pit boss with the suit and the hair pulled back?

[macro]

Originally Posted by max venable

Although, she's very good at getting the sympathy vote with the comments she makes after she sings. I think people look at her, even thought she sang poorly, and say "Awww...I feel sorry for her, and I like her, I'm going to vote for her because she's sooo cute and sooo nice."

...which is just another reason I don't like her. I'm sorry I bash Pickler so much, but she does so many things to be irritating.

And would someone please tell Paula Abdul that this is not a fashion show? When she can't think of anything to say (which is very often), she raves over how the person looks. Yes, looks are important, but must she bring it up to three or four contestants every show?