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Feb. 23rd, 2010 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brokenrecordSo with my test getting pushed back, I actually had time to pay attention to American Idol, and I don't know if anyone on my flist is even watching AI this season, but I have thoughts about all the contestants.
Paige - Like... I can tell she has a decent voice, but she sounded SUPER nervous. And I have no idea what Simon was going on about her having the best voice of all the girls, because no. I hadn't even heard all the girls sing, but from those that I have, they had sung better. And yeah, the song choice was pretty eh.
Ashley - I pretty much want to say the same thing as for Paige, to a lesser extent. I can tell she has a good voice, but there were definite spots where that weren't great. She didn't seem as nervous as Paige. But the song was also nothing to get excited about. I shockingly actually agreed with Kara for once. It's such an uninspired song choice for her; choosing something not quite... her style, but kicking ass anyways would definitely make me like her more. So at least the judges were right on about her. But Paige wasn't significantly better (I thought she was worse, actually) than Ashley, yet the judges were all over Paige (...in a good for her way, not a criticizing way).
Janell - Better than Paige and Ashley. I think it helps that I like the song more than the others, and it seems to suit her voice better. Definitely not perfect, some of the notes were off, but the first two set a low standard. But both the auditions shown in the little package before she performed were much better than this performance. Mostly at this point I'm just bored because there hasn't been much... rearrangement of any songs, I guess. That was one of the things that I loved about Kris, like doing Heartless on just an acoustic guitar. I know that's not like... a requirement for the show, but as it is, it just feels like karaoke. Decent (...ish~) karaoke, but still. I personally prefer when people play instruments or at the very least change a song up a little.
Lilly - Best yet! It helps that, you know, she chose a Beatles song, so I actually enjoyed what she was singing, and the fact that she played guitar definitely helped me like her more. The song suited her, and I feel like she sang well, except for maybe a few not as good notes at the beginning. I also have NO idea wtf Kara was saying in her judgment.
Katelyn - I actually expected her to be way worse than she was. That song worked much better for her than I thought it would, and she didn't seem too overcome with nerves. I can't ever see me buying her hypothetical album, though. I liked Lilly better, but Katelyn was significantly better than the first 3 (not that that's saying anything, but I did think she would be on their level). And Kara bizarrely made sense! What is this world? Her makeover was definitely horrible.
Hayley - Ohhhh bad song choice. Like, here's the thing; I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I like them, but I don't listen to them very often. So any song I've heard of and instantly recognize, I consider one of their major songs, and this is one of them. And you really can't do the major songs like that, because... they're just too well-known and associated with the original artist. They always turn out horrible, like with Anoop doing Beat It last year. It's just... too iconic, or too huge of a song, that unless you are like super changing it up or are really brilliant, it won't work. And she was awful. That one early drawn out note was horrible. So screechy. I liked, like... the last note? That's about it. And ugh Kara is back to being an idiot. I don't care if she has fun on stage if she's making my ears bleed. This is also one of my least favorite Beatle songs I've heard, so it already had that working against it, and I'm glad Simon called the performance terrible, because it so was. I think it might be the worst up till this point.
Lacey - She's one of the few girls I was actually interested in after seeing (some of) the auditions. The song choice was interesting, in a mostly good way. I thought I didn't know it until it started, and then I realized I've heard it millions of times before. She wasn't... the worst. Her voice had more of a country sound than I expected. She sounded incredibly nervous. idk, I'd like for her to have another chance, because I think she has potential. Not a great performance, though. Although I don't really get the reasoning behind who the judges like and who they don't, because she was no worse than Hayley, but most of the judges (other than Simon, the voice of reason) liked Hayley, or at least were way more positive overall. I hate when the contestants are like "I chose this song because I really like the message and it's one of my favorites!" That's not how you should choose songs on this show. You should choose songs that make you sound GOOD and that also fit who you want to be as an artist. But just liking a song does not make it a good idea to sing it on the show.
Michelle - I want to like her (even though I haven't ever heard her voice) because she has my name and I'm egocentric like that. Kind of a boring song choice and arrangement, but she actually sang it well, and compared to basically everyone else that went before her, she was phenomenal. I agreed with Simon's comment that it was too close to the original. The amount that I liked her performance was more based on how awful the 2 singers (and the others were not ) before her were. It's weird to me that their praise of her was not considerably more than for, like, Hayley, who... ugh. Also, Kara, someone can't become more unique; unique cannot be qualified. You either are or are not unique.
Didi - Pretty decent song choice. Not bad performance overall. I'd be more inclined to listen to something of hers than most of the others that went. But I agree with Simon about her being too sound-alike. Still, I find it bizarre that the judges have been harsher on her and Michelle than on Hayley (I know I keep bringing her up, but god, she made my ears bleed) or on Paige. And Simon complaining about her not being memorable - it's probably better not to be remembered than to be remembered for being awful.
Siobhan - She was another of the ones I was somewhat interested in from the auditions I saw. More maybe for her personality than voice. And she's a glass-blowing apprentice! That is bizarre but cool. And I actually ended up liking her! She didn't sound horrible (I had that this is like... the standard; if they don't make my ears bleed or bore me to death, they're one of the best of the night), and the song choice was actually interesting and not done to death.
Crystal - She was the only girl I actually really liked after the auditions (like there were some I saw some potential in and was somewhat interested in, but she was the only one I could really see myself becoming a fan of and listening to her post-Idol). Also, her last name is awesome. Her playing guitar definitely makes me like her more. She sounded awesome, imo. Like, not just compared to tonight awesome, but actually really good. She's someone I would actually listen to post-Idol. And whatever, Simon. You said the same thing about Kris, but I love him, and I don't see loads of him. And I don't get why he's trashing some of the people who are actually GOOD and saying good things about the crappy choices. I'm with him on the trying to do something different rather than something so sound-alike, but she was by far the best of them all, and they definitely criticized others who were far worse much less. And what's wrong with coffeehouse performers? Most of them I love more than anyone else on the show. ugh stupid judges. I guess my problem is not the fact that I think Simon's 100% wrong, because I actually was kind of unsure about the song choice (it seemed a little too obvious), but the fact that it's WEEK 1, not even the finals yet, and everyone else sucked so hardcore compared to her. Anyways, part of me is just thrilled that she didn't disappoint me, because she was the one girl I actually wanted to do really well based on how much I liked her from the auditions.
Katie - I remember her being very good from auditions, but not being interested in her in the slightest. Feeling Good, though? I feel like that's way too associated with Adam. Feeling Good is by far my favorite of his performances, and no one could compare (save for, like, Muse's version, or other famous covers. But for Idol, no). She didn't even sing it as well as I expected her to. I have a feeling she's going to go very far in the competition, though, unfortunately. I mean, she does have one of the better voices, but blah to the song choice, and I just can't get excited about any of her performances. I liked Ellen's comment about her being fresh and current, because I didn't think of that, but I agree a lot with her. I was shocked that the judges actually criticized her because I thought she was their Chosen One. This was one of the really fair, spot-on judgments of the show. Of course I'm afraid that now she's going to start singing Taylor Swift, which would also not be the right choice. (I don't know what the right choice would be; I'm terrible at actually selecting songs, but good at criticizing everyone's choices!).
Best performance: Crystal
Decent performances: Lilly, Katelyn, Didi, Michelle, and Siobhan (my standards for decent here are very, very low; Lilly was probably my favorite of this bunch)
Who should go home: Hayley and... I don't know! There are sadly too many choices. I'd say Paige, but she did go first, and I do think her crappiness was more due to nerves than having a horrible voice. Ashley was better than her, but boring as hell, and I've never seen anything interesting in the slightest in her. Honestly, I don't care. Either would be worthy of going home. I'd also be fine with Janell leaving, although I feel she has more potential, or Katie, even though there's no chance, and I suppose she wasn't nearly as bad as the others.
So overall the girls pretty much sucked. But I really was only looking forward to Crystal, anyways, and she was head and shoulders above the rest and didn't disappoint. I was (and continue to be) way more excited about the guys, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow more. I'm praying for some freaking original song choices. I don't even need crazy rearrangements or people playing instruments; at this point, I just don't want to be bored to death, or worse, feel like my ears are going to start bleeding.
Now I am going to watch more figure skating (I was pretty much switching to it anytime there was downtime on Idol, which was frequent) and review a little for the exam so I have less work to do Thursday.
Paige - Like... I can tell she has a decent voice, but she sounded SUPER nervous. And I have no idea what Simon was going on about her having the best voice of all the girls, because no. I hadn't even heard all the girls sing, but from those that I have, they had sung better. And yeah, the song choice was pretty eh.
Ashley - I pretty much want to say the same thing as for Paige, to a lesser extent. I can tell she has a good voice, but there were definite spots where that weren't great. She didn't seem as nervous as Paige. But the song was also nothing to get excited about. I shockingly actually agreed with Kara for once. It's such an uninspired song choice for her; choosing something not quite... her style, but kicking ass anyways would definitely make me like her more. So at least the judges were right on about her. But Paige wasn't significantly better (I thought she was worse, actually) than Ashley, yet the judges were all over Paige (...in a good for her way, not a criticizing way).
Janell - Better than Paige and Ashley. I think it helps that I like the song more than the others, and it seems to suit her voice better. Definitely not perfect, some of the notes were off, but the first two set a low standard. But both the auditions shown in the little package before she performed were much better than this performance. Mostly at this point I'm just bored because there hasn't been much... rearrangement of any songs, I guess. That was one of the things that I loved about Kris, like doing Heartless on just an acoustic guitar. I know that's not like... a requirement for the show, but as it is, it just feels like karaoke. Decent (...ish~) karaoke, but still. I personally prefer when people play instruments or at the very least change a song up a little.
Lilly - Best yet! It helps that, you know, she chose a Beatles song, so I actually enjoyed what she was singing, and the fact that she played guitar definitely helped me like her more. The song suited her, and I feel like she sang well, except for maybe a few not as good notes at the beginning. I also have NO idea wtf Kara was saying in her judgment.
Katelyn - I actually expected her to be way worse than she was. That song worked much better for her than I thought it would, and she didn't seem too overcome with nerves. I can't ever see me buying her hypothetical album, though. I liked Lilly better, but Katelyn was significantly better than the first 3 (not that that's saying anything, but I did think she would be on their level). And Kara bizarrely made sense! What is this world? Her makeover was definitely horrible.
Hayley - Ohhhh bad song choice. Like, here's the thing; I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I like them, but I don't listen to them very often. So any song I've heard of and instantly recognize, I consider one of their major songs, and this is one of them. And you really can't do the major songs like that, because... they're just too well-known and associated with the original artist. They always turn out horrible, like with Anoop doing Beat It last year. It's just... too iconic, or too huge of a song, that unless you are like super changing it up or are really brilliant, it won't work. And she was awful. That one early drawn out note was horrible. So screechy. I liked, like... the last note? That's about it. And ugh Kara is back to being an idiot. I don't care if she has fun on stage if she's making my ears bleed. This is also one of my least favorite Beatle songs I've heard, so it already had that working against it, and I'm glad Simon called the performance terrible, because it so was. I think it might be the worst up till this point.
Lacey - She's one of the few girls I was actually interested in after seeing (some of) the auditions. The song choice was interesting, in a mostly good way. I thought I didn't know it until it started, and then I realized I've heard it millions of times before. She wasn't... the worst. Her voice had more of a country sound than I expected. She sounded incredibly nervous. idk, I'd like for her to have another chance, because I think she has potential. Not a great performance, though. Although I don't really get the reasoning behind who the judges like and who they don't, because she was no worse than Hayley, but most of the judges (other than Simon, the voice of reason) liked Hayley, or at least were way more positive overall. I hate when the contestants are like "I chose this song because I really like the message and it's one of my favorites!" That's not how you should choose songs on this show. You should choose songs that make you sound GOOD and that also fit who you want to be as an artist. But just liking a song does not make it a good idea to sing it on the show.
Michelle - I want to like her (even though I haven't ever heard her voice) because she has my name and I'm egocentric like that. Kind of a boring song choice and arrangement, but she actually sang it well, and compared to basically everyone else that went before her, she was phenomenal. I agreed with Simon's comment that it was too close to the original. The amount that I liked her performance was more based on how awful the 2 singers (and the others were not ) before her were. It's weird to me that their praise of her was not considerably more than for, like, Hayley, who... ugh. Also, Kara, someone can't become more unique; unique cannot be qualified. You either are or are not unique.
Didi - Pretty decent song choice. Not bad performance overall. I'd be more inclined to listen to something of hers than most of the others that went. But I agree with Simon about her being too sound-alike. Still, I find it bizarre that the judges have been harsher on her and Michelle than on Hayley (I know I keep bringing her up, but god, she made my ears bleed) or on Paige. And Simon complaining about her not being memorable - it's probably better not to be remembered than to be remembered for being awful.
Siobhan - She was another of the ones I was somewhat interested in from the auditions I saw. More maybe for her personality than voice. And she's a glass-blowing apprentice! That is bizarre but cool. And I actually ended up liking her! She didn't sound horrible (I had that this is like... the standard; if they don't make my ears bleed or bore me to death, they're one of the best of the night), and the song choice was actually interesting and not done to death.
Crystal - She was the only girl I actually really liked after the auditions (like there were some I saw some potential in and was somewhat interested in, but she was the only one I could really see myself becoming a fan of and listening to her post-Idol). Also, her last name is awesome. Her playing guitar definitely makes me like her more. She sounded awesome, imo. Like, not just compared to tonight awesome, but actually really good. She's someone I would actually listen to post-Idol. And whatever, Simon. You said the same thing about Kris, but I love him, and I don't see loads of him. And I don't get why he's trashing some of the people who are actually GOOD and saying good things about the crappy choices. I'm with him on the trying to do something different rather than something so sound-alike, but she was by far the best of them all, and they definitely criticized others who were far worse much less. And what's wrong with coffeehouse performers? Most of them I love more than anyone else on the show. ugh stupid judges. I guess my problem is not the fact that I think Simon's 100% wrong, because I actually was kind of unsure about the song choice (it seemed a little too obvious), but the fact that it's WEEK 1, not even the finals yet, and everyone else sucked so hardcore compared to her. Anyways, part of me is just thrilled that she didn't disappoint me, because she was the one girl I actually wanted to do really well based on how much I liked her from the auditions.
Katie - I remember her being very good from auditions, but not being interested in her in the slightest. Feeling Good, though? I feel like that's way too associated with Adam. Feeling Good is by far my favorite of his performances, and no one could compare (save for, like, Muse's version, or other famous covers. But for Idol, no). She didn't even sing it as well as I expected her to. I have a feeling she's going to go very far in the competition, though, unfortunately. I mean, she does have one of the better voices, but blah to the song choice, and I just can't get excited about any of her performances. I liked Ellen's comment about her being fresh and current, because I didn't think of that, but I agree a lot with her. I was shocked that the judges actually criticized her because I thought she was their Chosen One. This was one of the really fair, spot-on judgments of the show. Of course I'm afraid that now she's going to start singing Taylor Swift, which would also not be the right choice. (I don't know what the right choice would be; I'm terrible at actually selecting songs, but good at criticizing everyone's choices!).
Best performance: Crystal
Decent performances: Lilly, Katelyn, Didi, Michelle, and Siobhan (my standards for decent here are very, very low; Lilly was probably my favorite of this bunch)
Who should go home: Hayley and... I don't know! There are sadly too many choices. I'd say Paige, but she did go first, and I do think her crappiness was more due to nerves than having a horrible voice. Ashley was better than her, but boring as hell, and I've never seen anything interesting in the slightest in her. Honestly, I don't care. Either would be worthy of going home. I'd also be fine with Janell leaving, although I feel she has more potential, or Katie, even though there's no chance, and I suppose she wasn't nearly as bad as the others.
So overall the girls pretty much sucked. But I really was only looking forward to Crystal, anyways, and she was head and shoulders above the rest and didn't disappoint. I was (and continue to be) way more excited about the guys, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow more. I'm praying for some freaking original song choices. I don't even need crazy rearrangements or people playing instruments; at this point, I just don't want to be bored to death, or worse, feel like my ears are going to start bleeding.
Now I am going to watch more figure skating (I was pretty much switching to it anytime there was downtime on Idol, which was frequent) and review a little for the exam so I have less work to do Thursday.
