Anybody Get Sucked into American Idol?

[PBBPaul]

What is it with Jon Peter Lewis? That guy is beyond mediocre. Every performance seems to be more bland than the next. I kinda understand the red-haired kid just because he's so different. Personally, I think LaToya London burned last night. She was absolutely great.

 

I think it should come down to Fantasia, LaToya and George. The rest are just too weak.

[Duddits]

Originally posted by bigswole31:

What I am afraid of is the fact that the two least talented cats (Jon Peter Lewis and John Stevens) did a PASSABLE job last night. If America voted for these guys when they were absolutely HORRIBLE, then I'm sure they will get tons of votes when they manage not to make absolute fools of themselves.

 

Which takes me to my last issue: What is this American fascination with the underdog? If a person has sacrificed and worked hard to be the best, why do the masses want to see them lose to someone less able?

That's a great question and, even though I may just be a cat, I think I know the answer.

 

The answer is that, with very little exception, we are Jon Stevens, not Fantasia. We are the underdogs, and we relate to the underdogs on stage rather than the rare phenom.

 

Michael Jordon, and even Fantasia, are so good, we stop judging them as one of us. They're not. They're better than us, and so we begin to dismiss them from the stage to make room for our surrogate.

 

As our surrogate, the underdog that succeeds gives us hope that despite our own lack of superhuman ability, we too can make it. If they can succeed, maybe we can too. Thus, rooting for them, we are rooting for ourselves.

[bigswole31]

So we end up rewarding mediocrity for vicariously self-gratifying reasons, while penalizing or witholding support from greatness because it exposes us all for the lazy, unfocused, sluggards that we are?

 

Sad to say, but I totally agree.

 

While I do believe in natural talent, I feel that the Fantasias and Michael Jordans are products of hard work and sacrifice...staying in to practice when everyone else wants to hang out and have fun. This type of behavior should be rewarded, and people who invest their lives to acquire skills deserve whatever greatness comes their way.

 

For those who think that Latoya, George, or Jennifer are in the same league as Fantasia, I would love to hear why you think so. I think they are all strong in their own right, but I don't get the "magic" from any of them (especially George). An icon should be a total package, not just a strong voice. I could see them doing leads with a group, a theatre production, or a cruise line, but none of them are "stand-alone" solo acts like Fantasia. JMHO

[Alndln]

Originally posted by Anderton:

Anybody Get Sucked into American Idol?

No.

[whitefang]

I only catch the show when we're visiting my sister-in-law, and she has it on. She LOVES that damned show! So, anyway, I'm not too familiar with the names.

 

Is George the guy who does "squats" when he sings? I mean, that guy's a good singer, but that bouncing is ridiculous. He'd be better off just STANDING there. How far do you think Tony Bennet would have gotten with that squat thing?

 

Whitefang

[Steve LeBlanc]

Originally posted by Alndlnbot:

Originally posted by Anderton:

Anybody Get Sucked into American Idol?

No.

Ditto

 

My wife and her mum watch it religiously...personally I refuse to listen to bad music and never on purpose.

 

I did catch a performance by the black girl 'with the big lips' ...I was impressed, she's really talented. The snips I've caught of the other singers (as I grab another Guinness and make my way back to my Laker game watching foxhole) were pitifully lame.

[Joe Cole]

Hey, at least it is music on TV.

 

My opinion, it is better to have ANY music then eating insect larva (Fear Factor/Survivor), dating games (Average Joe, The Bachelor etc).

 

As for some of the particpants, Mr. Anderton said it best, they are not musically formed yet.

 

Imagine, Quentin Tarentino, arguably one of the most influential writer of the past 20 years, is right in front of you, and you say your favorite movie is Sister Act II, Lilo and Stich or Finding Nemo. I was peeking through my fingers when they said that! Yikes! Sister Act II!!!!

 

With judgement such as that, how can anyone expect them to hold a candle to a fully matured artist such as Sting/George Michael/John Hiatt/insert your favorite ARTIST.

 

At this point, they are just instruments.

[Joe Cole]

My 2 cents of the remaining contestants....

 

Latoya- good singer, needs more personality

George Huff- like the tone, not the little boy routine.

Fantasia- real deal, "Summertime".... nice.

Diane Degarmo- can you have less sexiness? can sing but....who will listen or watch?

Jasmine- too young to have the sex appeal needed for pop stardom

Jennifer Hudson- too much over the top churchiness, I can see the sweat rag coming out!

Jon Peter Louis- not ever gonna cut it

John Stevens- haven't we all had enough nostalgia?

 

.... my wife controls the remore far too much.... I haven't even watched one complete NHL Playoff game yet!

[m2]

I don't watch television, I don't know what this show is about, or who these people are, and I've never heard of Simon Cowell, I'm much to be busy working on a cure for cancer.

 

Having said that, I do think the art of songwriting has been lost quite a bit, maybe because musicians are too busy learning how to program computers, I don't know. But when Fantasia sings Summertime, can't help but notice what a good song that is, especially compared to the new songs that these people put out. Melodic with good words, yet simple, enough for a good singer to sink their teeth into, without being horribly shlocky. One of the old contestants was on, Christina something-or-other, and sang her new "hit", and it was pretty bad and forgettable.

 

Summertime is what, 50 or 60 years old, and that's the standout song on a show in the year 2004 for a show for 12 year olds? Strange.

 

If I were to pick reasons why music is bad, or why the record industry is in trouble, etc., etc., I would say file-sharing and mediocre songwriting. The funny thing is, there's no shortage of mediocre songwriting. I mean, everyone and their grandma is writing songs, putting out CDs, the market is flooded with music, old artists, new artists, independants, how can anybody care about any of it?

[meccajay]

Glad to see JPL left with a touch of class and a damned all-out performance.

 

Been wating for the rest of the world to catch up on Fantasia, been recording her performances whenever I can. Her "Mowtown night" performance gets lotsa play on the VCR. All I can say is she is a very talented singer, and more importantly, she is a showman. Like the classic showman from our R&B past. She's the genuine article. Great voice too!

 

Goerge isn't neccessarily a showman, but he's a performer..in training. Give him a few years and at least one hit, and he'll be able to control most audiences at will. He's no Teddy Pendergrass, but he has that young Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Teddy P aire about him. One day it's gonna connect.

 

Jasmine's no Idol, but shes got the tone to pull off a couple good over-produced pop hits somewhere down the line. Beats working for a living.

 

Im not gonna spend any time taking stabs at the other white singers like some do, I'll simply say this.. *rant warning*

 

AI plays this game. You know it, the game goes like this.. Some TV producer says lets mix a few not-so-talented folks in there with the folks who can really sing, so America can have fun tuning in to hate Simon while he rips them to shreds, and ratings soar. Simon & Randy play along, maybe Paula does reluctantly too. Anyway they get a few hams through to battle with the real deal and Simon has his fun. Only this time it backfired on them!

 

This year the voters have come to the aide of the so called hams and voted them thru week after week. Better talent has fallen by the wayside, and now we end up with a finals group with not one good white singer in the bunch. We know it's not a race thing as good white and black singers have been a part of previous years finals....not this year. This year they shot themselves in the foot, and middle america votes to keep singers like John Stevens going after his painfull Motown & Elton John performances.

Also notice how bad Simon & Randy have treated these lesser talents in recent weeks. Berating them to no end, when they are the ones who selected the in earlier rounds.

They seem to be saying....hey America...wise up, it was a gag, please don't vote us to a final featuring John Stevens and Fantasia, or Diane Digarmo vs George...PLeeeeease!! But thats the road were headed down folks. Im not saying it will happen, but lets just watch as a gifted technician like Latoya gets the boot long before her time...

 

I hope they learn there lesson.