Right. I do think a Jessica/Alex finale would be interesting..and Jena makes a good dark horse...but for the first time ever..I'm close to just giving up on the show. When JLo is the only thing idol got right this year...you know it's been tough.

I'm still watching because I'm still somewhat. curious about Jessica.I don't think she's shown yet what she may be capable of.She seems to be holding back in terms of stage presence and overall performance and the judges have picked up on that.But-and it maybe not be saying all that much -but I prefer her voice over any of the others.And she,at least looks like she's ready-unlike most of the others.

Alex is not really my cup of tea but I have to admit that he seems to at least have something distinctive.

Quote:So long story short, Ben's main shortcoming is he's not able to correctly judge the extent of his abilities, highlight what he does best, and make the best of his limitations.

A very good summation, Tusk, with an emphasis on "he's not able to correctly judge the extent of his abilities." I would probably added "or lack thereof," but you're kinder than I am. While Ben was/is the most talented of the 3 country dudes, that doesn't really say much. (Yes, C.J.'s a sweetheart, and when he sings in tune, he seems to touch some people, but the intonation problem [and, no, I didn't learn that word from Harry] is problematic, and I find it deplorable that he is "teaching guitar" to anyone. [I remember seeing that somewhere in the earlier shows.] Dexter is just too one dimensional for me.)

Back to Ben, seriously, if he thinks that performing Folsom Prison at a tempo in which the lyrics are lost, or performing Bennie in the fashion that he did (before the actual performance) makes "good music," then I have to wonder how delusional he might be, and seriously wonder about the "music program" he had in college. (John, I think that the first part of the above sentence speaks to your idea of "tastes" -- or, again, a lack thereof.)

And the final nail -- for me -- in Ben's credibility coffin is the combination of his inconsistent responses regarding his choice to perform Benny and about his love/hate feeling toward Haley, plus this comment: "my wife made me audition for Idol." Made him audition?? Seriously?? Did she put a gun to his head?? Methinks not.

And dear Mr. Slezak, if you're going to let someone who goes out at 11th place have an interview that's nine minutes shy of an hour, does that mean the person crowned as the Season 13 Idol will receive no less than 12 hours to "share" his/her story?

(03-21-2014, 08:56 AM)Miguel Wrote: Twitter reaction to Royal Teeth leaned towards the negative. Someone noted he didn't give them a standing ovation. I wonder if he was truly familiar with them or if they were presented to him and he gave his approval. Maybe they had some buzz among his oldest daughters and their friends.

Reading between the lines, not necessarily a ringing endorsement:

Quote:“They’re from Louisiana -- that's the main reason I love them,” Connick said in his introductory remarks. “The second main reason I love them is that they're hot.

“These guys are awesome.”

I'm thinking I must have been in the mood for ditzy dance music last night.. I enjoyed both them and JLO.. guess I had a good day in business and felt like skipping around or something : )

I will say, that my sanity returned after I heard the male singers voice on my headphones ...and well, maybe I still was ok with the beat in a sort of disneyworld show type of way but, no, I'm not going to put them on my phone ; )

More often than not I dislike guest bands peformance on the show so.. i must have really been in a good mood.

(03-21-2014, 10:35 AM)mercfan3 Wrote: Honestly, I'm surprised a Haley fan is analyzing someone else's facial expressions. And determining what a contestant deserves based on that.

If you are referring to my comments about her mousy, pouty look, I suppose one could interpret or describe them differently. Sullen, for example, appears in the article below. But her down in the dumps look was pretty obvious, regardless of what she was feeling. But I wasn't interpreting that, I was interpreting the reaction of the voting audience to whatever it was she was doing. Just saying her reaction didn't help her chances.

Quote:MK Nobilette dealt with stage fright on 'American Idol'

http://www.usatoday.com/story/idolchatte...w/6704527/

Perhaps going on tour this summer will help her desensitize to the stage.

Ben:

Quote:Q) Harry Connick, Jr....said something about you singing with this throaty sound that resembled something out of a play or a character of some sort. I just want to get your reaction on that. Do you understand where he’s coming from, or do you feel like that’s just the natural sound of your voice, that you don’t try to alter it in any way?

A) No, that’s how I sound in every song. And I got criticized for...not making it my own, but I will argue heavily on that fact because I would disagree and tell you that I did make it my own. I don’t sing differently in any song that I would sing, and I don’t play any differently. I can only play what I know and sing what I know, so that throaty sound, that’s just how my voice is and how I sound.

I don't think her lack of votes had anything to do with her pouty look. I think it has to do with half of her performance being a train wreck and not having a strong fanbase..(Like apparently CJ and Jena have.)

I honestly didn't notice. I think she always has a sort of "whatever" facial expression. Sort of blank. I mean, I'm sure she was upset with herself. But that's a terrible change from Idol's perspective anyway to stick the kids on stage after they performed.

I definitely have a soft spot for her (obviously), but like I've been saying..there was just something about her voice I liked..and that was enough this season.

I think every single one of these contestants could be better than what they have been. I agree about Jessica, and I like her. But I don't expect any of them to get better, because they aren't getting any help..and the band is making things so much worse...and then they get ripped apart by Harry. It's just not...nice. These are a bunch of true amateurs that need help desperately.

And when I say I dislike Harry, I mean as a judge. I think he'd be a fantastic mentor for these kids. He's just borderline obnoxious on the show.

And then The Voice is filled with my favorite style of singers (Female bluesy rock singers..plus there are quite a few other singers with unique voices.) So, this will be an easy drop..

(03-21-2014, 07:23 PM)john Wrote:

(03-21-2014, 10:35 AM)mercfan3 Wrote: Honestly, I'm surprised a Haley fan is analyzing someone else's facial expressions. And determining what a contestant deserves based on that.

If you are referring to my comments about her mousy, pouty look, I suppose one could interpret or describe them differently. Sullen, for example, appears in the article below. But her down in the dumps look was pretty obvious, regardless of what she was feeling. But I wasn't interpreting that, I was interpreting the reaction of the voting audience to whatever it was she was doing. Just saying her reaction didn't help her chances.

Quote:MK Nobilette dealt with stage fright on 'American Idol'

http://www.usatoday.com/story/idolchatte...w/6704527/

Perhaps going on tour this summer will help her desensitize to the stage.

John, while I can recognize that MK's behavior after her performance might have been interpreted as a "mousy/pouty" look, MK tended to have a "serious" look that could also be interpreted as "mousy/
pouty" during her "run" on Idol.

Unlike Ben, who thought everything he did was terrific -- or, at least, "better than average," there's MK, who has a voice of silk (delicately, intricately and richly woven) yet lacks confidence and suffers from a debilitating stage fright, and unfortunately for her, that was her undoing.

On Mr. Slezak's TVLine comments board today, it was noted that the follow up of MKs Wednesday performance had been edited, and that she was disappointed with herself in the last half of the performance -- which was wasn't good -- but that part wasn't shown until the following night.

Through most of MK's live performances, I have ached as I watched her. While I don't have that lovely voice she has, I recognized and immediately related completely to her performance anxiety, and I've voiced it here before: I couldn't imagine how she managed to get through these performances, given "said stage fright."

Hopefully, being a part of the tour will help her, although it may not. (That kind of stage fright is its own animal - hopefully she'll find a way through it.)

Mercfan, you're correct: MK's voice is all kinds of special.

I get the sense she has very little experience on stage. From the little she's said, it sounds like her experience is essentially her and her girlfriend singing for a few people.

And I agree. She didn't know what to do on stage and you could tell she was nervous. The only time she looked right was when she sang a ballad. (And even then, she could be awkward.) But I'll repeat what I said..all of that could be fixed. She even had a tendency to look to her left (Which people do when they are trying to remember something.) Which I'd guess was her praying she didn't forget her lyrics.

But they also could have really helped her in a lot of ways. Staging? If she knew and rehearsed exactly what she was going to do, it's a lot less scary. Instead, you could tell there was a level of expected improv..something she wasn't ready to do yet. Or..they could have encouraged her to stick to what she was good at. She had 5 performances..only 2 were ballads..The judges will get upset if you continue to do "one trick" (If you are a girl) but a contestant gets a period to establish themselves before that criticism comes. So..someone should have pointed her in that direction. And how about trying to help her through her stage freight?

It's just a whole lot of "blah."

And you could say the same thing for Emily and Kristen. Although they didn't have the same issues MK did (stage)..they suffered from song choice, and from establishing themselves on the stage. It's just a mess..

(03-21-2014, 07:34 PM)mercfan3 Wrote: I don't think her lack of votes had anything to do with her pouty look. I think it has to do with half of her performance being a train wreck and not having a strong fanbase..(Like apparently CJ and Jena have.)

I honestly didn't notice. I think she always has a sort of "whatever" facial expression. Sort of blank. I mean, I'm sure she was upset with herself. But that's a terrible change from Idol's perspective anyway to stick the kids on stage after they performed.

I definitely have a soft spot for her (obviously), but like I've been saying..there was just something about her voice I liked..and that was enough this season.

I think every single one of these contestants could be better than what they have been. I agree about Jessica, and I like her. But I don't expect any of them to get better, because they aren't getting any help..and the band is making things so much worse...and then they get ripped apart by Harry. It's just not...nice. These are a bunch of true amateurs that need help desperately.

And when I say I dislike Harry, I mean as a judge. I think he'd be a fantastic mentor for these kids. He's just borderline obnoxious on the show.

And then The Voice is filled with my favorite style of singers (Female bluesy rock singers..plus there are quite a few other singers with unique voices.) So, this will be an easy drop..

I really don't think that Harry,overall has been all that harsh or unfair if someone wants to call it that.I think he's right to call them out on intonation or whatever else it might be.And if he(or any of the judges) were to be totally honest with alot of them this year- they might tell them that they need to go home and work on basics-technique,etc.because it seems to me that a lot of them are sorely missing with those things.MK is a prime example.I too liked her voice but she's go a lot of work to do if she wants to go for it again.

So I wouldn't try to pin a lot of these shortcomings on the band -or lackluster mentoring,for that matter for the failure of a lot of these kids to show what they may be capable of.

I've been watching some of The Voice this year.I'm not overly thrilled with the format but the judges make it entertaining and there are some strong singers competing.