(02-10-2013, 04:58 PM)My Alter Ego Wrote: (02-10-2013, 12:39 PM)Miguel Wrote: Haley mentioned at the end of this Idology recap as part of a discussion about Nicki's refreshing honesty (about 10:27):
Papa Peachez performed "You and I." Nicki expressed her dislike for his song choice before he even performed. So I guess we can add her to the list just below Randy and J-Lo.
PP singing U&I:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCmwymsPWFo
And Devin's "It's a Wonderful World" is the newest thing since????
The songs that most of these kids sing are as old as their grandparents (the old "clearance" issue -- or so we're told), so Nicki's criticism doesn't hold up (it sounds more like a rivalry that she has with GaGa).
However, as Himm2 pointed out P2 didn't put any life in the song so didn't do it justice. I'm not at all disappointed to see him out, but as Melinda Doolittle pointed out, it's been Nicki who has been backing him all along, so she could have been a bit more gentle with her criticism.
Interesting take on this guys.
Personally, I've really been loving Nikki and this sort of thing is one of the things that impresses me about her.
I don't see any connection at all with the JLo randy thing and the harshness was a direct reproachment to him for not even trying in her eyes, and a criticism he seemed to own 100%.
It't not clear at all to me that Nikki was expressing a dislike for the song itself, but viewed is as a almost hideous song choice for himself. (I don't think people would argue she was more than dissapointed..digusted and angry I'd say).
In my eyes, the guy sucked as a musician in the edited takes that we saw. It didn't seem like the other judges were impressed at all by him and the halfway positive things from the others felt like the good half of a mixed review at best..
Nikki had fought hard for him and she's probably only given deference on getting a favor to put her person through for a handful (and a shrinking number as the field gets smaller)
She made it clear that it was his energy vibe that was unrestrained from social convention that she saw promise in.
She had explicitly warned him in the last round that she couldn't stick up for him and she'd been disappointed.
I loved the song when Haley sung it and like Gaga's and Clarkson's versions well enough - yet the story and enticement (to me) about the song that a female brings has a lot to do with a play on the breaking of gender based stereo types (to me) and a sorta of sultry an freedom loving pursuit of both indulgence and a path of "damn the torpedoes, i'm going to follow my heart (and loins ?)"
Conceivably a guy could possibly do that but it would lose the sterotyping breaking edge that the otherwise fairly simple not-quite-a-full ballad has. A flamer kinda diva might have pullled something campy , wry and naughty out of it but that just wasn't the quirk role Papa Peaches was showing at all.
And at best, it could be "naughty" and naugty isn't edgy.
Nikki saw that (I think she's quite bright and things in a complex society analyzing way that I'm expressing - on an almost psychol-analyis /anthropoligist level) in the song choice, and was pissed that she had put herself on the line wit the other judges and felt that the guy who knew she was the only one with him, shoved her advice back in her face.
That is a far different thing than Randy and J-lo criticizing song choice soley based on it being unknown despite it fitting Haley to a T and her giving a great performance too.
She knew Papa peaches didn't have a prayer of showing what she saw in him (and I didn't see that at all ... I don't necessarily share her OPINIONs but I do share her Approach) and sure enough he delivered and a terrible unispired version of the song bereft of any strong points.
And should she have been nice ? She had given him clear enough guidance and I can't see where he thought this would follow it.
Its like a football coach coaching linebackers and directing a guy to be ready to pick up the tight end and having the guy give some half hazzard effort like he didn't have his head in the game.
The coach damn well better get in the kids face and shout "Do you want to be here or not" if he gaged it not as a mistake but a lack of effort.
I really loved her calling the short guy for continuing to go to the well on that "pity party" and the rather good singer Jolly sharing all this emotional crap.
Look, these kids must have all been in High School drama programs. I did some drama in addition to contact sports. In sports, mistakes (dropping the ball now and then or getting beat) should effect play time but not warrant a dressing down. But if you're going to coach sports it is right.. perhaps the entire purpose of sports in the first place... to demand 100% effort . Its a matter of the moral virtues of sports.
Drama had similar rules. "The show must go on" . When something goes wrong you never stop, but improvise around it... if a fellow actor fails you try to give him cover or spur him on.
Like in sports, "breaking role" is almost as pathetic as refusing to run for a fly ball or run out a grounder. These kids have got to know that.
The show has seemed to favor maudlin displays of pathos and Nikki isn't going to suffer fools on that.
Lots of people who seemed to take a dislike for Haley came from her looking positive as people were singing their exit songs. Unfortunately that has become a meme in these reality shows but it sort of flys in the face of the directions that glee clubs etc get that you always try to put a smile on to light the audiences spirits and you are there to Serve the audience (I do understand that the crying might fit the "script" of the reality show as well as being a natural reaction,, yet it is stilll far far far overdone -- haley's celabatory exit should hopefully be the norm and the tears of other contestants should quickly give way to encouragment for the last performance.
A wonderful example of Haley's "show must go on" flexibility was when Tony Bennie had that "senior moment" and forgot the lyrics to the song he'd sung 4000 times (to be fair, perhaps forgot how they were abridging the song arrangement for TV). Haley smiled along naturally and the purposely squished her verse as far back in her bars as she could to compliment the way Tony Bennett had recovered.. almost making it look as if they planned the delay as a matter of style , at the very least making the legends stumble feel less severe.
Anyway - it was a pathetic song choice by Papa peaches...safe in terms of musical complexity, fully in the realm of pop etc.... and she had stuck her neck out based on how unique he was.
Suffering fools would be to forgive a mediocre half hazard effort ... giving no respect to her own chosen career. (remember how offended Steven Tyler was at Heejun Billy Joel week -- while I though Heejun was trying - Steven Tyler acted appropriately to his opinion that Heejun was mocking the very "game" )