American Idol 2014

[mercfan3]

I laughed so hard. Poor Slezak. I would have loved to see his face.

Someone thought that Ryan Seacrest is actually the Randy supporter. (Makes sense). And that's the reason why he hasn't gotten the boot. Maybe they are just good friends..

But seriously. Randy needs to go.

[Miguel]

I recall seeing an episode of Punk'd years ago involving Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. They had lunch together and there was some incident involving a car. They seemed like they were friends then.

[kaypea]

I have to say that finale with the three judges-and Randy- performing was pretty bizarre.The first song was True Colors-and we've seen J-Lo lip synching before- but not only was she lip synching on the song but I am almost posiitive that wasn't even her voice we were hearing.

[Swansteel]

Oh well. So, America voted in Caleb, huh? Time to move on and look on the bright side of things. At least now Jena doesn't have to rush out an album to be released in August. Also, since I knew ahead of time that Jena didn't win (I googled who won at work since I am on Pacific Time) I could watch the Survivor finale and not stay up until 1:00 am watching both shows.

[mercfan3]

I'm sure Idol isn't happy about it.

The only thing they have going for them is the success of their winners over The Voice. And the 38 year old Josh Kaufman is more marketable and current than Caleb. That's a little scary.

Jena had a shot..if she had been given a great single (which she wasn't..seriously..why not let her sing her own songs?) and had won. She's got a great unique voice, has shown a lot of good instincts and has shown she's a hard worker and able to improve. This was the winner Idol needed.

[kaypea]

I don't know-I can say that Jena might have a unique voice and I can see a particular appeal ,including the total package that would make her more marketable than Caleb and in this weak year that she probably should have won but if I'm able to say that Haley Reinhart has a great voice I can't possibly say the same thing about Jena at the same time.And I can't say it compared to last year's winner for that matter either or compared to some of the other Idol standouts from the past.

[My Alter Ego]

kaypea, while I had stated earlier that I thought the competition was Jena's to lose (because I really didn't think Caleb would win), I'm not a fan. In a way, her voice may be unique, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's good. I'm not completely convinced that that way she's producing sound may not do some damage along the way, I don't like her enunciation, and I can't stand that hissing thing that she does with silibants! (Sorry Swan-nie.)

And that arrangement of CHFILWY (that you didn't care for) was taken (almost note for note) from an arrangement by Ingrid Michaelson -- someone Jena Irene had once opened for, and who, from any of the press I read/heard, was never once acknowledged.

But, as young as she is, she does know how to work an audience, she seems adept at picking songs that an audience of her contemporaries want to hear and giving them her own spin, the song that she wrote and performed on AI was pretty good, and she just has a vibrancy that I thought would do a world of good for the AI brand.

Caleb, on the other hand, has spent the past 13 weeks displaying that his performances were neither aurally nor visually creative (just how tired is dragging a mike stand around -- that's the best he could do as a rocker?).

People complained so bitterly about last year's results -- not without some cause -- but, at least, the top five had good to glorious voices.

[mercfan3]

Personally, I like Jena's tone. IMO the thing that challenged her in the beginning was actually adopting her voice to songs that weren't her own.

I'm apt to say that she probably isn't doing any harm to her voice, just from watching these shows..if a contestant is singing incorrectly..they tend to show it near the end of the season. Jena's voice held up..Caleb on the other hand..

But..that being said, I think her voice is different. So it's not going to appeal to everyone, and she certainly has different ways of pronouncing words (personally, I find her speaking voice unappealing) where I can see that it would bug people who like nuances and unaffected singing.

[kaypea]

Well so much of any voice is subjective in nature but for me part of the problem with Jena is also that her voice seems best suited for a kind of modern pop sound that I don't have much use for.That's just me.But trying to look at it more objectively someone like Christina Grimmie from The Voice seems,to me to have more flexibility and seems to me to have more potential for a wider appeal and more longjevity,for that matter.

At any rate they're both very young and so much of it depends on finding good songs.But Christina seems to be in a good position between her You Tube exposure and also Adam Levine has already taken her under his wing and his record company.

[mercfan3]

I expect Grimmie will be more successful of the two.

I do agree, that her voice is probably more versatile in style. But I find Jena's tone to be warmer and her voice to be thicker.

I would have loved Grimmie though if she hadn't spent the whole competition belting. I love a good belt. I could listen to Bria Kelly and Jena belt all day. But IMO, it doesn't sound good with Christina.

I would be willing to bet she really wants a soulful voice like Haley's. (Actually Christina Aguilera is her idol) With grit and thickness and power to it. But her voice really isn't best suited for it. That song she did with Ed Sheeran was stunning. And I hope as she gets older she recognizes how incredible her voice is and lets it do what it does best.