American Idol: 4 Contestants
Posted May 7th, 2003 @ 04:46pm by Erik J. Barzeski
The final four. Last week was wrong; this week I hope to see Josh voted out. I'm a bit behind on watching this, but I've avoided all blogs that post about American Idol so far. I'll link to them at the end, but I didn't want them to taint my view of the show. I'll keep things short though, very busy these days.
The Bee Gees? Hmmm, I just finished re-ripping their double-CD "Best Of" album to 192 AAC the other day. Maybe I'll know some of these songs. The guest judge? Robin Gibb. Will he be critical at all? God I hope so. The problem with judges judging their own songs is that they don't want to be critical of the song, yet any criticism of the people performing their song may be seen as snobbery. Y'know, the "well, we did it better" mentality.
So, I understand if guest judges are in a bad place. Besides, nobody wants the next American Idol to say "man, I really hated what that Robin Gibb guy said about me." Who needs another enemy? So I can see leaving the harsh commentary for the "behind the scenes" folk like Simon and Randy. Paula? She still needs people to like her.
Josh is up first with Jive Talkin'. Wow, he sucks at the low notes. Absolutely horrible. Why the hell can't this guy stay on stage? You're not Garth Brooks. Get your ass up on the stage. He's singing about energy but what energy has he got? This is truly an "ugh" performance. I didn't like the countrification of it and he couldn't hit a single lower note to save his life. Why the judges liked it is beyond me. Better than last week, yeah, and Simon says he shouted it a bit. Uh huh. "It's all for the fans"? Shut up Josh. 99% of the world is going to forget about you within two weeks of your dismissal from this show.
Clay is up next with To Love Somebody. Typical good Clay. Ballad, hits the notes, mostly stands on stage. I predicted Clay would win a looooong time ago and, wow, he really got the crowd going with that long held note. Anyway, I predicted he'd win long ago, but I dunno. Between him and Ruben and even Kimberley, there isn't the sex appeal and the raw "marketability" that I saw last year. Hmmm, anyway… Wow, some awesome feedback. Simon calls it one of the best performances ever. On all three American Idols.
Kimberley is up with I Just Wanna Be Your Everything. It's tough to hear her over the backup singers (which don't exist in real life, but on tape or whatever). They seem to be quieter by the second verse. She seems a bit off this week. She seems to be yelling a little more than singing on the higher, louder notes. Maybe her throat is a little sore? Sounds like it. The judges liked it. Better than Josh's, not as good as Clay's.
Ruben's up with Nights on Broadway. I've got shit to do so I'm gonna be shorter here. I'm apathetic. The only thing I care about is Josh being voted off. Ruben's doing a good job changing the song up from the original. The background vocals sound weird with his take, but, oh well. He does okay. I'd put this at the level of Kimberley's performance.
Josh is up again with To Love Somebody. Ack! Josh is gonna sing this song after Clay sang it!? Did he know Clay was gonna sing it? What an idiot. This is like anyone singing Whitney or Celine - you just don't put yourself in the line for such a direct comparison with someone who is ten times better than you! You'll never win that comparison! Josh vs. Clay? That score was settled on week one! That having been said, he didn't do badly but he didn't blow it out like Clay either. Idiot.
Clay's up next singing Grease. Grease? Ha ha, Clay looks funny in red leather. Hmm, sounds a bit weird. Ha ha he shakes his hips. He's doing okay. He still looks funny in red leather. I kinda like this one in some ways more than the first one, but in other ways I'm not sure it's really "a Clay kinda song." Randy liked the dancing. Paula liked it. Simon hated it.
Kimberley is gonna sing Emotions. Eh, so so. She's gonna have to get a little lucky to beat Josh, as sad as that sounds. She's better, but will the people vote for her? They voted for Josh last week. Will they vote for her?
Ruben is gonna sing How Do You Mend a Broken Heart. Probably a good song for him. The Barry White type in a way. Ha ha, someone's sign said "250." Duh, it's 205. The judges liked it.
Who will go? Kimberley or Josh. Hopefully Josh. Kimberley next week.
Nick has his take. And here's an interesting concept. We'll see how it plays out tonight.
Donate Life
Posted 07 May 2003 at 6:00pm #
Presage
noun 1. An indication or a warning of a future occurrence; an omen. 2. A feeling or an intuition of
Posted 12 May 2003 at 12:04am #
To be blunt: The yournger generation will not grow up seeing Ruben become a big star. Obesity kills. He is loveable like Paula says, but life is funny. I cannot see myself investing in the likes of Ruben. Clay has that look that appeals to the young and besides he most likley will give the younger generation a long long term of fine vocals. He is what America is all about or should be all about that young healthy look. Kimberly is the only female left. She sings good, but does she really touch the throbbing hearts like Clay?
Posted 11 Apr 2004 at 8:01pm #
American Idol is a cesspool designed to appeal to the shallow, the callous, the superficial, and the hopelessly talent free masses of the world. Get a hobby.
Posted 20 Jan 2005 at 3:26pm #
The success of American Idol is due to the innate human desire to see a good, old-fashioned freak show. People like to see people make spectacles of themselves. It's not only entertaining, but it makes the spectator feel good about himself as he watches someone (whom he sees as inferior to himself) make an ass of himself on national television. There's no doubt it's culturally vacuous. But it's like rubbernecking in your living room. You just can't resist the temptation to view the human carnage.
Posted 15 Mar 2005 at 8:11pm #
Josh is the best ever. better than kelley ruben clay all of them look were he is now. yall just don't know how to face a person with country talent because your afraid to be country so waht ya'll are so wrong Josh is hott and the best ever contestant on american idol he has a number 1 hit now what!!!!!!!!!