OK, will post my comments below, but just one question: Does anyone else hate Randy as much as I do? Last night, the only nice things he had to say were to David Archuleta who I finally agree is overrated. He blasted nearly every performance by Cook and Syesha. Everyone was pretty equal last night.
OK, raknings:
ROUND 1: 1) David Cook- The First Time Ever I Saw You're Face 2) David Archuleta- And So It Goes 3) Syesha Mercado- If I Ain't Got You
David's first performance was actually my favorite of his. Archuleta's vocals were nice and calming, but his performance was just OK. Syesha did the song justice, but it was just OK.
ROUND 2: 1) Syesha Mercado- Fever 2) David Cook- Dare You To Move 3) David Archuleta- With You
I thought Fever was as sexy as One Rock and Roll Too Many, which works in her favor VERRRY much. Cook's song sounded identical to the original. Archuleta, I admire him taking a risk and showing people he can do modern pop, but one problem: He can't. Maybe this will show people that if he wins, he will not sing pop, it will be...Christian music?
ROUND 3: 1) David Cook- I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing 2) Syesha Mercado- Hit Me Up 3) David Archuleta- Longer
This round was just OK, and all the performances were about equal. I liked the version Cook did to this song. Syesha's song almost made me pull a Paula and get up and dance. If she gets a career, I could see her putting a song like that out. Longer was good, but I'm just saying that because I honestly don't remember anything about it. Was it sappy?
Overall Rankings: 1) David Cook 1 2) David Cook 3 3) Syesha 2 4) David Cook 2 5) David Archuleta 1 6) Syesha 3 7) David Archuleta 3 8) Syesha 1 9) David Archuleta 1
FINAL RANKINGS: 1) David Cook 2) Syesha Mercado 3) David Archuleta
Judge I Agreed The Most With: Simon (he's been dead on lately)
Judge I Disagreed The Most With: Randy (read above rant)
Hint This Week That Proved The Show Is Rigged: Randy to Syesha- Congrats on being number three!
Paula Alert!: She wasn't that high tonight...that high.
GETTING CELEBRATED HOME: Syesha (honestly though, I didn't think you'd make it this far (had you predicted for 8th place) so congratulations. See you on Broadway!)
THE FINALE: David (Archuleta) and Goliath (Cook). Can Goliath win this time?
So now the producers want David Cook to win because they want to cash in on the whole Daughtry/rocker phase. But just like Jordin Sparks beat out Blake and Melinda last year, I bet David Archuleta will probably win because he has a more appealing personality and has that teeny bopper vote that Jordin has last year.
If the producers want more "artistic" contestants like David Cook to win, then they need to tweak the voting process. They wouldn't even have to tweak the process that much. The only difference would be that voters voted for the contestant whom they want eliminated each week.
When will AI producers learn that its best NOT to manipulate the voters? There's a reason why the majority of the idol winners' albums don't sale as much: it's ALL product. Most of these winners have very little personality or artistic input on their debut CDs. There's a reason why Jordin Sparks' album is selling so poorly, despite two hit singles: it's a crap CD.
And I think that the producers need to realize that they might not want to always be so quick to dispose of contestants like Syesha Mercado. Love her or hate her, Syesha has sex appeal. NONE of the AI winners thus far have had that sex appeal. Sure, Kelly and Carrie are cute but lack that sex appeal. Let's all face it: people like to root for people they want to f*ck. Plain and simple. I mean did anyone NOT want to f*ck Syesha after that "Fever" performance last night? She smoldered on that one.
Ok this post has no real point to it I'm just ranting. Carry on.
Let's all face it: people like to root for people they want to f*ck. Plain and simple. I mean did anyone NOT want to f*ck Syesha after that "Fever" performance last night?
This post made my day. That's the funniest thing I've read all week. Not always true though, or Haley Scarnato would have made the top three last year.
But I'll admit: I'm gay, and even I sort of wanted to f*ck Syesha after "Fever."
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"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Posts: 5959 | Location: New York City | Registered: March 26, 2005
There's a reason why Jordin Sparks' album is selling so poorly, despite two hit singles: it's a crap CD.
If the 3rd single goes platinum, I think the album is going to go platinum too, just give it time.
The album is nearing 800k in sales and I believe has passed Taylor/Kat/Elliot/Kellie/Bo/Blake and everyone else except Daughtry and Carrie from the last 3 seasons. Which in my mind made her a solid pick as winner last season.
The reason her album has sold "poorly" (I'd hardly call it poor for a debut artist in 2008 myself though) is that album sales are MUCH MUCH lower these days than even a few years back, and will continue to drop as we get more digital. I'd go get the statistics to back me up on the decline of the record business but I'm sure you've seen them.
As for the songs on the album being crap, every single released has been in the top 10 so far and gone platinum, and the album got very generous reviews by and large. You're welcome to your own opinion on it of course, but you should know that plenty of people disagree with you.
Sorry, I just hate to see people call Jordin a failure when she's been anything but that and certainly more successful than anyone else in her season.
MTV News ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'American Idol' Recap: David Cook Continues To Sizzle; Syesha Mercado Finally Fizzles Out
Show's three-song night points to long-predicted 'David vs. David' finale.
By Jim Cantiello
Tuesday night's penultimate "Idol" performance show reminded us that after three long months, the seventh-season crown will go to either "a high school student," "an actress" or "a barrrrtender." (Considering who we started with this year, it's a good thing America voted the way it did, otherwise Seacrest would have had to refer to a male stripper, a sushi waitress, a horse whisperer, a Rastafarian, a failed major-label pop star or a failed bald pop star instead.)
The remaining contestants each had three songs to perform: judge's choice, contestant's choice and producer's choice. (I hope Nigel Lythgoe allowed executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz in on the conversations. Going by her name alone, I bet she has a lot of spunk.)
Before I start ranting about how excited I was to see my celeb crush in the audience -- How you doin', Emily VanCamp? And, um, Marilu Henner? — let's get right to the performances!
Round One: Judge's Choice David Archuleta: Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" Syesha Mercado: Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" David Cook: Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Winner: David Cook
Perhaps taking a cue from my top-three recap last year, "Idol" finally ditched the outdated "fax-the-contestants" conceit and had the judges text the singers their song choices instead. Notable exception here was David Archuleta, who received the news from Murray, Utah's mayor Dick Dastardly. But I understand why Paula didn't text David A. Last time she messaged a young male contestant, it came back to haunt her. (Cue "Paulatics.")
Abdul's pick for the young whippersnapper was Billy Joel's heartbreaking "And So It Goes," because, as she explained, "[It] shows the level of difficulty in the melodies that I know you can handle." Say what you will about Joel, but a difficult-melody writer he is not. I think somebody switched Paula's Storm Front CD with the score to Sondheim's "Company."
The musically emancipated Archuleta was adventurous with the arrangement. Instead of going the obvious piano-man route, the prodigy went a cappella (or as I will now call it, Arch-Cappella) and landed in a sea of lush strings. I know a lot of critics are going to gripe that a 17-year-old doesn't have the life experience to convincingly sing lyrics about "wounds from lovers' past," but all things considered, I think Li'l David connected to the tune shockingly well, save for an unfortunate lyric slip that turned one line into "[sneeze] so will you soon, I suppose."
Next up was the show's ultimate fighter, Syesha, who, despite being in the bottom more than a proctologist, still thinks she has a chance at winning this damn show. Note to self: When your "Idol" homecoming is so uneventful and desolate that the only usable footage is of you alone in the back of a limo, it might be time to hang it up. Syesha took a serviceable, if forgettable, stab at Alicia Keys' soulful lament, but I got a sneaking suspicion that the judges worked harder in selling Syesha than she did. Although, in Simon's defense, he called out Randy for picking a song that didn't allow Syesha to show us something new, (an especially good point, since Syesha belted this tune the last time she was on a reality show).
Which brings us to Simon's choice for David Cook, Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Cook's performance was like a 90-second greatest-hits reel. Drastic re-imagining of a pop song? Check. Surprisingly tender vocals? Check. Heart-stopping high note that leaves you slack-jawed? Check, check, check. Plus, thanks to the gratuitous cutaways to his mother in the audience, he debuted a new song called "Oedipal Undertones"! No wonder Simon called this Cook's "best performance to date." But I could have done without the bonus track, when David blurted out post-judging, "Oh, by the way, Mom, happy belated Mother's Day." Dude, admitting that you forgot Mother's Day is not the way to win over America. I'd expect a vapid mood-killing comment from Syesha, but not from my Cookies!
Round Two: Contestant's Choice Archuleta: Chris Brown's "With You" (seriously) Mercado: Peggy Lee's "Fever" Cook: Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" Winner: Argh, nobody!
Tuesday night was the first time this season that the contestants were allowed to pick a song without any contrived limitation. We finally got to see how each singer wants to market him- or herself once the show's over, and after enduring round two, it's safe to say that all three of them proved that they need major career advice.
First, Ar-boo-leta showed America that after he wins "Idol," he aspires to be the next Chris Brown (Chris White?), by choosing Brown's hit "With You." Like the judges, I give the kid credit for taking a chance and not going the Josh Groban route, but watching the mini-Mormon bop back and forth while singing to his "boo" was a lot like seeing your 5-year-old nephew perform "Baby Got Back" — unintentionally hilarious and mind-meltingly depressing. At least the irony wasn't lost on Archucutie, who told a perplexed Randy, "I understand. It's pretty weird to see a white guy [sing that song]."
It was also weird to watch Syesha audition for the *****cat Dolls ... and fail miserably, by singing the sultry (and ancient) "Fever." Syesha brought a chair onstage — I guess the season-seven rule book allows the contestants to use instruments and props! — but unfortunately never really did anything with it. She sat on it, walked around it and then pointed at it. Shouldn't she have, like, kicked it over or something? It was the least sexy performance of "Fever" since I had that "Bea Arthur sings Peggy Lee" nightmare. Simon's right. This oddball song choice will most likely be the final nail in her "Idol" coffin.
And lastly, there was David Cook who apparently thinks the winning formula for a hit song is 90 percent low moan-y voice and 10 percent off-key shouting. If that were the case, Tom Waits would dominate "TRL."
Round Three: Producer's Choice Archuleta: Dan Fogelberg's "Longer" Mercado: Gia Farrell's "Hit Me Up" (from "Happy Feet") Cook: Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Winner: David Cook
It's one thing to be frustrated with young performers who don't yet know how to pick a song. It's a whole different ball of wax to be livid with television producers who have at least seven years' experience and are still completely off the mark. Dan Fogelberg was bad enough. (Even the earnest Archupuppy looked bored to tears warbling that dreadful song.) But to force Syesha to sing a deep cut from the "Happy Feet" soundtrack? Inexcusable! I'd say "Idol" producers just hate Syesha, but somebody's keeping the girl in the competition, and if message boards, Yahoo searches and iTunes sales are any indication, it sure as hell ain't America.
Comparatively, the "Idol" peeps did marginally better choosing Aerosmith's 90th comeback single for Cook. Thankfully, he replaced the Aerosmith stank with chamber-orchestra grace, but just as it was shaping up to be another "wow" moment, the full band returned in all its cacophonous glory and crapped all over the stage. Boo! (And not the kind Chris Brown likes.) Paula and Simon lapped it up, though, with one acting like their body was made of Jello and slurring, "See ya in the finals!," and the other proclaiming Cook as the night's big winner. (I'll let you decide which reaction came from which judge.)
In the end, round three demonstrated several things. It proved that "Idol" producers have no idea what they're doing. (No wonder ratings are down!) But more important, it showed that Cook could pull off a Diane Warren-penned cheesefest with most of his integrity intact, which will serve him well next week, when he's forced to sing "This Is My Destiny Right Now" or whatever insipid ballad "America" picked as the winner's first single.
Hasty Predictions
Sorry, Syesha. You've had a better-than-expected run, but it's time for you to face reality and drop out of the presidential race, er, I mean, leave "Idol." Thanks to hideous song choices and a good-enough showing by ArchuWunderkind, your momentum died faster than that guy Serena van der Woodsen "murdered." (Don't even get me started on that one.)
So it looks like producers are going to get the David-squared finale they've been angling for since week three, after all. I don't blame them for wanting this particular showdown. It's a marketing goldmine. ArchuChild has the tween vote (and the Claymates) furiously texting, while Cook has everyone else in his corner (including, apparently, cougars).
Who are you voting for? Am I presumptuous in thinking that Syesha won't be competing next week? And did any other MTVers notice President of Programming Brian Graden sitting in the "Idol" audience? Hit me up in the comments below!
Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. And relive six seasons of "Idol" hot messes and high notes in six minutes with our video timeline.
First Round- Judges 1. David Cook- An awesome vocal. he shone through and it was a great for him. I loved his higher notes. He seems kinda too confident? I still love him, but he is kinda acting like the winner, whether or not he deserves it. 2. Syesha Mercado- She did a good job with it and her vocals were pretty good. She looked awesome. I has done better, but it was good. 3. David Archuleta- A very solid vocal with his runs, which I do enjoy. Same old thing from him and it was nothing spectacular.
Second Round- Contestants 1. Syesha Mercado- This was a very sultry performance from her. It did seem a tad cabaret, but her vocals were on point. I loved her little run at the end, but I dont think this will help her cause. 2. David Cook- I think his vocals were mostly there, except it did get pitchy sometimes. Nothing out of the ordinary. 3. David Archuleta- I actually laughed when he said he was singing this, as I am sure others did as well. Very odd choice. He sang it fine, but it was very awkward. His swaying annoyed me. He runs are always good, but why this song?
Third Round- Producers 1. David Cook- A little pitchy in the middle, but a grand vocal from him. He really is in it to win it. He voice is always good, but he is getting a little ****y or maybe something else was happening? 2. Syesha Mercado- Song choice??? I think they are trying to sabotage her. A good vocal, nothing great, but that is most likely the song. 3. David Archuleta- Yet another slow song...what is the deal? I really used to love him, but I think that if I heard him on the radio I would change the station, not because of his vocals, but his songs won't be appealing, where as I would listen to David Cook, Syesha Mercado, and the very missed Carly Smithson.
Overall 1. David Cook 1 2. David Cook 2 3. Syesha Mercado 1 4. Syesha Mercado 2 5. David Archuleta 1 6. David Cook 2 7. Syesha Mercado 3 8. David Archuleta 3 9. David Archuleta 2
Combined David Cook Syesha Mercado David Archuleta
Eliminated- Syesha... sad as it is, I am proud she made it this far to shine through. I do not even think that if she did manage to get the votes that they would keep her. There could be a shocker like last year, but that would mean that they would have had to decide who they want to back 100% and I do not think that happened yet.
Best Commentary from Judge- Simon.
Overall an average night to say the least. David Cook should win, but Archie's fans love him no matter what. Its interesting because we do not know which has a stronger fan base considering neither have ever been in the bottom. The finale should be interesting.
Good luck to Syesha! Hope to see you on Broadway.
FINALE!!!!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: tvfan,
Posts: 419 | Location: levittown,new york, usa | Registered: October 14, 2002
Originally posted by DoubleD: I mean did anyone NOT want to f*ck Syesha after that "Fever" performance last night? She smoldered on that one.
She's sexy but no, I'd pass on that one.
Other Idol finalists who I think were sexy but lost? Hmm. Katharine McPhee, Jasmine Trias, Kristy Lee Cook, Haley Scarnato, Camile Velasco, Vonzell Solomon. Did any of them won? No. So I quite disagree with your theory.
FYC EMMY VOTERS!!!
Please consider the following performances:
Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies) Julia Louis Dreyfus (New Adventures of Old Christine) Steve Carell (The Office) Hugh Laurie (House) Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Posts: 8787 | Location: Manila | Registered: August 19, 2006
if the producers are really fixing the whole thing we should all stop watching till they just "let it be" no pun intended, although i must admit it would be hard not to watch
f the producers are really fixing the whole thing we should all stop watching till they just "let it be" no pun intended, although i must admit it would be hard not to watch
I did that about 4 weeks ago and haven't missed it at all. The show has gotten to be a bore and the final 3 are blah. I will literally vomit if Archuleta wins.
I get so O.O.C. And that just the way it be!
Posts: 5248 | Location: Illinois | Registered: June 09, 2005
Originally posted by DoubleD: So now the producers want David Cook to win because they want to cash in on the whole Daughtry/rocker phase. But just like Jordin Sparks beat out Blake and Melinda last year, I bet David Archuleta will probably win because he has a more appealing personality and has that teeny bopper vote that Jordin has last year.
If the producers want more "artistic" contestants like David Cook to win, then they need to tweak the voting process. They wouldn't even have to tweak the process that much. The only difference would be that voters voted for the contestant whom they want eliminated each week.
When will AI producers learn that its best NOT to manipulate the voters? There's a reason why the majority of the idol winners' albums don't sale as much: it's ALL product. Most of these winners have very little personality or artistic input on their debut CDs. There's a reason why Jordin Sparks' album is selling so poorly, despite two hit singles: it's a crap CD.
And I think that the producers need to realize that they might not want to always be so quick to dispose of contestants like Syesha Mercado. Love her or hate her, Syesha has sex appeal. NONE of the AI winners thus far have had that sex appeal. Sure, Kelly and Carrie are cute but lack that sex appeal. Let's all face it: people like to root for people they want to f*ck. Plain and simple. I mean did anyone NOT want to f*ck Syesha after that "Fever" performance last night? She smoldered on that one.
Ok this post has no real point to it I'm just ranting. Carry on.
Since Syesha will most likely be kicked off tonight does that mean most people, in fact did not want to f*ck her?
As someone who agreed with Simon Cowell that her "Fever" was a cutesy, lame cabaret number I can attest that I in fact did not want to f*ck her. Actually maybe that proves your point since I didn't vote for her. But then again those hot but rather talentless young blondes at the beginning of the season rang my bells but I never voted for them either.
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Posts: 13037 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
Assuming Syehsa is gone tonight, I will not watch one second of the finale and maybe not next year. Some magazine (entertainment weekly perhaps?) should really run a cover story on how badly idol has manipulated the results this year to draw more attention to that fact. Giving Syesha that Happy Feet song was completly unfair! If they wanted her to sing something current & upbeat they could have chosen a number of POPULAR Rhianna songs or maybe Beyonce, Ciara, etc. Instead they go with a Rhianna song that wasn't popular at all and you couldn't probably find one person to sing that song for you if you asked people walking down the street. It was just so obvious. I don't see how the judges can even pretend that it is real!
1. David A- "And So It Goes" (grade: A) 2. David C- "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (A) 3. Syesha- "Fever" (B+) 4. David A- "Longer Than" (B), great vocal, stoooooooooopid song 5. Syesha- "If I Aint Got You" (B) 6. David C- "I Dont Want to Miss A Thing" (B-), I expected more and the music overpowered him. 7. David A- "With You" (C) 8. Syesha- "Hit Em Up" (C-) 9. David C- "Dare You to Move" (D)
buhbye to Syesha, but you put up a brilliant valiant fight.
oh god, i'm watching the results show right now, and fantasia was terrible! i think simon knew it too. jeez, she got worse after AI!
2009 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Richard Jenkins, The Visitor Lead Actress - Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky Supporting Actor - Haaz Sleiman, The Visitor Supporting Actress - Amy Adams, Doubt Original Screenplay - Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
Posts: 2269 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
Originally posted by bocaboy7: oh god, i'm watching the results show right now, and fantasia was terrible! i think simon knew it too. jeez, she got worse after AI!
She sounded and also looked terrible.
Talk about looking like a dirty used tampon? lol hahaha
