American Idol - Season/Series 13, 2014 *****possible spoilers*****

I thought it was 30 minutes to be a lead in to a new show right after.

 

This week's competition show was really boring, I think. This is a very weak group of contestants. I thought that the contestants were boring during the year when Lee Dewyze won, but this group is even more of a snoozefest.

In many past years, there would be a few members of the Top 10 who were tentative, did not have much of a personal style, were not confident, and sounded karaoke. This year, they all sound that way to me.

With this dull group of contestants, and the judges likewise unable to present any real interest, there may be few people who mourn the cancellation of this show.

In retrospect, the hiring of Harry Connick, Jr. as a judge may have been a mistake. He does bring technical knowledge of music to the judges' table for the first time in years, but he is unknown to most younger people. A career as a jazz singer is about as obscure a resume as one can get these days. He does not have the compelling personality of Simon Cowell, to create interest from the judges' table.

 

Another week has gone by and I am the only one commenting on it. Last night's show had the top six, singing a rock and a country song each. I thought that many of the performances were dreadful. Simon Cowell would have been scathing in his ridicule of them. I don't think that any of these performers are outstanding. Two or three of them are all right.

This is like the Lee Dewyze year for me, when I also thought that most of the performers were not very good--except for Crystal Bowersox.

This season is becoming less and less interesting to watch. Why do I keep watching it? Inertia, more than anything else.

 

The show has seemed to lose whatever it had all of those years. Quiet as its kept, the original three were the best at spotting talent from the audition to the live shows.

 

I think Jena Irene will go on to be a hell of a singer. She is still so young. She has got some pipes.

 

The only performance that stood out for me this week was Caleb's first. His second was also okay, as was Alex's second. I didn't much care for anyone else.

I see that the worst singer remaining finally went home tonight.

 

He sure was the worst.

 

My partner Debra is thinking that Caleb, Jena and Alex end up in the top 3. I agree with Caleb and Jena. Not sure who will end up number 3. Alex and Sam may be splitting the teen vote, which could lead to Jessica squeezing into the top 3. But Jessica being in the bottom 2 this week could mean she'll be gone in 7 days.

As for this week's performances, I thought judges Keith and Jennifer were too hard on Jessica. Covering a Jefferson Airplane song when Grace Slick was at her prime is a tall order to fill. I thought Jessica performed it well. Also I didn't mind her and the band toughening up "Jolene". Disagree with Keith's complaint about the arrangement.

Also though the judges were a bit rough on Jena's cover of Heart - "Barracuda". We keep forgetting she's only 17.

Caleb blew the other contestants away again this week. His cover version of the Black Crowes -"Sting Me" was spot on.

And C.J. is finally gone. His copy of the Lenny Kravitz arrangement of the Guess Who's - "American Woman" I thought was better than the judges thought. His 2nd song was horrible. It was time for him to leave the competition. All the water works at the end of the elimination show was a bit much, especially Jennifer Lopez. You're a judge. You're supposed to be impartial.

BTW, the ratings were up over the previous week (8.53 million, April 16 - 9.02 million, April 23).

 

Yes he was - how many weeks in a row did the judges tell him to watch his pitch? I miss Simon - he would have told it like it was (British Accent): "I think if you have a singing coach you should fire him."

 

Yes!!!! I agree.....she is a judge, all the hugging, crying and chair dancing is simply bad form.

 

Have you noticed that Jennifer Lopez comes out at the beginning of the show in remarkably short dresses? I have seen items online, in the Entertainment section of news sites, devoted to how short her American Idol dresses are.

I thought that Jessica's take on Grace Slick was quite good. I thought that I had never heard anyone come so close to capturing Grace's vibe. I think she is one of the better singers in the group. However, perhaps too much time has passed now, even compared to when American Idol was in its first seasons. Perhaps a Jefferson Airplane song is just too old fashioned now for the masses of people out there, too unfamiliar for just about everyone. It's very familiar to the older rock fans on this board, but not for the average listener any more.

I think that Caleb, Jessica and Jena could all win. Alex is a quirky performer with an understated, interesting personality and a pretty voice. I don't see him blowing out the competition in the last weeks, but he could have a recording career in a musical niche. If Sam goes on past next week, I think it will show that a lot of voters go for the young, cute boy regardless of musical merit.

 

I don't really get Jena. I like her look and her vibe, but I don't like her voice that much -- well, at least not on the sort of songs she's singing on Idol. Maybe if she was singing more off-beat material I wouldn't mind her voice, but I generally find her grating during most of her Idol performances.

Even though Caleb's vocals aren't always strong, he's the only consistently good performer. He's the only contestant this season who simply looks like he belongs on a stage. It's like Adam Lambert all over again, albeit in a very different style. But, like Adam, Caleb gives an intensity to his performances that none of the others can match. He already seems like a pro compared to the others. And I'm writing this not as a fan because I know I'd never buy a record of his or go see him in concert because I don't like his style. It's just that his talent is obvious in comparison with the others this season.

 

Always thought Undewood was held back by the songs and e've seen what happen after she got out of there. I might be wrong but I can see the same for JJ.

 

Wow, didn't realize there was a thread going on about this season. My personal "underdog" favorite is Jessica, or as my wife and I refer to her,"Pink Streak". I think she has a great, classic voice that would be equally at home in rock and country but the judges seem to give her crap every week. Like, the other night when Urban said he did not like her arrangement of "Jolene", I couldn't have disagreed more - I thought it was great. But, I expect they'll send her packin' back to Slapout next week, not that it matters - I'm sure she's already made it and will get signed by a major label. Otherwise, I predict the final 2 in this competition will be Caleb and Jena, with Jena being the winner - she has really proven her star quality in recent weeks.

 

I think Jessica is beautiful with gorgeous eyes and a really good voice but the problem for me is that there is nothing behind those eyes .She is so dull and uninteresting as a performer. I always look forward to seeing her then her energy ends up putting me to sleep. I don't get it - she is a professional performer.

 

I don't get when I read people calling her dull and lifeless. Jessica and Caleb are the only two who can keep me awake on the show this season. It's everyone else that has been lifeless and dull as dirt to me... well, Jena isn't lifeless, she's just incredibly annoying, and has a grating voice on top of it.

 

It's the least interesting group of kids I've ever seen on the show.

 

She performs like she is still on a very, very small area like in a bar. That's what she is use to and hasn't gotten out of that, yet. She looks good and has a nice voice.

 

Well, tonight was finally the perfect kick in the teeth to the producers pathetic transparent agenda to make Sam be one of the two finalists. What a hilarious backfire on them.

Obviously they wouldn't have tried this nonsense tonight had Jess been the one going home. On top of all that, I strongly suspect that Jess wasn't even in the bottom two this week--hence them not announcing a bottom two, to keep the illusion going that she was still the other bottom person. To try and get the voting public back on the producer's game plan, Randy even had to spout the party line that Jess had another bad week, but everyone else was great.

I just hope the public backlash continues against the show, and the producers & judges attempted manipulations of the viewer's opinions aren't ultimately rewarded.

 

I agree with the above comments by applebonkerz. For me, Randy Jackson is no Jimmy Iovine. Randy's comments are too general. He needs to dig a little deeper with his critiques in the way Harry Connick Jr. does.

Glad there was not a unanimous vote to keep one of the five around for another week, and prolong the pain. Was Sam that right contestant to be sent home last night. Maybe not, but there's no way he would have ended up the in Top 2.

If the producers made up this new rule allowing the contestants to vote to keep one back for another week, because Jessica was not in the bottom two is ridiculous. You can't make up rules as you go along because the person you want eliminated was possibly not even in the bottom 2. Wonder who was actually in the bottom two with Sam, if it wasn't Jessica. Alex maybe? Jena?

 

For those of you who missed the results show last night, there's an 8 minute video that shows the vote and the elimination down the page, at Heavy.com.

http://www.heavy.com/entertainment/...ults-voted-off-keith-urban-performance-video/

 

I think that the sudden rule change last night, to allow the contestants to vote on the elimination format, was the official Jump The Shark moment for American Idol.

 

Bottom line, he needed to go so I don't care how it happened.

 

So many people on forums I've looked at seem to be on this Jessica conspiracy thing. I don't get it. She seems to me to be judged appropriately.

 

So what's the widely accepted prediction at this point - Caleb and Jena for the finale??