Wednesday, May 02, 2007

American Idol: Top 6 results, take two

Some thoughts on the "American Idol" results:
See, America? You spend months freaking out about Sanjaya's hair, Haley's legs, Antonella's photos, Sanjaya's mustache, Sundance's red face, more of Antonella's photos, Vote for the Worst, Howard Stern, Simon's eye-rolls, Sanjaya's tongue, and every other possible disaster befalling "American Idol," and at the end of it all, we've got a final four that's pretty clearly the four best contestants of the season.
To read the full thing, go to NJ.com, but you can comment here.

15 comments:

Adam said...

Yup. After all the bullshit, the best four are here at the end, and it didn't matter that Stephanie and Sligh were out a month ago and Sanjaya lingered too recently.

Anonymous said...

I thought Stephanie had some potential. I would have liked to see more of her. Other than that, I am content.

Nicole said...

Well, you called it. But now that we're at the final four, Blake's gotta go next. Sure he can beatbox and make a tired rock song fresh, but that can only take you so far, especially if this is a "singing" contest. I think 19's learned their lesson with Taylor's failure to sell records and Blake hasn't engendered the same goodwill as he did. Plus, his schtick is the same as Justin Timberlake's, but with less vocal range and ability. Jordin, LaKisha and Melinda are all the same genre, but they have shown that they can sing outside of their genre so I expect pimping of the girls in the weeks to come.

Undercover Black Man said...

Speaking of Taylor, I liked his "Idol Gives Back" spot: "Two years ago, I was playing tiny clubs in Alabama. Now, after "American Idol," I'm playing slightly larger clubs in Alabama..."

Wonder if the two-songs-per-night regimen of the upcoming rounds will show up Blake to be a one-trick pony?

Anonymous said...

Surely Blake will pick up the majority of Chris's votes, but maybe Phil's as well? I don't see Blake making the final two, but I do see him in the final three.

Kris Eton said...

I think LaKisha is going to lose some of her shine in the upcoming weeks. She had several dud weeks in a row (and, to me, this was one of them). Blake was extremely entertaining on Tuesday...and I have been a long-time Blake hater. If he can make ME like him, then he did the same for others.

However, I do think the final 2 will be Jordin and Melinda...unless Jordin has another awful week. One week people can forgive. But two bad performances in a row is another thing entirely.

Anonymous said...

Blake may not be the best singer, but at least he's entertaining. Melinda is a great singer, but I find her to be a snooze. And after Taylor Hicks, I think that's the last thing this show needs.

But I'm sure Melinda will win. If for no other reason than she's the only one left from the south. And god forbid we not have an American Idol from the south.

Anonymous said...

I think anonymous is correct, but I hope not. Melinda is technically good, but only in the last two weeks or so has she actually been entertaining. I can't imagine Melinda selling lots of records to young viewers in the way that a Blake or Jordin could.

Anonymous said...

Does it really matter whether Blake, Melinda, or Jordin wins? Isn't the one who is going to sell the most records going to sell them whether or not they win.

Alan Sepinwall said...

Does it really matter whether Blake, Melinda, or Jordin wins? Isn't the one who is going to sell the most records going to sell them whether or not they win.

Maybe, maybe not. I think the Daughtry vs. Taylor thing, plus Jennifer Hudson's Oscar win, have really devalued the Idol title, and I wouldn't be stunned to see Team Idol go out of their way to make the winner look good and the runners-up look bad when their respective albums are put together.

Anonymous said...

Alan, why would they do that? Wouldn't it be in their interest for each artist to sell as many albums as possible? Making one of their artists look bad seems to me to be cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Alan Sepinwall said...

Depends on whether the real money is in the TV show or on the music side of things. If the question of who wins ceases to matter, the ratings are going to drop -- which, in turn, makes the post-show musical careers of the contestants less vital.

I remember the night before La Toya London went home in season 3, she dismissed the judges' criticism by noting that it doesn't matter, "We're all getting record deals at this point." The show in general and Simon in particular reacted like she had just said she was bigger than Jesus. The "Everybody gets a contract!" approach may make more money in the short term, but it'll eventually hurt the franchise.

Anonymous said...

But other than Kelly Clarkson, and a lesser extent Carrie Underwood, the winners have been passed by commercially by other finalists of their season. Yet the ratings are still obscene. This has been a continued trend. If having the winner surpassed by one of the losers was going to hurt the ratings it would have by now. Especially after last year.

Anonymous said...

I tuned in just this year mostly because of Jennifer Hudson. I used to figure that if the winner is the one to watch, let the contest pick the winner and then I'll hear them on the radio. I hoped to avoid watching people like Sanjaya. But Jennifer Hudson made me curious who all these other talented people that American Idol finds that may or may not win. American Idol finds the people who will be the next big thing. American Idol makes no promises that the next big thing will win. We all seem to like it anyway.

Steve said...

I know that Clay isn't particularly oozing with testorone, but that was a bit snarky to say that this year could be the first time the finalists would be of the same gender.