FTA-TV American Idol 2012

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Didn't Steven compare him to Bruce?

If Jimmy did, I missed it. What did he say?

Thought Phillip's last song was very good, he did Bob Seger very well. Didn't like his second song, mind you the song isn't that good either so he screwed up with song choice.

Might have been Steven, was doing some work with an ear on the show, so you are probably right. Still, any praise like that is pretty good.

I can see it, in a songwriter, unique style kind of way. He certainly feels the music and feels the lyrics and he is still only 20. I don't think he has anywhere near as many gears as Bruce vocally but you never know how he will develop.

 

[Cruyff14]

He is the best musician of the three. I agree with him about feeling the music. You can see it in his weird facial expressions and body movements.

Bruce's voice isn't that great on a larger scale (I mean he is terrible if you compare him to Freddie Mercury, David Bowie etc), but it's good enough, and it appeals to me. Bruce does surprise me sometimes though. His falsetto is very good and he really knows how to make his voice work in his advantage when he's going for that rough sort of sound.

I was so hoping Jimmy chose a Springsteen song for Phillip to sing (Jimmy was Springsteen's sound engineer and Born To Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town), but it wasn't to be.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Do they have the license to do Springsteen songs? Has there been any on the show before? Would be a kick arse theme one week when you have a top 12 and they choose a female artist for the girls and a male one for the boys. They really should find something in there for the rockers, the country artists, the pop stars and the ballad singers.

 

[Sons_of_a_Gun]

The standing O's for Joshua is getting beyond a joke, not even saying he doesnt deserve half of them, but you cant give him a standing O and then say someone else was better and not give them one.

 

[Cruyff14]

Do they have the license to do Springsteen songs? Has there been any on the show before? Would be a kick arse theme one week when you have a top 12 and they choose a female artist for the girls and a male one for the boys. They really should find something in there for the rockers, the country artists, the pop stars and the ballad singers.

Don't see why they wouldn't. Don't think he's really pissy about all that stuff, there are millions of videos from his concerts on YouTube.

[YOUTUBE]?v=3NNS7DrhHv0[/YOUTUBE]

Go to 3.20, I really don't think he cares.

Yeah, I keep hoping and praying for it, but looks like I'll be waiting another season. I really think Phillip would have knocked Springsteen out of the park. Has that rough sound in his voice that Bruce has at times, would have been a perfect fit.

 

[scotty88]

The standing O's for Joshua is getting beyond a joke, not even saying he doesnt deserve half of them, but you cant give him a standing O and then say someone else was better and not give them one.

I know right....still Joshua is my favourite out of the 3.

His "no more drama" was the best performance of the night but Phillip was the best overall. It was a bad night though and Jessica should go home. She was the worst out of the 3.

Phillip winning would be horrible for the show coz it would mean the show has had the same type of winner for the past 4 or 5 years - good looking white male that plays guitar and they havent been that successful post idol.
Joshua winning would be the only right result imo.

 

[Cruyff14]

I think it will be a J&J final with Josh to take it out.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Phillip winning would be horrible for the show coz it would mean the show has had the same type of winner for the past 4 or 5 years - good looking white male that plays guitar and they havent been that successful post idol.
Joshua winning would be the only right result imo.

Not sure that the right result depends on the colour of skin. It should not be about tokenism.

Genre wise maybe, with Cook, Allen and De Wyze having won in succession before a country singer last year. Did McCreery play guitar last season?

The winners have been Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, and Scotty McCreery.

4/10 female artists but none for the past 4 years.
3/10 black artists but none for the past 4 years.
0/10 hispanic/other backgrounds.

Clarkson - pop
Studdard - r&b/gospel/pop
Barrino - r&b/Soul/Hip Hop/Gospel
Underwood - country/pop
Hicks - soul/blues
Sparks - r&b/pop
Cook - alternative rock/pop rock/post grunge
Allen - pop rock/alternative rock/blue eyed soul
De Wyze - rock/alternative rock/indie/folk
McCreery - country

3/10 identify mostly with r&b - Joshua is in this category
1/10 mostly with pop - Jessica straddles this and r&b
1/10 mostly with soul
2/10 mostly with country
3/10 mostly with some kind of rock

If any demographic was in need of a boost here, it is Jessica's.

However, I am not particularly surprised that voting is starting to trend towards those that are self sufficient in that they can write their own songs and play an instrument. Their scope just seems so much larger somehow. Having said that Allen winning was a travesty with Lambert there, and Crystal Bowersox was desperately unlucky when De Wyze won. She is mostly rock herself but a female rock star would have been brilliant.

 

[Cruyff14]

They're all going to get recording contracts anyway.

 

[CF]

Just watched the performance show for the final 3. Wow what a night. Three great performers in their own right.

For me I'd give Joshua the night overall as I thought he nailed all three performances so well. Although standing O in the first round was just ridiculous.

I'd have Jessica in second as I wasn't overly wrapped on the jackson 5 number she did. It was good without being great. Did you hear that key change in the Aerosmith song? So flawless it left me flawed!

Third place to Phillip because he butchered that Matchbox20 song and then his last performance was a Joe Cocker throw back and I just didn't think Phillip came close to singing that like Joe Cocker did. It was good, but Cocker did it better. The younger audience wont know that of course and they will eat it up.

I have a feeling that Phillip will get through though as he has the right fanbase for the show. Jessica may be out tonight. (now I can go look at the news sites and see who was eliminated.)

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

We've Got Tonight is a Bob Seger song and on that basis, he did a wonderful job. I don't recall Cocker covering it. Phillip's voice is very suited to Seger songs.

On the AI forums, many people are over the Standing O's and many are saying that Joshua is screaming his songs. The general feeling is that Phillip won the night and Jessica was worst. I didn't see Jessica as being last. I thought she was very good for a couple of the songs.

 

[CF]

wow the results were not as I suspected but there are no losers amongst these three really. They will all be recording albums at some stage.

 

[Cruyff14]

WHAT THE ****.

TRAVESTY.

that is all.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

People like what they like. Joshua didn't ring my bell but I liked a lot of what I saw from Phillip and Jessica.

As I said earlier, the AI forums were full of people sick of the judges ramming Joshua down their throats and there was a large body of opinion talking about him oversinging or screaming (disagree with that part) through a lot of his songs. There was also a question as to his modern day relevance. Just reporting what I read.

I understand the disbelief though. There were so many people that could not believe Adam Lambert didn't win, but there were a lot who thought Adam oversang and he did not appeal to them. Personal preferences vary greatly and on some things people will never reconcile.

My favourite performer was eliminated in Vegas this time around but of those that made the top 24, Phillip would be close to my second favourite behind Elise.

 

[CF]

Phillip has a big fan base of teen girls so that is is trump card.

I am not surprised by Joshua's exit but I am sure his future is bright anyway so he would hardly be bummed about it.

Interesting battle and I hope Jessica wins it.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I hope Joe Cocker is appearing next week

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Phillip has a big fan base of teen girls so that is is trump card.

I am not surprised by Joshua's exit but I am sure his future is bright anyway so he would hardly be bummed about it.

Interesting battle and I hope Jessica wins it.

Completely different genres competing makes it interesting. I wonder where Joshua's target audience will be and if he can fill a concert with that audience.

 

[scotty88]

Not sure that the right result depends on the colour of skin. It should not be about tokenism.

Genre wise maybe, with Cook, Allen and De Wyze having won in succession before a country singer last year. Did McCreery play guitar last season?

The winners have been Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, and Scotty McCreery.

4/10 female artists but none for the past 4 years.
3/10 black artists but none for the past 4 years.
0/10 hispanic/other backgrounds.

Clarkson - pop
Studdard - r&b/gospel/pop
Barrino - r&b/Soul/Hip Hop/Gospel
Underwood - country/pop
Hicks - soul/blues
Sparks - r&b/pop
Cook - alternative rock/pop rock/post grunge
Allen - pop rock/alternative rock/blue eyed soul
De Wyze - rock/alternative rock/indie/folk
McCreery - country

3/10 identify mostly with r&b - Joshua is in this category
1/10 mostly with pop - Jessica straddles this and r&b
1/10 mostly with soul
2/10 mostly with country
3/10 mostly with some kind of rock

If any demographic was in need of a boost here, it is Jessica's.

However, I am not particularly surprised that voting is starting to trend towards those that are self sufficient in that they can write their own songs and play an instrument. Their scope just seems so much larger somehow. Having said that Allen winning was a travesty with Lambert there, and Crystal Bowersox was desperately unlucky when De Wyze won. She is mostly rock herself but a female rock star would have been brilliant.

In the first few seasons of idol, the winners were more diverse but the past 4 or 5 seasons, they've pretty much been same type of contestant winning. I would understand if those contestants were the best in their seasons like David Cook - he definitely deserved to win his season. But Lee beating out Crystal, Kris beating Adam and Scotty beating out Pia and Haley.

Yes I do get their appeal - theyre singer/songwriters, they are good looking so they appeal to all the teen girls etc. My issue with them is that they get away with a lot more than contestants like Jessica and Joshua who need standing o standard performances to just survive each week and people like Phillip, Scotty, Kris and Lee can get away with just being ok and mediocre for majority of the season and still win.

btw at Joshua being eliminated. Going for Jessica now but Phillip will win now

 

[CF]

In a competition where the public vote decides the outcome then you are always going to get winners you don't agree with. So get over it.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Have read the race card being played in a few places elsewhere but largely only a few repetitive vocal voices. Considering the black population in the US is about 13% and black artists have won 3 of 11 including this year, about 27%, they haven't really got a case. I love how the country is supposedly not racist right up until the top 3 but they become racist in order to not put Josh through to the final 2. Hispanics have never won but have a larger representation in the US. There have been at least 2 gay runners up .. conspiracy?

It seems that trends change and when the show started r&b was largely king, but now indie rock is appealing more over there.

 

[CF]

they had 90 million votes to decide the final 2. I think it would be hard to fix the numbers at that level.

I never seen the year Clay was runner up, but I did think the publicity about Adam's homosexuality during AI did have an influence on him not winning. There was loads of negative publicity going on in the gutter press about it at the time. Adam was hurt by the fact that he never made a public statement to say he was gay. I think if he had of just said yeah I am gay right at the start of that negative publicity he would have won. Because he said nothing I think the voters may have felt he was trying to fool them or something.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

they had 90 million votes to decide the final 2. I think it would be hard to fix the numbers at that level.

I never seen the year Clay was runner up, but I did think the publicity about Adam's homosexuality during AI did have an influence on him not winning. There was loads of negative publicity going on in the gutter press about it at the time.

That's my point. Others have just as much reason to claim a conspiracy, if not more.

There certainly was some controversy with the bottom 3 in Lambert's year. I know they were asked but Gokey and Allen both played the good christian young men role to perfection and indicated they did not agree with the gay lifestyle. If you remember, Lambert's sexuality was not in the picture when that series started. At best there was a question, is he or isn't he? No surprise that a photo of him kissing some guy and a video of him performing to a gay audience and a string of forum posts from new members started appearing as we got down to the final 5.

Mind you, we have a caucasian judge, a Latin American judge and an African American judge. Occasionally eyebrows are raised from a couple of them as to the singers they consistently support.

 

[CF]

That's my point. Others have just as much reason to claim a conspiracy, if not more.

There certainly was some controversy with the bottom 3 in Lambert's year. I know they were asked but Gokey and Allen both played the good christian young men role to perfection and indicated they did not agree with the gay lifestyle. If you remember, Lambert's sexuality was not in the picture when that series started. At best there was a question, is he or isn't he? No surprise that a photo of him kissing some guy and a video of him performing to a gay audience and a string of forum posts from new members started appearing as we got down to the final 5.

Mind you, we have a caucasian judge, a Latin American judge and an African American judge. Occasionally eyebrows are raised from a couple of them as to the singers they consistently support.

It would be nice to live in a world where it doesn't matter what a persons sexuality is. But AI has to present an image to the public and I think this plays against some contestants (like Adam) who don't necessarily fit their ideal. You have to wonder what contestants are being counselled and ordered to do behind the scenes sometimes.

Given how Adam has flaunted his sexuality since Idol I don't think his silence about it during AI was his choice.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Given how Adam has flaunted his sexuality since Idol I don't think his silence about it during AI was his choice.

Not sure. He would be smart enough to know that it was not relevant so did not need to hint towards it, but that it would also hurt him massively in the bible belt states. Given there was evidence of him flaunting his sexuality prior to AI that was held back until late by the tabloids, I'd say it was merely a matter of relevance for him and timing for them. Not sure AI had any input in this.

 

[scotty88]

In a competition where the public vote decides the outcome then you are always going to get winners you don't agree with. So get over it.

The issue isnt who they vote for but why they vote for a particular contestant. It just seems to me that the teen girl power vote is getting stronger the past few years and good looking white guys seem to just have an easier ride. Im not saying the people who vote for them are racists or that there is a conspiracy theory or anything like that - people like who they like, different tastes etc. but its just extremely irritating that talent seems secondary to them.

I dont know anyone that thought Kris, Lee and Scotty deserved to win over the other contestants in their seasons and I think it would be horrible if Phillip won Joshua and Jessica.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jU-KK07tmBlMmkn63fAekYhaETZQ?docId=8a1cfbd5466843f88df24b8e3d6681e8

This article pretty much sums up my thoughts

"I think people are wondering if girls or, frankly, people of color should just go audition for 'The Voice' and 'The X Factor' instead because 'Idol' has become a closed door if you're not a Caucasian guy who plays folky rock or country music," said Parker. "I know some people will be outraged if Phillip wins. That's unfair to him, but that's the reality."
Phillips' besting Sanchez, who has Filipino and Latino heritage, or Ledet, an African-American gospel singer, could prove problematic for "Idol," a contest that has always prided itself on the fact that any singer in America — be it the girl next door, teen mom down the street or even a prematurely grey-haired Southern gentleman — could capture the "Idol" title.
"I think if Phillip Phillips wins season 11, then as 'Idol' fans, we kind of have to collectively shrug our shoulders and say, 'It's clear as day. You don't have to be the best singer. You just have to be a cute white straight guy that appeals to a lot of the voting demographic,'" said Michael Slezak, a senior editor at TVLine.com who writes about "Idol."
Parker and Slezak agreed that Phillips has been outperformed by other finalists for several rounds. His low point came two weeks ago when he failed to reach the high notes on The Zombies' "Time of the Season" and ditched the melody on The Box Tops' "The Letter." However, viewers wouldn't gather that from the judges, who always pour praise on Phillips.
.......

While he lacks the balladeering prowess of Sanchez and Ledet, and critics have called him a clone of Dave Matthews, Phillips' silly personality and musical certainty have seemingly made up for any vocal deficiencies he has in the eyes of voters. Matthews himself joked to New York magazine that perhaps he can retire and Phillips "can take over my band."
Slezak is less optimistic. He thinks if Phillips wins, he'll be a redux of DeWyze, the least successful "Idol" in the show's history. (DeWyze's post-"Idol" album, "Live It Up," sold just 39,000 copies when it debuted.) Besides a fondness for gritty vocals, they both share blue-collar backgrounds. DeWyze worked in a paint store. Phillips helped out in his family's pawn shop.
"'Idol' could desperately use another winner on the charts," said Slezak. "What makes it a must-watch show is the contestants you're voting for today end up playing on the radio and selling out concerts tomorrow. 'Idol' doesn't need another winner who sells 40,000 copies and gets dropped by their label. What's the point in watching if that's the end result?"