FTA-TV American Idol 2012

[Cruyff14]

Yeah Scotty winning was an absolute joke.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

"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?"

So the equivalent of an online blogger expresses the thought and it is supposed to be gospel?

What an absolute load of tripe. In the first 6 years of Idol, you could be forgiven for wondering why these white, singer/songwriter types were being discriminated against. Now they have come into their own and evened the ledger and it is a closed door for everybody else? Who did the teens vote for 5 years ago?

Why did Colton get turfed out in 7th? He was a teenage girl's dream.

He says the judges always pour praise on Phillips .... really? As opposed to who? Who gets a standing ovation every second performance? Phillip is considered not worthy precisely because the judges have by and large made it clear that Joshua is the best singer in 50 years or that Jessica is up there with the best female vocalists in the world today.

Sometimes it purely comes down to genre and what seems more interesting to people. Sure plenty of Idol winners don't go anywhere and their genre seems a little congested. I certainly think Phillips is more distinctive than De Wyze or Allen so don't necessarily think he is going to bomb as bad.

If people really wanted Joshua in the final, then they should recognise the way things had gone in previous seasons and vote their asses off. They didn't want it enough it seems. Remember, he was in the bottom 3 earlier in the season so the writing was on the wall.

 

[Roobunny]

I wonder if Joshua suffered from what Adam Lambert did, in that the praise from the judges was so always in favour of him, it turned people off when voting.

I'm a thirty something woman who isn't religious and has no drama with homosexuality. Adam was fantastic but I got so utterly sick of the constant wowing over him by the judges, especially in the final when Simon especially got him a U2 song, and the judges basically referred to him as the winner and referred to Kris like he got a "good teammate" award in under 12 football. As I found Kris really likeable, and I think things like his version of Heartless by Kanye West, showed he actually had a lot more to him that just guy with a guitar, and the combination of me liking him a lot, knowing that Adam was going to be a star anyway who would have likely been held back by Idol, and frankly getting so annoyed at the judges I wanted to spite them, would have seen me vote for Kris, if I could have. (I have both Kris and Adam's music on my Ipod.)

(Also absolutely acknowledging that others would have made their voting decisions based on "good Christian values".)

I wonder if the constant standing ovations for Joshua, and comments like him being the best singer in 50 years meant people either voted more for his competitors or less for him, because people were either sick of it, or just didn't think he needed the help.

 

[scotty88]

So the equivalent of an online blogger expresses the thought and it is supposed to be gospel?

What an absolute load of tripe. In the first 6 years of Idol, you could be forgiven for wondering why these white, singer/songwriter types were being discriminated against. Now they have come into their own and evened the ledger and it is a closed door for everybody else? Who did the teens vote for 5 years ago?

Why did Colton get turfed out in 7th? He was a teenage girl's dream.

He says the judges always pour praise on Phillips .... really? As opposed to who? Who gets a standing ovation every second performance? Phillip is considered not worthy precisely because the judges have by and large made it clear that Joshua is the best singer in 50 years or that Jessica is up there with the best female vocalists in the world today.

Sometimes it purely comes down to genre and what seems more interesting to people. Sure plenty of Idol winners don't go anywhere and their genre seems a little congested. I certainly think Phillips is more distinctive than De Wyze or Allen so don't necessarily think he is going to bomb as bad.

If people really wanted Joshua in the final, then they should recognise the way things had gone in previous seasons and vote their asses off. They didn't want it enough it seems. Remember, he was in the bottom 3 earlier in the season so the writing was on the wall.

You're right I think a lot of it comes down to genre but I think a lot of it may also come down to looks and likeability. If Joshua looked like Phillip, I honestly believe he'd go straight through to the finale irregardless of what genre he was. I feel the same way about Lee, Scotty and Kris. I honestly dont think they wouldve lasted as long as they did had it not been for their looks and personality. Like I said people like who they like and have the right to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason but the issue is weekly performances seem to be of secondary importance. Im not against people like Phillip winning, I was ok with David Cook winning but they have to actually give us amazing performances and not get away with just being mediocre for majority of the season. The issue isnt just that the same type is winning every year but they are winning just by being "ok". The question is why and is it really just because of the genre? I dont really think so. Colton, Im guessing, got eliminated coz he wasnt as likeable as Phillip.

They've all gotten unwarranted praise this season imo but I think Joshua has at least deserved most of his(even if it is way over the top). Phillip's praises arent as over the top but he gets praised even for bad performances.
And the first 6 seasons had much more diverse winners - country winner, 2 gospel winners, 2 pop/rnb winners and a blues/soul winner in Taylor Hicks. It felt a little more evenly spread so there was no sense of discrimination.
If we had six seasons of a black female rnb singer winning all the time, Im sure people would get just as irritated especially if those female singers were mediocre for the whole season. They'd be wondering why and whether or not they have an unfair advantage. This is no different and I can see why it may turn off viewers.

Who knows whether Phillip will be successful or not. Personally I dont think he's as good or as creative as David Cook or Kris but it'll come down to how much his record company support him

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I don't see Phillip as having bad performances or mostly mediocre performances. His style is completely different to the others and if you expect incredible high notes and vocal runs, you are not going to get it.

What you get is a musician who sings in a laid back fashion with his own unique sound, who interprets songs in his own style and does not copy.

If he changes the melody, and you don't like it, then it becomes mediocre. To others it might be artistic licence.

If he was unintentionally flat or pitchy then he is bad or mediocre. I actually found his style and his presence refreshing amongst a sea of vocal gymnastics, when sometimes less = more. Your opinion and mine will never meet because we both like what we like.

Is it possible people just like his style, instead of voting for the cute white boy?

Make no mistake Colton was the teenage girl frontrunner in the early days.

While some are looking at the prospect of teenage white girls voting for Phillip, are we also looking at who the teenage black girls are voting for? How about the entire black population? Do they do so because they are supporting a black entertainer or is it always because that performer is the best?

Naturally there are still biases at play in America, we just can't measure the depth of it. Those biases exist everywhere though. I'm almost certain that a larger percentage of caucasians voted for Josh or Jessica than African Americans or Latin Americans or Asians voted for Philip.

AI has a thriving online community. Very few of those seem to be teenage girls. Sure when they vote they seem to be the ones that will vote more often, but it's such an easy out to claim this when someone deemed not worthy wins it.

I'm guessing teenage girls did not vote when teenage girl Clarkson won, black girls Fantasia and Sparks won, black man Studdart won, grey haired Hicks won, stunning (and therefore threatening) Underwood won.

You can't underestimate the country vote that saw Underwood and McCreery winning. Remember Lauren Alaina was runner up last year, a pretty young country girl. You can't isolate McCreery and put his win down to teenage girls or his look. James and Stefano were more popular looks wise.

You can't look at Allen's win and put that down to his looks either. Teenage girls were far more enamoured with Lambert, sexuality questions or not. It was middle America of all ages that voted for Allen and that was for reasons other than looks.

When De Wyze won, third place Casey James had the looks vote locked up. De Wyze just did more contemporary songs and had more of a rock sounding voice. Completely 100% genre driven in my opinion.

There is also no doubt in my mind that David Archuleta had the teenage girl vote in his pocket against David Cook. It was genre and Cook's style and attitude that got him over the line.

There are arguments and counter-arguments for every winner, and you have to look deeper than just what the ultimate winner sounds and looks like.

If looks and race are defining factors, how did Michael Lynche (after being saved) then go on to make top 4? African Americans make up 13% of the population. Where were his votes coming from?

If the looks vote is enough for someone to get from top 3 to top 2 or to go head to head in the final and win, surely we must be suggesting that the good looking guys are getting a huge percentage of the vote throughout the competition? Yet, some good looking guys are going home early. Michael Johns was one of the favourites and was eliminated in 8th place. Where was his good looking vote?

In Allen's year, both he and Lambert were bottom 3 in the last 5, with Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey going through. Both the pin up boys under threat and the teenage girls were voting Gokey or Iraheta.

I think that people will jump off eliminated contestants and jump on to their next favourite, but that next favourite is generally going to be whatever is closer to their preferred genre, and an underdog can become favourite when a whole group jump on to their bandwagon.

Normally I would say that Joshua's fans would jump on to Jessica's bandwagon and make her favourite, however I have noticed that it is the Josh and Jess fans in the AI community that are attacking each other. Josh fans believed he would be there over Jess and are putting her singing down. Jess fans didn't care who she was there with. Phillip seems to be emerging largely unscathed from that battle which is interesting (aside from the few who are playing the race card).

 

[jonesy86]

Finally caught up with it all.

Joshua was by far the best IMO.

Would have been happy with a Joshua/Phillip final.

Jessica is an excellent singer, but that's it, she has no spark or x-factor.

 

[aussie1st]

Happy for Jessica more to have a girl finally win this thing and to stop then WGWG not to mention having a winner after the save.

 

[scotty88]

I don't see Phillip as having bad performances or mostly mediocre performances. His style is completely different to the others and if you expect incredible high notes and vocal runs, you are not going to get it.

What you get is a musician who sings in a laid back fashion with his own unique sound, who interprets songs in his own style and does not copy.

If he changes the melody, and you don't like it, then it becomes mediocre. To others it might be artistic licence.

If he was unintentionally flat or pitchy then he is bad or mediocre. I actually found his style and his presence refreshing amongst a sea of vocal gymnastics, when sometimes less = more. Your opinion and mine will never meet because we both like what we like.

Is it possible people just like his style, instead of voting for the cute white boy?

Make no mistake Colton was the teenage girl frontrunner in the early days.

While some are looking at the prospect of teenage white girls voting for Phillip, are we also looking at who the teenage black girls are voting for? How about the entire black population? Do they do so because they are supporting a black entertainer or is it always because that performer is the best?

Naturally there are still biases at play in America, we just can't measure the depth of it. Those biases exist everywhere though. I'm almost certain that a larger percentage of caucasians voted for Josh or Jessica than African Americans or Latin Americans or Asians voted for Philip.

AI has a thriving online community. Very few of those seem to be teenage girls. Sure when they vote they seem to be the ones that will vote more often, but it's such an easy out to claim this when someone deemed not worthy wins it.

I'm guessing teenage girls did not vote when teenage girl Clarkson won, black girls Fantasia and Sparks won, black man Studdart won, grey haired Hicks won, stunning (and therefore threatening) Underwood won.

You can't underestimate the country vote that saw Underwood and McCreery winning. Remember Lauren Alaina was runner up last year, a pretty young country girl. You can't isolate McCreery and put his win down to teenage girls or his look. James and Stefano were more popular looks wise.

You can't look at Allen's win and put that down to his looks either. Teenage girls were far more enamoured with Lambert, sexuality questions or not. It was middle America of all ages that voted for Allen and that was for reasons other than looks.

When De Wyze won, third place Casey James had the looks vote locked up. De Wyze just did more contemporary songs and had more of a rock sounding voice. Completely 100% genre driven in my opinion.

There is also no doubt in my mind that David Archuleta had the teenage girl vote in his pocket against David Cook. It was genre and Cook's style and attitude that got him over the line.

There are arguments and counter-arguments for every winner, and you have to look deeper than just what the ultimate winner sounds and looks like.

If looks and race are defining factors, how did Michael Lynche (after being saved) then go on to make top 4? African Americans make up 13% of the population. Where were his votes coming from?

If the looks vote is enough for someone to get from top 3 to top 2 or to go head to head in the final and win, surely we must be suggesting that the good looking guys are getting a huge percentage of the vote throughout the competition? Yet, some good looking guys are going home early. Michael Johns was one of the favourites and was eliminated in 8th place. Where was his good looking vote?

In Allen's year, both he and Lambert were bottom 3 in the last 5, with Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey going through. Both the pin up boys under threat and the teenage girls were voting Gokey or Iraheta.

I think that people will jump off eliminated contestants and jump on to their next favourite, but that next favourite is generally going to be whatever is closer to their preferred genre, and an underdog can become favourite when a whole group jump on to their bandwagon.

Normally I would say that Joshua's fans would jump on to Jessica's bandwagon and make her favourite, however I have noticed that it is the Josh and Jess fans in the AI community that are attacking each other. Josh fans believed he would be there over Jess and are putting her singing down. Jess fans didn't care who she was there with. Phillip seems to be emerging largely unscathed from that battle which is interesting (aside from the few who are playing the race card).

I disagree about Phillip. I love that style of music but I dont enjoy Phillip's performances. I get that he interprets songs in his own style and shows creativity by changing the songs up but personally I think he changes a lot of those songs up for the worse. He changes the song so much sometimes that he almost destroys the melody and loses whatever made the original version appealing. Kris, Adam, Daughtry and Cook were examples of how to do it properly.

I still dont think its just about the genre....if it was you would think fans of contestants like kris and lee would be more supportive of them post idol since they liked their styles so much. The fact that they havent been as successful post show makes me think their fans voted for them for reasons outside of music but anyways we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Album sales are weird for AI winners and non-winners.

Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have remained strong throughout.

Many of the others have had strong first albums and then faded fast.

Cook has done better than some bigger names that preceded him, namely Jordin Sparks a fellow winner, and Jennifer Hudson.

McCreery is already ahead of Lambert in album sales.

Really, it is just the sluggish sales of Allen and De Wyze.

Allen though has sold more albums than every other season 8 contestant except Lambert.

Only 3 of the De Wyze season have made albums with Bowersox a little bit in front, DeWyze 2nd and 3rd place Casey James a long way behind.

From last year, we have McCreery doing quite well, Alaina way behind, James behind her and Tim who sold 2000 copies. Haley's album is out in a couple of days.

The reality is that plenty of supposed better singers are not supported after American Idol and many are not even picked up by record labels.

So of those you complain about winning for reasons other than talent, you have Allen - 2nd in sales in his year, DeWyze - 2nd in sales in his year, McCreery - 2nd in sales in his year.

If you check the progression of most of them who have put out multiple albums, they have trailed off badly. They are passing fads and it is indicative that for the most part, becoming a recording artist from a reality show has a certain stigma attached. People root for who they like, the show ends and they move on to the next entertainment vehicle.

 

[CF]

Adam Lambert on Chelsea lately last week said he was out the whole time during AI and if Seacrest had of said, "Hey Adam are you gay?" during a show he would have said yes. But he never asked. He is about to tour with Queen fronting for the band.

Album sales of all AI -makes an interesting read

Singles sales (digital media) of AI performers

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

AI wasn't the platform for discussing his sexuality anyway, despite Seacrest's E hosting instincts. I don't know if that means Adam was looking for an opportunity to tell people he was gay and was told not to, or it was irrelevant and so no point in asking it on air.

 

[CF]

AI wasn't the platform for discussing his sexuality anyway, despite Seacrest's E hosting instincts. I don't know if that means Adam was looking for an opportunity to tell people he was gay and was told not to, or it was irrelevant and so no point in asking it on air.

All popular music is about sexuality in some ways and considering how Adam's gayness was being sensationalised in the gutter press it would have been nothing for them to just clear it up once and for all. Questions still hang over that series because of it.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

All popular music is about sexuality in some ways and considering how Adam's gayness was being sensationalised in the gutter press it would have been nothing for them to just clear it up once and for all. Questions still hang over that series because of it.

Agree Adam was robbed due to his sexuality. Joshua was the best one this year and if Phillip wins it will be a travesty as that guy is so over rated it isn't funny.

 

[scotty88]

Album sales are weird for AI winners and non-winners.

Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson have remained strong throughout.

Many of the others have had strong first albums and then faded fast.

Cook has done better than some bigger names that preceded him, namely Jordin Sparks a fellow winner, and Jennifer Hudson.

McCreery is already ahead of Lambert in album sales.

Really, it is just the sluggish sales of Allen and De Wyze.

Allen though has sold more albums than every other season 8 contestant except Lambert.

Only 3 of the De Wyze season have made albums with Bowersox a little bit in front, DeWyze 2nd and 3rd place Casey James a long way behind.

From last year, we have McCreery doing quite well, Alaina way behind, James behind her and Tim who sold 2000 copies. Haley's album is out in a couple of days.

The reality is that plenty of supposed better singers are not supported after American Idol and many are not even picked up by record labels.

So of those you complain about winning for reasons other than talent, you have Allen - 2nd in sales in his year, DeWyze - 2nd in sales in his year, McCreery - 2nd in sales in his year.

If you check the progression of most of them who have put out multiple albums, they have trailed off badly. They are passing fads and it is indicative that for the most part, becoming a recording artist from a reality show has a certain stigma attached. People root for who they like, the show ends and they move on to the next entertainment vehicle.

Didnt Cook just get dropped by his label? Anyway you're right a lot of good singers dont get signed post idol but that could be for a range of reasons. The winner though has majority of the promotion and publicity than any other contestant on their season that may have gotten signed so coming 2nd in sales out of the 3 or 4 contestants that get signed in their seasons is still not much of an achievement for a winner. Lee shouldve been able to sell more than just 39k copies of his album given the promotion he'd get out of winning. Maybe if Crystal won instead of Lee and got that kind of promotion and support from the label, she may have sold much more than Lee as a winner.

Anyway I hear Scotty is doing well. He sold a million copies of his album but I think its largely coz he's a country singer. Phillip is not a country singer and he is more Kris and Lee than Scotty and I dont see him doing well but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Btw....speaking of Haley's album (my fav contestant of all time) . Its been getting rave reviews and judging from the snippets Ive heard, it is a very, very strong debut and better than what you would expect from an idol contestant. Very pop/jazz/motown but not too generic and commercial.

Here are the snippets of the album

http://soundcloud.com/igamusic/sets/haley-reinhart-listen-up/

And the deluxe album with 4 extra songs.

http://soundcloud.com/addicted2haley/listen-up-snippets

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Didnt Cook just get dropped by his label? Anyway you're right a lot of good singers dont get signed post idol but that could be for a range of reasons. The winner though has majority of the promotion and publicity than any other contestant on their season that may have gotten signed so coming 2nd in sales out of the 3 or 4 contestants that get signed in their seasons is still not much of an achievement for a winner. Lee shouldve been able to sell more than just 39k copies of his album given the promotion he'd get out of winning. Maybe if Crystal won instead of Lee and got that kind of promotion and support from the label, she may have sold much more than Lee as a winner.

Anyway I hear Scotty is doing well. He sold a million copies of his album but I think its largely coz he's a country singer. Phillip is not a country singer and he is more Kris and Lee than Scotty and I dont see him doing well but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

DeWyze has sold 149k and it reached #19 on the album charts suggesting he got a surge early from Idol but it disappeared quickly. From what I have listened to, it's a fairly ordinary album writing wise. I think the winner is hamstrung by a lack of input for that first album whereas others are approached for contracts not have them handed to them and have more input accordingly.

As for Cook, sold 1.3m albums the first time around but took nearly 3 years to get another one out and sold 118k. He is the 7th highest AI contestant in terms of sales and 5th highest winner.

You'll find that all of the AI contestants that have recorded are on a downward slope with only Underwood and Clarkson showing real longevity and settling into reasonable figures with a solid fan base.

I'm not one for buying into the hype of winning AI. All of the top few have massive hype and if they are signed, just as much promotion. Nobody is going to buy an album from an AI winner purely because they won and can put that on a poster.

Jimmy has indicated he would like to sign a couple from this year's batch. I doubt he wouldn't promote them just as well as the winner.

Seems that 80% of AI contestants that go beyond the Hollywood stage are destined to work real jobs and keep dreaming, while 18% are going to work clubs here and there for a pittance and 2% are going to make enough to live off for life.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Least favourite round as Fuller's picks are not always great, the single they will release is usually crap and the other song has already been done during the season.

Round 1 - Simon Fuller's Picks

Jessica - I have nothing
Lovely. Hit the high notes, showed some attitude. More almost flawless vocals from Jessica. She could be a bona fide diva all going well.

Phillip - Stand by me
He Phillipsed it and lost some of the melody as he does. Got a feeling he wasn't capable of going after the high note in the chorus. He has a very cool voice but it doesn't lend itself to just any old song.

Round 2 - Favourite Past Performance

Jessica - The Prayer
Sings like an angel. Brilliant. Moved me. Nothing more to be said.

Phillip - Movin' Out
Really wasn't sure about his choice of song as he had better performances than this during the season. Having said that, it was ultra cool and true to himself and he did lift the vibe this time around and noticeably had much more fun.

Round 3 - Potential Single

Jessica - Change Nothing
Hard to listen to new songs but she hit some great notes and I could probably imagine that on the radio (just) but it won't be a mega-hit. Agree with Randy, average song, great singing. Could have predicted that. No way she could have copped heat for not telling them no. She was obligated to sing it FFS and they did her a disservice.

Phillip - Home
I liked it for the most part. It was a real original anthem type song and I could imagine being used in commercials with a parochial undertone. It felt a little out of his genre like it was heading towards country and just needed a banjo. I am so glad they made it do something that was different to what he has done before. I can see a little more of his niche now. Felt the judges could have avoided the standing O. For one of the first times it felt like they were promoting Phillip over Jessica and I don't think that is fair based on the night. That song does deserve to be the single though. I could see me buying it as it is quite different.

Conclusion

Whatever will be will be with the voting. Phillip showed his promise with the last song of the competition and it made me think he could have success. Jessica's voice is unbelievable but being young needs proper guidance when it comes to singing original material. We have to remember when judging these singers singing other people's songs that one day they do have to sing original material. That factor alone has narrowed the gap between the almost awesome Jessica and left of centre artist in Phillip.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I should warn people that the finale is being aired on Fox 8 at 10am tomorrow and again at 7.30pm, so avoid this thread all day, because we can't expect those that see it in the morning to not post until everyone has seen it.

 

[CF]

Final two Performance Show

I think Jessica clearly out sang and out performed Phillip in the early rounds of the night. What a voice she has. "The Prayer " was just out of this world. Completely flawless and so beautifully sung!

Why didn't Phillip sing "Volcano" again? That was his best song in the series.

I agree with the judges about Jessica's "song". I thought she tried really hard to make it better than what it was but hardly a brilliant song for such a brilliant voice. I noticed Jimmy laughing when the Judges were dishing on the song. maybe he thinks it's just par of the course as far as the show goes.

I had to listen to Phillip's song twice because it was such a change up on the tone of the show that at first it didn't sit right for me. But when I listened again I had to agree it was a very good performance. The song was simple and had elements of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and others in it. Folksy and so a bit of a throw back. The standing O was OTP to be honest and I thought they were blatantly promoting Phillip over Jessica. That was wrong. I think the Judges should have said nothing tonight.

Phillp's song/performance was better than Jessica's because it contrasted so much to her and really showed what and who Phillip is. Jessica's problem is that even though she has probably a voice that ranks in the top 1% of female vocalists in the world there have been others before her that have done the same thing (Whitney Houston, Celene Dion, Babs Streisand).

Her problem is going to be to set herself out from the crowd of big voiced diva's and her song didn't really achieve that. It made her sound like another clone of all those who have gone before. The judges were right she needed a song that was more her.

I have a feeling Phillip may win but if I was to judge the from the whole show (every performance) I don't think he deserves it. But on this show the deserved winner isn't always the one who wins is it.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Final two Performance Show

I think Jessica clearly out sang and out performed Phillip in the early rounds of the night. What a voice she has.

I agree with the judges about her "song" I thought she tried really hard to make it better than what it was but hardly a brilliant song for such a brilliant voice. I noticed Jimmy laughing when the Judges were dishing on the song. maybe he thinks it's just par of the course as far as the show goes.

I had to listen to Phillip's song twice because it was such a change up on the tone of the show that at first it didn't sit right for me. But when I listened again I had to agree it was a good performance. The song was simple and had elements of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and others in it. Folksy and so a bit of a throw back.

It was better than Jessica's because it contrasted so much to her and really showed what and who Phillip is. Jessica's problem is that even though she has probably a voice that ranks in the top 1% of female vocalists in the world there have been others before her that have done the same.

Her problem is going to be to set herself out from the crowd of big voiced diva's and her song didn't really achieve that. It made her sound like another clone of all those who have gone before. The judges were right she needed a song that was more her.

I have a feeling Phillip may win but if I was to judge the from the whole show (every performance) I don't think he deserves it. But on this show the deserved winner isn't always the one who wins is it.

I agree with every word of that, from Jessica's effort to save the original, to her plight trying to stand out from similar artists, to having to listen to Phillip's last song twice to truly appreciate how good and original it was. The only bit I won't commit to is your last paragraph as I do see it as a personal taste genre war and a style like Phillip's is always going to walk a fine line in singing competition where there have been some huge voices.

I would like to hear that original song on the radio by the end of the week though. I think it will keep growing on me more and more.

 

[CF]

I probably need to hear Phillip sing more original stuff like tonight to appreciate him more I think. In terms of doing covers it is a credit to him he has made it to the final two because personally some of his work has been dreadful as far as I am concerned. To put that in context I am a huge Bob Dylan fan whose voice is hardly great, and so I am not against his voice per se. I just think the tinkering of the songs he has done has been very hit and miss. Mostly miss for me.

I can see he has talent and artistry so I am hopeful that once he start singing his own songs he will really start to show the cynics like me what he is made of. Tonight was the first step in that for me.

 

[Cruyff14]

DAMN.

Did I miss the finale show?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

No, final performance show. They vote for the next 24 hours and the Finale is on Fox 8 10am tomorrow and again 7.30pm.

 

[Jeremias]

I have no doubt that Jessica is the better singer and absolutely deserves to win tomorrow. Absolutely incredible voice.

I'm not a huge fan of Phillip. Sure he has his own unique style but I just don't think the two can be compared. Regardless, it's not about what I think - it's how the American public sees it and clearly they love him so he is every chance of winning.

I still can't believe last week's result. Joshua clearly had the best voice in the competition IMO.

Will be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow. Regardless of who the winner is they both clearly have serious careers ahead of them in the music industry.

 

[CF]

No, final performance show. They vote for the next 24 hours and the Finale is on Fox 8 10am tomorrow and again 7.30pm.

I thought Seacrest said voting was only open for 4 hours after the show aired?

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Yeah think you are right. AI forum says voting is closed.