American Idol

Ok, I waited for Jason to start this but I guess he's been busy.

For the first two weeks I was right about who goes home. Now that I've bragged about it, I won't be right again until there's only 4 left. I don't have a favorite contestant yet, just several that I think really should be better than they are.

Kristy looks great and has this wonderful self-depricating sense of humor that's kept her in it this long. But I have to agree with Simon, she doesn't have 'it', whatever 'it' is that makes someone an interesting performer. I have high hopes for Brooke and, if I'm being honest, Syesha. Now off to watch Duke-Belmont.

I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on this season yet. As much as I was not a fan of Amanda, I think Kristy should have been gone first instead. My favorites so far are David and Brooke. I enjoy listening to Michael Johns too! Am I really forgetful, or is this the first year they have been allowed to play their own instruments?? I am not trying to bash on the beatles music at all, but I will be happy for them to move on from that theme now. So far, even it did not earn positive comments from the judges, it has been nice to see the contestants really change the songs so drastically the way they have.

Kristy had a record deal in Nashville on Arista; hearing how out of tune she sings on AI, I understand why she was dropped... she needs to go.

My picks to win it: David Cook, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta (sp?).

Kristy should have gone a long time ago. It's disappointing that Amanda is not going on the tour -- should have rather than oh...so...boring...and...our of tune Kristy. Neither of them is in for a great career as a solo artist, but Kristy doesn't stand a chance as anything.

Originally thought that David A was a shoe-in, but...David Cook has a career of top 10 hits. Perhaps it's best that he doesn't win. (a la Daughtry).

Brooke and Carly have the best female voices. So it's down to those two females, and those two males (plus Johns). If they aren't the top five, then the websites which help you "vote for the worst" have won.

I like David A the most - he's given me the most chills despite flubbing his words the other week. Also like Michael Johns and David Cook (dude is talented). Women - I don't get Carly being in the bottom consistently now. I prefer her voice over Brooke's, but Brooke may be the better performer. Kristy has got to go! She is boooooriiiiiing.

Sorry-- I have been meaning to start this thread for a while but I haev a hard time talking meaningfully about the show until we have seen all of them perform full songs five or six times to have a real idea how good they actually are.

First of all-- while I could see voting off the truly horrific Kristy Lee Cook in each of the past 2 weeks, I don't think either of the 2 folks who did get voted off were all that deserving either.

Amanda looked great early on but it soon became apparent that she was a one-trick-pony and that she could only sing one way. Like Simon said, I got sick of hearing her gravelly voice yelling at me on every single song. I don't think she had any other choice though as she simply did not have much vocal range or tone.

David Hernandez was ok and I liked him early on, but he too had little vocal range. He deserved to go further purely on talent but with so many strong male contestants he was struggling to find a "base" to support him. And make no mistake, having a base of core fans who will dial dozens of times per hour for you is key to surviving on Idol. Tell me who was going to be gung-ho for Hernandez while Archuletta was still around?

I'd rate the contenders in this order:

1. David Archuletta-- he's a huge favorite right now but at this point last year we'd all have sworn that Melinda was going to win and the year before that it was Chris Daughtry out in front early. David forgetting the lyrics on a Beatles song was almost unforgiveable. Still, he is hugely talented and looks cute as a button on stage, ensuring that legions of teen-aged girls will vote for him over and over and over again.

2. David Cook-- I have a feeling he will fall prey to the Daughtry theorem which is, "rockers can't win." If Idol is largely about getting tens of thousands of kids to vote for you, being a "rocker" is not conducive to that goal as rock fans tend to be a little less conformist and therefore less likely to text and make dozens of phone calls just because a TV show urges them to. I dunno. David is extremely talented, no question about it, and I think he will have a big career regardless of what happens on Idol.

3. Brooke White-- She's the most talented of the women in my opinion and I think she will end up in the finals against Archuletta if the anti-rocker thing gets Cook eliminated. She has a beautiful voice and comes across as genuine. She's a tad older which may be a problem garnering the key teen vote, but I think she will be a player late in the game.

4. Jason Castro-- he's just so darn cute and genuine. Even moreso than Archuletta, I think Castro will have teeny-boppers swooning. His voice is not on a level with Archuletta, but he seems to be a talented musician and his folksy style when he plays the guitar will really win people over. I am not sure his voice is good enough to win it all, but he should last a while.

5. Michael Johns-- I just sense something false and arrogant about him and I think it will hurt him down the road. He's making poor song choices too, reaching for songs that are not easy to sing. I mean, "A Day In The Life"!??!!? Are you kidding me? That song is a nightmare to perform live and is the product of some amazing producing by Phil Spector. It was a really bad idea. I give him props for picking "Bohemian Rhapsody" and doing a nice job with it in the Hollywood round-- another really difficult song to pull off, but I think it gave him too much confidence. He needs to be in the bottom 3 some time soon to get some humility. Despite my listing him 5th, I think he can win this thing, which I am not sure is the case of Jason Castro or David Cook.

6. Everyone else-- Frankly, none of the rest of them are close to this top 5. Sure, one of them will probably slip in there (probably a woman), but I don't see any of the others are having a real shot at winning. They are just not charismatic enough nor are they good enough singers. Carly Smithson is sometimes great but she is not endearing to the audience. I think she's the best of the rest here. Chikezie is fun to watch and I enjoy his energy but he just is not that good a singer. Syesha is inconsistent and could have been gone last week. Kristy and Ramielle are my picks to be the next 2 off the show.

--Jason "to answer and earlier question, this is the first year they are allowed to play their own instruments and it has produced some amazing performances" Evans

Can somebody tell me what emo means? And why it applies to David Cook?

I agree with Simon that David Cook is just too smug. I, for one, find him annoying and sad truth, he's not good-looking enough to win this thing. Daughtry is much better looking and you need female fans to carry you through. IMHO David C. will not bring them in as much as Chris Daughtry did, and he only finished fourth, so.

No problems with the vote so far, although I was a little stunned that Carly was in the bottom three last week.

I was really upset by Simon's dismissal of her performance of "Blackbird" ... it's was obvious he didn't like or get the song. I'm sure his cutting remarks hurt Carly in the voting.

Let me say as a fan of the Beatles since 1963 that I consider "Blackbird" one of their most brilliant songs. By coincidence, as I was returning from Charlotte for the ACC Tournament, I listened most of the way to a retrospective on the 40th anniversay of the Beatles in India and as part of the show, they had an accoustal version of George playing and singing Blackbird solo. I almost had to pull off the highway and catch my breath.

Carly's performance was outstanding.

There's nobody on this year's show that bothers me as much as Sanjah did a year ago. Jason Castro gets on my nerves a little -- he's so obviously playing to the 13-year-old girls in the audience. It's funny that Jason sees him as genuine -- to me, he appears to be the phoniest one out there.

Cook's okay, but I don't get the lavish praise. And what's with the comb-over?

I agree that Kristy is the next to go. Cute, but where's the talent?

Hey Oly-- so who is your Final 2 or Final 3 right now? I agree the Cook does not have the pure voice of some of the others, but I think he is quite a performer and a better musician than many.

--Jason "eager to get down to the final 5, when I think it will be very competitive" Evans