The "Official" American Idol Thread

[Menudo]

Even though my favorite, and, in my opinion, the best overall artist went home last week, I've still really enjoyed this season. I think it was deep with talent, and I think the final three are all very good. I thought they all did very well last night too. I think that Haley would benefit the most from winning, as I believe that Lauren and Scotty are going to have long, successful country music careers. Here are my rankings from last night, with my overall rankings in parenthesis.

 

1. Haley Reinhart (1) - Haley was my top of the remaining throughout the season, and she definitely held that spot for me. I think all three were great, but, I enjoyed Haley the most. I loved the guts she showed in doing Zeppelin for her 1st song. I like how she handled her fall. She also has a sexiness in her voice that goes well with her look.

 

2. Scotty McCreery (2) - This was close between Scotty & Lauren, as I think they both had good nights. I thought Scotty stayed away from the theatrics tonight, and when he does that, I really enjoy his voice. I really enjoyed all three of his songs.

 

3. Lauren Alaina (3) - She has really improved and gained confidence, and I would be fine with her making the final, even though I rank her 3rd. She seems very genuine and she does have a great voice. I think she sometimes rushes the song a bit, which is likely due to nerves.

 

My choice for finalists: Haley & Scotty

Who I think will be finalists: Haley & Lauren

[Caveman_Nick]

Funny thing I realized about this season: It's like this year's NFL Draft. Short on talent at the top end, but deep on "startable" talent.

 

I look at the finalists and think that they are decent, but now that we are down towards the end I am not sure anyone left is quite as good as Crystal Bowersox or Adam Lambert.

[Brent]

Funny thing I realized about this season: It's like this year's NFL Draft. Short on talent at the top end, but deep on "startable" talent.

 

I look at the finalists and think that they are decent, but now that we are down towards the end I am not sure anyone left is quite as good as Crystal Bowersox or Adam Lambert.

 

 

 

Those 2 sucked.

 

Ive been a Haley fan since the beginning. I think she will sell the most records, and Scotty will fizzle as a country singer a year from now.

 

I also like Lauren, and hope the girls make the final, but I cant see Scotty not making it at this point, his momentum is too strong right now. +

 

So my prediction Lauren goes home tonight.

[DMD]

I'd disagree - the Adam Lambert-ish guy left last week. Scotty will be in country music without a doubt and will likely win Idol thanks to teenage girls texting votes. Lauren has a wonderful voice but she'll need some good written songs to stand out from the glut of young female CW singers. I think Haley goes home this week though she is strongly the favorite of my wife and me. I am not sure I have heard anyone sing with that sexy of a voice. I mean when she sings a song, she should end up thrown down on a bed. She's got the only unique thing of the remaining people and the only one that when you heard her on the radio, you would instantly know that is her.

[Brent]

I'd disagree - the Adam Lambert-ish guy left last week. Scotty will be in country music without a doubt and will likely win Idol thanks to teenage girls texting votes. Lauren has a wonderful voice but she'll need some good written songs to stand out from the glut of young female CW singers. I think Haley goes home this week though she is strongly the favorite of my wife and me. I am not sure I have heard anyone sing with that sexy of a voice. I mean when she sings a song, she should end up thrown down on a bed. She's got the only unique thing of the remaining people and the only one that when you heard her on the radio, you would instantly know that is her.

 

 

Hey DMD, tell us what you really think.

 

 

Nothing would surprise me at this point. I hope Haley wins, but I could easily see Scotty winning. I just can't see Lauren winning, which is why I think she goes home tonight.

Edited May 19, 2011 by Brent

[Big F'n Dave]

I am not sure I have heard anyone sing with that sexy of a voice. I mean when she sings a song, she should end up thrown down on a bed.

 

Werd. Her Zep cover last night made my pants exceptionally tight.

[Azazello1313]

haley all the way for me right now. her performance of the led zep song was one of the two or three best things this season, and she blew the doors off the alanis morissette choruses. the stevie nicks thing was a little weird with the wind and the arrangement got lame during the upbeat section, but she did some really great things vocally in that one as well. haley had a fantastic week IMO.

 

scotty will have a great career, and he does very well pretty much every week.

 

lauren....I'm sorry but w.t.f is going on here? she gets completely lost in the middle of a song, having no f'n clue where her note is (and it's not like she was going a capella into that chord change....she had a whole measure of guitar chords in the new key to help her find the right pitch), and the judges play it up as a positive? plus, she rushed the tempo like crazy through the solo break section of that song. it was a copmplete train wreck, and you could tell she knew it....and yet the judges STILL blew smoke up her ass. she was up there thinking, "really? you guys are telling me that was good? oooook." simon woulda tore that weak-ass chit apart.

 

the judges are just plain terrible at this point. j-lo clearly hates haley for some reason...there's lots of damning with faint praise, and lots of patronizing comments. and then she gushes when lauren gets up and demonstrates a fraction of the talent.

[The Irish Doggy]

Really enjoyed Haley's Zeppelin What is and what Should Never Be and I thought it was incredibly ballsy to go for it. I'm not sure today's younger audience knows that song very well if at all, but the older ones probably loved it. Rhiannon was pretty good, but the wind machine was overdone. I wish she had not done You oughta know because you can't do the real lyrics on a family show. "Go out with you to a theater" just sounds dumb given the angry tone of the song. Still my favorite performer overall of the night.

 

Scotty has grown on me a bit for a country boy. He's blessed with that stereotypical country voice, so I have no doubt he will have a career. I just won't be buying any of his music.

 

Lauren lacks the maturity to win this thing IMO. Her nerves seem to be showing through more each week, and I would have expected the opposite. I think she's sort of caught up in the excitement and wants to win, but that takes away from her singing because she can't keep her emotions under control. Too bad she didn't season another 2 years before coming on idol, because she has a voice that can win it. Instead, my gut says she is going home.

 

Haley and Scotty for the final. I don't see it as a slam dunk for either.

[billay]

I agree with most of the Haley sentiments. AI has been on the air for 10 years now. That's a lot of songs, so its pretty significant when somebody sings something that's never been done on idol before. I thought the Zeppelin cover was fantastic, and a very gutsy call. Probably her parents' influence, but that's cool. I thought her dad did a nice job as well. I thought Rhiannon was really a tough choice. I see why Jimmy picked it for her, but its a really difficult song to sing, and if you're not a Stevie Nicks fan, it could be completely lost on you. I would have enjoyed Hailey singing something a little more sultry, like an Amy Winehouse or

] tune. I have somewhat the same complaints about You Oughta Know. Again, a very difficult song to sing, and the cadence gave Hailey some trouble. I agree that she killed the chorus, but it strikes me as a little inconsistent that the judges loved it so much, but palled her on the Michael Jackson tune a week or so ago. "I felt like you were screaming at me" Well, that's the song, Randy. Alanis Morrisette was screaming at you too. Perhaps

have been a better choice? and a little less closely identified with the artist.

 

I thought Lauren had her best night of the season last night, as her songs were all well suited to her. She appeared to have more confidence last night as a result. I like her, and I think she's talented, just still a little to young at this point to be able to excel on such a big stage.

 

Scotty has peaked IMO. He delivers a solid performance each week (with the exception of "Younglood" ), but we've seen the best he has to offer. I think he will have a solid career as a country artist.

Edited May 19, 2011 by billay

[Menudo]

haley all the way for me right now. her performance of the led zep song was one of the two or three best things this season, and she blew the doors off the alanis morissette choruses. the stevie nicks thing was a little weird with the wind and the arrangement got lame during the upbeat section, but she did some really great things vocally in that one as well. haley had a fantastic week IMO.

 

scotty will have a great career, and he does very well pretty much every week.

 

lauren....I'm sorry but w.t.f is going on here? she gets completely lost in the middle of a song, having no f'n clue where her note is (and it's not like she was going a capella into that chord change....she had a whole measure of guitar chords in the new key to help her find the right pitch), and the judges play it up as a positive? plus, she rushed the tempo like crazy through the solo break section of that song. it was a copmplete train wreck, and you could tell she knew it....and yet the judges STILL blew smoke up her ass. she was up there thinking, "really? you guys are telling me that was good? oooook." simon woulda tore that weak-ass chit apart.

 

the judges are just plain terrible at this point. j-lo clearly hates haley for some reason...there's lots of damning with faint praise, and lots of patronizing comments. and then she gushes when lauren gets up and demonstrates a fraction of the talent.

 

They do miss Simon, but, he isn't coming back. I really think that Jimmy Ivine guy would be perfect. He is tough on them at times.

[The Irish Doggy]

They do miss Simon, but, he isn't coming back. I really think that Jimmy Ivine guy would be perfect. He is tough on them at times.

 

A wet noodle would seem tougher compared to the current judges.

[rajncajn]

My cousin Lauren tried out in New Orleans & was told she sounded too much like Kelly Clarkson. I didn't know that was a bad thing. She tried out once before & they told her that they were looking for a male country singer. The girl is a ditz, but she's got pipes way better than a lot of the one's they let through & she has a ton of stage experience being a singer in a professional cover band.

 

ETA: She moved to New York to try out Broadway so the video they have is with their replacement singer, but all the photo's still have her in the band.

My wife thinks the fix is on now & says she won't watch it next year.

[muck]

Who goes home?

 

Lauren

[borge007]

Scotty will win this whole thing. Toss-up who goes home between Lauren and Haley.

[Skippy]

I'm in agreement with most of you on Haley. She was great last night. I mean GREAT! The Zepplin song was a hugh hit for me but I worry that the teeny bopppers won't recognize it. Now the Fleetwood Mac song was pretty solid but that was no prize as a song choice from Jimmy Iovine if you ask me. I still very much liked it but plenty of other songs would have been a better choice, IMHO. Now for the Atlanis song, they ruined it with the "go into a theater with you" change and I think it was very hard to rebound off of that. Once again I honestly think sabotage was on the minds of the Judges picking that song for her. Now having said all that, she overcame it all. Falling, two very difficult songs, and still made me rub one out.

 

Creepy is good and I am going to admit it. Last night he did well and he is safe in my opinion.

 

Lauren was not terrible but she was not up to the level of Haley and Creepy.

 

Now this is how I am thinking this one. County voters will have to split on the Lauren and Creepy vote giving him the nod. James had a lot of followers and now those votes are up for grabs. I don't see people like me that really liked James giving any votes to county singers. I think that keeps Haley and Creepy safe by default.

 

Next week will be hard as it is just going to be Country votes vs Rock/Pop votes.

[WJW]

Now this is how I am thinking this one. County voters will have to split on the Lauren and Creepy vote giving him the nod. James had a lot of followers and now those votes are up for grabs. I don't see people like me that really liked James giving any votes to county singers. I think that keeps Haley and Creepy safe by default.

 

Exactly... When trying to figure out who's going home you gotta look at how the vote will likely go, not who you personally like. Scotty had a very solid night and did three "in his wheel house" country songs. He'll pull plenty of the country vote from Lauren. James' votes will definitely swing Haley's way for the most part. It's not a coincidence she did three rock songs last night. Given that, I could see Haley making the finale with Scotty. I'm pretty sure that's the show's preference. But you never know. My bet is the Lauren/Haley vote will be very close.

 

Scotty's been a lock for the title since the final 13 started. Very hard to beat the country/young girl voting block. Besides, he's pretty darn good and will likely have a very successful career.

[Jackass]

I'd like to see haley do this song if she's in the final with Scotty

 

 

[Skippy]

I hate this show!

[DMD]

Honestly, this is the first time in ten years I really do not care about the final. They are both going to sing Country songs and Scotty is going to win it handily. But I am looking forward to Haley releasing an album probably next year.

[muck]

Haley got knocked out?

 

...huge surprise...

 

Did Scotty or Lauren sweat it out with Haley? Who got a reprieve first?

 

...and I could care less...and have felt that way for quite some time...will probably watch Myth Busters with my son while everyone else hovers around the idiot box watching the finals...

[Skippy]

Scotty was told first as that was pretty obvious that he was the better of the two country in my opinion. Then there was only a small amount of drama before the BS of sending Haley off.

 

James, Pia, and Haley in that order would have been my top three. I don't know, maybe James, Haley, Pia but they were my best.

[MojoMan]

I only read a couple of pages so this might have been discussed but I cannot believe that after 12 weeks or whatever, that fat pig Lauren Alaina has not gotten down to a decent weight.

 

At age 16, it should not be difficult to get most of the bulk out of that freakin' Honda and those thunder thighs.

 

Rant over.

[Jackass]

i do believe an earlier poster who had evidence that idol was trying to get a country singer. I think they're the easiest to market to idol's audience. It did seem that judges may have sandbagged Haley at times; and those songs they chose for her were much harder than anything scotty or lauren had to sing.

[borge007]

Unfortunately, Idol, for several years, is not who is the best singer, but who is the most popular. Voting needs to be changed so eah voter can have only one vote.

[DMD]

I think they are looking at changing the voting next season. But their problem is that they so love to claim "72 million votes" that I doubt they will. And the voting will always be predominantly teen-aged girls, especially in the weeks leading up to the final show. I think allowing text votes is the biggest problem and they never say who gets how many votes or how many come in as texts instead of calls. I think Fox loves the big vote totals so much they probably won't change it.

 

But at least the show does give huge exposure too all 12 singers that they never had so Pia, James and Haley all have a chance at a career that they might have not otherwise had. I'd buy a CD by Haley.