Yes Ross, it was me that interjected the "R" word because that is how I read the context of the post and I stand by my position on it.
I hear ya, it's just that the word "racism" was used in her reply to my post, and I didn't feel I accused the poster of racism, just of calling the voting racist and intolerant. Felt I needed to clarify.
Yeah, back to the show...
I am soooo done with Amber. I don't even think it is really anything about her because she does have a good voice. I think the over-the-top pimping by the judges and what appears to be a concerted effort by the producers to make her win. Am I wrong in wanting to slap Iovine when he called her 'current' after she has done nothing but Whitney and Celine for the entire show. Maybe she is getting bad guidance with her song choices but if one wants to be current on either the pop or R&B charts then one needs to do current material and not stuff for the geriatric generation. It also appears to me that she has NO personality on stage.
Speaking of Amber, I was surprised Keith Urban made a joke out of the phrase, "Amber alert," right after what happened here in Boston. The fact that he didn't make the connection in his mind made me question his good sense.
Anyhow, okay, you guys are right, with her song choices (and her delivery) Amber is not current. Not that I care if people are current, or a throwback - if they're any good. But why people said she was current...
I think Idol has really shot itself in the foot. They stacked the deck with all these girls, and those weak guys, and all five girls in the finals made it to Top 5. I doubt Idol actually expected that.
Anyhow, they have these girls and most of them like to sing boring ballads, and they have to find one that they can market, because one is going to win, and I think that's why they're trying to say Amber is current. Because maybe overall there is something young and fresh there, that actually might somehow appeal to pop DJs and kids. I don't know. I think this is obvious but nobody really agrees with me. So, no, she's not current, but in the time honored Idol tradition, they think if they say it enough, people will believe it.
She has no personality onstage, I agree - but more on that, later.
Kree has never really done anything for me. I had some glimmer of hope for her early thinking she might have some Janis Joplin qualities then she did a Joplin song and instead of belting it out filled with raw emotion she crooned her way through it lifelessly like she seems to do with all her songs. I find her to be sharp on some notes in every performance and I just don't see any drive or star-quality about her. She too has been heavily overrated by the judges.
Back when Truman ran against Tom Dewey, Teddy Roosevelt's daughter, Alice Longworth, a Republican like Dewey, said that he "looked like the groom on a wedding cake." It so perfectly captured something about Dewey's look and demeanor that it did him damage. There's a comment about Kree - someone said she's "a great backup singer." I can't forget it. She doesn't have a star persona. The stage seems to swallow her. I start to look at the band and backup singers when she's onstage, because she's boring. She seems to have noticeably less energy than them. It's a problem, at least in this type of competition.
Not to count her out, because there are quiet performers, like Julie London, who I just mentioned. Never seemed to break a sweat, even though she made 32 albums, and later starred on "Emergency!" People love Kree so maybe she doesn't need to take the stage and own it.
I find her to be sharp on some notes in every performance
I don't know sharp from flat, but as I said in another post, I hear the "off" notes a lot.
I do like Candice. She is definitely the most mature and controlled voice in the competition and over the last few weeks she has really shown a 'Casey Abrams cool' kind of thing, a little jazzy and smooth if you get what I mean. Although they keep calling her a gospel singer I don't see it and would say she is almost a combo of Aretha & Ella Fitzgerald. I am not sure if she has the marketable persona or looks that Interscope is wanting but I would probably buy her album.
I probably wouldn't buy her album but I agree she's good, and once she got away from typical, uninteresting belting, she seemed a lot better. At least this is a young chick who listens to a variety of music and seems to care about music, not just one of these divas who makes it all about them, like a song is just a thing to sing to, rather than to sing. I used to think that about her, but I changed my mind. I give any Idol contestant who can change my mind about them a lot of credit, really a lot.
I don't see much Ella in her, though I wish one of these Idol contestants some day could really swing. It doesn't seem to come with the generation. Like I said she reminds me of Della Reese for some reason, though Della was like, a baritone. lol
Angie is, to me anyway, the class of the field as an artist. She may not be quite the singer that Candice or Amber is but she is way beyond all of them in overall musical talent and marketability. I have found her to have a desire to win and a passion in all her songs that comes across to the audience in a positive way. The big benefit for her is the songwriting although that might be a detriment when it comes to the producers & Interscope as she would not be quite as malleable as the others, I mean she will want to do her own material where the rest will be happy to be handed lyrics and told to sing to the melody played to them. It should be noted that she is also quite the hottie and if I were 20 years younger.....:wink:
I grew up going to the beach in her hometown. Maybe I knew her mother. lol ...That made me feel old.
Um, sorry, I don't dig this girl, she just isn't my type, musically, and maybe not personality-wise. I said I was going to mention personality later, so here's the thing - she has enough "personality" for all four of them. She's too hyper! As a singer, I just don't think she's a good interpreter of songs. She has lungs, she can sing, she can wow the audience with her dramatic singing...but where's the honesty, the reality? I don't feel she deeply understands the material. Not that that's new, on Idol, but I need that. Just be real, true, honest. I really think she needs to give a little LESS. Perform less, "be" more.
Judges? Mariah with her lady act is absurd, she was dropping F bombs during auditions and talking about the school of hard knocks being her only school. Now she's Greer Garson. I don't get it. Keith had me until his stupid "Amber alert" joke. Sometimes a little thing can make you question someone's judgement a lot. Randy - well. It's not worth it. And Nicki - I don't agree with her much but I mostly enjoy her interacting with the contestants and some of the stuff she says.
