DJariya

By djariya at 2011-09-13

2 Hours Tonight

1 Hour Results show Tomorrow

Remaining Contestants:

Girls:
Drew
Melanie Amaro
Rachel Crow

Groups:
The Stereo Hogzz
Itensity
Lakoda Rayne

Over 30:
Josh Krajcik
LeRoy Bell
Stacy Francis

Boys:
Astro
Chris Rene
Marcus Canty

DJariya

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/fox-...second-season/

Renewed today by FOX for a 2nd season

covenant

Supposedly Dexter Heygood wanted off which is why he was let go.
http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-he...-deal-was-made

riiiight. I can understand him wanting to sing within his comfort zone (rock). But the show is all about marketabllity and his cover artist act isn't. I don't care how spot on his James Brown/Mick Jagger imitation is.

Eddie W

Yuck. What a terrible show this has become. One thing I noticed tonight that sets American Idol apart from shows like this & The Voice is how much different it is when the performers are with a live band (as on Idol) instead of a backing track & dancers. Especially when it's so over produced and over choreographed as it is here.

Even the ones I really liked at first are so buried behind production and gloss that it's hard to remember what I liked about them.

DJariya

Here are my thoughts from tonight's 2 hours:

The Girls:

Absolutely loved Melanie Amaro. IMO, she is the one to beat. Simon loves Pop divas and you can tell he really wants Melanie to succeed. Desperado was a solid song choice.

Rachel Crow was cute, yet corny like last week.

I like Drew, but I wasn't as impressed as the judges. Hated her clothes.

The Groups:

Stereo Hogzz: They were good, but the production was way over the top.

Itensity: Way too Disney Channel for my tastes.

Lakoda Rayne: The seasons theme was kind of corny, but the girls looked great. One of the girls, Dani, has really beautiful blue eyes. I can help but be enchanted everytime I see her. Their harmonizing started out shaky, but got better as the song progressed. They sort of lack identity as to whether they are Pop or a Country group.

Over 30's:

LeRoy Bell: He was good, but starts off his songs way too slow. I think it's tough for him to gain momentum. After listening to his voice a few times he has some similarity to Kenny Rogers in tone. I don't think Nicole is really doing him justice. He needs an up tempo song next time.

Josh Krajcik: I like the guy and somehow he made the song work. I wasn't as much in love with it as the judges though.

Stacy Francis: Solid gospel performance, but I think she lacks identity as a performer.

The Boys:

Astro: Not a fan, but he was probably the best of the guys.

Chris Rene: Ridiculous setup, especially with the fire. I honestly don't think his vocals are strong enough to get him far.

Marcus Canty: I like him, but I wasn't impressed with his Bobby Brown Karaoke performance.

nightwing82

Completely underwhelmed by all the talent they have in the top 12.

I assume Melanie Amaro will win... but I don't think she has the wow factor. They are missing someone with that certain spark (ie. an X-Factor) like Kelly Clarkson. Hopefully they find some better people next season.

MikahC

I'm not sure how it happened, but i went from thinking The X Factor had strong talent to thinking most of the talent is weak. I really only care about Melanie and Josh. I can see why folks don't like Astro, but there's something entertaining about him to me. Not in a "he should win" sort of way, but I do like watching him perform... even when he did "Jump, Jump". He's energetic, creative, and has backing tracks that make you move. I liked Chris Rene's audition, but his voice does get weak at times.

PerezHilton apparently has a bone to pick with Stacy Francis.
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00044924.html
http://www.cinemablend.com/televisio...ast-36600.html

Now to watch Wednesday night's episode...

DRG

Astro's an interesting one. I'm impressed that he writes his own verses, and I like that he uses the established song as more of a 'sample' rather than doing a straight cover (which would be lame in this setting). I just wish LA would be more adventurous in picking backing tracks for him. Instead of going off of 20 year old hip hop tracks, why not have him rapping over something more unexpected?

A pop-country hybrid sound could actually be a good thing for Lakoda Rayne, but they're doing it wrong. They should be going for a girl group Taylor Swift type vibe, where she straddles both genres and somehow seems like a good fit for both. Instead of trying to marry the sensibilities of the two styles, they have been sort of watering down the two genres until they've reached a nondescript common denominator. I'm a fan of theirs, but they have so much more potential.

Holydoc

I am hating on Astro. I do not like the fact that they force every other contestant to sing someone else's songs but allow him to write his own lyrics. If they would let the other contestants write their own songs (i.e., Chris Rene, Drew, etc.) you would have a whole different competition. Either they need to make Astro compete like the rest or let the rest have the freedom to write their own vocals like Astro.

Pizza

Astro comes across like a gimmick. He's a cute kid and all but he's sort of corny.
I really like Drew and I'm rooting for her. I'm confused how Simon cut Melanie Amaro and now she's considered a top contender.
I really like Josh Krajcik but wasn't wowed by him this week. Nicole needs to stop giving the guys chick songs. Let the men be men. They need to dump Nicole and that awful host. Or, just give Nicole the hosting duties back and return Cheryl Cole.

DJariya

Well, as Simon has said numerous times, he realized he screwed up initially passing on Melanie. He just didn't have enough spots and then made the exception because of how talented she is.

Steve Jones doesn't bother me at all as the host. I think he does his job and does it well.

Pizza

He definitely screwed up judging by how everyone are falling over themselves over this singer. She should have been a more obvious choice from the pack no matter the number of spots. It'll be funny if she takes it. Good for her if she does.

DJariya

I did vote last night. I voted for Melanie, Lakoda Rayne, Leroy and Stacy.

rkndkn

I find this batch incredibly boring -- none of them sing my kind of music at all. I'm picking Marcus to go home tonight.

DJariya

Anbd what would be your kind of music?

They are all performing Pop, Country and R&B music...not necessarily from this decade. All the songs they sang last night were easily Top 20 hits during their times.

MikahC

I've watched the episode now and I have to say, Stacy Francis pulled me back in regardless of her back story. Just going on singing chops, she's a powerhouse, and like LA, I REALLY appreciate that she has stopped with the waterworks and runny make up. My favorites were (in order) Stacy, Josh, Melanie and Astro, though Astro is basically in his own category for me. I doubt my top 3 will change from week to week. I hope the top 3 are (in order) Melanie, Josh, Stacy.

We don't know if the other artists can sing original songs, but I see no way they'd be able to "come up with" original songs (don't forget that includes music too) in the time they have. Letting the others try to come up with original material would likely end up being a detriment. Right now, they're singing hit songs (whether we like them or not). Astro's situation is unique and I'm glad the show is allowing for it.

The internet is full of people who hate hip-hop and rap, so I'd never expect everyone to like Astro, but he's not just a corny cute kid. He's amazing at what he does, especially considering his age. If you really think he's not good at what he does, I'd need to hear who you like as a rapper before I can take that seriously, because I'm inclined to believe you just don't like rap.

Also, yes these songs were hits at the time they were current, but really? Almost everything seems to be from pre 2000. Can they not get ANYTHING more current? For instance, Astro is from Brooklyn and can't do that Jay-Z/Alicia Keys song (Empire State of Mind)? That'd rock. In fact, they should let him do it with Melanie singing the Alicia Keys part

I continue to like some things about this show (opened up ages, groups, etc.) but not so much others. Hopefully they will continue to refind it based on what works.

andy434343

I really enjoy Josh and drew. I can see how astro is talented, but I don't want to hear someone rapping who sounds like a 14 year old kid. Drew is 14 I believe as well, but she does not sound like a kid singing, astro does......which makes me not care for him as much.

lordwow

Are you kidding me?

Astro

This show is a joke. Is every group song prerecorded? The chorus portions of all the songs appear to be, which makes me wonder if everything else is.

DJariya

to Melanie, LeRoy, Stacy and Lakoda Rayne moving on.



Intensity. See you on The Disney Channel. I think ultimately the kiddie factor hurt them, which is one of the reasons why I can't see Rachel Crow winning this either.

If they don't make it as a group, I think the Asian girl has a future in the business. She's got a great voice or better yet, maybe she can audition for The Voice.

I do like that this show gave the judges the final say in who goes home and lowest votes would be the last determining factor.

nightwing82

I think its because on X-Factor they have more production with background vocal tracks, etc. during the performances.

The group number (where all 12 contestants sang together) was entirely lip-synched, but they do that on Idol as well.

DRG

Intensity just had too many members to work on this sort of platform. Half of them never even got a single line of a solo, even though the group was made of of singers who almost made the cut on their individual talents.

RoboDad

I believe you mean "where all 11 contestants sang together," because with the exception of his (thankfully brief) rap solo, Astro was just standing around looking stupid. Why he is in the competition at all makes no sense. All we end up doing is fast-forwarding through his performances, and even through the judges comments.

rkndkn

My kind of music is hard rock. I enjoyed artists like James Durbin, Chris Daughtry or Bo Bice on previous competition shows (which is about as close as I can get). "Rockstar" was exactly the type of show I liked. I was hoping for at least a "light" rocker on "X Factor", but they are apparently catering to other genres.

DWilson

I don't see Rachel Crow winning this either, but I do see her setting up at least a brief career on one of the Disney Channels; they love "brassy" kids who can sing a little.

Of course, I could be wrong and friggin' "Astro" will get a career...