DJariya

By djariya at 2012-04-11

Again,

2 Hours tonight

1 hour tomorrow

Tonight's theme:

Contemporary songs.

Here's the full set list of songs:

"You and I," Lady Gaga
"Stuttering," Jazmine Sullivan
"Didn't Know How Much I Loved You," Kellie Pickler
"Perfect," Pink
"Love the Way You Lie," Skylar Grey
"Give a Little More," Maroon 5
"Runaway Baby," Bruno Mars
"Somebody I Used to Know," Gotye
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Kelly Clarkson
"Don't You Wanna Stay," Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson

Sorry for those wanting a poll. I forgot to do it and clicked save.

mwbmis

I freely admit that I'm biased, but I distinctly remember Haley Reinhart singing You and I last year in top five week and killing it. I also remember both J-Lo and Randy completely ignoring her vocal and heavily criticizing her song selection with Randy going as far to actually say the song itself wasn't that good. Funny that didn't come up tonight. Elise gave a solid performance (I thought she was better in the duet), but she didn't measure up to Haley last year who got trashed for hers.

As for this year's cast, I'm still not really overwhelmed by anybody. Jessica can sing, and I like Phillip. Some weeks I like Elise; some weeks I can't stand Elise.

Heat

This week is a tough one.

I'm going to have to say that Elise Testone will be the bottom vote getter, and will get the save by the judges.

macontosh2000

I am having a real difficulty getting into this season. They seem to have a good group of 6 (dont like Hollie) but i dont love anybody like i did Haley last year. Part of my problem with this year is that there havnt been any real "idol" moments (for me anyway), everyone seems to be playing it safe and it doesnt help that the "judges" rave about the safe performances.

Phillip is probably my favorite and will probably win, which kind of ticks me off because all this show needs is another white guy with guitar winner.

And i do at times like Elise but her singing "You and I" last night just brought back bad memories of last year, of the judges hating Haley for picking a song they haven't heard of before!

astrochimp

I like Elise's voice but at times it doesn't work with the songs shes singing. I love "Somebody That I Used to Know" but her and Phillip's version of it was hard to listen to.

I guess I am out of touch with current music as I only knew that one and "You and I".

MikahC

Just goes to show you how tastes vary. I don't listen to the radio anymore so all I get of current music is essentially through shows like AI (or recommendations, or award shows). I've "basically" liked Phillip every week, but have never liked any of Elise's performances, not even the one everyone raved over. Which isn't the same as saying I think she's a bad singer. But I didn't know "Somebody That I Used To Know" and immediately after listening, it became the first AI performance I remember saving this season. As usual I went to Youtube to look up the original (Gotye) version, but I'll stick with the AI version.

This is why even though the talent changes and the formula gets a bit stale, I keep watching (and will continue to keep watching) AI. I don't care about judges commentary or anything else. I'm in it for the performances I connect with.

DJariya

I haven't been a huge fan of Skylar, mainly because I think she sounds the same every week. But, she was really solid on her solo and duet with Colton.

Jessica was good this week because I thought "Stuttering" really challenged her vocally.

Hollie wasn't bad, but I have a feeling she will be in the bottom yet again. Has anyone noticed how she goes in and out with the English accent? I know her parents are British, but I thought it was interesting the way she speaks during interviews.

TomOpus

Wow, talk about a surprise bottom 3. What the hell?

Good job, judges for the save

magiccmom

I dont mind the judges using the save, but I have a real problem with the beat down they gave America. Might as well send all the others home, they have declared their winner. The best singer, which I agree, she is, doesnt always win. I'm sure she was the victim of being so good, she was presumed safe, but I thought the judges crossed the line.

covenant

I'm calling shenanigans. This reeks of being manufactured drama.

TomOpus

I think they would've used it for any of the 3. Even Steven said they would be using it before they announced who was last. Plus they have to use it before the top 5 so now it's out of the way.

starman9000

I don't think the bottom 3 was too surprising. I guess you could swap Hollie out for any of those 3, but Phillip, Skylar, and I guess Colton, are clearly the favorites.

chowderhead

Jessica to me is a boring singer ... way too pageantry and way too many diva qualities. I was not surprised her having low support among those voting. The producers have been protecting her by giving her slot towards the end of the show. This time, she was third (and last in the duet) and ended up getting the lowest vote. Let's just get to the 5th straight WGWG winner already since the judges decided to also jump the gun with their save. She is Pia but without the robotic singing face.

DWilson

It was even discussed on on this board that they pretty much had to use "The Save" this week to maintain suspense and to keep it relevant. I was expecting something going into tonight's show, so I expect there's some little bit of trickery going on.

Heat

The surprise singer for me this week was Joshua Ledet - this is the first week when I thought that he did a great job.

As for the bottom three - yeah, that was a surprise but no surprise that they used the save. Personally, I don't care for Jessica's style, like chowderhead said - too pageantry and way too many diva qualities.

Now the question is whether they will send one or two home next week.

MikahC

Except now that they've used the save, they have no influence other than their commentary. At the end of the day, the judges can pimp all they want to, but the problem with voting is people get to vote however they want for whatever reasons they want. And that's why DeAndre went home no matter how much Jennifer pimped him. It's also why Jessica was in danger of going home.

In my dreams, Steven retires from AI after this season. His commentary is almost always painful to listen to. Tonight, he completely spoiled what little surprise there was about what the judges would do. Seeing Ryan try to build suspense after he'd already spilled the beans was just silly.

I think Joshu's a good singer, but I always find myself wondering what type of record he'd put out. Whatever it'd be, I can't see myself listening to it. And I can't see him putting out a music video that'd be even remotely interesting.

I like Jessica like I like Joshua, but I don't know how much experience she has with singing songs where there's no template. She's a great singer, but I don't know yet if she's a great artist. If she won AI and people came to her and said, "OK, here are the songs for your CD," I have no idea what she'd come up with. Singing already popular songs is a far cry from taking something unknown and making it popular. Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson (and Daughtry) have done a good job with it, but most of the rest have struggled.

I'm pretty sure 2 go home, though with all the attempts to make sure everyone understand how the save worked, I'm surprised Ryan didn't mention it.

mwbmis

I would figure only one b/c they lost a week when that one guy went home early b/c of his legal issues. The show has to stay on schedule.

TerryW

This is exactly what I predicted last week.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/11182597-post23.html

It played out so phony. Bad acting all around. Waste of an hour. They should've just sent Hollie home.

DWilson

So next week we'll have Jessica's comeback, a standing ovation for Colton, and Hollie continuing as The Judges' pinata...

Charlie Goose

I think the voters realize that what the judges say now is useless, and has been since Simon left. Put Jimmy in as a judge next year.
I see the final two as Phil and Skylar.

SubZeri

I haven't ever watched AI before, and hadn't heard of this song until Wednesday. I was watching a soccer game on dvr the other night and when I was finished, I went back to live tv, and AI was on. A few minutes later, the 2 singers performed "STIUTK" and I thought what a really great song it was, so I recorded it to watch again later.

Now that I've heard the brilliant original like 200 times since then, I went back after work yesterday and re-watched the AI version. Now it's clear that the AI version is poor at best compared to the original. Neither of their voices, especially the guy, fit the song at all. I know they are probably supposed to make the songs "their own", but the way they re-edited the song's sequence, combined with their voices, totally stripped the song of all the elements that empower the original.

Of course, my singing voice would frighten zombies, so what do I know...

TerryW

Either Hollie or Elise go next then the other. Then it's either Colton or Skylar then the other. The final three are Phillip, Jessica and Joshua with Phillip going out third. Jessica wins. Her voice and talent is beyond this show.

arminius

And then she will join the majority of idol winners and never be heard from again except in some cameos on future AI shows. She has the stage presence of a shrubbery.

starman9000

I'd be shocked if either Jessica or Joshua were in the final two.

Charlie Goose

If there are two people being eliminated next week, I say it's Jessica and Elise.

Calling the audience stupid for not voting for Jessica is going to make the audience not vote for Jessica.