since i never watch the show and i don't want to weed thru all 5 pages of this thread i'll just ask my question and be gone. i did watch 1/2 of the show last night due to nothing else being on. why was everyone surprised about ruben? i realize that he must be good or else he would have been gone by now, however, what i saw last night wasn't fabulous.

IMO the county singer should have left but it didn't surprise me one bit that the big guy was in the bottom 2. this is a contest for the 'american idol' and he doesn't quite fit the criteria that our [sarcasm]wonderful[/sarcasm] recording industry has created. remember all those news stories about simon blasting the 2 overweight girls about not fitting the image, i think the same is happening here but instead it's the public whos making the decision. why is everyone, especially simon, so surprised? i guess since he's a guy weight doesn't play a part!

People were surprised in part because Ruben's been consistently one of the better performers from the group and in (probably larger) part because Josh has been consistently one of the worst.

Your other argument holds no weight (rimshot) as far as I'm concerned. There are 4 contestants left in this competition, and two of them are quite big in the weight department. Had I a farm, I'd bet it that Josh is the next to go, and then 2/3 of the remaining contestants will be overweight and minorities. The complaints about prejudice strike me as incredibly hollow.

das

I believe the brouhaha is over the fact that Ruben was voted (or lack thereof) one of the bottom two singers this week, when the general consensus—certainly around these forums—is that Josh has performed worse. During the course of the contest—and certainly during the last few weeks—Ruben has performed much better than Josh.As a matter of fact, early in the season, when American Idol changed venue to its current location, Simon did make a point about Josh's weight. However, Simon hasn't been so bold to make similar comments to Ruben.

Regardless, the point of this is not whether Josh or Ruben is the American Idol but rather, I think Ruben performed better this week than Josh did and that opinion seems to be shared by many others.

I just remembered that right after I gasped at Ruben's entrance into the bottom two I suddenly laughed, in a cruel and bizarre way, at Simon. His reaction was part disbelief that Ruben was standing there with Trenyce and part horror that he may, in fact, end up the producer of Josh's first album and promoter of the movie "From Josh to Clay."

i'm totally with you on that. after what i saw last night i think the country singer should have gone and i think he was very lucky to stay. don't think it'll happen again. but as for my argument not holding any weight, this is not my argument. i'm just pointing out what has been done or said previously and what the typical voters have been programmed to accept in the industry. i don't think it's right to reward on good looks or on a practically impossible physique instead of talent, i'm just saying that it happens every day and simon definitely showed it in the early stages.

On a side not I read the other day that Simon was the highest paid person in the UK last year. 80 million dollars. That blows my mind.

I just read this at EW's web site:

HEAVY DUTY Gracin's sudden weight gain may be medical


Maybe we've all been too hard on Joshua Gracin, the countrified Marine who's a favorite to get the boot on next Tuesday's ''American Idol.'' Though no one's arguing with Simon Cowell's assessment that Gracin's ''Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye'' was downright ''dreary,'' EW.com has learned that his sluggish performance may have less to do with his talent and more to do with a medical condition. ''While he's been here, he's actually had a thyroid problem,'' ''Idol'' stylist Miles Siggins tells EW.com. ''He's been putting on weight because of that, and it's been a shock to him to be going up in size.'' A Fox spokesperson declined to comment.

Though we don't know Gracin's official diagnosis, the singer's weight gain (Cowell's catty comments about his pudge inspired Gracin to do push-ups on stage) suggests he may suffer from hypothyroidism. According to the American Thyroid Association, symptoms of the condition also include sluggishness, low energy, forgetfulness, and depression. Most often hypothyroidism is caused by a patient's immune system attacking the thyroid, but it can also be the result of inflammation brought on by a viral infection or a problem with the pituitary gland.

Though the disease has no cure (viral hypothyroidism is the exception), it can be treated, usually with oral doses of synthetic hormones. Once under control, all symptoms of the disease should disappear.

Gracin's thyroid problems may be dragging down his ''Idol'' performances, but they shouldn't affect his ability to go back to his tough-guy day job when the time comes. ''Hypothetically, if I developed a thyroid problem and could continue to function as a Marine, that's fine,'' says Marine Corps spokesperson Shawn Turner. Once he gets his vim and vigor back, Gracin, the king of the one-armed push-ups, should have no problem meeting the Marine's minimum standard of physical fitness: a 3-mile run in under 28 minutes, three pull-ups, and 60 crunches.

Where Gracin could get into trouble is at the weigh-in. Carrying even ten extra pounds sends a Marine into remedial fitness training. ''But if it's determined that medical conditions are causing the person to be overweight, they will be dealt with by the medical community,'' says Turner. Ailing Marines are put on limited duty for six months to seek medical attention. After that term, if they still can't meet the minimum requirements, they may be processed for a medical discharge.

But for now Josh has other things to worry about, such as hiding his extra pounds from the cameras. ''I took him to Diesel one day and he tried on a black shirt that was $90,'' says Siggins. ''He said, ‘The shirts at Express are only $25!' but [when he tried it on] he said, ‘Wow, it makes me look so thin!''' C'mon Josh, we all know black is slimming. Why else would Simon wear so much of it?

Pity vote? Health problems or no should not be a reason to vote for Josh.

Getting back to votes. The producers need to disallow all multiple votes from the same phone. I'm assuming, I believe, correctly that many little teens dial many times for their favorites or utilize some program to autodial. If they would use a system to prevent this, the voting would be fairer. I know such phone systems do exist. I mean you don't get to vote for a president more than once. Besides, it would save TPTB a whole lot of money in 800 calls.

But is that a real diagnosis for Josh or the opinion of the AI stylist? What sort of medical degree does he/she have? The information about hypothyroidism is correct but they say in the article that they don't know his official diagnosis so what's the point of printing an article like that?

Was it me, or did Carmen's face clear up over the week away from all of the AI hoopla?

I miss Julia's rack being on display on a weekly basis.

When I was in Montreal last weekend on Cresent street I saw a van with what I thought was the "American Idol" logo on it.
At closer look it was "Canadian Idol", so I'm sure you'll get your chance soon!
I haven't seen anything else on that, have you?

http://www.ctv.ca/generic/WebSpecial...l/default.html

What has always puzzled me is the contestant selection. Do they really mean to tell me that they cannot find 30 or so young singers who sing in tune all the time?

I have to laugh every time a judge gives the comment "it was a little pitchy." Singing in tune is a pre-requisite to being a singer, it is inexcusable and unprofessional to sing out of tune on stage if you are an aspiring singer, or much less want to be an "American Idol." There are literally 10,000's of music students in the country who can sing in tune. Having these "wannabees" who are "pitchy" sometimes is just plain riduculous. The contest shouldn't be about singing in tune, as this should be a given, it should be about delivery, stage presence, quality of the voice, etc.

Don't get me wrong, there were a few last season and this season who can really sing. But most of them NEVER had a chance - it's really sad to see their families holding up posters and acting "shocked" when they get cut.

I actually feel bad for Carman. They made her think she has a chance in the music business, when, clearly she has a mediocre talent at best.

Does anyone feel the same?

Doug,

Remember that the show isn't called America's Best Singer. They just want to sell albums, and shamefully, look at who dominates the charts here in America. People don't seem particularly interested in great singers, or hell, even people who can sing in tune. Nowadays, it can all be fixed post-production, anyway. They just want an "image," and American Idol is catering to those people.

In truth, it wouldn't surprise me if the producers weed out GREAT singers who don't have a unique "image" so they're not stuck with them in the later rounds.

I'd LOVE to see a contest where vocal talent was the primary emphasis, but this is certainly not that show.

das

"You know you're a redneck if....

...you genuinely believe Josh has more talent that Ruben."

Oh sure I have... they advertise "Canadian Idol" all the time up here! And the lineups at the auditions have been crazy!

Of course, it just won't be the same without Simon...

But at least it won't have Paula and Ryan.

Sass Jordan is one of the judges of Canadian Idol, and Ben Mulroney is hosting...any of you Yanks ever hear of either one of them?

I guess there is no end to the "Idol" machine. Idol Jr starts at the end of this month. They're going to seriously oversaturate the market with variations of this show. "Idol" takes over the world.

Yes, Carmen's complexion looked clearer. No stress as a loser.

What about that bitch Anne Murray?

• Quoth Jadzia •<HR SIZE=1>What about that bitch Anne Murray? <HR SIZE=1>

Her too.

das

Anne Murray? The equivalent to Paula Abdul? Sweet and nothing negative to say and often ineffective as a judge.

They have to have someone nasty as Cowell.

Is there such a thing as a mean Canadian?


One of my favorite Canadian jokes is:

How do you get 100 Canadians to leave a public swimming pool?

My surprise wasn't that Ruben was in the bottom 2--it was that Josh wasn't.

Let's be honest--there's only 3 reasons why anyone would vote for Josh:

1. They are tone deaf
2. They've picked their favorite and will vote for him no matter what he sounds like
3. They are a friend, relative, or "co-worker"
4. They are from his town, state, etc.
5. Racial bias against other contestants (aside from Clay, obviously)

The only semi-legit reason I would buy from that list is #3. That being said, there are a lot of tone deaf, biased, prejudice morons out there with telephones.

Aside from Sass Jordan, I have never heard of the other judges in Canadian Idol (Anne Murray is not a judge, BTW)...