Amen to that. His performances are all the same to me, and he is taking credit for other people's arrangements. He is doing covers of covers. Where is the artistry in that?

not as long as Kelly Pickler is in the competition he isn't.

It's a singing competition. There is no artistry involved when singing other people's songs. All of these songs are other people's arrangements. Barry Manilow was handing out arrangements to them as well. Why single out Chris? Elliot sang Al Jerreau's version of a song. So what. They are supposed to pick a song from a certain genre or list of approved material. Is it an "artful" choice? We know Chris nor any of these people wrote these songs. But, what I don't get is how they give praise for someone sticking to "who they are" and then tell someone else that they "played it safe".

Okay, next week we are back to the 1 hour shows, so they are going to haul ass through the 2-minutes songs and critiques, and give minimal buildup segments to introduce the songs.

They milked 11 contestants for 2 hours last night, but they did show a lot of the Barry Manilow's interaction with each contestant. Once we get down to around 6-7 contestants left, the show will feel more hurried starting next week.

because at least Elliot doesnt try to pass off the version as his own. Chris on the other hand.....

I thought so, too. Her fake eyelashes or whatever are making her appear cross-eyed at times.

at least he put his own spin on the song rather than doing what almost everyone else did

Gil - You are comparing Barry Manilow to Michael Bolton? Egads!


Michael Bolton must be one of the most un-original performers in the history of music. He writes none of his songs and I dont think he sings anything original either.

Bolton is a singer. Barry is a song writer who sings.

I really am not trying to hijack this thread and make it a tribute to Barry, although it seems that way.

I also dont want to make it seem like I am Barry's number 1 fan...but the guy made his mark in music.

Actually, Bolton is an extremely prolific songwriter as well.

Bolton has written for many many many people. He's the male Diane Warren.

Stop it...I can't take it anymore.

Yeah, she sucks too.

A prolific and diverse songwriter, Michael has seen his songs recorded by an astonishing array of renowned artists. Michael has written songs for Barbra Streisand ("We're Not Making Love Anymore"); KISS ("Forever"); Joe Cocker ("Living Without Your Love"); Kenny Rogers ("Just The Thought Of Losing You"); Cher ("I Found Someone") and Kenny G and Peabo Bryson (the 1993 BMI Pop Award-winning "By The Time This Night Is Over"). Other noted artists, such as Patti LaBelle, the Pointer Sisters, Gregg Allman, Lee Greenwood and Conway Twitty have likewise covered Bolton tunes. Michael is among the handful of songwriters to have collaborated with the incomparable Bob Dylan; their song "Steel Bars" became a hit and one of the highlights of both Time, Love & Tenderness and Bolton's Greatest Hits album.

I stand corrected. I should have known that someone with those pretty curly locks had to be a songwriter.

Curly locks? That's a weave!

For some reason I keep thinking of the movie Office Space…

As for Chris, when did he say “I wrote the music” or “this is an original version that I made up”? I think the song was great, he did a much better job with it than Live’s singer did .

And for you Barry Manilow fans, he’ll be performing tonight on the elimination show, the show where Elliot, Bucky, and Lisa will be the bottom three and Bucky will be going home (though it could be Elliot).

I celebrate the man's entire catalog.

I say Lisa and Bucky go home tonight.. Both were horrible last night.

About the Judges.. There should be Simon and that should be it. He's the only one there that is honest and to the point. I'm not sure what the purpose is of the other two. Randy just goes through his "Dog, I don't know man. You know it started great and then in the middle it was alright so I was like this is no good but you really pulled it off man. It wasn't a good performance but you really pulled it through at the end there. The Dog pound loved it! w00t w00t! Great Job". Huh? And Paula is always saying "You're so cute and you made that song your own and you can really go places and i'm so impressed and you just always make me feel so good when I see you up there and..." useless.

I totally agree. Randy says some jibberish, and he you notice Paula always repeats what Randy says, only adding her own drunk twist to it.

You can even tell in the contestants faces, the only opinion that matters is what Simon says. That is how you gage their performance.

Do you think the animosity (sorry not the spelling) is real between Simon and Ryan. It seems to be to me.

I fail to see where Chris is trying to take credit for other people's work. He was up front about the RHCP cover and not once did he take credit for last night's performance. If anything you have to blame the judges for trying to give him the credit for it. Say what you want about the music genre he sings, but I think he is clearly the only contestant who could have a potential hit record today. I think his credibility will take a big hit with the fanbase of his genre due to the fact that he is on AI, but he (and to some extent Taylor) are the only believable stars in my opinion.

1.Mandisa - not a strong performance, but still my favorite so far.

2.Paris - finally lived up to the promise of her audition and actually showed some restraint in her singing. With a little more seasoning, she is going to be a major star.

3.Elliot - sang well, but these comments "I never heard of/was not a fan of...comments bug the hell out of me. You people are musicians, aren't you? Fan or not, I know and appreciate people like Barry Manilow, Patsy Cline, Stevie Wonder. Sheesh!

4. Kellie - sang an appropriate tune really well, even though she stumbled a bit on the Patsy Cline-isms. And here's a bonus check for the techie who screwed up her mike after she was done performing. Her voice makes me want to shove pencils in my ears.
And see #3 concerning her comments as well.

5.Taylor - picked the blandest of the blandest song to sing, and suffered as a result. But I'd take ten of him over the rest of the bunch.

6. Katharine - seemed nervous and unsure of herself, but I forgot all about it when I saw she wasn't wearing a bra.

7. Lisa - wow. Generic. The stage at King's Island is waiting.

8. Kevin - sang as good as he's ever going to, and was not even close to good enough.

9.Ace - a joke. The only reason he's still around is because there are so many worse than he is.

10.Chris - I belive Simon said that what he liked about Chris is that he refuses to compromise. There's a phrase for that where I come from: one trick pony.

11.Bucky - dude, it's time to go. Last call.


Who's going home -
really tough to call, there are so many possibilities. But I honestly believe it's going to be Lisa Tucker.

Wish List (in order)
Ace
Bucky
Kevin

These informal phone polls are pretty easy to do and seem to be fairly accurate. Dialidol got Ace and Lisa right last week when almost no one expected them in the bottom three. My son did one last night (only 15 calls each contestant) and came out with two of the same three as dialidol and Elliott squarely in last place. If Elliott is the one to go, it will be quite a shock dispite the polling results.

Kevin was #9 in his polling instead of Bucky. Here's hoping he's right!!

I thought Kevin gave his best performance ever last night but was still the worst by a mile. At least he had far less camera time and as a result was far less irritating than usual. Too bad he won't be going home.

In a surprise, I thought Taylor was pretty bad last night and I'm a HUGE fan of his. The vocal and dancing were horrible and it was a horrible song choice. For the first time, he reminded me of JPL from season 3. Here's hoping he gets his act together and sings next week instead of jogging around the stage and panting. He's obviously no athlete.

Although I still hate her, Paris has been very good and less irritating the last couple of weeks. Thank you.

Kellie is very good as well. I don't see all the hate...at least for the singing.

Mandisa was clearly the best. The rest I haven't mentioned were meh.

If Elliot goes before Kevin it would be a crime. Elliot has earned the right to go on that tour and Kevin has not. I would squarely blame Paula and Randy for perpetuating the myth that Kevin has talent!!!!

Why wouldnt they just allow 1 vote per person. This voting system does not accurately project a clear favorite. It is representing only those you have the time or inclination to skewer the votes by using the frenzy voting system. What good does that do?

When you come out and say you are doing Cash's "Walk the Line" and not Live's version of Cash's WTL, then you are, by implication, saying that what comes next is YOU.

Now I don't know if Chris *wanted* to say it and the producers did not let him, but considering he lists Live as one of his fav bands, he really fucked them over.