paul4295

Because the judges are supposed to be experts with relevant commentary that would help viewers make a decision. In reality, that hasn't happened since Harry Connick, Jr. was a judge. The current judges never have any real criticisms to make. Every batch of singers is the best they've ever had, every original song is a masterpiece, and every note is sung perfectly with stirring passion and emotion. I think they do find a lot more good singers now than in early seasons, and that makes it hard for me to find any standouts. They're all good, but I don't know that any of them are really great. Some of them sound great one week, and then just OK the next week. I will say I don't get the appeal of Zachariah, Lucy, or Iam. Zachariah and Lucy try too hard, and I don't think their voices are that great. Iam has a really good voice, but he bores me. He's just not a performer (at least not yet).

Yeah, I agree. Seemed like singers were going through based on a story rather than talent, and I expect them to disappear quickly in Hollywood. I can only remember two that I thought were really deserving--the girl who said she had only been singing for a few months, and one country guy whose story I can't remember (if he even had a story). I think it was the one who brought a friend to play guitar for him. Edit: Sorry one more--the guy that played the piano and sang the Ray Charles song was probably the best of the night.

Brandon's idol was almost a disadvantage for him, because everyone knew he had it. In light of that, I would have just said, "You all know I have an idol, and I know that puts a target on my back, so I am definitely using it at this tribal council. If you vote for me, you're wasting a vote." And then I would have used it, to show that my word can be trusted.

I'd like to think this could happen, but I don't. If you want to win, you get rid of the strongest players and keep the players you know you can beat. If I was playing, I would like the winner to be a "worthy" winner, but not as much as I would want to be the winner myself (whether I was "worthy" or not). Therefore my strategy would be to keep as many goats as possible.

Just finished watching this. I think I saw the first season of AHS, but have not really watched since. I was interested in this season because I grew up in NYC and went to college in the East Village in the 80s, so I had a front row seat for a lot of this. (I also had a cousin who died of AIDS in 1986.) I found it mostly interesting, but the whole Big Daddy thing just took me out of the story too much. I kind of got the idea that he wasn't supposed to be real, but then when he appeared in scenes with multiple characters (like when Patrick shot him, and when he was menacing the lesbians), it didn't make any sense. Were they all supposed to be having the same hallucination? I kept wondering if other things were supposed to be real or not. The ending didn't elicit much emotion from me, because I was just never that connected to the characters. I did think the acting was mostly good, though.

They really should just have a list of names at the voting table with the correct spellings. I don't know why they don't do that. Maybe they think it's comedy gold to have atrocious misspellings of people's names.

The "reunion" is so much better without the distraction of the studio audience. Instead of wedding proposals and inane comments from past contestants/celebrities/random audience members, we get actual discussion about the season. I do, however, think they should have the non-jury members come back. It wouldn't be that hard to do, and they sometimes have interesting things to say. And I still think it's fun when Jeff picks on the first player who got voted out.

I was thinking that's how this "tribute" happened, and why Springsteen didn't seem to be involved in it at all. Also, Lionel Richie is old enough to know that Cover Me was a top 10 hit on the charts back in the day. Maybe he meant that some younger viewers wouldn't know the song, but it is not an obscure Springsteen song by any means. Same here. I've been a fan of hers since her first album, and I'm seeing her in concert for the first time next month (a Covid-postponed date from 2020). My expectations have now been lowered.

I know misspellings are not a huge problem in the game, but they should really just have a sign up in the voting booth that lists all the names of the players. They could even tailor it to each vote by removing players with immunity, so that they don't make a mistake and try to vote for someone who should not receive votes.

This episode was definitely a big resume builder for Maryanne, but I think next week's could be even bigger. Just as Omar became the target this week after a big move, I could see her becoming the target next week. If she keeps her idol secret and lets herself be the seemingly unwitting target of a blindside, and then votes out whoever she wants, that makes her look even smarter.

YES. I liked him at first. KEY WORDS BEING AT FIRST. But now every performance is just the same saccharine crap. Always with the cliched song choices. I actually thought Christian was really good this week, but I'm a little bored of him as well. He was so great in that duet of The Prayer with Nicolina in Hollywood week, but I don't think he's come close to that since. He seems like a really nice kid, but he is somewhat limited in what he can do, and probably should be one of the next few to be voted off. I was also impressed by Emyrson, who I have not liked at all previously. But she was smart to pick a Billie Eilish song. I think Eilish is a great songwriter, but not a particularly good singer, so I think it's easy to outshine the original if you do one of her songs. I think Jay bought himself a couple of extra weeks with his performance too. I don't know that song, but I thought he was pretty great. I've found him disappointing since his audition. Nicolina has been the standout for me all season, but she was not good this week. She can probably handle more upbeat rock-ish songs, but that one was not it. It's a pretty strong group overall, and I don't really see an obvious front runner this season. I thought the judges contest or whatever they called it would be a stupid gimmick, but I found it enjoyable. I think the judges gave them good choices overall, and I found it interesting to see how the contestants decided what to sing.

I feel bad that Dan got a spot that (in my opinion) should have gone to Katyrah or Jacob, and I have no idea why the judges picked Allegra, but ultimately it won't matter. None of the judges' choices will get far. Based on past seasons, people have already made up their minds who they like, and those who didn't get voted into the top 10 this week will not get very far.

Well, his interview made him seem like kind of a jerk, but he seemed perfectly nice in the first episode. He was like a freaking superhero in those challenges--pulling the rowboat all over the place, lugging those heavy trunks around like nothing, etc.

The judges really have to stop telling contestants that they're superstars or the next whatever, because the last 5 or 10 years have shown that almost no one from this show is ever going to have even one hit record, never mind a long career in the industry like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughty, etc. If they want to say "You're top 10 material," or something like that, then fine, but otherwise I feel like they're lying.

I was going to say this as well. According to Wikipedia Asher Grodman is "of Jewish background." Also according to Wikipedia (and of interest to me, but maybe nobody else), he attended Newark Academy, a private high school in Livingston, NJ, which is about a mile from where I'm sitting right now in my office at work.

Erika is called sneaky by Shan and her alliance because she isn't in their alliance. If she was in their alliance, then she would be cunning and/or strategic. I think that's the only difference--because she's the outsider. Not because she's a woman, or of Asian heritage, or anything else.

I didn't think Cassandra was very good last week or this week. I would've kept Ava over her. I also don't get the appeal of Hunter. He seems like a nice kid and has had a couple of good performances, but I see possible future talent more than current talent. I also find DeShawn boring in general, but I actually found his performance tonight (of a potentially boring ballad) much more interesting than last week's attempt of an up-tempo number. His voice is very good, but I often forget about him by the end of the show.

It's interesting to me that with the way they mix and match auditions from different cities each week (which I find annoying), they would have an entire episode where no one was really good. Some of them definitely deserved to go through to Hollywood, but it was a lot of pretty good, and not much of anything great. I don't think we'll see anyone from this episode in the top 24 (or 20, or whatever number they choose).

Not to discourage anyone from using Rose as a middle name, but when we were considering it for my daughter, my mother-in-law came up with a funny response that I always remember. "Samantha Rose? Samantha Rose...to go where?"

I've also grown to appreciate her acting more as the show has gone on. She doesn't get as many showy, dramatic scenes as some of the other actors, but I think she plays the quiet moments really well. I also think she does a convincing job playing both the early 20s Rebecca and the late 60s Rebecca. I'd say this episode could be an Emmy submission for her.

I was coming here to say pretty much the same thing. My picks to cut before the show would have been Raquel, Logan, and Dimitrius, but Dimitrius changed my mind with that performance. I still would have kept Ryan over Eddie or Wade, however. Also, one of the best things about these duets shows was that they actually got to sing the entire song (or pretty much the entire song), instead of the 1:45 condensed versions that we usually get, where they sometimes have to chop up the lyrics so that the song doesn't make any sense.

Laine was really good last night, and that's a problem for Logan (who I barely remembered). Laine can do everything Logan does, but better. I've really liked Ashley from the beginning, but I was even more impressed with her last night. I don't know that song, but she sounded great on the basic melody, and the high notes and runs she threw in (which I assume John Mayer did not do) were also really nice, and not too over the top for me. I did not like Demetrius's take on "Hello" (that was over the top for me), and I also thought Ryan tried to do too much with "You Say," but it was still kind of OK. I've also liked Walker since the beginning, but I thought "How Deep Was Your Love" was not a good song choice. It's a nice song, but kind of boring without the harmony, and I though he changed the melody too much. I hope he chooses better songs going forward, and plays the piano some more. I really like Alejandro's guitar playing, but still think he's an average singer. I'd be interested in hearing more of his original music. Oh, I also thought Bumbly's take on Vision of Love was pretty good. I was scared for her when they said she was singing that song, and she was obviously not Mariah-level good, but I didn't think she embarrassed herself.

I'm not a country music fan, but I do think she has a really good voice, and compared to the competition, she deserved her spot in the top 20. So far, she seems like a nice kid (although as a father with a daughter a few years older than her, I worry about her wardrobe choices as well), and I like her a lot better than Gabby from last season, who checked off most of the same boxes, but seemed way too entitled.

California Dreamin' (one of my favorite songs of all time) was originally a hit for the Mamas and the Papas, but the Beach Boys did do a remake that was a minor hit in the 1980s. I do agree with you about Wade's voice as well. It fits certain songs, but not my cup of tea overall.

Does anyone know what happened to Nick Merico, the former Disney actor? They made such a big deal about his audition, but I don't remember seeing him on the Hollywood episodes at all.