BogoGog24

Coming in here with my conspiracy theory for the week: I don't believe for one millisecond that Dalton was in the bottom 2. He has the largest fanbase of anyone, even bigger than MacKenzie's. It baffles me that the contestant with the largest fanbase and coming off a very emotional week last week somehow ended up second to last in voting next to Sonika, who most likely had the smallest fanbase of anyone remaining and had very few standout performances this season. Whether you're a fan or not, everyone has to admit what BS that is. All his fans made sure to vote for him so it's not like it could have been a Chris Daughtry situation where his fans thought he was safe and just didn't vote. I call shenanigans on Dalton being B2 this week. Technically as long as the lowest vote getter (in this case, Sonika) is in the B2, the other contestant can be literally anyone the producers want it to be, even if they were not actually second lowest in votes. They have done it many many times in past seasons. I believe that's what happened with Dalton, producers know he's a fan fave and they did it for the drama and to rile his fans up to vote even harder. I also think that is why they bussed Mackenzie so hard this week as well, to get his fans to vote hard to ensure a Dalton/Mac finale maybe.

I'm waiting to buy Dalton's song until after the show since I think that's when people are going to be more likely to download and therefore it might help it get a higher chart position if everyone buys it at relatively the same time. I've already heard it on YouTube though (someone posted the full song with lyrics). His voice sounds so sweet and dreamy. I love it! I hate the part where the band drowns him out in the middle though. But overall I like his song the best of any of the top 5. I believe his is also charting the highest (it's not anywhere close to the top 200 on iTunes though).

Apparently the eliminated contestant will have their iTunes song played over their goodbye package. No singing. :(

Probably announce them one by one until 2 remain. Have the last safe person sing and then probably have the eliminated contestant sing their swan song like the old format. Or they'll Jax them and just shove them off the stage unceremoniously and not let them sing one final time. I really hope they let them sing one last time though.

If you look at Twitter the majority of people voting for Dalton are like 16-25. But his fanbase reaches across all ages. The tweebs and teens are definitely putting in votes for Dalton, some of them even using multiple accounts/devices to get hundreds of votes in.

I honestly thought Ariana's hair and makeup was well done, it was just the dress or whatever the hell that thing she was wearing that looked terrible. Hair and makeup wise I would say she looked the best (not that the bar is high there, considering Lala's and some of the others). Katie probably looked second best but that's probably mostly because I think she has the most natural beauty probably of any of them. Scheana's face looked over contoured, like way too gaunt and cheeks far too sunken. Lala just looked awful. Kristen's hair and makeup was ok but tbh I don't think she's that naturally gorgeous to begin with, so it looked good for Kristen but not that great in general. Didn't they insinuate before that Lala gives BJs on these "trips" she goes on? That's what I assumed when she was saying she doesn't "spread her legs," but of course she never said anything else. Yeah methinks she does do BJs though.

Honestly thought they all looked terrible, makeup wise, clothing wise, or both.

My favorite part was when he had on the trucker hat and was doing a Texas accent lol And Simple Man at the end was beautiful too. That song holds a really special meaning for him because the dog tags that he wears have lyrics from that song and the tags were given to him by his mom.

Song spoilers usually don't get released until maybe the day before the show if we're lucky. But because there's going to be iTunes recordings this week we might get some spoilers sooner than usual.

Dalton puts feeling into everything he sings and that IMO is more important than having the best voice. For example, Sonika easily has a better voice than him but she struggles to really connect or emote and her performances usually come off pretty flat because of that. Man if Dalton had a voice like Adam Lambert or somebody though he'd be unstoppable.

I never mentioned anything about Trent. I found his story equally as touching as the others, because it gave some insight into his artistry by saying that he thinks of his friend every time he steps onstage. All I was saying was that when you brought up the issue of "class" and saying Cook did it better, I just did not agree. There was no reason for him to ever mention his brother in the first place, but Dalton and Mac certainly have the right to talk about their respective health problems because it happened directly to them.

I saw the video on MJs. I could only clearly hear La'Porsha, Sonika, and I think some of Trent. But they all did a nice job.

Not saying David was not affected by his brother dying of brain cancer but it's not like Cook himself had brain cancer, if you get what I mean. Dalton has bipolar disorder and must deal with it every day for the rest of his life. Mackenzie himself almost died because of his heart condition. It's just a different situation to be directly affected by something like that than just knowing someone who went through it. There's almost no point in really bringing it up if it didn't happen directly to you, at that point that's when I feel like it's just a sob story for sympathy. La'Porsha's story is more than just about being a single mom. She was in an abusive relationship where the guy basically put down every single thing about her as a person and I think she has said before he was physically abusive as well, to the point it got so bad she moved into a shelter.

But Cook's situation is entirely different as he wasn't directly being affected by brain cancer. Dalton and Mac were both directly affected by their illnesses. And both of them kept it hidden from the show until this moment, basically because they were clearly asked by production to talk about an obstacle they had overcome. If they had been talking about it ceaselessly from the moment they entered the audition room, I would agree with you, but I think the way both have chosen to handle it thus far has been extremely classy and tasteful. She's 20 and was a pre-med student before Idol. Yeah the way they "told" the stories was odd and kind of cheesy, especially the way they did La'Porsha's. It looked like a Lifetime movie lol

I responded to your post about his singing in his thread so that way I won't post it twice. ;) I found out that Sonika apparently experienced really bad bullying growing up. Why didn't she choose to talk about that instead? It's something unfortunately a lot of kids deal with and I think it would have made her seem more relatable. It also explains the shyness. To me there is absolutely nothing "cheap," "desperate," or whatever with people talking about health issues they deal with. With Dalton it's something he has to live with every day. If he didn't talk about it, he'd be accused of hiding it and being embarrassed by it. Mental illness is something people SHOULD be willing to discuss and I'm happy that he did and that he doesn't feel ashamed of it. It was what drove him towards music, same as MacKenzie, so I personally don't see an issue with either of them talking about it.

I agree. I think it's a combo of things: band being too loud plus for the last few weeks he's had the flu and a sinus infection. Think he also just needs to pick better songs.

Trent - "Counting Stars" - This was a terrible choice for him. Like Jennifer said, he did what he could with it, but it really just didn't suit him at all and was basically a throwaway performance IMO. Fun way to start the show, but did him no favors otherwise. I'm thinking he probably was pushed by producers/Scott to do it, I can't seriously believe he picked this. He didn't seem into it at all. "Simple Man" - Much better. I can genuinely believe he chose this, he seemed much more connected and passionate about it. Dalton - "Numb" - I think he dug into the lyrics of it and connected well to the lyrics, but I wanted him to get dirtier with the song, more like the original, and really dig into the angriness. I had to agree with JLo again that he kind of took the "oomph" out. Felt like Daltonizing a song for the sake of it and not because it musically made sense IMO. I wish he had been able to Daltonize Radioactive and then do the "karaoke/straight" version of Numb instead. "Sound of Silence" - Vocally it did nothing for him, but to me that doesn't really matter because I thought his emotion and performance completely made up for it. You could just tell he felt and meant every single word he was singing and with his backstory playing before that, it really made a lot of sense why he picked this song. He got quite intense and emotional with it by the end and almost looked like he was going to cry. Someone who was there at the show live told me both Dalton and MacKenzie looked away when they showed their video packages because they didn't want to see them. I already knew about Dalton's disorder but watching him tell his story broke my heart and I admire him a lot for speaking so openly about it. I feel like he gets so much crap for "not being able to sing" just because he doesn't have a big, "obvious" voice like Trent or La'Porsha, because he doesn't have the biggest range or do runs. Yeah his voice is limited but IMO he uses it well, unfortunately I don't feel he's been living up to his potential that he showed in all the rounds before the lives started, but from what I've seen him do in performances off the show, he can definitely sing and I hope he can step it up in the last few weeks and prove everyone wrong. I think he got by this week based on performance and emotional connection. One thing you have to give him credit for, if not the singing, is that he is always connected to the lyrics of every song he picks and IMO he is a great storyteller, IMO he does it better than anyone left, even if the others might be better singers. I think FOX should cast him in their live musicals because he has the stage presence and storytelling ability for it. I do have to kind of agree though that it seems like at the end of EVERY performance he does he has to look at the camera with the sad eyes and the frown. The sitting down on the floor at the end thing seemed forced to me, but I guess he was just trying to drive home the dark emo-ness of the song? Ah whatever, he could get up onstage and burp the alphabet for all I care. He's still my fave. I did also notice the video package screwup before his performance. Given that he was the first one to perform for the second round, it kind of made sense, for whatever reason they weren't prepared I guess or had the wrong package up. As somebody who works in live television, I can tell you doing a big production like this, especially live no less, is not easy at all! These people make it look easy and one screwup is bound to happen every now and again, given that it IS live. I loved the ring of fire thing behind Dalton. It reminded me of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings lol. I wasn't so crazy about the green silhouette on the first performance. I found it kind of distracting. Looked cool but I think they didn't need it there for the entire performance. MacKenzie - "Wild World" - I'm not familiar with the original so it never dawned on me he was being too happy for the kind of song it is. *shrug* I thought it was honestly one of his better performances he's had, at least he did something upbeat for once. He was mostly in tune too. "Billie Jean" - I quite liked this arrangement, it felt really modern and current. Probably his best performance to date besides Roses and Can't Help Falling in Love. I was really surprised at calling this better than any other rendition, knowing that Cook's is basically the gold standard. I'd say Cook's probably stands as the best (and I say that not even being a Cook fan), but MacKenzie's was great too. They are different versions. Sonika - "Let It Go" - She definitely made the right choice in singing this for the save. I thought it was probably the most connected she's been since Bring Me To Life. Vocally pretty solid. I loved the wind machine. Maybe she needs to sing angry songs? That seems to be the only thing she connects to. "Clarity" - This was terrible. Pitchy as hell. Too much jumping around maybe? Good thing she didn't sing this for her save me song, she'd have been booted on the back of that. Tristan - "Independence Day" - This was probably her best performance of the season, the most in tune she's ever been. I wasn't loving the arrangement, think it could have been more anthemic than that, but at least if she went out on this, it was probably the best performance she could go out on. But I agree she does need more maturing and general life experience. La'Porsha - "Ready for Love" - This was beautiful. Really not much else I can say about it. "No More Drama" - Loved it! People were saying she was pitchy on this but I honestly didn't even notice because she was so emotionally connected to it. I think I have to say LP was probably the only one who had 2 solid performances that night, while everyone else had a hit and a miss or maybe one good and one "eh." Other: - The video packages. The contestants were very clearly asked by the producers to talk about some kind of struggle they overcame in life. I didn't find any of their stories cloying or looking for sympathy, etc. at all. They're all real human beings who have been through things like everyone has. People complained we did not get to know them enough due to the shortened season. Well this gave us some insight into all of them as people and artists and why they do what they do, where they draw from when they sing. I found all of their stories (save Sonika's) touching and they all made me cry. As a music lover myself, I can completely relate to Mackenzie and Dalton saying music saved their lives. Who cares that it's "cliche"? They're explaining why they are doing this and what music means to them. It's coming from their heart and it shows why they are passionate about it. And I didn't mind LP talking about her story either, even though they've touched on it a few times already. Her story is very inspiring and it set up the song that she was going to sing right after. You could tell how much it affected her and drove her performance. These stories were very important to show us because there's more to music than just singing, there's more to being an artist than just having a great voice - it's about drawing from a place of emotion and using it to connect to the songs you're singing. Trent saying he thinks of his best friend every time he performs is an example of that. In order for anyone to be fans of these guys, they need to seem relatable and human. The fact Sonika's only "struggle" she could think of was overcoming shyness on American Idol just made it so painfully obvious why she lacks connection in her performances and why most people aren't connecting with her or feeling her. I relate to the shyness thing as well but when you compare her story of basically growing up very privileged to a kid who wanted to kill himself because of a mental illness, a kid who almost died due to heart failure, a kid who lost his best friend and has this guitar they made together to remember him by, and a woman who took her baby daughter away from an abusive relationship to go live in a shelter, it really just pales in comparison and shows how shallow her artistry is. Not saying it's her fault she hasn't dealt with anything heartbreaking like the others, but... come on. Even Tristan had somewhere to draw her emotion from with the military mom thing. - Adam Lambert. Unpopular opinion but I've never been a fan, not when he was on the show and not now. I think he's easily one of the most overrated contestants ever. Nothing against him though. I think he's very obviously gifted, very very talented, and seems like a really nice, sweet person. I'm very happy for him with everything he's achieved outside of Idol, especially touring with Queen, and wish him success. He's just never been my cup of tea, musically. But I recognize his talent for sure. Mad World was great. I wasn't feeling his new song though. His original music has never seemed to really take off. I've always liked "What Do You Want From Me" though. What an emotional episode! The backstories, JLo crying, Trent crying... everybody was just crying! Overall I think the judges made the right choice in eliminating Tristan and saving Sonika, but it's not like it really matters because I think whoever stayed would have been gone the following week anyway. I was actually pleasantly surprised they did save Sonika over Tristan. And interestingly enough, I heard that Borchetta told Tristan to come back to him when she was 17 or 18. Tristan said she couldn't discuss future plans just yet, but I'm wondering if Borchetta actually may not sign her. He basically JAXed her. I definitely think Sonika is going to go next week, as for who ends up in the bottom with her, hard to say. Maybe Trent because of the combination of performing first plus a bad performance. I think Mac and Dalton will both be safe, due to the large fanbases they have. LP was solid on both her songs. I'm good with a final 4 of Trent, Dalton, Mac, and LP. Any one of them could win at this point and I think it would be deserved and I would be happy for them.

It makes me frustrated to see people here and on other forums/places on the Internet saying he can't sing. I can see why they think that as basically since the lives I don't think he's been living up to the potential he showed from audition to HW to showcase to Top 24, plus what I know he can do in live performances from before Idol. But it's like because he doesn't have a big, "obvious" voice like Trent or La'Porsha with a big range and doing a bunch of runs, it's like people think he can't sing. Ugh it irks me so much. He has a beautiful voice IMO and uses it well with the style of music he sings. But I've also seen people say they think LP is not a great singer or they're annoyed by Trent, so I guess YMMV. It's amazing how different people's opinions really are. I'm also torn about him winning. I want him to but at the same time, if we think he's getting beaten down by haters NOW, he's really gonna get it bad if he wins, especially over the vocal prowesses like LP and Trent. Not to mention the whole label thing, I do think Borchetta likes Dalton so maybe he would let him do what he wants, but I would just be concerned about the level of creative freedom he would have. I think Big Machine is a bit better than some of the other labels when it comes to that, like they are letting Nick co-write most of the material on his album and really take his time with it, same as Danielle Bradbery from The Voice. So I would hope they'd let Dalton do that too. But Scott seems very specific about what kinds of songs he wants, like Nick said he'd present Scott with a lot of songs and Scott would say it was "almost" there, make him go back to the drawing board, then we end up with "Get You Home," which is rather generic sounding if you ask me. Scott really only knows what to do with country acts. I'd be concerned that he wouldn't know what to do with a pop punk artist like Dalton. At this point Mackenzie might be the best choice for a winner because I feel like he's what Idol viewers typically go for (think Kris Allen) and he might be the best fit for Big Machine. I see Dalton more on some kind of small rock or alternative label like Wind Up or even just releasing music independently like he always has. What he really needs to do is get himself a good management team IMO. Set up lots of gigs and interviews.

Personally I think Fox should cast him in their live musicals. He showed with SOS that he's incredibly theatrical and IMO while he's far from being the best singer, he is a great performer and storyteller. I really felt that he connected with that song more than any other and meant every word. He's the best when it comes to connecting to lyrics IMO. I think live theater would suit him so well, especially since lyrics are so important in that type of production. His story broke my heart, as did the stories of the others. I already knew about his disorder but hearing him tell it and saying even that he wanted to die just got to me. I actually cried over the episode because of the stories, JLo crying, Trent crying... Everybody was just crying man!

Yup. Leads me to believe Tristan got the lowest votes.

His second song was also spoiled I'm ridiculously excited for both his performances tonight, he's supposed to be playing guitar and also piano. And one of his outfits.... Ugh it SLAYED me. I'm embarrassing and need help, I know. Lol

I love these uncensored specials that they're doing, first RHOB, now VPR. Hope they will do them for the other franchises as well as more seasons.

Thank god because I entered this Songland thing and I got scared until I read that they've changed the rules. I seriously would have never entered it if my songs became their property even if I never got picked to be on the show. That's just stupid and ridiculous. If she's been singing it since she was 11 that's only 4 years remember? LOL And I don't think she said she didn't know what the song was about. Harry asked her specifically about the lyrics of a verse she didn't sing and asked what she thought happened to the woman and Tristan said she thought maybe she just left but wasn't sure.

Yeah it's only one elimination from now on and no judges save, although it's unclear if there will still be a Twitter save.

I agree. That's really saying something about how terrible Harry's song was. At least Nick's had some discernible melody in the chorus?