S22.E07: Showstoppers/Final Judgment

[paul4295]

Hollywood week concludes with the naming of the Top 24.

[paul4295]

Still too many sob stories.

I'm glad Ziggy is gone.  He was just not that good, and way too much drama for me.  I'd say he has more of a chance in theater than in pop music.

Odell clearly can sing from what we've heard before, but that's not what he did last night.  It was just one long tuneless vocal run.  He hit some great notes in there, but it didn't sound like a song (any song, let alone the one it was supposed to be) to me.

I like Alyssa Raghu, but her showstopper performance was nothing special, and KB was fantastic in the sing-off, so if we could only have one of them, I'm glad KB got the spot.

KBlocks was interesting for a minute, but there were many better singers than her who got cut.  I suspect that America will not share the judges' affection for her.

Edited April 2 by paul4295
typos

[JayDub1987]

I agree with everything you said. Also glad Ziggy is out after his whole "I need you to stop practicing while I'm practicing even though you're in another room; you make me nervous." Dude...STFU. 

KBlocks will be a short-timer. Her quirky movements and shit don't hide the fact that she's mediocre at best. 

I don't think there's anything special about Blake Proehl. Sounds like every guy singing in a bar in Nashville on a Wednesday night. 

I think Quintavious has the potential to last for a while. 

Jennifer Jeffries is going to have to show that she's got more than some sad-girl, coffee shop vibes at some point. She may, I'm just not sure because I feel like that's all we've gotten so far.

 

[SnarkAttack]

Why does American Idol always have such bad acoustics?  Good sound should be a priority for a singing show!   UGH.

 

 

[sempervivum]

I thought the second showstopper episode was better than the first. Still not dying to see more of anybody, though. Also can't really rejoice or regret what happens to people I've only heard 1 or 2 (in some cases, 0) times before.

I appreciated the actual 'performers' like KBlocks and Odell just as a relief from the lowkey same-i-ness of so many of these folks. 

[Annber03]

I'm honestly amazed there aren't more gospel/R&B/soul versions of "Come Together" out there. Or if there are, I've yet to hear them. That song lends itself quite well to that kind of style. 

I agree last night's group of performers was generally stronger. And I know they've gotta amp up the drama and suspense and whatnot, but seriously, when you've got a contestant sitting in front of you, crying and getting emotional about making it this far and all that...is that really the time to play the whole, "It's the end of the road for you..with us, your future is in the viewers' hands now." schtick? 

[Gemma Violet]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

when you've got a contestant sitting in front of you, crying and getting emotional about making it this far and all that...is that really the time to play the whole, "It's the end of the road for you..with us, your future is in the viewers' hands now." schtick? 

I dislike that kind of stuff so much, almost as much as the sob stories.  The contestants are tired and their nerves are frazzled.  They maybe haven't slept.  It's not the time to play games with their feelings.  And it's done so often, it doesn't work anymore.  Even if the judge implies you didn't make the cut, you're holding out hope that he'll/she'll do a 180.

Edited April 3 by Gemma Violet

[Meowwww]

I have a question re:Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter.  She grew up getting on stage with Loretta.  Seems to me it was portrayed as a good thing at first, but now I’m feeling like it wasn’t a good thing.  Did I miss something? 

[ljenkins782]

12 hours ago, paul4295 said:

I'm glad Ziggy is gone.  He was just not that good, and way too much drama for me.  I'd say he has more of a chance in theater than in pop music.

I like Alyssa Raghu, but her showstopper performance was nothing special, and KB was fantastic in the sing-off, so if we could only have one of them, I'm glad KB got the spot.

KBlocks was interesting for a minute, but there were many better singers than her who got cut.  I suspect that America will not share the judges' affection for her.

I'm very glad Ziggy is gone, I couldn't take that level of drama every week. 

I don't know what it was about Raghu that was off-putting to me, but something was. Well okay, I know her audition was kind of annoying how they put on the whole pretense that she just happened to give it another go while there to support her friend, but it also had the vibe of like, a person who got dumped and gets very fit and puts on a new persona to show that person who dumped them. Besides the weight loss, she just seemed like an entirely different person and not 100% comfortable in her new persona. Also, "I will survive" as your showstopper? That's a tired old karaoke cliche. Poor choice.

KBlocks is interesting, but probably too off-beat to go far on this show. I can see why the judges liked her and I did too, but I'm not foreseeing a long run on this show.

Quote

I don't think there's anything special about Blake Proehl. Sounds like every guy singing in a bar in Nashville on a Wednesday night. 

Right?? Actually, he was good in his audition clip, but that Showstoppers performance was entirely flat. They had done like 3 "you're in the top 24" in a row so I knew someone was going to have to get denied and he seemed like the ideal candidate to let go of. He has already been extremely successful in one area (making it to the pros in football) so he's not a sob story, heartstrings candidate and his last performance was legitimately bad. I was shocked that he got through.

Quote

 

I'm honestly amazed there aren't more gospel/R&B/soul versions of "Come Together" out there. Or if there are, I've yet to hear them. That song lends itself quite well to that kind of style. 

I agree last night's group of performers was generally stronger. And I know they've gotta amp up the drama and suspense and whatnot, but seriously, when you've got a contestant sitting in front of you, crying and getting emotional about making it this far and all that...is that really the time to play the whole, "It's the end of the road for you..with us, your future is in the viewers' hands now." schtick? 

 

I really enjoyed that performance of Come Together and I agree that it lent itself very naturally to the style change up and fit the rasp in his voice.

Doing the fakeout with the guy who's living in one room with 12 people was cruel. And Katy REALLY sold that one, I was shocked myself at first. However...the diamond encrusted watch, rings, necklace, glasses really clash with the tale of hard times. Like, maybe they're fakes, but I assume you'd want people to think they're real, so it still seems an odd choice if you're looking to garner sympathy for your plight.

I can't remember the name of the 15 year old country singer who acts like he's 45, but I think I like him. I can't quite make up my mind on him, but I think I like him. He's definitely comfortable up there and I always appreciate that. It's hard to watch the stage fright types struggle through it.

[Annber03]

28 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

I can't remember the name of the 15 year old country singer who acts like he's 45, but I think I like him. I can't quite make up my mind on him, but I think I like him. He's definitely comfortable up there and I always appreciate that. It's hard to watch the stage fright types struggle through it.

I like him, too. And I'm not even much of a country person. But yeah, he's got a hell of a voice for his age, and I think he could find a nice little niche in the country genre if he goes far enough in this competition. 

And ha, yeah, I can totally sympathize with the people who get stage fright, 'cause that'd absolutely be me...but that's also why I have no designs on becoming a famous singer (that and I can't carry a tune to save my life, but yea :p). 

[twilightzone]

2 hours ago, Meowwww said:

I have a question re:Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter.  She grew up getting on stage with Loretta.  Seems to me it was portrayed as a good thing at first, but now I’m feeling like it wasn’t a good thing.  Did I miss something? 

The sense I got from her was that the stage wasn't the ideal place growing up.  She said something about having to wear fake eye lashes as a young girl (with the implication that wasn't a normal thing). She also had suffered from bulimia.  I don't think it's random that she is not pursuing Country music.

[sempervivum]

13 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

However...the diamond encrusted watch, rings, necklace, glasses really clash with the tale of hard times. Like, maybe they're fakes, but I assume you'd want people to think they're real, so it still seems an odd choice if you're looking to garner sympathy for your plight

Yeah, even if it's all just junk from Temu, why aren't you saving your money instead for a security deposit on an apartment? It's going to be a close call between Odell, Quintavious and Roman for the first public vote, and this could make a negative impression.

[KWalkerInc]

I'm sure they do the sing-offs just for drama and to fill more time, but they get kind of annoying after a while.  It's just so HARD for the judges to make a decision, even though they're paid a lot to do so and have made plenty of other cuts along the way!

I would have been surprised if Alyssa Raghu had made it, not only because the other girl did a better job in the sing-off, but because Alyssa likely wouldn't have (yet) expressed her anger about the editing in the audition episode if she were still competing.

Ziggy may have been upset that he didn't make it, but I don't think it would have gone very well for him on social media, etc.  He probably would have faced much harsher criticism than he did when appearing on TV in the Netherlands, which had already seemed to bother him a lot.

[Gemma Violet]

 

6 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

Ziggy may have been upset that he didn't make it, but I don't think it would have gone very well for him on social media, etc.  He probably would have faced much harsher criticism than he did when appearing on TV in the Netherlands, which had already seemed to bother him a lot.

There definitely would have been a segment of the audience who would never vote for him, but conversely, there seems to be a big push by many on social media for the show to bring Ziggy back.  I think his sad backstory and struggle to be himself has captured the imagination of some viewers.  I hope they don't bring him back, though.  Although his story was compelling, I thought his singing was just OK and nothing special.

[Diana Berry]

Watched the last two nights.  A lot of good singers.  
 

My picks that stood out for me.  
 

Abi- was it the song , the voice , or both- whatever it was beautiful. Kennedy- she’s fun and enjoyable. Jennifer- her voice is unusual and I’m not even sure I like it but it’s intriguing.  Kb- another unusual voice that I like more than Jennifer; Mia- was it the song more than the voice- not sure but she may be a dark horse. ( surprisingly Emme doesn’t stand out to me.  She seems very sweet and I have a feeling she will get into the top over better singers).

The females seem to be a better group than the guys (as you can see I don’t even know their names) 

country kid; county guy with beard; British guy; Kai(sp) not the greatest singer but passionate; and worship leader.

 

[LennieBriscoe]

Wednesday and no Episode 8 thread.

Frankly, it doesn't  deserve one.

Pick your winner: Country Girl or Really Big Boy.

And if one of the latter sings that Hawaiian  "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," I will lose a shoe, but my TV will gain one (yeah, I know; it's a "beloved" version.  🤮). 

Edited April 9 by LennieBriscoe