Jessica Meuse

[Rhondinella]

Meh.

[StripeMouse]

Nope!

[BogoGog24]

I don't understand why people keep saying Jessica is one of the strongest vocalists in the competition, especially amongst the girls. Her voice is really nasally and she has no control over her vibrato. She reminds me of Casey James, who had that similar kind of problem (sounding like a billy goat) I like her pink hair and weird eye makeup and that's about it. Her cover of "White Flag" by Dido was a rare instance where I thought her shakiness worked for the song but otherwise I haven't really liked many of her performances. It seems like she is learning how to get out of the habits she formed by performing alone for so long, she has to learn now how to perform without her guitar and with a band. I definitely think she will make the Top 4 though.

[car54]

I think my negative opinion of her started with how she behaved during Hollywood week.
 

To me she comes off arrogant and desperate, as if she feels like she is the only real musician there.    She seems dismissive of the judges commentary when they give her solid suggestions, and does whatever she wants.

She's been on my list to go home since the beginning.

[BogoGog24]

I actually think she handled Hollywood Week better than most people would have. First she had to deal with one of her group mates leaving early because he was sick. Then the other kid wasn't taking anything seriously and he couldn't learn his harmonies. I don't blame her a bit for being impatient with that eventually. She also did not deserve that girl's mom telling her what to do like a child or talking to her the way she did afterwards, blaming her for her daughter's elimination. I'm surprised Jessica didn't throw a punch at her. 

I simply don't care that much for Jessica's voice and musical style but I commend her a lot for the way she handled all that crap handed to her in Hollywood Week. She did not deserve any of it but she handled it pretty well. She has been working hard at being a musician for many years, she even released an album on her own, and she mentioned playing gigs by herself where she basically had to do everything by herself, with no help from anyone. I'm glad to see her taking this so seriously. Most "musicians" like that would scoff at something like Idol and act like they were too good for it. She knows what a big opportunity this is and unlike MANY of the contestants this year, she has worked long and hard enough on her own to know just how much of a blessing it really is and not to take it for granted. I don't see that being entitled or arrogant at all, just that she is extremely serious about winning and that she is grateful for the opportunity and appreciates what she's getting. She's paid her dues.

[Joystickenvy]

I like Jessica. Yes she has the same sort of goat bleat vibrato that Stevie Nicks, Shakira and Belinda Carlisle have that isn't going to appeal to everyone, but I think she uses it to good affect more often than not.

[ari333]

I'm going for Jessica FTW.

[Aimzee]

I have hope that Jessica will get better.  I haven't been pleased with the themes but feel the 1980s theme could pull it all together for her.  She has some songs on YouTube and the gal can sing.  I hope she picks the right song this week!

[Trooper York]

Man she sounds just like Stevie Nicks and they are really milking that the past couple of weeks. I wonder how far she can go with that.

[rereader2]

Well, that's a mistake--we already have a Stevie Nicks, we don't need two. Better she should be a good Jessica Meuse.

[BogoGog24]

I'm surprised no one has compared her to Miranda Lambert yet. Her original song definitely sounded like something you'd hear on a Miranda Lambert record. 

[StillCrazy]

I'm not a big fan of her live voice but I do like her. I like that she is grateful for the opportunity to be on the show. I listened to her original song on iTunes and thought she sounded pretty good. She is one of the few I am actively rooting for.

[Mysis]

Jessica has started to grow on me over the season.  I like her voice (even though it is nasally which I don't usually like, go figure), and loved her rendition of Jolene.  I think I heard her say it was basically her arrangement.  I don't think she has dead eyes but I was nervous watching her at first.  I thought she looked half amazed about being on that stage and half petrified, like she was going to either pass out or run off the stage. I think she's gotten better over the weeks.  To me, it just seems to me like she needs to relax and loosen up more.  I thought this is what Harry was getting at in his comments.  Not that she should be dancing around literally, but that she needs to loosen up and let the music flow through her.  I like Jena also but prefer Jessica.  I'm sure, though, she is not going to outlast Jena.

[Joystickenvy]

I'd be interested to see what she's like at her normal gigs. Playing with a full band in front of a big studio audience and television cameras under stage lighting is a world of difference from being a small venue solo act.

[BogoGog24]

I'm not a big fan of either Jessica or Jena, but I would probably prefer to see Jessica make it further than Jena. I think it will be the 2 of them battling it out for Top 3. The thing I don't get about Jessica is that she is supposed to have the most performing experience of all of them but it doesn't show. Obviously there is a big difference from playing in bars to playing on the Idol stage, but Caleb and Jena have plenty of performing experience and it doesn't seem to have made any difference for them. I think Jessica just doesn't know how to connect to songs or how to connect with an audience and that could be why people don't like her. I personally expect a lot more from her with all this "experience" she has and that's why i don't think the judges are really being that hard on her. They probably expect a lot more from her too. 

[auntlada]

From the episode thread:

 

Jessica's got that old school country look to me--I'm thinking Loretta Lynn--and I'm not sure she'd fit into today's country market.  She just looks kinda tired and rode hard and put away wet when she sings.

 

Maybe she could bring back a more classic country. I'd appreciate it. The "rode hard and put away wet" makes me think she ought to try some Tanya Tucker songs on the show.

[Ohwell]

Jessica doing classic country would be fine (I actually prefer that to today's stuff) but I still think she needs to update her look and not look like she's downed six shots of Jack Daniels in one sitting.

[Joystickenvy]

I don't mind her look, though the striped hair thing is a bit played out. I prefer classic country to what passes for country these days as well, but her original material sounds more between alt country and folky rock than classic country to me.

I could see her rocking out some Darrel Scott songs or fronting a group or duo like the Civil Wars or the band perry or doing stuff like some of the original songs written for Claire & Gunnar on the show Nashville.

[yourpointis]

https://www.facebook.com/IdolJessicaMeuse/photos/a.288242837994547.1073741828.285204874965010/306671166151714/?type=1

 

Jess Meuse
Put some blue in my hair for child abuse awareness month and also autism awareness day - today.

 

 

Not sure what or if the pink in her hair represents anything. I've seen pics of her blonde and prefer that look to this current look. She does at times appear to look a bit road worn (if that makes sense lol). Maybe with her less would be more. Lighten up on the black eyeliner a bit for starters.

[BogoGog24]

I like Jessica's hair. It's one of the few things about her I find interesting. I could see it being a "thing" for her fans to copy, I could see all the girls showing up at her concerts with a fake pink hair extension in their hair or something. 

[yourpointis]

I'm no country music aficionado, but if next week is to be Jessica's last week, I would love for her sing My Give a Damn's Busted by Jo Dee Messina. It would be a two for one. 

[Joystickenvy]

If they get to do two songs she could pair it with "not ready to make nice."

[yourpointis]

Or I Can't Make You Love Me lol.

[ari333]

Or I Can't Make You Love Me lol.

Good one.

 

I can't decide who should get, "Let's Give Um Something to Talk About."

 

Or is it The Band Perry.. "I'm Done." But that could apply to more than one too. I'm torn.

 

I hope Jess has a beekeeper's outfit made of some kind of armor for protection. I'm thinking she may be destined for a Harding/Kerrigan "accident" of sorts. Also, since she's a musician I'm fairly sure she can handle a surprise sniper key change mid song by bandzilla (a la poor Lazaro.) Don't know what she could do about bandzilla drowning her out unless she went acoustic with just her guitar and no band, but that might be risky too.

 

I'd love to see her sneaky snake into the finale and I say sneaky snake because it's going to take some serious strategy and luck to oust TCO Her Royal Highness. Caleb already likely gave Jess another week what with him probably being toast and all.

Edited May 5, 2014 by ari333

[BogoGog24]

Jessica is not my favorite and I don't think she's as good of a singer as people say she is, but I am really rooting for her to squeeze her way into the finale at this point. TPTB deserve it for bussing her all season for no reason. And Jessica deserves it for working so hard even before Idol and dealing with the undeserved criticism really well. Her original song was very well received and did well on iTunes. She needs to open up more as a performer but I think she has a lot going for her right now. She seems very nice and loves to talk with her fans on Twitter. She could turn out to be one of the bigger success stories from this season. She is a writer so she already has that going for her. I would like to see her and Alex in the finale and either one could win and I'd be happy. I think America would be happy with a Jessica or Alex win too.

[yourpointis]

Just finished listening to Jessica's interview over at TVLine. For those that don't want to listen to the full interview; it is 32 minutes, here is the gist of it. Bear with me my short-term memory is not what is used to be lol.

 

1) She is not a bubbly sweet personality (my perception), but she's a hard worker and always tried to stay true to herself as an artist and to her fans.

 

2) The footage that was shown in Hollywood was several hours of sleep-deprived contestants (all of them) pared down to a couple of hours. 

 

3) The stage mom from hell (my words not hers lol) was worse than what was shown. She was more in her face and Jess just tried to walk away from it. She; Jessica, stated she's a spiritual person and tries to be nice to everyone no matter the circumstance, but felt the mom blamed her for her daughter's elimination.

 

4) She compared Rush week to the Hunger Games and stated that the earlier stages there was more song selection and latitude toward what the contestants could perform, but from the top 13 till her elimination, the song lists became shorter and the control became tighter. She's very aware that this is reality tv and a game show.

 

5) During 80's week she pretty much had to choose Blondie or else she was stuck performing Walking on Sunshine. Not sure if she was being tongue in cheek regarding the limited song selections or if that truly were her options.

 

6) Regarding the platform and the shoes: she knew the shoes were ugly and she was originally going to wear high heels, but she cannot walk in heels and they made her dizzy. She feared falling off the platform so she went with comfort.

 

7) She was grateful for the viewer requested songs. She had a list of six songs in which to choose from. So why was Caleb so hell bent on complaining about his choice, unless TPTB forced him into to singing IDWTMAT. 

 

8) A couple of times she requested songs that weren't on the set list, but there were clearance issues. If she could, she would have performed original songs every week.

 

9) She did not snub JLo. JLo hugged her and walked away without saying anything. She did get to talk with Harry and Keith. She had a lot of respect for the judges and what talents they could bring to the table and liked Harry the best. She lost respect for JLo. No sour grapes but more or less hurt feelings. She wished she could have spoken with her and wished that JLo could have taught her how to dance. 

 

10) She had already had her meeting with regards to staging when TPTB pulled their original song choice. They all had to hurriedly choose a third song from a short list. She chose So What not as a dig to the judges, but more or less as a dig to all the haters and people who were happy to see her go home. 

 

11) She loved working with David Cook, Jason Mraz, Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert. They taught her a lot about performing that she didn't know. Without saying it out loud Randy just basically showed up on Mondays lol. 

 

12) She's been showed her elimination befroe every interview that she has become desensitized to it. She also thought the elimination twist was totally unnecessary and again compared it to the Hunger Games.

 

13) She had a sinus infection, but I'm unclear as to how long. 

 

14) Forgot to add that Rhianon was pretty much pushed onto her but she eventually fell in love with the song.

Edited May 14, 2014 by yourpointis

[BogoGog24]

I think it was during White Flag that she said she had a sinus infection that day.

[Joystickenvy]

Interesting interview. She seems to know what she's about. It's a shame TPTB nixed the original songs. It would have been nice to hear them all. However, it makes a lot more sense now that all the 3rd songs seemed kinda throw aways, since they were apparently last minute choices.

I think I would probably like Jessica IRL and it would be fun to play music with her. If she released an album of songs in the vein of Blue Eyed Lie, I'd probably buy it.

Since I skip over the judges, I didn't even realize there was a Pumped up Kicks controversy. Leave it to a Idol to make a big deal out of a years old song that has already been done on a The Voice to no particular uproar.

The discussion about the juxtaposition between the dark lyrics & happy melody was interesting to me. Bluegrass is the main genre of music I have sung/played and that sort of thing is very common. Lots of happy sounding songs about killing your girlfriend lol.

My favorite line was, "I have lots of feels down in there......somewhere."

[yourpointis]

I can't understand what the problem was with the top four all performing originals. I was most looking forward to all four original songs (even though I'm no fan of Jena I was even wanting to hear hers; I don't have to like a performer to like their songs). I was also curious as to why Jessica didn't delve more into country rock. It couldn't have hurt and she probably would have picked up the country vote. Maybe that wasn't her cup of tea or she couldn't due to song limitations. Gah I have such a love hate relationship with these singing competitions. Just let all the contestants do what they do without the shenanigans/manipulations and let the chips fall where they may. 

[Ladyrain]

Thank you, 'yourpointis' for the interview recap. It is just not in Jessica's nature to be all bouncy and bubbly, and there's nothing wrong with that. She has a more serious nature, which unfortunately did not serve her well on Idol. It doesn't surprise me that JLo didn't have any words of praise or comfort to offer Jess; I think Ms. Lopez is often a bit jealous of the pretty ones, those with the potential to outshine her someday. While Jessica's voice wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I kinda liked her and hope that Nashville does come knocking on her door, as Keith alluded to.

[OakGoblinFly]

I was very happy to see Slapout give Jessica her own welcome home and well done parade.

[BogoGog24]

I also would have liked to see the original songs. Every one of them has performed an original at some point on the show (Caleb auditioned with a song called Into the Void, and then of course Jena had Unbreakable Me, Alex with Fairytales, and Jess with Blue Eyed Lie) In the rare instance every contestant left actually WAS a songwriter and had original material, they totally should have taken advantage of that. Maybe they didn't want to have to give the contestants royalties for the iTunes downloads?

[rereader2]

Maybe some of the songs were noticeably better than others, and they weren't the "right" ones.

[BogoGog24]

I think Per Blankens alluded to that, actually, in an interview with Slezak where he asked this exact question. And PB stated something like "Not all the kids are great writers" or something like that. Basically he implied that some songs were probably stronger than others. Since Jessica, Jena, and Alex have all performed originals already and received high praise, it's possible he was talking about Caleb maybe, but who knows.