S15.E10: Hollywood Round #4

[perfectstorm]

But Idol hasn't had a successful female alum (winner or non-winner), since Jordin Sparks.  That was 9 yrs ago.  During that period, Cook, Lambert, McCreery, Phillips dominated.  The following is a good analysis of the changing trends with female artists. 

 

And I’m thinking about who should win Idol. They keep yammering on about book-ending Kelly Clarkson and people think they mean to make a girl another winner. I’m not so sure. We aren’t living in the first 5 years of the 2000’s anymore. Back then, rap and big-voiced females were dominating the charts. Now, the market has become drenched in young testosterone. That has long been true of the Country and Rock charts, but now Pop is swinging that way too.

From where I’m sitting, boys are your best shot at a success this season. Idol consistently does better when they follow trends. Throwback artists don’t tend to resonate as well with music consumers as they do with singing show voters (tell me again how people have been waiting for somebody to bring such-and-such back and I’ll wait for that not to happen).

 

http://www.mjsbigblog.com/sales-news-week-ending-020416.htm

[perfectstorm]

duplicate.

Edited February 9, 2016 by ifoundit

[AshleyLyn]

No offense PHD but I think you are being bias when it comes to Phillip Phillips. He has success and he has plenty of fans.

But anyway the more the producers try to push the females on us the more people are gonna rebel

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I admitted my bias as such in a previous post. But if Nick F., Kris Allen or Lee DeWyze had been gifted "Home" and the Olympic tie in that came with it instead of PP I wonder how significant his post AI success would be now...

I'm also not sure how much a knockoff Ed Sheeran/Shawn Mendes is going to succeed. If either Lee or MacKenzie wins that's what we'll have happen. Dalton is a different issue. He's some weird Blink 182/Glambert hybrid...so his post AI prospects mostly just confuse me.

As uncool as it is to say, AI's farewell legacy would probably be best helped by an Emily B. or Tristan (young country female) win.

[perfectstorm]

I admitted my bias as such in a previous post. But if Nick F., Kris Allen or Lee DeWyze had been gifted "Home" and the Olympic tie in that came with it instead of PP I wonder how significant his post AI success would be now...

I'm also not sure how much a knockoff Ed Sheeran/Shawn Mendes is going to succeed. If either Lee or MacKenzie wins that's what we'll have happen. Dalton is a different issue. He's some weird Blink 182/Glambert hybrid...so his post AI prospects mostly just confuse me.

As uncool as it is to say, AI's farewell legacy would probably be best helped by an Emily B. or Tristan (young country female) win.

But what if Kelly and Carrie had to compete in the later seasons and not over 10 yrs ago, when radio, the industry favored the female singers?  

 

For the record, Kelly's latest CD is a sales disaster.  Same with J-Hud, Jordin. 

 

The climate is even worse for females in Country music.  The young, blonde cute girl singer (Emily) is a dime a dozen in Nashville.  And personality challenged Tristan is only getting noticed because of her sob story.

Edited February 9, 2016 by ifoundit

[waving feather]

I don't get how Tristan is a country singer though. I'm not a country expert but her singing doesn't have country inflections to me. I thought she was a pop singer.

[Guest]

I don't get how Tristan is a country singer though. I'm not a country expert but her singing doesn't have country inflections to me. I thought she was a pop singer.

I thought that too so I looked up what she's sung so far and I guess they were all country songs, though on the 'poppier' end?  She's from Nashville and goes to an arts high school with Amelia, the violin chick.  

[Guest]

Considering how little singing talent some of our current and past superstars have, I think the most important factor is just plain marketing.  They need to look good, be given good songs and have a well-produced and marketed album and tour.  I don't know if the Idol factory bothers investing in their alums anymore, or if it just takes the right person for them to take a chance on.  I know in book publishing they're more likely to publish your first book then your second now, because they will throw any crap at the wall and pray for a Twilight or Hunger Games or Harry Potter.  Maybe they throw one crappy record from their alums at the wall and if it doesn't excel, they toss out the artist?  

[OakGoblinFly]

My whole thing...Until she is gone, will be to root against Shelbie Z.

 

Not at all happy about Manny and Gianna getting through, either.  

 

Very pleased that Mountain Girl made it.  Doubly pleased since JLo has it in for her and obviously lost a battle royal with the producers and Harry and Keith.

 

They are ridiculously young this year.  Ludicrously.

 

Not happy, in the least, with Sprinkles dressing way down with the jeans and such.  It's a significant piece of costuming for this season, though.  Professionalism is not the currency of the realm this season.  Not with all the youngins, it isn't.

 

Ugh.   Sad.  No more Hollyweird Week.  No mo auditions of any kind.  Turn the page.  Ugh.

 

 

Get outta my head!

 

I am really bad with the names - I only remember Shelbie Z (because she's THAT annoying) and Dalton (because I enjoy him the most).

 

I think I like the NIcholas Hoult look-alike and the girl with the shiny, glossy hair (name begins with an "S" I think).

 

Can't believe annoying worship leader with the manbun or off the grid girl got through.

[MrsMoltisanti]

 

I am really bad with the names - I only remember Shelbie Z (because she's THAT annoying)

 

 

 

Is Shelbie Zed a contender or do people think she's a goner this week? 

[AshleyLyn]

I think she's fodder. And hoping she is. 

 

And I recall Ryan always dressed casually during auditions and hollywood week. He would switch to suits as soon as the live episodes started. 

[BogoGog24]

Tristan's voice is not country but she has sung all country songs so far and I've heard when asked she considers herself a country artist. I don't think it matters what someone's voice sounds like when it comes to genre, it's the songs they sing.

I think Shelbie is fodder.

[realdancemom]

I don't like Shelbie either.  I wished they picked the radio DJ instead.  She had a nice voice and let Tristan have her song.  Shelbie bailed on her group.  I think it stinks when somebody like Shelbie or Po just leave their group.  The contestants in their group, e.g. Dalton, could have been disqualified.  It's great that she has confidence but the squatting thing looked trashy and she seems pushy.  It's mainly about the voice but personality matters too.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Interesting that Tristan identifies as a country singer ... admittedly I was completely unfamiliar with the song she sang at her first audition so I had no idea that Mickey Guyton was a country singer or that "Why Baby Why" was, indeed, a country song. To me, it just sounded more "singer-songwritery" without a specific genre ... and maybe it was the timbre of Tristan's voice, I don't know. I haven't gotten a strong "country" vibe from the other performances we've seen from her thus far (at least, not to the level of, say, Shelbie Zed -- and kudos to whoever coined that! -- or Emily Brooke) but now that it's been mentioned, I can see where you're coming from.

 

If they do want her to win, and they want to hedge their bets by her cornering the market on the girl country singer vote, we'll know soon enough by seeing in what rows they stack their ducks for the Top 12.

[BogoGog24]

I don't like Shelbie either.  I wished they picked the radio DJ instead.  She had a nice voice and let Tristan have her song.  Shelbie bailed on her group.  I think it stinks when somebody like Shelbie or Po just leave their group.  The contestants in their group, e.g. Dalton, could have been disqualified.  It's great that she has confidence but the squatting thing looked trashy and she seems pushy.  It's mainly about the voice but personality matters too.

Yes I liked Malie Delgado (the Miss Alaska radio DJ girl) so much! She had this amazing raspy quality to her tone and she was so gorgeous looking too. 

 

I'm still wondering exactly what went on there with Poh in Hollywood Week. I suspect there's a lot more to the story that did not get aired. Why would she just leave suddenly in the middle of the competition without even telling anyone? Also, Dalton said she left sporadically several times throughout the night which is odd. If he makes it far enough to get interviewed by Slezak it'll probably come up and maybe he can give us more insight as to what happened that night because I'm really curious to know the story there.

[AshleyLyn]

 

I'm still wondering exactly what went on there with Poh in Hollywood Week. I suspect there's a lot more to the story that did not get aired. Why would she just leave suddenly in the middle of the competition without even telling anyone? Also, Dalton said she left sporadically several times throughout the night which is odd. If he makes it far enough to get interviewed by Slezak it'll probably come up and maybe he can give us more insight as to what happened that night because I'm really curious to know the story there.

 

What I'm curious about is why they did so much hype on her when she ends up bailing on Hollywood week? It was pointless to waste time on her when they could have showcased others. And I bet more than anything, she couldn't handle the pressure. She probably heard Shi's stories and thought she could, and then just broke with it. 

Weirdly, I want to know, but I don't want Dalton to say anything. LOL. Not sure why. 

[kili]

I think it stinks when somebody like Shelbie or Po just leave their group.  The contestants in their group, e.g. Dalton, could have been disqualified.

 

I don't think anybody would get disqualified unless they were about to be cut anyway. This show is not afraid of making exceptions for people they want to keep. In Season 2, nobody but Kim was willing to be in a group with Frenchie. The producers said okay and we got group round magic from them. They allowed Trent to be in a group of one because they wanted him.

 

All those Hollywood rounds are more about seeing how people respond to pressure and to make for some "drama" to show on TV.

 

I actually kind of wish more people would leave groups. If something isn't working, fix it. Of course, if people did that, we wouldn't have that delusional cowboy who gave us so many sound-bites when teamed with Phillip and Heejun.

 They need to look good, be given good songs and have a well-produced and marketed album and tour.

 

That's why it's a huge bonus if you can write a good song. Hit song writers want to send their songs to the usual suspects because they get money for each album/track sold and spin on the radio (rates are set by Congress). Taking a chance on a newbie is risky for them. But, if somebody can write their own hit songs, they don't have to dig through the reject bins of other artists.

[queenanne]

Eh, regarding the Forbes figures.. the Glambert one has to be taken with a grain of salt because so much of that comes from his Queen gig. Which is nice work that he clearly can get while simultaneously over exaggerating his actual impact on pop music. Pretty much consisting of Ghost Town and maybe one other song.

 

Depends upon what type of money he's getting.

 

If he gets a percentage of box office and tour merch, then yeah, Queen is inflating his financials (Roger Taylor was on record in GB as having a net worth of $127 million in 2011); I doubt he gets a cut of the songwriting royalties.  It might be all him. 

 

Granted I don't know what else he would have going on to make that kind of bank other than tour with Queen; very many artists selling "successful numbers" in their solo work have been dropped by their labels regardless of said relatively good sales, but I don't know enough about Lambert's career prongs to rule it in or out. 

 

Plus we don't know what that monetary ranking represents (or, I don't, not having looked up Kelly et al).  I doubt they're Roger Taylor numbers, the "top annual earner" could have brought in $3 million.

 

Yes I liked Malie Delgado (the Miss Alaska radio DJ girl) so much! She had this amazing raspy quality to her tone and she was so gorgeous looking too. 

 

I'm still wondering exactly what went on there with Poh in Hollywood Week. I suspect there's a lot more to the story that did not get aired. Why would she just leave suddenly in the middle of the competition without even telling anyone? Also, Dalton said she left sporadically several times throughout the night which is odd. If he makes it far enough to get interviewed by Slezak it'll probably come up and maybe he can give us more insight as to what happened that night because I'm really curious to know the story there.

 

My guess is that the disappearances have a simple explanation that he may not be privy to, like Poh wringing hands and fitfully querying Shi, which finally ended in some conversation on the latter's part like "This is what it is, and it's not getting any better than this, so if you're already strung out now..."

[AshleyLyn]

My guess is that the disappearances have a simple explanation that he may not be privy to, like Poh wringing hands and fitfully querying Shi, which finally ended in some conversation on the latter's part like "This is what it is, and it's not getting any better than this, so if you're already strung out now..."

 

Right. If Poh found herself stressed out with just Hollywood week, which is designed to test you on how well you do with pressure and how well you work with others and probably a million other things, then she simply wasn't ready to be a singer. I can just imagine how stressful it is to be on tour and dealing with things that go wrong, and having to put up with people who piss you off. Poh thought she was up for the challenge, and if it comes out that she sorely underestimated herself when it came to the challenge that is American Idol, I wouldn't be surprised. 

Kind of wished she hadn't put Dalton and the other singer in his group through that stress though. In the end the producers might have let them go ahead with the two of them but those two probably didn't know that and seriously thought they may get disqualified. That would have sucked, especially in conversations.

"So what happened with Hollywood week? Why did you get the boot?"

"Because we had to have groups of three, unless certain circumstances came into play, and my third member flaked out and left us high and dry."

"Man, that sucks."

"You have NO idea." 

[BogoGog24]

Right. If Poh found herself stressed out with just Hollywood week, which is designed to test you on how well you do with pressure and how well you work with others and probably a million other things, then she simply wasn't ready to be a singer. I can just imagine how stressful it is to be on tour and dealing with things that go wrong, and having to put up with people who piss you off. Poh thought she was up for the challenge, and if it comes out that she sorely underestimated herself when it came to the challenge that is American Idol, I wouldn't be surprised. 

Kind of wished she hadn't put Dalton and the other singer in his group through that stress though. In the end the producers might have let them go ahead with the two of them but those two probably didn't know that and seriously thought they may get disqualified. That would have sucked, especially in conversations.

"So what happened with Hollywood week? Why did you get the boot?"

"Because we had to have groups of three, unless certain circumstances came into play, and my third member flaked out and left us high and dry."

"Man, that sucks."

"You have NO idea."

I don't know necessarily if Dalton and Kassy Levels would have been allowed to go on without a third. Those other girls that ended up with La'Porsha also were afraid of getting disqualified without a third member. I think they were able to make Trent an exception because of his illness without looking like it was favoritism. A highly contagious illness is a completely different circumstance than a group member quitting.

[AshleyLyn]

Right. I wasn't trying to discount the issue with Trent. If it came down to it though I'm wondering if the producers might have let the two of them go ahead and perform at the last moment. In the end they were damb lucky to get their third because I think it would have sucked to get booted simply because a member of your group flaked out.

[designing1]

 

This show is not afraid of making exceptions for people they want to keep. In Season 2, nobody but Kim was willing to be in a group with Frenchie.

 

That season Clay was also part of a group of two; did they even have the "Rule of Three" back in Season 2? 

 

 

I don't know necessarily if Dalton and Kassy Levels would have been allowed to go on without a third. Those other girls that ended up with La'Porsha also were afraid of getting disqualified without a third member.

 

There's no reason these two groups of two couldn't have formed a group of four (assuming they were aware of each other.) Even if the grouping wasn't ideal, it would have been better than being eliminated for nothing. I don't think there's any way they would have let Dalton be eliminated just because he didn't have a third person in his group, but I may be biased because he's one of very few contestants I can imagine going far and perhaps even being successful post-idol. Bottom line, when it's solely in the judges'/producers' hands, if they want you in, you're in.

Edited February 10, 2016 by designing1

[MrsMoltisanti]

 

at least, not to the level of, say, Shelbie Zed -- and kudos to whoever coined that!

 

Yay, that was my Canadian-ness coming out.  Can't say the Zee part no matter how much I try.  I can't stand Shelbie Zed and her stomping and a squatting. 

[ari333]

No more stomping and squatting!... and screeching ...and runs.  And while I'm at it, no more gesturing the words as in the word "tears" and they point to their eyes or "heart" lyrics and they point to the heart. GACK.  Make it stop.

 

I guess I like Dalton and a couple others whose names escape me.  Sonika comes to mind unless I'm confused. :-)

[sleepyjean]

It's certainly bugging me and the other Vets in my area. I remember one of my shipmates tried to get time off to go with his kid to auditions and they denied him, so while they do make exceptions, in my shipmates case, they didn't. If she makes it to the voting rounds, no one I know is gonna vote for her.

I don't understand this attitude. How is it Tristan's fault that her mother got time off and got to be there for her? Or that American Idol is using the military thing as an angle for the show? Those things are out of Tristan's control. Why punish her or wish her ill for it? She's just trying to win a singing contest. Seems to me your beef is with the military and the producers.

[AshleyLyn]

Huh? I'm a vet, I served, I have no beef with the military.

I have a beef with the show trying to use that part of Tristan's life, just like I don't care for all the other over used stories. I already got into with one "patriotic" civilian that told me if Tristan makes it to the voting rounds and I don't vote for her I'm doing a disservice and I'm not patriotic. Trust me that convo did not go well. People are gonna use her mom being in the Army to do what the person I got into it with as saying we aren't patriotic. That's my beef.

[BogoGog24]

I agree. They are shoving some of these back stories down our throats every time the singer performs, just like people are getting tired of Jeneve's "off the grid" story. We know all about it by now, you don't need to remind us every time she steps on the stage. No, people should not hold what the producers do against Tristan because it is not her fault, but it kind of just happens.

[ari333]

The Stephany girl who was rattling off "Hello" in many languages -- I thought "MAR-hah-bah" is hello in Arabic, not Turkish.  Far be it from me to nitpick.  I didn't like her song choice either. Whoever said that she gives off  a Nicole Pussycat vibe nailed it.

 

Hated the Beiber song. Liked the girl singing it.