S15.E17: Top 8 Perform

[TheGreenKnight]

We'll have to disagree there, because to me it's much worse. At least this show isn't quite as bad as The Voice, where every season seems to devolve into a contest of who is the most fervent believer.

[BogoGog24]

I've never understood why only contestants who sing Christian songs get this type of criticism. It is no different than singing a love song, a breakup song, a song about family, or anything else. It is a theme in music and life just as anything else is. As long as they believe what they're singing, why does it matter that they want to sing a Christian or faith filled song? Seems like religion shaming to me since this is the only type of song I ever see contestants criticized for singing.

[JMarie99]

Bogogog I agree with you 100 percent. I couldn't have said it better.

[Rick Kitchen]

I've never understood why only contestants who sing Christian songs get this type of criticism. It is no different than singing a love song, a breakup song, a song about family, or anything else. It is a theme in music and life just as anything else is. As long as they believe what they're singing, why does it matter that they want to sing a Christian or faith filled song? Seems like religion shaming to me since this is the only type of song I ever see contestants criticized for singing.

 

Because it's pandering.  "Look at me, I'm a Christian, you must vote for me."

[BogoGog24]

Because it's pandering.  "Look at me, I'm a Christian, you must vote for me."

I've literally never felt that towards any contestant who chose to sing a religious themed song. I don't see how it's any different than, say, Thomas going "My girlfriend dumped me" so all the girls vote for him or "I'm sick" or "My grandfather broke his back," etc. If their faith is a part of their life and part of who they are, they have the right to sing about it without being accused of doing it for votes. Again, it just appears like religion shaming to me and for no other reason. IMO.

[LennieBriscoe]

Singing about a belief system isn't really the same as singing songs reflective of the human condition. YMMV.

[Guest]

I didn't even realize Tristan's song was a Christian one.  I saw "Vince Gill" and heard country and she sounded nice but I guess I didn't listen to the lyrics.  Faith is a pretty common theme in country, isn't it?  That and patriotism?  I didn't listen to the after talk about grandpa's back, either.  Maybe it came up there.  

[proserpina65]

Well, to be perfectly honest, almost every one of the contestants is  "shilling" in one way or another.  Over the years we've heard the plight of single moms, jilted lovers, diabetics, unemployed,  dead or dying family members, father in prison, mommy-hated-me, etc, etc. Faith and a nod to the military seems less negative than any of the other forms of "shilling."

To me they're just as bad.  But I tend to blame TPTB more than I do the contestants.  And in Tristan's case it hasn't yet become as annoying as it was for Angie Miller or especially Colton Dixon.  But I get that mileage varies.

 

While I do think the song choice for Tristan was maybe a little bit pandering, it suited her voice much better than anything else I've heard her sing, and that's the most important consideration imo.

Edited March 8, 2016 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

I didn't even realize Tristan's song was a Christian one.  I saw "Vince Gill" and heard country and she sounded nice but I guess I didn't listen to the lyrics.  Faith is a pretty common theme in country, isn't it?  That and patriotism?  I didn't listen to the after talk about grandpa's back, either.  Maybe it came up there.  

Not as common as drinking, cheating/getting cheated on, and driving pickup trucks, but pretty common.  (Yeah, I'm more familiar with old-school country.)

[JMarie99]

Oh and let's not forget violence, as in Carrie Underwood vandalizing her cheating boyfriend's vehicle - or what was that song Skylar did in her season, something about little girls being made of "gunpowder and lead"? I happen to find those themes offensive to be perfectly honest. In any event, saying the faith-based songs are "Christian pandering" assumes that doing that type of song is going to result in more votes. That's quite an assumption IMO. I actually had to re-listen to Tristan's song to even realize it was faith-based. And I'm a person who usually pays attention to lyrics. So not only do I not believe that she should be criticized for singing that song, I really don't think it will affect the voting one way or the other.

[BogoGog24]

I too had no clue that was a Christian song. It's not as obvious as some other songs past contestants have done like You Raise Me Up or Take Me To the King. Tristan was criticized all season for singing songs she didn't connect with, this was the first time probably since her audition she really connected and have a strong performance. If that means she needs to sing a Christian song every week, then that's what she should stick with. At the end of the day it's about the artist connecting and giving a great performance. Who cares what kind of song it is?

Literally anything any of the contestants are doing can be considered "pandering." Let's talk about MacKenzie using all judges' songs for his audition (to me when they sing songs by the judges that is the absolute worst) or singing an original song that dared tug at viewer's heartstrings, lets criticize Dalton for trying to be entertaining 'cause that's pandering too, let's get on La'Porsha for filling her songs with too many runs because that's pandering. I mean, they technically all do things to "pander" to the audience to get votes. To single out one specific type of song just seems like a really silly and vapid argument to me.

[Guest]

I liked the medley of judges' songs and thought it was classier than Mackenzie's Voice intro, that talked about his near-fatal virus.  But the sob stories aren't my thing.

[rereader2]

The music world is very fractured now, there's no getting around it. It used to be Top 40 were the songs "everybody" knew, and all the other genres were marginal and had to be sought out; now "everybody" gets the music they already like delivered up via streaming services and the like. So really, the only choice the contestants have is to try to own one genre or another. (Or there's Dalton's route, which allows him to appeal to more than one group of fans by pulling from numerous genres while still performing in one, but that's harder than it seems--Mackenzie does it a bit as well.) Frankly, Tristan might do better in Christian music than in country, but combining them is a not-stupid choice.

[Occasional Hope]

My issue with that particular song is that Vince Gill wrote it for Keith Whitley's funeral, and it feels inappropriate to me to hear it in any other context.

[BogoGog24]

I liked the medley of judges' songs and thought it was classier than Mackenzie's Voice intro, that talked about his near-fatal virus.  But the sob stories aren't my thing.

Oh I liked what Mac did too, I thought it was well done (could have easily been a train wreck joke audition) and very cute, but no matter what I just can't stand it when contestants on shows like this perform songs by the judges or coaches. It seems like sucking up IMO. But Mac did very well with it so I forgive him. LOL

My issue with that particular song is that Vince Gill wrote it for Keith Whitley's funeral, and it feels inappropriate to me to hear it in any other context.

I had no idea. I guess that makes sense? But I don't think the average viewer knows that.

[designing1]

Given that he had to give permission for it to be sung, Vince Gill doesn't seem to regard the song as sacrosanct. Not saying it shouldn't give anyone else pause, but if it's OK with the guy who wrote it...

[Rick Kitchen]

I doubt if he got permission from Vince Gill, probably from the record company.

[rereader2]

If I understand it correctly....Not record companies. Song rights are owned by the songwriters, but they generally grant the rights to a music publisher and get royalties. However, some songwriters retain the right to personally approve recording rights. (Live performances are much easier to get rights for--it's mostly just paying a fee--but television counts as recording and cost more and have more restrictions on them.)

Edited March 9, 2016 by rereader2

[Guest]

My issue with that particular song is that Vince Gill wrote it for Keith Whitley's funeral, and it feels inappropriate to me to hear it in any other context.

I've never heard of Keith Whitley so I googled him.  He died in 1989?  That's a long time to keep a song out of play.  It's think it's probably more honorable to encourage others to sing it and play it, 27 years later.  

[peach]

When my kid graduated 8th grade, they had a big follies style talent show.  It was better than most of this.  Someone actually sang Radioactive, as a matter of fact, and it was better than Dalton's. 

 

I fast forwarded most of the filler, but the bits and pieces of the packages I did see actually make the performances worse, IMO.  Dalton talking about needing his schedule to deal, coupled with the fact that his expression has something pleading about it, just takes any edge away from him.  Guyliner doesn't make up for the kid smiling like he really hopes you're not going to beat him up.

 

Sonika giggling about not ever having a boyfriend is not a good lead-in to singing Since U Been Gone.  Her tone is amazing, but that was just so awkward.

 

Trent has the best voice, but I don't can't sit through that song anymore.

 

It was all super boring.  I was surprised that Olivia went home.  I actually kind of liked her.  She's seems kind of fun.  This show is really going out with a whimper.

Singing about a belief system isn't really the same as singing songs reflective of the human condition. YMMV.

 

Faith isn't part of the human condition?  That's a new one. Somebody tell Vince Gill.

[queenanne]

The judges picked the right one out of the three.  When do they stop doing saves?  I don't think it would be fair if we got to the top five and they were still choosing who makes the top three or the finals.

 

I still wanted to hear Olivia for one more week.  She wasn't her best the week before but I figured it was because she had the flu.  Plus, she went first so it was easy to forget her.  I would have put Tristan in the bottom but now she's not going to be there because she did well this time.  She really needs to stop crying.  Scott is only trying to help her and she ended up picking a good song for her.

 

Yeah, er, shouldn't Tristan have some of her mother's grit in her somewhere?  Maybe Mom got all of it.  Imagine Tristan in the armed forces, being told she chose wrongly from amongst the intellectual property of someone else makes her bawl.  It's not like she wrote the dang thing, and if she does want to write her own music, her reaction to being told it's not good doesn't bode well as a start.

 

Maybe for a change of pace they should institute an audience save, though not sure if they've got enough calendar time for that.  The way they're eliminating they're on the market for four more weeks, which I would also argue is probably not long enough for any contestant to make America fall deeply in love with them.  I think Lee Jean, for example, has crazy piles of charm, but that's not convinced me to pull out the phone for him.

Edited March 9, 2016 by queenanne

[rereader2]

The way they're eliminating they're on the market for four more weeks, which I would also argue is probably not long enough for any contestant to make America fall deeply in love with them.  

 

^^^This. I think it's really horribly unfair to these kids.

[BogoGog24]

Seriously. I genuinely love Dalton but that's mostly because of outside research I've done. If I had to go by only what I've seen of him on the show I doubt I'd love him as much as I do.

[bluwater]

Exactly. This is a year where you pretty much HAVE to go research these people because we are getting zilch otherwise. Watching IM5 Ustreams (which are both fun and annoying at the same time. LOL) gives me a good idea of Dalton's personality. Granted, he was a teen, so he is a bit different nowadays, but still, it's a neat window.

I really miss the days when we got stupid Coke and Ford commercials and ridiculous group numbers. They had charm and warmth to them sometimes. I like seeing the contestants' goofy sides.

[ari333]

We're at top 8 and have yet to get a group pointy pose number with the requisite bad audio.. BAH.

[peach]

It's not the shortness of the process that's so awful, it's the bargain basement cheapness.  THIS is the last season of this pop culture juggernaut?  It's embarrassing to watch.  Which I will no longer be doing.

[BogoGog24]

Exactly. This is a year where you pretty much HAVE to go research these people because we are getting zilch otherwise. Watching IM5 Ustreams (which are both fun and annoying at the same time. LOL) gives me a good idea of Dalton's personality. Granted, he was a teen, so he is a bit different nowadays, but still, it's a neat window.

I really miss the days when we got stupid Coke and Ford commercials and ridiculous group numbers. They had charm and warmth to them sometimes. I like seeing the contestants' goofy sides.

 

I always enjoyed the bit when the contestants would imitate each other.

[TheGreenKnight]

Literally anything any of the contestants are doing can be considered "pandering." Let's talk about MacKenzie using all judges' songs for his audition (to me when they sing songs by the judges that is the absolute worst) or singing an original song that dared tug at viewer's heartstrings, lets criticize Dalton for trying to be entertaining 'cause that's pandering too, let's get on La'Porsha for filling her songs with too many runs because that's pandering. I mean, they technically all do things to "pander" to the audience to get votes. To single out one specific type of song just seems like a really silly and vapid argument to me.

Well, from my point of view, whatever these points are supposed to be are just as silly and vapid. La'Porsha doing runs and Dalton trying to be entertaining are the same as a contestant singing a religious song? Nope. Because everyone could do runs and everyone could try to be entertaining--even if they fail at doing either--but not every contestant can come out and sing about their faith like Christians get to on this show without being eliminated for it the following week. Either because they have a different belief system than the majority of viewers or because they don't follow any religion.

[WhineandCheez]

Last night I was bathing in my indoor jacuzzi tub with bubble bath.  In a jacuzzi when you put in bubble bath you don't get bubbles, its more like bubble-foam.  And I'm watching the foam rise and its uneven around the edges and I'm, thinking, "If they dyed LaPorsha's hair white it would look  like exactly like this foam."  it was very broccolli- esque.

[Wings]

It's not the shortness of the process that's so awful, it's the bargain basement cheapness.  THIS is the last season of this pop culture juggernaut?  It's embarrassing to watch.  Which I will no longer be doing.

 

I have missed many shows.  I drop in here to see what is going on.  The one's I have watched I use FF liberally to the point of not listening to them sing for more that a minute then go to the judges comments.  Takes me about 11 minutes.  

 

I check out LaPortia's "hair" sometimes lingering for more than a minute.  It is ghastly as are her runs.  

[ari333]

Ok I'll say it. I would like La Porshe if she didn't do the effing RUNS.

[Kromm]

Holy cow talk about being surprised! I expected Avalon to be sacrificed but thank you for Gianna being gone!

Little K. Starr shot herself in the foot with that song choice. Rather than get around her total inability to emote with any authenticity, it emphasized it. Whereas Avalon chooses songs typically that fit her youth. Oh, plus she sings better. 

 

I think they were keeping Gianna mainly for the backstory with her mother.

Olivia was less of an "of course" than Gianna going.  Olivia has the capability to be interesting. She's just massively inconsistent (whereas I think Avalon is very consistent, no matter what the panel, or even America's votes said).

[purist]

From the recap:

 

Also, Sir George Martin, the fifth Beatle, passed away earlier this week, so while it's probably just a coincidence that La'Porsha, Lee, and Dalton perform Beatles songs as their solos, it's also a nice, quiet tribute to a dude who literally shaped pop music…or at least, it would have been, if Ryan (or anyone, really) had bothered to mention George at all.

 

I'm sure I heard Keith Urban give a nice shoutout to the late George Martin.