S15.E19: Top 5 Perform

[BogoGog24]

I thought it was classier how David Cook handled it, where viewers didn't know he was losing a brother to brain cancer unless they were reading on the internet, or perhaps at the finale when the brother was there (and votes didn't matter).   But I guess if an illness literally drove you to sing, may as well use it and hope viewers don't see it as a sympathy plea.  I'm kind of immune to it after all the sob stories in all the shows. 

, I think.  

 

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. 

Maybe she didn't want to bring it up on TV. She's still high school age, isn't she? She'll probably be back in school once the show's over, maybe with the people who bullied her.

 

 

 

She's 20 and was a pre-med student before Idol.

Oh yeah, the sad piano music.  Then to make it worse they show things like 23-year-old Mackenzie gazing sadly around his high school gym from 6 angles, as if he does that all these years later, or is re-enacting some actual event, or as if the audience can't understand simply losing your hobby from hearing about it.  Or Dalton, standing in streets looking sad and lost, as if that's what bipolar looks like.  It's a little like a pharmaceutical commercial.  

 

But they all do it so it must be part of the successful show formula.  If not, Star Search would've been the ratings juggernaut.

 

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

[snarkylady]

I hate the sob stories and especially the fake ones, but  a woman in a shelter.. that is the brutal bottom and anyone who gets out has my props.  Not saying they should milk it, but I do get it...

I'm in total agreement with you and I actually think they went too far showing her holding her daughter and moving into the shelter (at least I think that's what they were showing).  Exploitation....and the scene had to be recreated for filming unless an American Idol camera crew just happened to be there at the time.  I know all the stories and the video representations are manipulative, even if they are 100% true.   In La'Porsha's case I think what really happened would have looked far worse than depicted.  It was almost sanitized and took me right out of the moment.  

[perfectstorm]

The stories of MacKenzie, La'Porsha weren't exactly deep dark secrets.  They had been mentioned at some point this season.  And when Dalton left his boy band, he told fans it was because of his bi-polar.

 

I get what people are now saying about Dalton.  I loved his audition.  But he has been losing steam and now I'm sure who he is as an artist - and I don't think he knows either.  "Dalton nizing" a song is really not a career path. 

[BogoGog24]

I don't think you can conclude that someone isn't 'directly affected' by a sibling dying of cancer.  The prompt by the producers isn't "what illness have you personally been through".  

 

I do give them credit for not trotting out the sob stories until now.  On The Voice, Dalton's illness was right in his audition package, though it was very recent then and that's how that show rolls.  

 

I didn't watch LaPorsha's segment or song.  I didn't care and I figured it'd be some overdramatized dreck about single motherhood.   

 

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. 

[27bored]

Or Dalton, standing in streets looking sad and lost, as if that's what bipolar looks like.  It's a little like a pharmaceutical commercial. 

Oh man. I LOL'd hard. You may not have a soul, but it's unimportant because we could hang.

 

To be clear: I actually agree. I think all of it felt contrived, but I felt like Dalton's gave him a little depth. Dalton has this weird crowd-pleasing male cheerleader quality to him that makes the guyliner and highlights look even more contrived than it is on purpose. He's like a Mormon kid who decided he wanted to go Goth at 17, but didn't realize that high school is almost over, and nobody cares. But showing that dark, moody side to him, even with his limited vocals, was a nice change of pace than being Glee's version of Billie Joe Armstrong.

[Sparkling Beth]

The five remaining Idols just sang "God Bless America" on NASCAR.  (Not a car-racing fan here--that's the channel that happened to be on when I turned on my TV and I kept it there when I recognized the Idols.)  They did a beautiful job.  Loved the harmonies.

[queenanne]

I get what people are now saying about Dalton.  I loved his audition.  But he has been losing steam and now I'm sure who he is as an artist - and I don't think he knows either.  "Dalton nizing" a song is really not a career path. 

 

No, but it's "skill in arrangement", which AI has never been set up very well to showcase, this is probably the closest he can do.

[BogoGog24]

The five remaining Idols just sang "God Bless America" on NASCAR.  (Not a car-racing fan here--that's the channel that happened to be on when I turned on my TV and I kept it there when I recognized the Idols.)  They did a beautiful job.  Loved the harmonies.

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.

[suebee12]

They did sound good but I think they gave them God Bless America so they couldn't mess up the National Anthem! Problem was, they could not have done any worse than the person who did sing it! Don't have any idea who he was but it hurt my ears!

 

As an aside...remember how great Clay sounded when he sang at Dover in 2004?  I sure do!

[bluepiano]

I checked back in this week, having stopped watching at around Top Ten. Clearly I haven't missed anything. I'm not the biggest Idol fan, but I have some nice memories, so it's sad this show is going out with a whimper, not a bang, As the judges/producers had more control then ever, they can't even blame America's voting. You think they'd have done something to ensure at least a couple of memorable finalists, even if it meant bringing in a ringer.

 

Of the top 5, MacKenzie and Dalton are weak singers getting by on selling an image. Sonika and LaPorscha are standard Idol Types (the pretty, pageanty girl singer and the black r&b diva), but there have been much better singers of these types over the years. Some of whom did not get nearly this far, which shows the relative strength in past seasons. Of the top 5, Trent is the only one I find remotely interesting, because I do hear genuine emotion in his voice, unlike MacKenzie. And unlike MacKenzie, he seems to actually understand the lyrics.

 

For me, the defining moment of the season is when Harry told Tristan that her only problem is that she's 15. As someone else posted, this is after the show made the strategic choice to force a bunch of obviously not-ready teenagers down our throats.

 

Well, back to The Voice, which this season has a pretty deep and impressive array of talent. Even the Voice contestants that I find kind of bland are technically better singers than anyone on Idol.

Edited March 20, 2016 by bluepiano

[BogoGog24]

So Trent shouldn't bring up his dead friend since death didn't happen directly to him?

 

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. 

[27bored]

For me, the defining moment of the season is when Harry told Tristan that her only problem is that she's 15. As someone else posted, this is after the show made the strategic choice to force a bunch of obviously not-ready teenagers down our throats.

 

Exactly. That's what I've always hated about AI. They push through singers who not that good and then beat them over the head with the same critiques that they can't change. It makes them look like they know what they're talking about until you remember, oh yeah, they picked them to begin with.

 

Tristan's probably isn't really that she's fifteen. I agree that's a factor, but Tristan is a talented singer. I think she needs to grow into her voice and artistry a little more, but that will come with time and experience. I just think needs a little more charisma as a performer.

 

No, but it's "skill in arrangement", which AI has never been set up very well to showcase, this is probably the closest he can do.

 

I wouldn't entirely agree with that. Making songs your own is cool, but when you do to mask your limitations as a vocalist, it wears a little thin. I think Kris Allen drew a good balance. He had a decent voice, but he managed to be an interesting contestant because he would rearrange songs. Part of what worked for Kris is the fact that he had good pop instincts. and even though I thought Kris was kinda boring, he would pick left-field choices (i.e. "Apologize", "Heartless") and deliver them with a certain amount of conviction. David Cook would be on the higher spectrum because even though he did his own arrangements, or rock versions of songs from a theme, he was a good singer in a classic sense. He has a husky, expressive, baritone voice that would put you in the mind of Chris Cornell or his Idol forefather, Daughtry. On the lower end you have people like Blake Lewis and Dalton. Charismatic cutie-pies who get by on the tween girl vote, but they're reworking songs was just to mask the fact that they were limited vocalists.

[proserpina65]

I don't care.  Don't say you're singing a cover when it the original you're doing.

It annoys the crap out of me, but they do it all the time on AI.  Hence Mariah Carey's "Without You" and Celine Dion's "All By Myself" - ugh.

 

I finally got to see La'Porsha's second performance over the weekend, and it was much better than her first.  Maybe just because I didn't find the song tuneless and unmelodic.

[lchal]

Are there any spoilers out yet for this weeks performances aside from 'classic rock'?

[rereader2]

And Sia.

[BogoGog24]

Are there any spoilers out yet for this weeks performances aside from 'classic rock'?

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.

[bluwater]

Sia and classic rock? LOL Random.

I am super excited to hear about Itunes recordings and wish they had started that a few weeks ago!

[WhineandCheez]

Oh yeah, the sad piano music.  Then to make it worse they show things like 23-year-old Mackenzie gazing sadly around his high school gym from 6 angles, as if he does that all these years later, or is re-enacting some actual event, or as if the audience can't understand simply losing your hobby from hearing about it.  Or Dalton, standing in streets looking sad and lost, as if that's what bipolar looks like.  It's a little like a pharmaceutical commercial.

 

I had to chuckle at Trent's video, he's taking his friend's  guitar out of the case in front of the cow barn, like he kept it in there.  It reminded me of some guy running for Congress being filmed in front of his all American cow barn.