Season 13: Poll - Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

[Kromm]

Ahhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[BogoGog24]

I personally want Caleb to win but I think it will be Jena. Either one is okay with me. 

 

As much as I think Caleb is more talented and I like his style of music more, he has said a lot of dumb things this season that people found offensive. I don't know if he's the right "face" to represent the Idol franchise, based on winners of past seasons (he's no "aw shucks" Scotty or Phillip, for example) His management would have to do damage control 24/7 because of all the dumb things he says. 

 

Jena, on the other hand, is marketable, current, radio-friendly, and has the Disney princess thing down. I don't mean that as an offensive term, but basically she smiles all the time and I think she would do whatever TPTB instruct her to do. She would present the correct, family-friendly "image" the franchise is looking for, so to speak. And Jena also appeals to the all-important teen/tween market.

 

Either way, history will be made no matter who wins:

 

Caleb would be the first male winner to audition 3 times a la Candice Glover, as well as the first hard rocker to win

 

Jena would be the first Caucasian female since Carrie Underwood, the first female winner who did not need as extreme manipulation as Season 12 (this season of course was still pretty manipulated but not as painfully obvious as last season), so in essence, the REAL first female winner since Jordin Sparks, the youngest female winner next to Jordin, one of I think only 3 winners not from the South, the first wildcard winner, and she is also the first female wildcard to reach the finale

[Sparkling Beth]

 

Jena would be the first Caucasian female since Carrie Underwood, the first female winner who did not need as extreme manipulation as Season 12 (this season of course was still pretty manipulated but not as painfully obvious as last season), so in essence, the REAL first female winner since Jordin Sparks, the youngest female winner next to Jordin, one of I think only 3 winners not from the South, the first wildcard winner, and she is also the first female wildcard to reach the finale

Also the first winner to sing entirely in a foreign language.  What's that?  She is singing in English?  Oh, okay, never mind.

[ari333]

I think Caleb just suffers from foot in mouth disease which is easily remedied. Jehna however seemed to think she is god's gift to the world and I'm not sure thereis  cure for that. Caleb has talent and a strong voice. I don't really care if he is "not current." I don't need someone to be current to enjoy the person. In fact current is not all it's cracked up to be if you ask me (see one, Taylor Swift.) Caleb FTW.

[BogoGog24]

I think, actually, from seeing almost all his interviews, that Caleb has a really off-color sense of humor, so what he says is intended to be funny but it comes off offensive. Like when he made the joke about putting peanuts in Alex's underwear even though Alex is allergic, it was clearly intended as a joke that Caleb thought was funny but people found it offensive. I think he just has this really off-color, weird sense of humor.

 

I don't get that kind of attitude from Jena. I think it's hard to really put the blame on her when she's only 17 and the judges and producers have been kissing her ass all season long, the poor girl is believing her own hype. It's a fine line to walk between being confident and being cocky. 

 

I don't care that Caleb is not current either and I like him a lot, but of course in the context of the show, Interscope wants someone who can sell records in this day and age. Jena appeals to the teen/tween market, Caleb doesn't. TPTB just want $$$$$$$, which I see Jena bringing in more of than Caleb, to be honest. 

[ari333]

I think, actually, from seeing almost all his interviews, that Caleb has a really off-color sense of humor, so what he says is intended to be funny but it comes off offensive. Like when he made the joke about putting peanuts in Alex's underwear even though Alex is allergic, it was clearly intended as a joke that Caleb thought was funny but people found it offensive. I think he just has this really off-color, weird sense of humor.

 

I don't get that kind of attitude from Jena. I think it's hard to really put the blame on her when she's only 17 and the judges and producers have been kissing her ass all season long, the poor girl is believing her own hype. It's a fine line to walk between being confident and being cocky. 

 

I don't care that Caleb is not current either and I like him a lot, but of course in the context of the show, Interscope wants someone who can sell records in this day and age. Jena appeals to the teen/tween market, Caleb doesn't. TPTB just want $$$$$$$, which I see Jena bringing in more of than Caleb, to be honest. 

 

 

(BBM)

That's the beauty of everyone having his/her own opinion. I can't see Jehna selling diddly squat. And that's my opinion.  I'm not "blaming" her for anything. I don't like her at all. And that's on me.

Edited May 17, 2014 by ari333

[Joystickenvy]

Jena seems generally more well liked in places where Idol is a topic, but not THE topic and I seldom see Caleb mentioned at all, but this season more than most has been one where other than Jena, the rankings haven't flopped around a lot and Caleb has never hit the bottom, so I think it could go either way. If the coronation song is any indicator, it seems if Caleb does win, they may try to go the rock revival route with him.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Joystickenvy

[4leafclover]

I don't really care one way or another who wins--I can't see myself buying/downloading or enjoying music from either Jena or Caleb.  So, C'est La Vie!  

[ari333]

I didn't mean to imply that I'm in love with Caleb all of a sudden because that's so not the case. For me it's a lesser of two evils because there are only two choices left.

I won't buy anything from Caleb or Jehna. But at least Caleb's voice doesn't make me cringe and change the channel.

[BogoGog24]

Idol fans are endlessly amusing in their rationilizations for who they love and who they hate. The ebb and flow this season in particular. First Jessica was a dead eyed Zombie bitch who smiled while people were eliminated, then she was the down trodden victim of the judging panel. Then Caleb was the r word using, old lady dissing, peanut allergy joking public enemy number one. Now it's Jena.

Jena seems generally more well liked in places where Idol is a topic, but not THE topic and I seldom see Caleb mentioned at all, but this season more than most has been one where other than Jena, the rankings haven't flopped around a lot and Caleb has never hit the bottom, so I think it could go either way. If the coronation song is any indicator, it seems if Caleb does win, they may try to go the rock revival route with him.

That could be because his core fan base doesn't use social media though. I've seen mixed reviews. Some want Jena to win, some want Caleb, some don't care.

[MrsMoltisanti]

This reality show is so over in my opinion.  I don't get the voting system now, it is very manipulated.  I don't like either of the finalists.  I can't believe out of everyone that auditioned that we are left with these two.   Think back to many idol winners who we never hear from again.  These will follow.  Only reason I watched this year was for Harry Connick Jr to be honest so can we crown him the winner?

[BogoGog24]

The voting system this season was actually NOT manipulated for once- for the first time in 13 years they limited the voting to 50 votes per method per contestant. That's about as fair as they can possibly make it.

And I was actually one of the thousands who auditioned this year and I'm not mad at all. Both are talented, especially Caleb. I don't mind someone as talented as Caleb beating me.

[TheGreenKnight]

Who would I like to win? Jena. The true successor to Jordin Sparks if she takes it, rather than that girl last year. Not that I hate Candice--she could sing, even if I thought her tone could be pretty annoying sometimes--but she was easily the worst winner they could've got out of the top 4 last year.

Who will win? Caleb, easily. And it's too bad, because he'll be the only other winner I haven't bought the debut of after Scotty McCreery (Phillip Phillips suckered me with "Gone, Gone, Gone," but won't make that mistake twice since the rest of the album sucked, unfortunately.) If I want an Idol rocker, I'll refer to Bo Bice or Adam Lambert.

 

Thinking about the past, I believe the only finales where I really wouldn't have minded either one winning because I liked them equally was season 2 (Clay v. Ruben) and 8 (Adam v. Kris). Every other finale, I either liked both, but had a preference (Jordin v. Blake; Bo v. Carrie; Diana v. Fantasia; Archuleta v. Cook; Kree v. Candice); liked one, but disliked the other (Katharine v. Taylor; Jessica v. Phillip; Jena v. Caleb); or was just voting for the lesser of two evils (Lee v. Crystal; Lauren v. Scotty).

[jodo]

This reality show is so over in my opinion.  I don't get the voting system now, it is very manipulated.  I don't like either of the finalists.  I can't believe out of everyone that auditioned that we are left with these two.   Think back to many idol winners who we never hear from again.  These will follow.  Only reason I watched this year was for Harry Connick Jr to be honest so can we crown him the winner?

Well said and I so agree!  This season in particular was the lamest I have watched in years.  HCJ was a child prodigy in music!  He brings a level of expertise to judging no other judge has been able to bring to date.  All JLO could do was make sarcastic remarks and encourage booing of him by starting it herself...real grown up JLO.  Not sure about Keith now...to me he goes with the flow as evidenced last season....HCJ made him step up his game and actually give more constructive feedback to the contestants.  Then it became very very apparent that HCJ was completely squelched in anything he had to offer so he made it into a comedy show, egging JLO on, acting wild and crazy, putting a girl on his shoulders, gummy bears and on and on!  He made the best of a bad situation and the one thing he seemed to have control over was not participating in stupid undeserved standing ovations!  Bang on Harry and thanks for staying true while the other two judges did what the ptb wanted.  

 

I live in Canada and we couldn't vote from here for a long time so never got used to it but always had someone I was rooting for until this season...I too cannot believe we are stuck with these 2 people who we will likely never hear much about again and why should we.  Karaoke bars are full of people just like this, they have nothing special to offer in my opinion.  

 

I don't think I can take another season of JLO acting out, HCJ not being allowed to be HCJ and Keith being the tag along.....

Edited May 18, 2014 by jodo

[Kromm]

I really do find myself wondering if this finale will hinge on how many younger viewers vote who want Jena to win as a proxy for Demi Lovato vs. how many old farts, who want Caleb to win as a proxy for Meatloaf. This may depend on what demographic is even left viewing this show, as well as which one bothers to vote (probably twitter voting, the kiddies, telephone voting, the old farts).  Who wins this show may very well say a lot about the state of the show and it's viewership (curiously enough on The Voice they have their own version of young skewing female vs. older skewing male finalist as well, but they also have some Mumbling Country Guy taking votes, so that one depends more on who Mumbles takes more votes from).

[Sparkling Beth]

 

HCJ made him step up his game and actually give more constructive feedback to the contestants.  Then it became very very apparent that HCJ was completely squelched in anything he had to offer so he made it into a comedy show, egging JLO on, acting wild and crazy, putting a girl on his shoulders, gummy bears and on and on!

When Harry Met Silly

 

(Sorry.  Couldn't resist.)

[jodo]

LOL Perfect!

[4leafclover]

 

The voting system this season was actually NOT manipulated for once- for the first time in 13 years they limited the voting to 50 votes per method per contestant. That's about as fair as they can possibly make it.

 

I disagree.  There are ways to manipulate the vote other than with the actual voting process.  For instance, judges fawning over certain contestants and holding others to higher standards than they themselves could ever achieve.  By giving silly standing ovations every time certain contestants opened their mouths, by criticizing good performances and praising mediocre performances and last but not least, by choosing to ignore the offensive foot-in-mouth disease suffered by the obvious "golden boy."  Yes, there are certainly other ways to manipulate the vote and we see it every year and this year was no different.  

[Kromm]

I disagree.  There are ways to manipulate the vote other than with the actual voting process.  For instance, judges fawning over certain contestants and holding others to higher standards than they themselves could ever achieve.  By giving silly standing ovations every time certain contestants opened their mouths, by criticizing good performances and praising mediocre performances and last but not least, by choosing to ignore the offensive foot-in-mouth disease suffered by the obvious "golden boy."  Yes, there are certainly other ways to manipulate the vote and we see it every year and this year was no different.  

Caleb seems to me to be the recipient of the most over-praising, standing Os, etc.

 

Then again, it could be argued that Jena had a bump based off being a wild-card and the show making sure that got talked about on-air a lot.  Even having a later "off week" where a contestant gets criticized (there was at least one of those for her) can be a tool used to get people behind someone.

 

Of course a lot of this depends on how much an outsider like Per Blankens and his imported team understand this crap (or if there's a team of held-over flunkies who do).  Honestly I have no idea if a man who thinks using a main theme version like a High School drum march is a good idea is from the same reality school as the previous decade of showrunners or not.

[ari333]

I disagree.  There are ways to manipulate the vote other than with the actual voting process.  For instance, judges fawning over certain contestants and holding others to higher standards than they themselves could ever achieve.  By giving silly standing ovations every time certain contestants opened their mouths, by criticizing good performances and praising mediocre performances and last but not least, by choosing to ignore the offensive foot-in-mouth disease suffered by the obvious "golden boy."  Yes, there are certainly other ways to manipulate the vote and we see it every year and this year was no different.  

 

SO much word to all of the above and I'll add to that. There are TPTB's uses of bandzilla's (volume and unannounced key changes for starters,) the audio monkeys, the edit monkeys, the "your song didn't get cleared, sorry at the last minute, change it all right now"  BS. And then there's the, "We /the fans/ the fill-in-the-blank chose this piece of shit song just for you so you'll suck out loud" strategy. That's how things seem to be leaning toward Jehna imo. I hope TPTB get Caleb and they'll have to follow him around  with an attorney and put him on a 7 second delay wherever he goes and that will be awesome.

 

On a side note, I'm not sure I get it why the younger fans are, "younger viewers" and the older fans are, "old farts."

Edited May 18, 2014 by ari333

[rereader2]

the one thing he seemed to have control over was not participating in stupid undeserved standing ovations!  

 

Which made it mean something that he stood for Alex last week.

[BogoGog24]

He stood for Alex because it was his swan song. Harry always stands when it's the contestant's last performance. I actually hate the fact Harry doesn't stand. When the rest of the audience is standing, he just looks like a wet blanket to me. I hate that so much. It comes off as pretentious like he thinks he's better than the other 2 judges because he doesn't play the "game" the way they do and it comes wet blankety.

 

Of course there is always manipulation from the judges- it happens every single year, this year was no different. They always have a certain contestant they want to push and they throw everyone else under the bus. That doesn't mean the voters have to listen though. I'm assuming most of the voting audience is smart enough to see through those obvious manipulations and vote for whoever they want to. Just because the judges are prodding everyone to vote for Jena or Sam doesn't mean we have to. At least by limiting the voting this year, they've made it much fairer than it's been in the past. If the voting was still unlimited I bet we would have had Sam in the finale.

[ari333]

Don't want to derail the thread, but I want to post this where you guys will be sure to see it. Will some of you watch with me this "comedy competition" show called, "Funniest Wins" with Marlon Wayans (IIRC) on TBS starting Fri June 20 at 10 pm eastern? I will request the thread and post on it, but I don't want there to be crickets and me talking only to myself :)    (There's also SYTYCD and some singing show called "Rising Star.") Hint hint nudge nudge. [/ineedalife]

 

 

Edited May 18, 2014 by ari333

[4leafclover]

I don't think HCJ is "wet blankety" at all for not giving phony standing O's.  Jumping up to gyrate and have faux orgasms over certain singers and standing up to applaud afterward shows extreme favoritism and, in my opinion, lack of professionalism.  You would never see an olympic judge jumping out of their seat waving a "10" placard all over the place after a stellar (or in these cases, less than stellar) performance, nor would it be tolerated or respected.  Why should it on AI? 

 

And yes, that's a good question about the "young viewers" and "old farts" reference.  Shades of Caleb...........

Edited May 18, 2014 by 4leafclover

[BogoGog24]

JLo running up to kiss Jena is what I would call blatant favoritism. I'm sure even the judges, while they are supposed to be unbiased, secretly have their favorites like everyone else does. I'm talking about when literally every person in the room is standing because someone just gave an outstanding performance and Harry is literally the only person sitting and not even clapping or smiling. He looks like a wet blanket by doing that. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving a standing O when the performer deserves it. I don't see anything wrong with clapping either because it's just polite to do after someone is done performing. If all 3 judges didn't stand or clap then maybe it would be okay but because Harry is the only judge who does neither, it looks pretentious. I hate it. If there's a performance that he thinks is standing O-worthy, then stand! He doesn't have to stand if he doesn't think it was that good but if he thinks something is good then he could stand. I don't see that as showing favoritism. If someone pulls out a really great performance, they should be rewarded for that. It's a competition- when someone puts in 100% and pulls out a great performance they should receive an equally positive reaction. I don't think they should receive the same reaction as someone who merely shows up and mumbles a few words. 

[jodo]

Well the fact he didn't stand says it all then because the performances have just not been "stand-worthy" and Harry is the only one who got it right! 

[ari333]

I wouldn't consider a judge or any person not standing as a wet blanket. HCJ stands when he feels like it and not when someone tells him to. That seems normal to me. I doubt he cares one bit if he is the only one sitting.

 

Back to the topic, Caleb for the win for me.

Edited May 18, 2014 by ari333

[SnarkyTart]

 I hope TPTB get Caleb and they'll have to follow him around  with an attorney and put him on a 7 second delay wherever he goes and that will be awesome.

 

Oh, I agree with that!   Otherwise, I'd rather have HCJ win than either of the final two.  At least Caleb may provide some entertaining public relations trainwrecks, at least for a little while.

[Kromm]

I'm actually surprised to find the poll leaning towards people thinking Jena will win.  I totally have been calling this for Caleb (not that I want that), because we have to go all the way back to Jordin Sparks on this show for any sign of a Youth Vote being an effective voting block (any maybe only because she was up against boring as heck Blake).

 

Since then?  Cookie wins over Archie.  Allen wins over Glambert.  Weasel wins over Bowersox (admittedly neither of them was particularly youth oriented).  McCreepy wins over LaurenAlaina (both were young, but I'd argue her appeal was much younger, while Scotty appealed to 50 year old men yearning for "old style country"). Phil Squared over Jessica ("Dave Matthews Reborn" isn't ancient, but certainly much older skewing than Jessica).  And I guess Candice over Kree is a wash, because like with DeWyze and Bowersox NEITHER skewed particularly young.  But overall it seems to me that Old wins over Young on this show (remember, I'm not talking about the performer's actual ages, just who they seem to most likely appeal to).

 

Going back before Jordin, we also have Hicks over McPhee and Fantasia over Diana in the old skew over young skew category, IMO, with Kelly over Justin being the only real "young vs. young", Ruben over Clay both skewing old in appeal, and Carrie being the other main example, besides Jordin, I think, of young winning over someone (Bo Bice) skewing older.

 

This is all just my impression and opinion on these people and the direction of their appeal (and don't mistake me saying someone skews as either old or young as a quality statement, since EITHER can be better depending on the performer). It's just interesting that if my impressions are right, that Jena would have to totally be equivalent to Carrie and Jordin (again, I'm excluding Kelly, since the demographics seem so different in her season) to win over Caleb, who (frankly) with the list of older skewing performers who've won preceding him, would have to live up to a far smaller burden, given how many of them who's careers have peaked about five minutes after leaving the show won nevertheless.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Kromm

[Joystickenvy]

Maybe people think Caleb won't appeal to older voters because of the 'old ladies' comment or that there's more Tweens voting for Jena. Interestingly, on the Idol blogs I glanced through, the commenters generally seem to want Jena to win, but think it will be Caleb.

Perhaps it's a hope for the best, expect the worst sort of thing lol. I haven't looked at the breakdown on the ratings demos this year and they don't directly correlate to who votes anyway, but I think there's a tendency to overestimate the number of young people who still watch. Idol wasn't skewing as old as DWTS last year, but part of the ratings drop was definitely viewers aging out of the 18-49 demo.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Joystickenvy

[Kromm]

Maybe people think Caleb won't appeal to older voters because of the 'old ladies' comment or that there's more Tweens voting for Jena. Interestingly, the Idol blogs I glanced through, the commenters generally seem to want Jena to win, but think it will be Caleb.

Perhaps it's a hope for the best, expect the worst sort of thing lol

I suppose it's possible that Twitter voting could make a difference (The Voice has that, right?).  Tweeting, as a thing, even this many years into it's existence, still skews young, and it's also easy for people to do.  Despite all the impressions of Youth Voting, I don't think it's actually been present for this show (vs. let's day, Dancing With The Stars, where it's manifested a number of times), and tweeting might skew younger than some methods. 

 

But then dealing with what we've actually got, the super/power voting app, with the 50 votes with one touch, comes into play.  Installing an Android or iOS app, or using the Idol Website but being registered, likely excludes only the really elderly, but in a way may skew things back a bit towards if not the old, at least the middle aged, because I think in the past the only people who BOTHERED to toss 50 votes at ANY contestant might have been young--since it took technical patience and a little bit of obsession (more a provenance of the young, IMO). Now it just takes someone willing to give out a Facebook address.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Kromm

[Mya Stone]

Harry can be my wet blanket any day.

Carry on.

[Joystickenvy]

I've only voted once this season, but I never voted more than twice when you had to dial a phone, so if nothing else the supervoteTM probably skews things in favor of the lazy ;)

As for Harry, I don't much care for the music he does these days, but I was much more excited than any 19 year old should have been when he played a show on the UofI campus back in the day. I've liked him ever since. Keith OTOH....lost me when he cut his hair. I just close my eyes and think of England when JLo is on screen.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Joystickenvy

[MrsMoltisanti]

 

 

 

QUOTE

The voting system this season was actually NOT manipulated for once- for the first time in 13 years they limited the voting to 50 votes per method per contestant. That's about as fair as they can possibly make it.

 

 

 

QUOTE

I disagree.  There are ways to manipulate the vote other than with the actual voting process.  For instance, judges fawning over certain contestants and holding others to higher standards than they themselves could ever achieve.  By giving silly standing ovations every time certain contestants opened their mouths, by criticizing good performances and praising mediocre performances and last but not least, by choosing to ignore the offensive foot-in-mouth disease suffered by the obvious "golden boy."  Yes, there are certainly other ways to manipulate the vote and we see it every year and this year was no different.

Absolutely.  I guess I should have worded it differently in my original post when I said this years voting system was so manipulated, that I meant the voting in general not the actual recording of the votes, however most of you got what I meant when I ready the posts after this.  

And those of you who felt this year was as fair as they could have possibly made it, I really and truly disagree and I am guessing by what I read here that most of you feel that way as well.  Such contriving went on as none other that I have seen.  They drove that car exactly the way they wanted it to go for a ratings boost and for the impact of a "loud" finale.  We are talking hype and impact here for a finale show, not what will sell in the long term.  This is a reality show.  And the reality is that a talented young boy who writes and obviously has a huge interest in his own music will go much further than the two finalists IMO.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with giving a standing O when the performer deserves it.

The standing ovation these days has been so watered down it's not even relevant in most cases.   A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim.  Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand.  

I don't think anyone, including my favourite Alex, was worthy of one this year.  Harry Connick Jr is not a wet blanket.  He is a musician and singer and entertainer who has been in the business for 35 years or more.  I really believe he knows what he is doing.  He may give in somewhat to what the producers want him to lead to or not harp on if it doesn't push the cart the way they want, but I think that is the only thing he has left to hang onto so he doesn't fall into the sad comic abyss that Keith and JLO have allowed themselves to be swept into for the sake of being on the show for their careers.

[BogoGog24]

This year I only used the SuperVote app on AmericanIdol.com and gave 50 votes to each contestant I liked and that was it for me. Never texted, definitely never dialed. I also have a question regarding dialing: Do you have to wait for the automated message to end before you can hang up or will the vote still count even if you hang up before the message is over? I always waited until it was over, just in case the vote didn't count until you listened to the whole message (which I always found annoying) I'm just wondering if anybody knows.

 

As for my favorite judge this year, I actually liked Keith the best. I like that he can be critical without seeming mean or like he's just looking for something to nag about (*cough* Harry *cough*) He seems very invested in the show and the contestants. He seems to enjoy his work. He may do a little too much head bobbing while the contestants are performing, but I like that he gets into it and enjoys the performances. He seems the most neutral of the 3 judges, not too sweet like JLo and not too rough like Harry.

 

I like that Harry has a lot of musical theory and knowledge and that he takes the job seriously but sometimes he comes off pretentious to me, having his own little rules about how to judge and throwing out musical terms he knows the average audience member won't understand. He's gone off the wall recently, putting an underaged girl on his shoulders, eating gummy bears, doing the JLo walk, etc. It does seem to me like TPTB have tried to get him to follow their script more which could be why he's "acting out." I liked him in the beginning but as the season's gone on, I've found myself liking him less and less. It always seemed like he just had something he had to complain about with every performance, like picking on Emily for singing sexy lyrics, or picking on Jessica because she was smiling while singing Pumped Up Kicks (even though that was the point), etc. It just seemed like he was hardly ever satisfied with anything and eventually that just gets very annoying. I think he would serve better as a mentor and not as a judge. He clearly is dying to be the mentor anyway. 

 

JLo started off the season well. She actually gave legit critiques and even the other night she was not afraid to tell her chosen one Jena that she didn't like one of her songs. She seemed more honest this season than her other seasons. But lately she's also been going back to her old ways of booing Harry and telling people they're "cute" and "pretty" when she has nothing substantive to say about their actual performances. Once in awhile she makes an astute critique, sometimes pointing out something that neither Harry nor Keith realize. Sometimes she comes off as very unprofessional though and she has shown blatant favoritism towards Jena this season. Going up to kiss her on the cheek was OTT. According to Jessica, she also seems like she doesn't care that much about the show or the contestants. After Jessica was eliminated, JLo gave her a hug and then just walked away, even though Jess said she would have liked to talk with her a few minutes. I've seen Jennifer do this a few times actually, when the cameras were still rolling, she would hang around for a few seconds and then walk away, even when Randy and the rest of the judges and Ryan stayed onstage with the eliminated contestant. 

 

I like Keith the best because he is "in the middle" for me.

Absolutely.  I guess I should have worded it differently in my original post when I said this years voting system was so manipulated, that I meant the voting in general not the actual recording of the votes, however most of you got what I meant when I ready the posts after this.  

And those of you who felt this year was as fair as they could have possibly made it, I really and truly disagree and I am guessing by what I read here that most of you feel that way as well.  Such contriving went on as none other that I have seen.  They drove that car exactly the way they wanted it to go for a ratings boost and for the impact of a "loud" finale.  We are talking hype and impact here for a finale show, not what will sell in the long term.  This is a reality show.  And the reality is that a talented young boy who writes and obviously has a huge interest in his own music will go much further than the two finalists IMO.

The standing ovation these days has been so watered down it's not even relevant in most cases.   A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim.  Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Pavarotti, Barbra Streisand.  

I don't think anyone, including my favourite Alex, was worthy of one this year.  Harry Connick Jr is not a wet blanket.  He is a musician and singer and entertainer who has been in the business for 35 years or more.  I really believe he knows what he is doing.  He may give in somewhat to what the producers want him to lead to or not harp on if it doesn't push the cart the way they want, but I think that is the only thing he has left to hang onto so he doesn't fall into the sad comic abyss that Keith and JLO have allowed themselves to be swept into for the sake of being on the show for their careers.

Well I disagree. I think there were at least a few standing O worthy performances this season, one of them being Caleb's Dazed and Confused. Another that comes to mind for me is Jena's Rolling in the Deep. Just because Keith and JLo stood up for certain performances doesn't mean they didn't genuinely think that performer deserved it. Maybe they felt like standing because to them they really liked it and thought it was good. Maybe Harry didn't. Like I said, if a judge feels like a performance is standing O worthy, to them, they can stand up if they want to. It shouldn't mean that they're fake or something for it.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

What malady will beset Jena this week?

 

The foo?

 

A cowled?

 

Lurrrinjuhhey-ate-us?

 

Durrayeeza?

[Kromm]

What malady will beset Jena this week?

 

The foo?

 

A cowled?

 

Lurrrinjuhhey-ate-us?

 

Durrayeeza?

Heh. Is this just about her inability to speak?  Because if it's about sympathy milking disasters, I'd say Caleb had that locked up last week a lot tighter.

[MrsMoltisanti]

The acceptance of mediocrity as excellence is a symptom of so much these days.  Sigh. 

If one does not stand then, because they don't feel it was worthy, does this make them a wet blanket because the other two liked it so much they felt it was worthy of a standing ovation?  

[BogoGog24]

If Harry doesn't stand because he doesn't think it was standing O-worthy, that's fine. But if he doesn't stand, even if he thinks it was good, it just seems like some game he's trying to play to make himself look better than the other 2. I think if there's to be a "no standing or applauding" rule, then all 3 judges should follow it. It looks stupid when 2 of the judges are standing, smiling, and clapping, and one is just sitting there, doing nothing. 

 

I do not think the performances I mentioned were "mediocre" at all. Sorry I did not grow up in the '60s or '70s or whatever is supposed to be considered the golden age of music like most people here, but I grew up in the '90s and early 2000s, so maybe I just have a different perception of what is standing O worthy and what isn't. But I do think Caleb gave some great performances this season and Jena had a couple moments as well. I also liked Alex's Always on My Mind. 

[Kromm]

To me a standing O performance needs to be transcendent.  It needs to feel like it's the single best thing you've heard that year, at the very least.  So having a moment like that week after week does seem a little much.

 

The Voice may be even worse than Idol with this though.  it doesn't help that what ORIGINALLY worked with The Voice (that they didn't give criticisms at all--which seemed refreshing in comparison to Simon Cowell's often shallow critiques, and Randy Jackson's even more arbitrary teeth seething sounding ones) has now caused that show to go too far in the other direction (that they often lie about performances totally and can't simply choose to say nothing).  At least HCJ has invited back the idea that criticism is possible on these shows, even if he pays for those with getting booed.

[MrsMoltisanti]

 

It looks stupid when 2 of the judges are standing, smiling, and clapping, and one is just sitting there, doing nothing.

Yep, you are right on that one.  It does look stupid when two get up.  I agree with you on that one but probably not for the same reasons.

 

I do love me some Harry, that game playing, pretentious, talented fool.   I think he came on the show not to use his amazing knowledge of good taste and talent (I luh ya papi) but to just mess with our heads and be mean to the good kids.

 

I am with the gang here that think he is getting silly and ridiculous as a bit of a rebellion because of the taming down he got from TPTB.

[rereader2]

A standing O should NEVER be given for a good performance. It's supposed to go only to GREAT performances.

 

It's been hugely watered down because of the ridiculous prices charged for Broadway shows (or the equivalent concerts); people who have spent upwards of $500 for a family to go to the theater are going to give a standing O just to convince themselves they didn't waste all that money. So people are used to giving standing Os to every show they go to...but that doesn't make it appropriate, and Harry--who, after all, has starred on Broadway himself--knows better.

[4leafclover]

 

I think if there's to be a "no standing or applauding" rule, then all 3 judges should follow it. It looks stupid when 2 of the judges are standing, smiling, and clapping, and one is just sitting there, doing nothing.

 

I agree, the 2 looking stupid should sit down and judge professionally.

[MrsMoltisanti]

Harry is a triple threat - he has been in movies and tv shows, broadway productions, and has written and sang and performed his songs for decades.  All while living a nice family life with the same woman and three daughters with no scandal that has hit the press in any major way.  I love him.  That is all.

Edited May 19, 2014 by MrsMoltisanti

[Joystickenvy]

In the context of Idol, standing O's used to signify a truly exceptional performance, or at least one we were meant to think was truly exceptional and rarely happened more than once or twice a season.

Since Simon left, they are basically a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, other than perhaps who the producers have told the judges to pimp. I think Harry doesn't stand was part of the script, but I don't really care either way.

In my world, the standing O signifies two things: appreciation for the performance and "we want an encore." Some audiences stand for almost everyone as a feel good sort of gesture, others only for the bands they truly love. You can always tell the difference by the enthusiasm though.

[TheGreenKnight]

The thing I find strange about Harry supposedly not giving standing O's is---didn't he give Malaya one when she gave that VERY bad "I Am Changing" performance? As far as manipulation, they tried to carry Malaya and Sam farther than they got (for the ratings more than anything, I'm guessing).

 

Personally, I find Harry Connick, Jr. overrated. I didn't think I would dislike him coming into this season, because I loved the smackdown he gave Randy last year which was hilarious. Mostly the reason I don't care for him is that, like JLO, it's clear he preferences artists who perform better than they can sing over contestants who go for high notes or who, heaven forbid, did a run or two (I agree runs can ruin a performance, but they can be effective in small doses). Also like JLO, he gives the female contestants a harder go of it than the male contestants, mostly when it comes to the point of stage presence. For some reason female contestants always get criticized for not moving around enough when male contestants can stand in one place their entire performance for weeks on end and are never criticized, which is infurating as a viewer. Not to mention the slut-shaming towards Emily Piriz early on, a low not even JLo has went to.

 

I don't like Harry's smartass comments towards the contestants at times. And the way he talks while they're performing is extremely insulting. I also can't help bringing up the Phillip v. Candice snafu which really rubbed me the wrong way, where both he and JLO pretended like Candice wasn't even there while she was performing, but gave a standing ovation to Phillip (and pretty much every other guest performer this season) the next week for sounding awful... Now I'm not the world's biggest Candice fan, but that was the moment I jumped off the Harry train.

Edited May 19, 2014 by TheGreenKnight

[BogoGog24]

The Malaya performance you could be referring to was her sing out moment. Harry only stands for the sing outs and guest performances (except Candice as you mentioned)

I agree Harry seems overrated. Occasionally he makes some really good points that I agree with but I feel like he's a better mentor than he is a judge. Like he didn't realize that Pumped Up Kicks is supposed to be an ironic song. Even JLo knew that. And yeah he got on Emily for singing lyrics that were too sexy yet said nothing when Sam sung lyrics about domestic violence and a night at the bar in We Are Young. He made a big deal to Jessica about dancing in her room yet never said to Alex that he should drop the guitar or move out from the mic stand. I think both were fair points to make but he should have said them to everyone who needed it, not just the girls.

[ari333]

My vote is technically Anyone But Jehna, so that means I'm team Caleb since he's the other one there.

[MrsMoltisanti]

I don't know what the rating scale is for judges, so I am not sure where he lands on it and if he is indeed, overrated however Harry has definitely brought some credibility to the sadly sinking show.  He is not everyone's cup of tea and I dig that.  We all get our opinions based on our subjective feelings.  When I came into the show I felt Harry lifted the other judges up to a better critique.  Now I think the show went sideways due to the machinations of TPTB, and all the judges look silly at times.    The comment to Emily about the choice of lyrics was probably embarrassing to her and judgemental but somehow I think she struck a chord in him and he didn't want to see her turn to using provocative lyrics to prove her worth as a singer, and just be who she is: a lovely young lady.  And that's just me folks.  In a way I think he did her a favour but I know I will get jumped on for saying that.  Anyhoo.

[Joystickenvy]

I thought most of the comments through the audition phase of the competition were pretty good from all the judges....even J Lo. However, once the lives started it seemed like they were all clearly on script. It's a shame, because I was really enjoying the judges up to that point. That's primarily why I quit watching live and started ff'ing over them.

I feel like Harry was supposed to be in Simon's old role as the judge you should listen to because he's oh so smart, but once he started tongue bathing wretched performances, I felt no further need to listen. I still like him, but I see him as an actor playing a role.