S17.E09: Showcase / Final Judgment (2019.03.31)

[mamadrama]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

I wish Jeremiah had chosen the song Wade did-'Work Song'-instead of doing 'Landslide'. I get it, Jerry, you're naïve and wounded and wear your heart on your sleeve, but I'm already bored with your old ass song choices. You need to show us that you can do something edgier/more contemporary. Also, I was expecting to see his parents in the audience; maybe they'll come around as he advances.

Speaking of Wade, that was the first performance of his that I liked. He was kind of menacing, which suits him and his fake voice. Looks like he's had some styling, too- those shirts were good on him, but skinny jeans?

Speaking of styling, I wonder whose idea it was to put Laine in a suit? Not his, I suspect. He's beautiful and has a twinkle in his eye, which goes a long way to selling his performances.

OTOH, I bet Uche selected his pleather leggings/feather vest from his closet of 'wedding singer' outfits. Uche is really, uh, something. Entertaining, yes- also corny and not much of a voice, imo.

Show should have kept Kai ('the Singer') over Professional Reality Show Personality Evelyn. In general, though, I think the judges/whoever made good choices.

His whole storyline right now is about his parents not accepting him, how he's had to leave his family and job, but at least he has his boyfriend to support him. IF his parents come around, my guess is that it will be on the night of the finale if he makes final 3. Or, you know, it's "songs that remind you of home" night or something and right before Jeremiah goes out on stage, he sees his parents down on the front row. He goes out, sings, cries, and hugs them as his song finishes. The show will want to milk that angle with all they've got.

I'm not saying that as a diss to Jeremiah or to anyone else whose parents have had trouble with their child's sexuality. I know this happens and it's incredibly sad. I live in a very religious and politically conservative (socially anyway) area and I've had many friends who were disowned by their church or parents for being gay.  It's incredibly sad. As greedy as shows like these are, though, I can see them thinking that the whole forgiveness storyline is too good to pass up. They'll somehow want their fingers in that. I guess if it helps him and his parents move forward together, though, then it doesn't matter. 

[HelenCrump]

I am a longtime Idol viewer (since season 2) and always finds the show gets more interesting around this point, as the number of contestants gets narrowed down.

My favorite by far is Alejandro.  I like his voice, his song choices, his guitar playing ... I think he is a real musician and hope that viewers (voters) agree.

I also like Jeremiah, Laci, and Ryan.   I liked Ashley's audition ("Come Away With Me") so much but didn't care for her performance last night.   I hold out hope for her though.

I also find things to like in Walker and Shawn's voices.

16 year old Riley -- what on earth were her parents thinking letting her wear those shorts and heels in performance?  Added to her pageant-y presentation ... I am so not a fan.

See also:  Wade, Evelyn, and Eddie.  I find all of them grating in their own special ways.   (Thank goodness the blond PERSONALITY girl who was judged along with Eddie is not also in the top 20.)

Count me in as not a Myra fan -- she seems like a sweet girl but her diction was distracting.

[snarkylady]

1 hour ago, mamadrama said:

His whole storyline right now is about his parents not accepting him, how he's had to leave his family and job, but at least he has his boyfriend to support him. IF his parents come around, my guess is that it will be on the night of the finale if he makes final 3. Or, you know, it's "songs that remind you of home" night or something and right before Jeremiah goes out on stage, he sees his parents down on the front row. He goes out, sings, cries, and hugs them as his song finishes. The show will want to milk that angle with all they've got.

I'm not saying that as a diss to Jeremiah or to anyone else whose parents have had trouble with their child's sexuality. I know this happens and it's incredibly sad. I live in a very religious and politically conservative (socially anyway) area and I've had many friends who were disowned by their church or parents for being gay.  It's incredibly sad. As greedy as shows like these are, though, I can see them thinking that the whole forgiveness storyline is too good to pass up. They'll somehow want their fingers in that. I guess if it helps him and his parents move forward together, though, then it doesn't matter. 

Since the first time we saw Jeremiah I've thought that Idol would do everything they could to have his parents show up to support him at a live performance (assuming, of course, that he makes it that far).  At this point I would be shocked if we didn't see them. 

[mamadrama]

Riley is cute and she can sing in a technical sense, but I am not seeing anything particularly special about her voice. I'm from a state that has produced more famous country singers than any other state in the country and girls like Riley are a dime a dozen here. They have power, can carry a tune, have somewhat of a range, and have a nice demeanor but ultimately forgettable within half an hour of listening to them. On her own she's okay; paired alongside Laci or Ashley or many of the others, there's no real competition. Still, I don't dislike her. 

[twilightzone]

52 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

His whole storyline right now is about his parents not accepting him, how he's had to leave his family and job, but at least he has his boyfriend to support him. IF his parents come around, my guess is that it will be on the night of the finale if he makes final 3. Or, you know, it's "songs that remind you of home" night or something and right before Jeremiah goes out on stage, he sees his parents down on the front row. He goes out, sings, cries, and hugs them as his song finishes. The show will want to milk that angle with all they've got.

I wouldn't put it past Idol with trying to milk Jerimiah's storyline.  His family has not disowned him - as it has been implied.  He posted recent Instagram pics of him with his father, his sister, brother in law.  I also think relying on a backstory of any kind for any contestant - is a very slippery slope.

[paul4295]

22 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

Riley is cute and she can sing in a technical sense, but I am not seeing anything particularly special about her voice. I'm from a state that has produced more famous country singers than any other state in the country and girls like Riley are a dime a dozen here. They have power, can carry a tune, have somewhat of a range, and have a nice demeanor but ultimately forgettable within half an hour of listening to them. On her own she's okay; paired alongside Laci or Ashley or many of the others, there's no real competition. Still, I don't dislike her. 

I'm not a country music fan, but I do think she has a really good voice, and compared to the competition, she deserved her spot in the top 20.  So far, she seems like a nice kid (although as a father with a daughter a few years older than her, I worry about her wardrobe choices as well), and I like her a lot better than Gabby from last season, who checked off most of the same boxes, but seemed way too entitled.

[mamadrama]

25 minutes ago, twilightzone said:

I wouldn't put it past Idol with trying to milk Jerimiah's storyline.  His family has not disowned him - as it has been implied.  He posted recent Instagram pics of him with his father, his sister, brother in law.  I also think relying on a backstory of any kind for any contestant - is a very slippery slope.

Yeah, I've seen those posts as well as the tweets about it that his dad made. I was talking about within the context of the show, which doesn't always mirror reality. 

20 minutes ago, paul4295 said:

I'm not a country music fan, but I do think she has a really good voice, and compared to the competition, she deserved her spot in the top 20.  So far, she seems like a nice kid (although as a father with a daughter a few years older than her, I worry about her wardrobe choices as well), and I like her a lot better than Gabby from last season, who checked off most of the same boxes, but seemed way too entitled.

I guess I remain "whelmed" by her.  Neither under nor over.  FWIW, I didn't say that she didn't deserve her spot. 

[llewis823]

5 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

And speaking of not getting it: what the hell do the judges see in Alejandro?  They keep saying how special and unique and talented he is, but all I see is a good guitarist with a bog-standard voice and no stage presence at all.

I feel the same way.

[WhineandCheez]

My favorite is the guy who lost like 150 pounds and is gay, sang "A Song for You." Name? Oh my, that Southern 16 year old with the rainbow sequin  hot pants!  We at least need to be grateful her shoes weren't lucite platforms.

[vast wasteland]

Really enjoying this season so far, I think there are many talented singers.  Really enjoying Shayy.

However, Katy Perry is really beginning to annoy me.  A lot.  First she makes a proposal All About Her.  Histrionically.  Like a kid who acts up for attention, and if they don't get enough, they up the annoying behavior to another level.  And then look around to see if everyone is watching them.

And when that poor pastor's kid says he no longer lives at home or works at his fathers church?  There's Katy to give him a heart to heart discussion ALL ABOUT HER.  And how HER life was affected, and how SHE felt.  And puts in a plug for I Kissed A Girl to boot.  

I swear this woman could turn a conversation about lawn care into one that is All About Her.

3 hours ago, mamadrama said:

His whole storyline right now is about his parents not accepting him, how he's had to leave his family and job, but at least he has his boyfriend to support him. IF his parents come around, my guess is that it will be on the night of the finale if he makes final 3. Or, you know, it's "songs that remind you of home" night or something and right before Jeremiah goes out on stage, he sees his parents down on the front row. He goes out, sings, cries, and hugs them as his song finishes. The show will want to milk that angle with all they've got....

...As greedy as shows like these are, though, I can see them thinking that the whole forgiveness storyline is too good to pass up. They'll somehow want their fingers in that. I guess if it helps him and his parents move forward together, though, then it doesn't matter. 

Had the exact same thought.

Added:  Just finished the thread, looks like lots of you had the same reaction.

.

Hate, HATE that they put those poor last contestants in the position of receiving their news in the company of another contestant.

Edited April 1, 2019 by vast wasteland

[marykat71702]

I'm glad Madison stayed over Myra.

Drake and Raquel look like they could be related. Drake is sweet, but this performance wasn't good.

How did Evelyn make it through? I don't think either she or Kate will make it far in the live rounds.

Ok, Wade is an idiot. Besides that, he shouldn't have made it through the Hollywood rounds. What, exactly, do they see in him? He may have an instantly recognizable voice, but it's not really a good voice, IMO.

I hate that Bobby brought up his DWTS win, I'm still kind of bitter about that.

Not surprised that Johnny Depp, Jr. didn't make it-poor song choice and needed more confidence.

Ah, now I remember who Ashley Hess is.

Shayy's performance, unfortunately, was not that good this time.

Harry Potter(AKA Waldo-real name Walker?)is good, I just don't know if America will connect with him.  He's kind of got the Billy Joel thing going with the piano, which personally I like, but don't know if everyone else will.

Alejandro. I get that he's an introvert, but if you're going to go on this show and want to be the next "American Idol", then for God's sake open your eyes and at least try to connect with the audience. He brings to mind David Archuleta in that aspect.

Between Marge and Eddie, I would have rather seen Marge move on. 

Tyler will be next year's Laine Hardy. I felt kind of bad when they called both of them together-you knew they were going to keep Laine.

Edited April 2, 2019 by marykat71702
Added something

[marykat71702]

16 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Is it okay if I ask you to elaborate?

In a nutshell, he can't dance, yet won a competition that is supposedly about dancing ability.

[Ilovepie]

I enjoyed this format. It’s nice they got to go to Hawaii (even if some idiots don’t know it’s in the U.S.). I also liked that the judges gave the news pretty straight forward instead of a bunch of fake outs, and they all took it pretty well. I liked that it pretty much came down to how they performed in the showcase. Also like that there is not just a bunch of 15-17 year olds. Good job show!

I am bummed Margie and Shayy didn’t make it, and relieved Myra and Kai didn’t. I would have put Nate instead of the kid with the face tattoos. I like Eddie’s voice but not him, per se; I’m glad the judges told him to lay off the schtick.

I am most excited for Madison, Lacy, Alejandro and Ryan. Ryan especially because he is from Modesto where I grew up.

I think this shaping up to be an interesting group. Looking forward to it now....

[ForReal]

On 3/31/2019 at 8:50 PM, HappyDancex2 said:

I do remember a girl who sang in a sequin dress with tennis shoes and was trying to sell us the Meghan Trainor song about not being a size 2....when she kind of looked no larger than a size 4.   LOL   Bad song choice for irony alone.

This was my thought as well. I did like that over the course of the show she learned to shut down most of her hyper manner, although I guess she should be smart enough to do that since she's a Stanford graduate, she said. She definitely has something to fall back on.