# American Idol 2011 – Official Discussion Thread



## Sonnie

*American Idol 2011 – Official Discussion Thread*

After the non-sense of teeny-boppers "voting in" the cute guy last year, I stated I was not going to watch Idol this year. Simon is gone and I could not get excited about Tyler and J.Lo coming in as new judges. Despite all my negative opinions, I figured I would at least record Part 3 of Hollywood and watch the solo performances to see if the judges had found a better overall selection than last year’s one girl show with Crystal blowing everyone else away. I sat down to watch it last night and WOW! I was BLOWN away by the magnificent talent there is this year. 

This could easily be the BEST EVER American Idol with this group of kids. Unbelievable! Awesome!

Those that stood out for me...

*Haley Reinhart* - what a way to open up the auditions. If she can hold it together and not forget her words, she could be in the top 12. 

*Ashthon Jones* – she flat put on a performance.

*Thia Megia* – are you kidding me... 15 years old? What a voice.

*Clint Jun Gamboa* – the first guy... sang Georgia On My Mind... great singing.

*Kendra Chantelle* – another Georgia On My Mind... more great singing.

*Sophia Shorai* – finished up GOMM for Kendra... she is very good... wanted to hear more.

*Carson Higgins* - My Perrogative is a tough song to sing... this guy is crazy. It will be interesting to see what happens with him.

*Julie Zorrilla* – had the piano thing going on... pretty good vocals... wanted to hear more of her.

*Caleb Hawley* – look like he was high on something, but had a good voice singing Stevie Wonder.

*Colton Dizon* – another excellent piano and voice combination.

*Brett Loewenstern* – maybe... the bushy red hair thing is a distraction for me, but he has a pretty good voice.

*Robbie Rosen* – that guy has got a great voice... a natural.

*Casey Abrams* – a big bass on Idol... awesome and unique... what will be next from him?

*Chelsee Oaks* – I liked her voice, but I guess it just wasn’t quite there. She was the only one that I thought showed promise and went home.

*Lauren Alaina* – she can sing, but needs some work on her performance... she is young.

*Jacob Lusk* – THIS GUY stole the WHOLE show! This guy is the real deal, no doubt! Awesome x 10! Can he mix it up though... or is he all gospel? Definitely one to watch.

*John Wayne Schulz* – good voice... although he seems all country, so not sure how he will fair with other music.

*Stefano Langone* – another great Stevie Wonder guy... and a lively guy. 

*Jovany Barreto* – only caught a small bit from him, but sounded promising.

*Jacee Badeaux* – maybe... just not quite sold on him, but he has a good voice. Perhaps too young.



Overall... I was very impressed with this group. There is no doubt I can see the best top 12 ever ... and a serious competition at hand. I am still not crazy about Tyler as a judge, not with his questionable character, but he does know music. 

I guess I will have to chime in and see what happens over the next few weeks.


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## glaufman

Sorry Sonnie, but I haven't been able to catch any of it this year, so you may not have mby argumentative self to ... um .... enjoy it with... :innocent:


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## Sonnie

heehee... 

Hey... I just happen to record this one show and was blown away. I truly had no intentions of watching it, but the talent is superb... seriously the best I have ever heard.


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## glaufman

If you're not careful, you're going to draw me in.... 
My Tivo has every show and I could go back and start right from the very first audition...
:devil:


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## Sonnie

It hurts me to watch all the initial stuff, but we are getting down to the good part now. Top 24 is picked this week... and they all have to do Beatles songs.


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## Trick McKaha

I had recorded it, too, and was surprised by the quality and the depth of talent in this year's lineup. Quite a few of these performers seem to be winners.


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## glaufman

That does it! I don't know how far back I'll go, but I've GOT to start watching...
Now you've done it...


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## Sonnie

There is not much reason to go back past last week... top 100.


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## Sonnie

I am still in awe with these contestants. When you have people being cut that can go make a record right now, it means you have some serious talent. Just the first half of the top 24 is spectacular. I am very excited to see what happens tonight... which is the difference between this year and last. It was difficult to get excited about watching last years show. I sense this year is going to be significantly different.


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## Sir Terrence

> Jacob Lusk – THIS GUY stole the WHOLE show! This guy is the real deal, no doubt! Awesome x 10! Can he mix it up though... or is he all gospel? Definitely one to watch.


This guys performance was great, but he committed the greatest sin of a good singer. He started off whaling, rifting, and growling much to early in his performance(I sing gospel and jazz), he had no where to go when he got to the end of the song. My vocal coach taught me to be VERY conservative(keep your emotions under control) in the beginning, and then let them have it towards the middle, and then absolutely tear it up in the end. I have been singing this way since I was a kid, and it works every time! It has them throwing babies, toys, toilet paper, and everything else so you gotta take your bow to avoid flying objects 

I have to agree with you Sonnie, the talent this year is pretty good. I enjoyed every singer I saw to various degrees.


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## Sonnie

Yeah... he does need to tone it down a bit and not get too carried away with the whaling. There is another kid that whales too, but I cannot remember his name. I think he made it through to the top 24.


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## MissGnosis

*Top 12 Guys (a walk-through)*

1st performance:* Clint Jun*
He had not control over his voice. His nerves were showing throughout his performance and I am so not feeling those glasses.

2nd performance: *Jovany*
Forgettable. 

3rd performance: *Jordan*
Reminded me of karaoke night in West Hollywood. His voice and overall performance was all over the place. I love the song but it was a bad choice.

4th performance:* Tim*
Mediocre.

5th performance: *Brett*
This guy's appearance bothers me and his speaking voice makes it so much creepier. Why are the judges so nice to this guy? He's bad in so many ways. Maybe he seems better live...that happens sometimes

Ok. At this point I'm really starting to feel like I'm watching karaoke on TV. The songs have all been terrible and the performances have been bad to mediocre.

6th performance: *James*
This goofy looking guy had the best performance so far. He was good from beginning to end. He obviously rehearsed this song enough to have plenty of confidence. 

7th performance: *Robbie*
It was alright, but considering how much potential this song has, I almost want to say it wasn't good at all.

8th performance: *Scotty*
I love his voice, he might even have the best voice out of the top 12 guys, but it's only good for country. His face looks like the character on the cover of the MAD magazine covers.

9th performance:* Stefano*
His voice was alright, though not exactly perfect. I don't like his facial expression at all, it just kills it for me.

10th performance: *Paul*
His whole style is very interesting and could be considered "unique" though, I have seen similar performances before. He thinks himself a star already, but I'm not sure if I do yet.

11th performance: *Jacob*
Obviously very talented. The song choice was very boring and I have seen it being performed a lot better before.

12th performance: *Casey*
He's really starting to remind me of Will Farrell. I liked it, but I'm not going to vote for him.


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## Sonnie

Welcome to HTS!

I think I am pretty much right there with you on your comments. I was less impressed with most of the performances tonight. Good... yeah, Great... no. I think it will be better with the ladies, but we will just have to wait and see for sure.


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## Sirbrine

I used to watch American Idol religiously but somehow just kind of lost interest. Changing the judges just made me less interested and then after Simon left and I heard an NPR review of the show I just wrote the show off. Good to hear there is still lots of talent there though.


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## Sonnie

After the ladies had their round I was a little more impressed with them than the guys, but overall I was pleased with the top 13. There may have been one girl I would have chosen over another that was left out, but I don't think either would have made it to the end, so it is likely irrelevant.


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## Sonnie

We've missed a week, but we really haven't missed much. It seems I was all hyped up there after a couple of good weeks, but things have been less than impressive for the most part since then, with maybe a couple of exceptions. 

Some of the ones I thought were going to be really good have blown it in my opinion. Jacob Lusk is probably the biggest disappointment for me. He totally ruined R Kelly's _I Believe I Can Fly_... then he tortured Heart's _Alone_ last night. :rolleyesno: The judges thought they were pretty good, but I beg to differ... they were both awful. Of course that is merely my opinion.

To me... probably Casey, James, Stefano and Pia have done the best, but nothing _consistently_ stellar.

I do still think the talent this year is miles ahead of last year, but something ain't happening right. I am not sure if it is the coaching, song selection or a combo of both.

I agree with the first vote off... tonights will probably be no surprise.

I see Lee still can't sing. :heehee:


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## Sonnie

I must be the loner Shackster watching this season... maybe it is getting old. 

I was a bit disappointed when they almost voted off Casey, but it sounds like he rebounded extremely well after the save. I like this guy... not sure if he is "the" idol, but I like him. Pia might be the best, if she will loosen up a bit and pick up the pace. James is pretty good, but not sure about all that screaming. Scotty will no doubt be making a country album, but not sure he can pull off an Idol win. 

We are getting down to the best of the group... other than Paul... who I thought initially might be pretty good, but now I have to fast forward when he sings, it is that bad. He should have went last week, but I think he has a short life ahead.


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## Stitch

I'm with ya, partner- not the best season; this kid Scottie is good;liked hailey,but she's kind of rude.


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## Sonnie

I was somewhat surprised that James got voted off, but then again I am not sure why I would be surprised. 

It has to come down between Scotty and Haley.


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## Stitch

Well, it's down to the young-uns...either one would be a fine choice! They both have good qualities - so long Haley!!


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## Sonnie

I am a bit surprised in some ways, but then again, it is really "Teenie-boppers Idol" ... and NOT "American Idol". I will be totally shocked if Scotty does not walk away with it. Not necessarily because he is the best, but simply because the 10-15 year old girls will vote for him. However, between he and Lauren, I suggest he is the better of the two anyway, so it won't matter. 

I am not a big fan of either of these because they are not very original. They both simply sing country, which there ain't a lot you can do with country music other than sing it like it is. It is rather boring to me. I doubt I will even suffer through the last couple of shows to hear what amounts to karaoke singing.

All in all... this was a much better Idol than last year. At least they had more quality singers.


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## leej

I guess I’m not really that surprised with the little teeny-girls having their way. But, I would have loved to see someone original win. I think the most original (like him or not) was Casey. I thought he was very talented, but didn’t expect him to win. After all, he was far from teeny-bopper and Jazzy doesn’t cut it here. Though I kinda expected it, I hated to see Haley go (according to Steven Tyler, she dances sekzy) and was a real artist. With her gone it leaves Country Karaoke night for the finale. I can’t believe that the judges praised everything that Lauren and Scottie did, never complaining about originality. Both are good singers, but Stefano, Paul, Pia and Jacob could sing with the best. However, I like someone who can entertain you like Haley, James, Casey Abrams, Chrystal Bowersox and Adam Lambert. Some didn’t fit my favorite genre, but were exciting to watch.
The judges started the season well, but got a little boring, too. “In-it-to-win-it” got really old, to the point of irritating. “But you know I love you” was just as bad, but “It’s a beautiful thing” meant “I don’t know what else to say!” Do you miss Simon, now?
Don’t you think that one vote per voter would be better? American Idol just likes to boast about higher numbers and what you get is a boring finale. I anxiously looked forward to watching the show, every week, until the finale. Ho-Hum – maybe I’ll watch, but who cares who wins. It’ll be some naive kid who can almost sing well.


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## Sonnie

You took the words right out of my mouth.

23 million viewers... 95 million votes!

Absolutely... one vote per person would be better, but how can you really control it? It would perhaps make it more difficult to get in multiple votes.

How about 18 and older to vote? Again, hard to control.

Maybe allow the judges to have more control ... or give them a heavy weighted vote.


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## leej

Very true - its hard to get voting done right. Even for presidents.


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## Stitch

I agree with what you said about Casey and crystal - both very talented,and unique


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## satyre

*American Idol: What a Farce!*

It seemed so promising. This new group of judges were able to find a collection of talent beyond anything that Cowell and Abdul ever put together. And then one by one, sometimes due to judges' stupidity (Jennifer Lopez would usually save her lecture for the singer she thought was best, not realizing the impact it would have on the impressionable viewers) or bias or lack of conviction, sometimes due to the teeny-bopper "cuteness" and kinship factors, America voted off all of the best. A top two made up of any combination of James, Pia, Jacob or Casey would have been credible. By the time all of them were gone, gone, gone, gone, at least there was one singer left: Hailey. But no, we ended up with one contestant who was born with the genes for a deep voice, and one who... uh, why was Lauren even in the top ten again? They were outsung on the final night by most of the rejected contestants, most of the invited guests and, likely, the lighting technician. Scotty has a nice tone and "story telling ability," but he's never once shown he can actually sing... that is, vibrato and power and range and technique. Fortunately, it's only country music, so there will be a nice little niche for him (see Roger Miller). Lauren rarely tried, and never hit, a big note; she had "potential" stamped to her forehead (along with Steven Tyler's stamp of approval) throughout the competition, and she will fade away just as easily as she coasted through: "the one with potential." The judges were useless. By the end everyone was great and "beautiful" and "in it to win it" in everything they did (except Hailey, of course, who got criticized for actually trying to sing and perform and be as sexy as Jennifer Lopez). Lauren's first song in the Finals was "beautiful"... really? Scotty "killed" his second song in the Finals... really? And who gave Jacob the advice to stop singing powerful songs and start prancing around the stage? And then there's "America": one whitebread, gone-tomorrow Idol after another. Taylor and Chris and Lee sure have had big careers, haven't they? Adam Lambert and James and Casey are too "different." That's scary. Pia isn't corn-fed, Hailey isn't virginal, Jacob isn't straight (see Adam)... so we end up with two kids, one of whom could at least win a county fair (and maybe Lauren could sing "The National Anthem" or something). The way around this... either let the judges decide among the bottom three, like on a couple of other shows (and put them on the spot to vote for the best, not the most commercial), or have America vote for the one they want to eliminate, so at least there won't be "accidents." Or even better: make this show into a talent competition and get qualified judges who don't need to be liked or sell anything. I guess we'll see what "The X Factor" is like. It certainly couldn't end up any worse.


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## leej

Satyre, I have to agree with everything you said. I thought that James killed it and Casey - well, he was Casey, who always entertained me. Haley sounded good, but seemed a little uncomfortable with Tony Bennet (understandable). Jacob, though I'm not a gospel fan, showed what great talent he has. It was nice to hear Pia's big voice, again. I can’t believe she got booted so early. And then we got to hear the “Top Two.” Both have potential in their genre, but certainly were up-staged by several, who not only have potential, but are ready, now and will be very successful. 
American Idol won't do the 1 vote/viewer, or vote for the one to eliminate, because the number of votes would be too small and this is how they rate themselves. As long as the Teeny-Viewers are there, American Idol will continue to screw it up and boast about high numbers. They’ll need to re-name it Teen-Idol (or Pre-Teen) and we will hope for something else to watch. Like you, I'm waiting for The X Factor - at least we can watch Simon give his brutally, honest opinion.


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