Reflections of the way Paula used to be

[jlh]

Woe for it is the finals and I don't think we get Ryan in jeans anymore. Instead he looks like a banker. I have no idea why he wears so much grey because I really don't think it suits him, and when he puts his hands in his pockets and he's wearing a vest he just looks wide. Well, at least we have stubble, and a shirt that matches his eyes.

Here's what you really want:
Ryan: Simon, any advice on the high heels?
Simon: You should know, Ryan!
Ryan: Stay out of my closet!
Simon: Come out!
Ryan: This is about the top 12, okay? Not your wishes!

Diana Ross had on a great wig tonight. (Sometimes, her wigs are a little weird.) HA, that she thought Chris S. was nervous and he's all, "I don't get nervous." She did use the word "pronunciate" with Gina which I don't think is a word, but I'll give her that. I love that she kept telling them to figure out where the hook is and sell the song to the audience. A pro before she was a diva, was Miss Ross, and don't you forget it.

Why did Ryan have a hand mike at the beginning? He reminded me so much of his idol Merv with the whole cuing the band schtick. The "I'll do the intro from the audience" stuff, though, reminded me of when Dick Clark would intro the performers surrounded by the kids on American Bandstand. Was that really his Nana? And I love it when he sits on the stage because he looks so ickle.

Meanwhile, why didn't the cue come in for Melinda to walk across the stage, so Ryan had to call her over off mike? Did you notice that the Edy's ice cream ad about the bad female singer was . . . the first ad after Haley sang. Ouch! Also, what was Simon trying to hide in Ryan's pocket? Looked like a lipgloss to me. Nice positive reinforcement with the special thanks for Paula at the end. She was coherent and she wasn't always positive and she actually had some great comments that weren't just parroting Randy.

1. Brandon, "Can't Hurry Love." Okay, do NOT tell me he just fucked up. Well, in a sense he didn't? He just didn't remember how the song was edited. Ugh. *votes 12 times*
   
2. Melinda, "Home." Could that dress be more unflattering? Where were the Gayles? I never noticed her tummy until tonight, for reals. Of course, she was completely fucking amazing. Besides, she made Paula cry.
   
3. Chris Sligh, "Endless Love." So basically Diana was like, don't fuck with Lionel's song, or no one will know what the fuck you're doing, and guess what? She was totally right. He made an admittedly schmaltzy song into a Coldplay song. Is this an improvement? I mean, he sounded fine, but is he appealing to the kids at the cost of the older folks who had that song at like, their prom or something?
   
4. Gina, "Love Child." Gina has a great voice, but she really needs to do a lot of breathing work, as she has a tendency to run out of steam half way through the song. And since all the runs and tricky stuff are at the end, she can't power her way through them, so she shouts instead, and goes off pitch.
   
5. Sanjaya, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Okay, what the fuck with the curls and the rugby shirt? And you have to be kidding me with that song. I never knew you could sort of mumble your way through that song, but he certainly did it, though he was so lost in the arrangement it was like listening to Badly Drawn Boy. Well, at least he made Randy laugh. But Simon was such an ass to him that he's totally going to be here another week.
   
6. Haley, "Missing You." Someone needs to teach that girl not to hold the mike in front of her face. Also, that was not the dress to wear when perched on a stool, with that band across her thighs. She looked like an adult in a baby chair. Oh, and she sort of forgot the words there, and showed off how thin her voice is. I loved her reaction to Simon being nice to her, but yeah, not so much a pro there.
   
7. Phil, "Make You Love Me." Is it just me, or does Phil kind of look like Ellen DeGeneres when he smiles? As Randy said, the vocal was solid but the performance was really boring. I kept forgetting it was on, rewinding it, and then forgetting to listen again.
   
8. LaKisha, "God Bless the Child." I love that the first thing Diana said to her was basically, "Come on, yo mamma don't call you LaKisha." I love LaKisha's really technical question for Diana. As for the song, I've been listening to Liza sing this all year (it's part of "Liza with a Z") and that's a really different sound, of course. Randy was so right that LaKisha approached it with real restraint yet sounded amazing. And hello, she owned that stage. Small thing: I think she might have looked a little better in a silver that was more gunmetal and less aluminum. I love that she always gets in a "thank you" before they cut her mike.
   
9. Blake, "You Keep Me Hanging On." So there's this thing C____ says about drumming, that you shouldn't do fills if you can't get back to the beat, and that's how I felt at the end when he got a little behind the beat there. It's a really adjustable song (ask Kim Wilde) but as the judges said, he didn't really sing enough. He needs to trust his voice and not be so tricky about everything.
   
10. Stephanie, "Love Hangover." Why is she wearing a Persian rug? Now I want to hear Diana's version of this song because as the judges said, it was a big tease! (Say, can anyone send it to me?) Anyway, it was just eh.
    
11. Chris Richardson, "The Boss." Chris, when you go into the audience and Paula is dancing, fucking dance with the woman, dumbass. I didn't think the vocal was terrible, but it wasn't all that interesting, and a bit thin.
    
12. Jordin, "If We Hold On Together." Wow, she looked HOT. I love that Jordin is like, going through songs from movies she watched as a child. She doesn't have a strong head voice so the transitions to that upper range were a little "gear change"-y, but her performance and her stage craft were fantastic. Also, she kept up that "shrink down to shorter than Ryan" schtick. *votes*

[Poll #946170]

Comments

[toastoos.livejournal.com]

That Ryan/Simon exchange was the best talking moment tonight. And I think he needed the mic at the beginning cuz when he tried to do his intro, his clip ons kinda shorted out. So, I figure they gave him a hand held til they could fix it.

I dunno if it's me or what, but the judges were pissing me off tonight. This show has got to be one big mind fuck for contestants because they take risks and make the song their own ( I didn't think Blake was all that bad ) as is pounded into their heads constantly, and when they do, they take a beating for it. And when they don't, they're called boring. I know AI wants a certain formula to conduct this show in, and I should be used to it, but it really irked me tonight.

I was surprised that Diana Ross was so there. I was expecting many Paula-isms from her with all the drug stuff.

Melinda, LaKisha, Jordin, and Blake were my faves tonight.
I thought this was Haley's best week. I dunno if that's sad or not.
And Sanjaya. I like the kid. You can tell he has this certain innocence to him, but... I mean, the hair? The earrings in both ears? Give me something to work with.

Sanjaya has got to go. If not, I'll settle for Haley.

P.S. I would love to know if that was actually Ryan's nana. XD

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks for the catch! I was not paying quite enough attention at the intro, clearly.

I think what the judges mean is, vocally make the song yours (like, don't copycat the phrasing, the runs, the entire feel) but at the same time don't make it into a completely unrecognizable mess. And I think their issue with Blake was less that it wasn't a good arrangement and more that the arrangement didn't have him singing enough to really make an impact.

Miss Ross was clearly in professional mode tonight.

I totally agreed with Simon about Haley's presence on stage. I liked Blake but I didn't love him. To be honest, I didn't love any of the boys, even the three who actually deserve to be there. I dunno if Sanjaya is going this week, unfortuantely. And that poster with Phil's kid and the phone was downright creepy.

Ran out of room in comment box...

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

I think you should hold a vote to see which of Paula's seven personalities are showing: Sleepy, Dopey, Floozy, Woozy, Happy, Sleezy, and Doc Where Are My Meds?

:)

[tartpants.livejournal.com]

I've always been sort of ho-hum at the prospect of Rymon... but girl, I felt it tonight!

[thepodsquad.livejournal.com]

I choose to personally believe that the Ryan/Simon exchange was unscripted. It makes my world happier. ;) Well, my American Idol world at least.

And oh, Brandon, hon...what was that? Really. What?

And I really liked LaKisha and Melinda, and for some reason I adore Jordin a lot.

Annnd, I friended you! Just letting you know, I wanted to keep an eye out for your AI posts. :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Reading your recaps is so much more fun than reading TWOP! ;-)

Oh, the Rymon -- even MDH was rolling his eyes at the slashiness of it all. I'm going to have to break down and read me some fic, I think.

At this point, I don't think Melinda even needs to win, though I'd bet money that she will. She's just so obviously amazing that labels would trip over themselves to sign her if they had a chance. And I would be standing in line to see her live, because she's just that awesome.

My man Chris S. wasn't in top form tonight, which makes me sad. (Voted for him a dozen times anyway.) And I didn't think Jordin was in the same league as Melinda and LaKisha like the judges seemed to think. I thought those little head voice moments were awkward. But she was absolutely better than most. It was weird that so many of them seemed to struggle tonight, though. If Haley cries one more time, ack. Yes, honey, you're on AI. Get over it already!

Sanjaya needs to go. I'm starting to feel sorry for him having to come out and suck in public, week after week. I'm sure VoteForTheWorst will be backing him again this time.

And yeah, Diana was remarkably lucid. She was on Inside the Actor's Studio last week, too. Is she gearing up for something?

Re: Ran out of room in comment box...

[jlh.livejournal.com]

HA! I don't know, though, she's been so stable this year! But I'm not sure I dare the Rymon, as I feel that will jinx it.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

This season has been mad crazy with them. I'm like, um, the hell?

I'm pleased because it means more fic, and that's always a yay in my book.

[zorb]

Sanjaya chose such a well-known song, and sang it so poorly, that I think he has a chance of losing even the sympathy vote tonight. Hayley was clearly trying to pick up the slack. /cynic

Wait, no, not done with the cynic hat. Diana Ross in the first finals week = attempt to get rid of the boys? Okay, that's really it.

I actually thought Chris S was better tonight, vocally, than he's been before - he seemed to open up. But overall, Melinda, LaKisha, and Jordin were really the only ones that brought the full package, all the way through the song. My sister and I fully expect Jordin to give us "Somewhere, Out There" before the competition is over.

Re: Ran out of room in comment box...

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

But come on, the crying after Melinda's performance was a bit over the top, you have to admit! Hmm, maybe we should change one of the names to 'Weepy'?

:D

[jlh.livejournal.com]

You know, I voted 12x for Brandon to get him into the finals, so I'm pissy that he did not bring it this week. Like, hello, son, when are you going to bring it? I only voted for him 1x tonight, and 3x for those three ladies. Jordin is adorable!

I've heard them do at least semi unscripted exchanges on chat shows and I honestly don't think they could have been that quick and funny had it been scripted. It would have sounded canned. I look back at season 1 where Ryan had all this scripted schtick with Dunkelman and it was really awful because Ryan cannot act like, at all, while his entire job for almost 20 years has been speaking off the top of his head.

Thank you so much! I'm so flattered!

[thepodsquad.livejournal.com]

Well, Brandon is so very pretty. But tonight might've been the worst TRAIN wreck I've ever seen. He chugged along nicely for so long, and then...good god. What the hell? I really can't even conceive of how he was THAT bad. And yes, I'm totally on Jordin's team (Melinda's and Lakisha's have enough people).

Yes, me too. And I've heard them be completely unscripted (hello morning phone call interview), and...that seemed way more natural. I've seen when Simon does stuff and he knows before that he's doing it...and that seemed less that. Though I was very proud of Ryan not getting his "I AM SO HETEROSEXUAL" freakout on, like he does sometimes, and instead threw Simon's crap back at him. *snaps*

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you so much! I blush. TWoP is all about the ho yay as well, and has been for years; they keep me from feeling like too much of a tin hat.

The odd thing about Rymon fic is the lack of it. Part of this is that second season there was a huge pile of "Clyan" which I have no time for. Season three it was all over the place and if you look in my memories you can see some of it, though a lot of it is weirdly schmoopy (especially anything by belial). The last two seasons there hasn't been nearly as much which I find sort of odd as, hello? But the kids were too busy slashing the contestants. This season there seems to be more on idolslash, so we'll see. Where there's life, etc. I haven't been moved strongly to write anything yet this year but I expect it will come.

I think the judges were so annoyed with the other girls and all the boys that ending with Jordin like that made them explode with glee as she was actually better than they expected rather than worse. Haley may need a mother's little helper, or at least an understanding that you don't need to tell the audience everything!

You know, VFTW backed Sundance and Antonella, so I'm not sure how much of a force they really are. I think they just lucked out on the Taylor. There were a lot of people who legitimately liked him, and when he wasn't being an ass his voice was pretty good. But Simon knew that he'd put out a boring record that wouldn't really sell . . . and so he did. Meanwhile Daughtry is double platinum thank you very much.

As for Diana, we'll see tomorrow night, as she's singing on the results show and I'm sure will have some chatter with Ryan about whatever she's plugging.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

My sister and I fully expect Jordin to give us "Somewhere, Out There" before the competition is over.

Zorb et soror for the win!

Chris S's voice sounded good, that's true, but the arrangement was a mess and he was mixed too far down in it so it was hard to hear him. As for the scheduling, I'm very sure that Diana was slated for the first theme week long, long ago.

I agree with you about the three girls. This year might be like season 3, where there are only a few people that anyone cares about winning. That said, even that season we had the unexpected Jennifer Hudson departure (though I think we all learned that you have to vote for your favorite every week without fail) and Diana kept getting better. Elliott also kept getting better last year but looking back at my posts he'd also shone in the semis so these things aren't shocks. I'm not ready to count Blake out, at least, for the guys. Chris S and Chris R, though, could each find a theme they couldn't deal with and out they go.