You're Lookin' at Country

[jlh]

By the way, the titles of the songs of Martina McBride were so boring that I'm using Loretta Lynn for all the titles.

1. Phil, "Where the Blacktop Ends." Even when he's really good, he's kinda boring. Poor third-wheel Phil.
   
2. Jordin, "Broken Wing." She sounded great though she was the tiniest touch shouty at the end. I'm not sure who styled her to look like Crystal Gayle at the Opry in 1977 by way of New Delhi, but whatever.
   
3. Sanjaya, "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About." Okay, this is a huge disappointment. I mean, it's way too literal, and if he wanted to keep being campy there was so much more to choose from. Man. Also, is Bonnie Raitt country? Just for the record, I agree with Simon to a point—see more below.
   
4. Lakisha, "Jesus Take the Wheel." Hmm, that was a little shrieky honey. And those were some ugly fucking boots. Simon gave her some really solid constructive criticism that she can use for next week, and frankly, she needs the reality check. He clearly still thinks she's a big contender as he's still giving her that level 2 crit, and aww, Ryan adores her so.
   
5. Chris, "Mayberry." So he sounded great but I feel like he could have been moving around a lot more. There was a weird lack of energy, as Randy said. I'm worried for Chris this week, because he really should have knocked it out of the park.
   
6. Melinda, "Trouble Is a Woman." Wow, it was all about her tits tonight, wasn't it? That t-shirt in the rehearsal, and that strapless top for performance? She looked quite young and she was singing a recent song and it was fun and she sounded great and strong and all those things.
   
7. Blake, "When the Stars Go Blue." So Chris Daughtry, as this isn't really a country song; though Tim McGraw did cover it, it's by Ryan Adams. Have we seen him standing up with a mike before? His stage work was a little too coy, and he didn't seem to quite know what he wanted to do with the song, but I don't think he'll be in any trouble.

Now I'm pretty sure the producers sent Ryan out to interrupt Simon because he was just fueling more sympathy votes for Sanjaya, and I was thinking "shut up Simon!" because Sanjaya had been both bad and not that entertaining, and since Phil was so good, it could have been the week. But noooooo, Simon had to draw a line in the sand implying that Sanjaya was as bad as like, William Hung or something, which was really way more than he needed to say. Sanjaya's inexplicable durability has clearly gotten under Simon's skin in a way that he can't deal with because he's usually a lot better at figuring out how to get rid of these folks, but he was sounding downright angry there. At least he mostly took it out on Ryan, who really can take it, as opposed to continuing to go after Sanjaya. Which may well be why they sent Ryan out there, or Ryan went out of his own accord, to take one for the team. However, I enjoyed that Ryan and Simon were clearly still pissy when Ryan was down behind the judges introducing LaKisha and gave Simon a pretty dirty look out of the corner of his eye.

That said, I cannot believe that Simon rolled his eyes when Chris said something about VT. I mean, seriously. Again, I think the producers might have got Simon to say something later when Blake sang, or he realized he looked bad, or something, because that little mention was kinda weird.

For the record, I voted 4x Chris R, 3x Melinda, 2x Jordin, 2x Blake

[Poll #968592]

Comments

[toastoos.livejournal.com]

I was actually thinking the same thing about Ryan stepping out on stage to shut Simon up, but completely forgot that point of thought with all the 'why is Simon so pissy tonight?'

And also I can't believe he rolled his eyes at Chris. That was just...I dunno. But I pretty sure Nigel leaned over and smacked him one for it, because that condolence at the end sounded forced.

I think the bottom 3 will be Sanjaya Phil, Chris, and just to shake things up but I believe she deserves to be there this week, LaKisha. She was way too screechy to me.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that bottom three, and I think Phil will finally go because he was first, he was boring, and he was just fine, which is all he ever is, so people will forget to vote for him. Chris's judging was so odd—I mean, they were right, but his whole response to it was weird—and his fanbase so secure that I'm not entirely sure he'll be out this week, though he certainly could be, and if he doesn't pick up his shit he almost should be out next week, though I hope Sanjaya goes so the actual 5 best singers are the top five. LaKisha definitely needs the wake up call that things are getting serious and she can't coast her way into the top 3 with Melinda's consistency and Jordin and Blake upping their game every week, so I think she'll be in there but won't go home.

And if fucking SIMON had SHUT THE FUCK UP we might have been able to avoid whatever pointless inspirational song Sanjaya was going to sing next week. That said, thinking forward to that theme, Phil's choice would have been more unctuous and saccharine, so I still want him to go home the most. *crosses fingers*

[toastoos.livejournal.com]

I was agreeing with Chris' response to Simon though, so that's why I don't think it was too weird. He always performs nasally, and is probably tired of Simon picking and choosing when to use that as a plus or minus for him. But it's always pointless to argue with Simon, so while I understand where he was coming from, it's like trying to push against a wall.

And Sanjaya, Sanjaya... As long as he's gone before final 3, I'll be okay. But I'm as tired of this circus as Simon is, but if I had a nation full of mindless robots that will only vote a certain way based on what I say, I would be keeping my mouth shut! And Simon knows this! So, I have to thank Ryan for taking one for the team, but it was too little, too late.

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

I was *cough* doing our taxes last night, so the only part I saw was the end of Sanjaya's song (bleh), and Simon's rant at him, when I went downstairs to get food. I agree with you - I thought, wow, he's REALLY pissed that this kid is still on the show. I was surprised that Ryan stepped in, though, because I thought the show was supposed to be about Simon losing his shit at people and thus that was okay. :)) On the other hand, yeah, way to keep up the sympathy for the kid, there...

I would totally read hot make-up sex. *sigh* I swore I was done with RPS, but noooooo. It's like, the redeemable evil bad guy and the sweet, funny hero dynamic, except in real people. Irresistable.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

While Simon's role is definitely to be the overly harsh, grouchy critic, he isn't supposed to spectacularly lose his shit the way he did last night. And when he goes after Ryan himself, Ryan usually jabs back, but last night he just deflected him, which makes me think even more that he went out/was sent out to take the hit from Simon and keep him from really going after Sanjaya. It's funny how much time Ryan spends keeping people from saying something they really don't want to say, which means that when he does something idiotic there's no one to stop him, most of the time.

It's funny you say that about their dynamic, as I was talking to someone else yesterday and musing about why that crowd Cassie always referred to as the Random Militant Slashers haven't come down like a ton of bricks on Ryan/Simon since it's their preferred dynamic, the misanthropic yet sexy genius intrigued by the prettier, younger, more impulsive hero-type. I think it's the RPS prejudice that keeps them away—it's like, most RPS'ers are all about the pretty and so slash the singers (see also popslash), while those who would appreciate the Simon can't deal with the RPS—but I'll take it, because I love my little Rymon circle.

[shakespearechic.livejournal.com]

I have seen Simon's eyeroll interrpreted as being a comment on Chris' timing of the comment e.g. to sort of cut off Simon's criticisms of him. Either way, it did look very, very bad and that's obviously why he made his own comment later on.

[eilujspark.livejournal.com]

Ryan had Simon on his show this morning to clear up the VT eyerolling thing. I agree with you on the thought that Ryan was "taking one on for the team." I don't think this was his normal "push Simon's buttons" thing, I think he saw how dangerously close he was to comparing Sanjaya to one of the audition freaks, and then we would never be rid of them. I don't think Simon got that right away.

[eilujspark.livejournal.com]

them = him.

[dana-kujan.livejournal.com]

Oh, this morning's whole "Simon rolled his eyes at Chris's mention of VT" outcry was such media crap! Anyone with half a brain could see that he was rolling his eyes at Chris's lame and lippy "nasal is a form of singing" excuse. Though maybe the eye-roll was on account of the fact that Chris suddenly mentioned VT and Simon thought he was pandering for votes.

I'm surprised Rosie O'Dumbell didn't take Simon to task today. But I guess she's still looking for that skinny white girl that was in the top 3 a couple of weeks ago. Hmmm... Was that Jordin, LaKisha, or Melinda?