Author Topic: American Idol Season 7  (Read 129265 times)

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Offline marigold

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #100 on: April 09, 2008, 01:33:43 PM »
Idol Gives Back

The focus shifts from rising stars to more established performers as AI holds its second "Idol Gives Back" fund-raiser for U.S. and international charities.

Tonight's all-star participants include Bono, Mariah Carey, Billy Crystal, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Fergie, John Legend, Annie Lennox, Maroon 5, Brad Pitt, Snoop Dogg and Reese Witherspoon.

Idol alums Chris Daughtry, Fantasia, Elliott Yamin and Carrie Underwood are also slated to be on hand to lend their voices to the cause, which aims to surpass the more than $76 million raised last year.

Source: TVGuide

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #101 on: April 09, 2008, 06:41:38 PM »
Thanks CA! It started early too, 6:30 PM CDT for me.

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Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #102 on: April 10, 2008, 11:57:12 AM »
Ok this just in from TMZ:

Posted Apr 10th 2008 11:49AM by TMZ Staff

If you want to place bets on "Idol" in Vegas, we think we found a way you could score millions of bucks.

TiVo may have cracked the mystery of who gets kicked off and who doesn't. Company insiders say they can predict who's not connecting by TiVo usage.

Here's the deal. In a sample of 20,000 users, TiVo monitors traffic -- which contestants get replayed (a sign of popularity) and which one's get fast-forwarded.

You think it's bogus? Well, the TiVo system has nailed who got booted four weeks in a row.

And who does TiVo say is getting the ax tonight? Poor Syesha. Take it to the bank, people.

 :duno: :duno: :duno:

Offline RudyRules

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #103 on: April 10, 2008, 06:23:31 PM »
Thanks for the info, rosesrred. :tup:

 Kudos to Tivo, which I don't have & know little about.  But it doesn't take Tivo, at this point in the contest, to know Syesha will say buh-byeeee tonite!  :waves:

 

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #104 on: April 10, 2008, 09:35:18 PM »
I suppose it could work with a DVR too, I wonder they they are hooked in to cable operators to report what their viewers record. (Since I have one I wouldn't be too keen on finding out they have a spy system.)

I won't say who lost tonight, but I was truly shocked!
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Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #105 on: April 11, 2008, 11:02:32 AM »
I suppose it could work with a DVR too, I wonder they they are hooked in to cable operators to report what their viewers record. (Since I have one I wouldn't be too keen on finding out they have a spy system.)

I won't say who lost tonight, but I was truly shocked!

Boy was I shocked, too.  And somewhat sad  :'(  I guess if people placed bets in Vegas there were a lot of losers and some very rich winners. 

Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #106 on: April 11, 2008, 11:07:01 AM »
Thanks for the info, rosesrred. :tup:

 Kudos to Tivo, which I don't have & know little about.  But it doesn't take Tivo, at this point in the contest, to know Syesha will say buh-byeeee tonite!  :waves:

 

Oh your welcome RudyRules (by the way I LOVED Rudy too) I'm just sad we didn't get our way  :'(  Oh well America got it wrong this week!!!!  And if you don't have a TIVO or a DVR don't get one they totally spoil you and you can't live without one  :funny: 

Offline careybear

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #107 on: April 11, 2008, 01:16:07 PM »
i COULD not believe who was voted out my goodness :( shocker
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Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #108 on: April 11, 2008, 04:27:45 PM »
The latest update from E! News Online:

Michael Johns' American Idol ouster was indeed a shocker, especially to Michael Johns.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised," Johns told reporters Friday. "I'd never been in the bottom three. I thought my strongest performances were the last two weeks.

"Nothing has sunk in yet."

Johns was eliminated Thursday amid the continuing hoopla of the Idol Gives Back fundraiser. Once considered a frontrunner, or at least a top challenger to David Archuleta, he ended up placing eighth.

Johns failed to generate enough votes for his performance of Aerosmith's "Dream On." He defended the song as appropriate for Tuesday's inspirational theme night, saying the classic rocker was about struggles and, as its title suggests, dreams: "I've done a lot of that over the last 10 years."

Johns said there were no hard feelings about how Idol host Ryan Seacrest seemed to suggest that Johns wouldn't be offed because, after all, no one was offed during last year's Idol Gives Back event.

"I get the television aspect of this competition," Johns said. "I mean, it was tough, and then they did [hint] that maybe I'm not going home."

The hint, of course, was a tease. Johns was going home. "Ryan gave me a look, like, I am so sorry," he said.

The 29-year-old ascot-wearing Aussie, who once fronted a band, the Rising, signed to Madonna's label, deflected questions about whether his Aussie-ness, his professional background or even his ascot cost him votes, and reiterated this season's Idol talking point: the depth of talent in the top 12.

"There was no laughingstock. There were no jokers...They wanted it to be a singing competition instead of a TV show with the controversy of Sanjaya," Johns said, invoking the name of the show's most notorious finalist.

Johns said he's received encouraging words from Dolly Parton—he was a hit with her "It's All Wrong, but It's All Right" last week—and fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban.

He said the new plan was to stay in the States and make a new record. The old plan was to sing Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" on next week's Idol.

"And it was [going to be] hot, too," Johns said. "I'm a little bummed."


Offline pledge

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #109 on: April 11, 2008, 06:44:41 PM »
Thank you rosesrred for the update.  I was so shocked and upset  :'(   last night.  I really like Michael


Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #110 on: April 11, 2008, 08:06:09 PM »
Thank you rosesrred for the update.  I was so shocked and upset  :'(   last night.  I really like Michael

Your welcome and yes It took me by surprise because I really liked him, too.  It seems that all the singers seems genuinly nice this year  :angel: and good singers in all the genre they are given.

Offline Jetgabriel

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #111 on: April 11, 2008, 11:43:25 PM »
I...am...speechless. (Okay, maybe not) His elimination was definitely a shocker. I was shocked Syesha, Kristy or Jason weren't eliminated. C'mon Brooke you can impress the judges again. It's kinda obvious that a boy will win this year. Every female got in the Bottom 3 at least once. But, you never know.

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #112 on: April 13, 2008, 08:37:57 AM »
I just couldn't believe that Michael was the one sent home, and I didn't like the way it was done either. I kept thinking this is a joke! No one will go this week.  (:;) Wrong!
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Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #113 on: April 13, 2008, 10:16:27 PM »
An update on Michael Johns from TMZ.com

MICHAEL JOHNS: THE STIFF FROM DOWN UNDER

He got no job, and now he got no money!

Just days after getting booted from "American Idol," Michael Johns hit LAX, where he gave a skycap a big fat tip ... of nothing.

Johns was polite about the stiffing, but dude -- if you got no money, don't use the skycap!

Offline RudyRules

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #114 on: April 13, 2008, 11:43:08 PM »
I just couldn't believe that Michael was the one sent home, and I didn't like the way it was done either. I kept thinking this is a joke! No one will go this week.  (:;) Wrong! 
Survivor, which I always tape, is on the same time, so I missed all but the very end of AI. I was shocked & sad to see that Michael got booted.  :(

So what did they do in the show on Thurs?  I thought it was gonna be the normal vote-off nite. The nite before was the Idol Gives Back fundraiser show.

For Thurs, TVGuide says "One of the eight remaining finalists is voted off."    Why did they think there may not be a vote-off?  ???

Offline rosesrred

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #115 on: April 14, 2008, 09:18:26 AM »
I just couldn't believe that Michael was the one sent home, and I didn't like the way it was done either. I kept thinking this is a joke! No one will go this week.  (:;) Wrong! 
Survivor, which I always tape, is on the same time, so I missed all but the very end of AI. I was shocked & sad to see that Michael got booted.  :(

So what did they do in the show on Thurs?  I thought it was gonna be the normal vote-off nite. The nite before was the Idol Gives Back fundraiser show.

For Thurs, TVGuide says "One of the eight remaining finalists is voted off."    Why did they think there may not be a vote-off?  ???

Because on the Idol Gives Back show last year they did not vote anyone off and it was a surprise.  So the thinking was that noone will be voted off.

Offline RudyRules

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #116 on: April 14, 2008, 08:44:26 PM »
Thanks, rosesrred.  I forgot how it went last year. 

Still, it seems unfair the contestants weren't warned the show included the vote off!  Oh well...I guess they wanted make more Drama & keep everyone on edge! 

Offline Jetgabriel

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #117 on: April 16, 2008, 03:44:18 AM »
Wow! Syesha's actually pretty good this night. What is happening with Brooke? :pull Since Let it Be, she's been well bad... :D

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #118 on: April 16, 2008, 10:23:09 AM »
Maybe it is just me. I have watched every season since AI began but Simon is beginning to get on my nerves this year.
(I know.. what took me so long.)  :lol: It just annoys me, when the singer chooses a song that is well known then he says well you took a chance because so & so is so well known and you didn't sing it well enough. OK! Then someone chooses a song that ISN'T well known and he says.. well you took a chance because no one knows that song and you didn't sing it like so & so would have.  :pull

I didn't think Carly sang as well as she did in the beginning but I did like how she dressed last night, she changed up her image to match the song.

Syesha is improving every week.

I'm not sure who goes tonight, my hubby thinks Brooke. ???
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Offline Jetgabriel

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #119 on: April 17, 2008, 10:00:26 PM »
*SPOILER STARTS HERE (Yesterday's Results)*
The Bottom 3 were: Syesha, Brooke and Kristy
Syesha was safe first and Brooke second.
So that means Kristy's been eliminated.
Oh, she sang while sitting on the judges' table. :D
*SPOILER ENDS HERE (Yesterday's Results)*

Wow, I am shocked (maybe not) that she has been e|iminated. She was s|ightly better than Brooke IMO. Prediction Before Performance Night: Brooke or Syesha


Offline RudyRules

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #120 on: April 17, 2008, 10:35:09 PM »
Wow! Syesha's actually pretty good this night. What is happening with Brooke? :pull Since Let it Be, she's been well bad... :D
That's the same question I've been asking.  She was so great at first and was my favorite gal.  It seems her heart isn't "into it"...like she's lost interest or something, and is a little depressed.  Maybe she has found the Hollywood scene isn't for her?  I just don't know, but it has bothered me to see such a great talent suddenly spiraling downhill. 

Syesha was very good this week & I"m liking her more. 

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #121 on: April 19, 2008, 10:47:25 AM »
Brooke is good and gorgeous, Simon hates country (IMNSHO) and therefore, doesn't like her either. She just needs confidence in herself and not listen to Simon so much, then she will be fine.  :js:

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Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #122 on: April 19, 2008, 11:07:47 AM »
Stupid changes introduce problems for 'Idol'
‘Improvements’ such as longer results show, call-in segment don’t pan out
COMMENTARY
By Marc Hirsh
MSNBC contributor
updated 9:26 p.m. CT, Sun., April. 13, 2008

Considering its long-standing status as television's 900-pound gorilla, you'd think that "American Idol" would have no problems just sitting on its laurels and cursing the need to purchase yet another bill counter to handle all the money pouring in. Add a well-timed writers strike putting the kibosh on its scripted competition and it seems like the show would be content to simply do what it's always done just the way it's always done it.

But the current season features the most substantial restructuring since "Idol" began. Despite the show's longtime attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it (and if it is broke, people will still watch, so don't fix it then, either)," there have been countless changes to both the presentation and the competition itself.

Sure, a few have either proven their worth or added a new dimension to a show that was threatening to grow stale. There have been fewer celebrity mentors this year, contestants are allowed to showcase themselves as complete performers by playing their own instruments, and Emmy-nominated but seemingly incompetent director Bruce Gowers has finally been replaced by someone called John Pritchett. (His new signature move of ending a song on a shot of a monitor of the performer before pulling back to see the entire stage doesn't bode well, however.)

But most of the "improvements" either haven't panned out or were problematic right from the start.

Hour-long results shows
A lot of people considered the half-hour results shows of the past to be pointless, with only about three minutes of actual content filled out by little more than host Ryan Seacrest giving people stage directions while recapping the previous night's performances. The mystery is how it was decided that the best way to resolve this issue was to make the results show longer.

The amount of filler this year is off the charts, with even more blatant cross-promotion of Fox movies such as "Jumper" and "Horton Hears A Who," while the presentation of Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson's "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" video might be the first time that "Idol" has directly shilled for one of its stars' ancillary projects. Adding segments like those don't expand the show, they expand the commercials.

Then there's the biggest time-waster ...

The viewer call-in segment
The idea, probably, was to make "Idol" interactive, giving it the cutting-edge, 21st-century excitement of talk radio. But the segment, taped before the actual live broadcast, has mostly just resulted in questions ranging from the uninspired ("What do you miss most about home, Syesha?") to the inane ("How can I make it through when I audition for the seventh time next summer?").

They're also handled in the stupidest possible manner, with the pre-screened questions displayed behind Seacrest before he selects one. By the time the caller starts to speak, everybody — Seacrest, the contestants, the judges and the studio and home audiences — already knows what the question is going to be. That makes the actual asking totally irrelevant beyond the callers hearing their own voices on television. Considering the purpose of the show (especially the auditions), that's probably reason enough for "Idol" to think it's genius.

The new set
Much was made about how great the new set was going to be, and that made it pretty easy to predict that it would be trouble. "Idol" ran headlong in its usual direction of "bigger is better," bringing the singers into a cavernous space that practically swallows them whole.

Somewhere along the line, the stupid decision was also made to spread the "Idol" house band out across the many balconies above the stage. Considering that their tendency to overwhelm the singers has already earned them the nickname "Bandzilla," having the musicians abandon actual interplay and interact with one another by headphones isn't exactly progress. And the less said about the woefully misnamed "mosh pit" in front of the stage — which perhaps copies CBS' singing competition "Rock Star" — the better.

Repeated themes
"Idol" was clearly jazzed at finally being able to have a Beatles night. The usual nonsense notwithstanding, it turned out pretty well, resulting in a handful of personal-best performances and generally preventing the contestants from falling on their faces unless they really, really worked hard at it. (Here's looking at you, Kristy Lee Cook and Davids Hernandez and Archuleta.)

Naturally, "Idol" rushed eagerly back to the well as soon as it got positive feedback and ruined it the very next week. Even Simon grew bored by the middle of the show. Way to kill the golden goose.

Themed semifinals
Once upon a time, semifinalists performed for the judges in an empty studio with just a piano accompanying them, and only the top vote-getters moved on. Over the years, though, "Idol" has been slowly but surely making the semis indistinguishable from the later rounds, switching from a build-up to a tear-down system of creating the top 12, adding a band and an audience.

Nearly completing the transformation by adding specific themes (and a limited song list) was a mistake for a few reasons. It instantly put some contestants at a serious disadvantage. The free-for-all song selection of previous years allowed the singers to introduce themselves to the public however they wanted.

With themed semis, Elliott Yamin never sings "Moody's Mood For Love," Bo Bice never kills "Whipping Post" and Alaina Alexander never falls hilariously to pieces on a disastrously misguided "Not Ready to Make Nice." This year's previously invisible Colton Berry was voted off almost before his '60s night performance of "Suspicious Minds" even ended. What kind of singer does he want to be? Who knows?

Worse still, themed semifinals work to the active detriment of the show itself. The differences between the semis and the top 12 created distinct stages of the competition that are now almost nonexistent. That wrecks the pacing of the entire season, which is currently divided into only two parts: auditions that last too long and performances that last way, way too long. Changing themes and eliminated contestants notwithstanding, we're watching the exact same people jump through the exact same hoops for 14 weeks straight.

Wondering why "Idol" fatigue typically sets in around the top six? Try starting with that prolonged repetition.

Marc Hirsh is a writer in Somerville, Mass.
© 2008 MSNBC Interactive

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24099046/
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Offline RudyRules

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #123 on: April 19, 2008, 10:24:31 PM »
Brooke is good and gorgeous, Simon hates country (IMNSHO) and therefore, doesn't like her either. She just needs confidence in herself and not listen to Simon so much, then she will be fine.  :js:


Right, TL.  But it seems she had a lot of confidence in the beginning and until her last 3 or 4 performances.  Well I hope you're right that she'll be fine.

Thanks for the enlightening article. :tup:

Offline TexasLady

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Re: American Idol Season 7
« Reply #124 on: April 21, 2008, 10:56:28 AM »
I don't know what to think Rudy, she has the talent, does she have the will.  :duno:
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