Simon Sez:
Remember the girl that was "sailing through" to each next round because she was so good? I'm sure that a lot of us felt the way that I did when I plowed through the tedious auditions just to hear the talented, fresh-faced, beautiful 16 year old ("the best 16 year old we've ever had in the competition,") Lisa Tucker, share her wonderful voice with us. I was her fan right from the start and I was never disappointed in her.
This year, there is not a doubt in my mind that the judges are harder, tougher and more cruel than ever before. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing because as Simon Cowell has stated so many times before: this is just the beginning of the rejection factor that sets in when they attempt to knock down doors in order to get heard. I doubt, though, that they will be told to pack their bags because they're going home. They will just be given a "we don't think you're right for us" and that will be that. There are many famous singers, and other performers who have had to face rejection and yet they haven't given up so that they one day can tell the world their story. Warning: this only works when you have achieved some measure of fame.
This Season
Despite some of the horrendous examples of people that will do anything to get face time on camera, there are some shining stars among the top twelve (now nine) that have made it through to this point in time.
The Others (And I'm Not Talking About "Lost")
To me, Mandisa is way too Las Vegas, Taylor is just a novelty act with limited appeal, Ace is definitely eye candy but not great as far as his voice is concerned, and Kellie is as phony as a three dollar bill. Her "act" has worn thin and she was even shocked when Simon berated her after calling her a little "mink." Yeah sure, Kellie, we know you've never heard of all of those exotic foods that you tasted, or the entire new vocabulary that you learned. Poor little unsophisticated country farm girl. Give me a break. The biggest gaffe that Simon made was to tell her that he preferred her to Carrie Underwood. That was a slap in the face for Carrie, but more than that, Carrie was never as artificial as Dolly Parton, Jr.
Don't Get Me Wrong
There are some stellar performers. I love Chris, even though his "own" version of "I Walk the Line" was some other band's arrangement, but that doesn't matter to me. The judges ooh'd and aah'd over it, so it's their ignorance.
To me, Elliott Yamin is a great talent. He may not have the looks, but that guy can sing and turn himself into a real hunk of a man. He's got talent that knows no bounds.
And while I'm at it, Katharine McPhee, a beautiful girl with a gorgeous voice was also in the bottom three which was a huge shocker. She was the one that I picked as my favorite this week. She is a big talent.
Paris Bennett falls somewhere in between the very talented and the just plain "a'ight" men and women on American Idol this season. She can be outstanding, but she is wearing on me. Her little girl voice (I don't care if it's real) and the sameness in her performances put her in the middle of the talent-o-meter.
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