CarmenSandiego

8 hours ago, MalwareDie said:

Apparently, Abi's father indicated on Youtube that Abi was singing in the womb according to their obstetrician.

 

@wtcarter2
13 hours ago
What a great tribute! I hope your wish is granted!

Abi has had a burning desire to sing her entire life. Heck! Even before she was born! Our obstetrician, who had delivered thousands of babies, took off his headphones during Abi's sonogram and said "I've heard everything, but I've never heard this. Your daughter is SINGING!"

Abi comes from a singing family. Her parents and grandparents include several amateur singers, choir directors, and piano players (church mostly). Mom has a beautiful voice and was singing constantly while Abi was in gestation. We watched American Idol together when it debuted in 2002. Abi was listening and learning and was born a month later. American Idol became a staple in our home for years to come.

But pushing all that amniotic fluid around did a number on Abi's vocal cords! Early on, it wasn't apparent that she would ever have an angelic voice. But she kept singing and had AMAZING control. I told her: "You have a broken instrument, but you play it beautifully!"

Well, thank God, that instrument ain't broken anymore!

 

I love that story!  Thanks for sharing it with us!

4 minutes ago, CandiceFan12 said:

LOL they even made a Downfall video on who will make the finale.

 

This is probably the only time in my life when I might actually support Hitler!

1 hour ago, MalwareDie said:

 

I don't think there are any locks this season as it's actually competitive. Abi could miss the F3 if she has an off night while Triston or Emmy overperform. The judges are really leaning on Abi showing off her stage presence and if Abi is not careful, she could deliver a performance that is too flashy without enough vocal oomph, and that could get her booted on Sunday. Another My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark, which was tied for the lowest FB reacts of the night with Emmy's Water Under The Bridge, could get Abi in trouble. While the Disney theme suits her more than the other contestants, she is still not a lock. It will come down to performance quality.

23 minutes ago, wildestinvegas said:

y’all stressing too much over a limited ass theme that will hardly allow anyone to have a big breakout game changer moment. take a look at last season:

 

wé: into the unknown + the climb (two of disneys most recognizable brands in frozen and hannah montana)

 

megan: you can’t stop the girl from freaking bebe rehxa (LMAO) and carry me with you from onward aka pixar biggest box office failure of all time.

 

guess who made finale? LOL. it’s gonna come down to the quality of the performances/established fan bases. i don’t see a scenario where the 3 males get the three public votes (it can happen ig but we never had an ABC finale of contestants from the same sex so i find it unlikely) and i don’t think emmy will deliver vocally so i’m not too worried about abi. i trust her enough atp and since we pretty much already know one of her songs if she got her way (when she loved me), i don’t see how she can f*ck that one up. 

While I agree that Abi might not be a 100% lock, the odds are against her failing to make the finale.  As Wildestinvegas noted, Abi planned on doing “When She Loved Me” if she made it to Disney week (and she did), and that song would fit her like a glove.  And I trust Abi’s ability to make a good enough song choice that will get her into the finale.  Also, I think that Emmy needs to be outstanding to even have a shot, while I think that Triston is too green to do anything serviceable enough to get into the finale.  Also, if Triston is serviceable enough, it might actually hurt Jack more than Abi as he too isn’t a lock.

24 minutes ago, StarWalker1 said:

Lets hope the curse misses this time around lmao

Same here!

With the show now running only on Sunday, I have only two analyses to do for this week and next.  Last night, the Top 5 performed two songs each and two girls were cut:  Julia Gagnon and McKenna Faith Breinholt.  I will begin by analyzing Julia.  She came fairly close to making the finale, so why did she not make the Top 5?  As always, I’ll look at the rules that American Idol contestants need to follow in order to find out what Julia did right, what she did wrong and why Julia lost.

The first rule states that contestants must show singing and performing talent.  Because Julia, like Odell Bunton, Jr. and Abi Carter, was a Platinum Ticket winner, it’s safe to say that she had plenty of singing talent.  But I don’t think that she had as much performing talent.  That said, she did show her singing talent more often than not since on IDF, she was ranked first overall in the Top Twelve round, third in the Top 14 reveal, fifth in the Top 14 round, the Top Ten round and the Top 8 round, sixth in the Top 24 round and twelfth in the Top 20 round.  Still, she did pretty well until her final two performances.

But how did she do with “Roam” and “Set Fire to the Rain”?  On the first song, she was pretty much panned on IDF, with many giving her scores of 6 and lower.  I gave her a 7.5, which is the second highest score on IDF, and even I said that it was her weakest performance, most likely because she had to do an up-tempo song which required performance skills, and her performance skills were weaker.  She recovered with “Set Fire to the Rain”, but the ratings were still mixed on IDF, with me giving her an 8.5.  Thus Julia stumbled on the first rule, mainly due to performance skills.

She also had problems with the second rule, which states that song choice is key.  One of the reasons why she was in twelfth on IDF in the Top 20 round was because she sang “I Believe” by Fantasia, which is another song that contestants probably should avoid.  And in the Top 14 round, she chose “Run To You”, a Whitney song.  She did a little better in the next two rounds, but the damage might have been done by that point.  Thus Julia screwed up this rule as well.

The third rule states that a contestant must be consistently great or consistently improving.  Julia was consistently very good, with times that she was great, which isn’t quite what this rule requires.  And because she began so well, she didn’t have much room to improve.  Jack Blocker, on the other hand, was consistently improving while Abi was probably seen as consistently great.  Thus Julia struck out on this rule.

At least Julia had no problem with the fourth rule, states that contestants must be confident.  She was certainly confident enough to take on Fantasia and Whitney.  While she still was eliminated, she followed this rule, so I’ll move on.

But Julia had some problems with the fifth rule, which states that contestants must have a strong, current and marketable identity.  Julia had a strong artistic identity, the problem was that her identity for the most part was that of a powerhouse diva,which isn’t really current or marketable.  Thus Julia struggled with this rule as well.

But Julia had no problem with the sixth rule, which states that contestants must remember that they are a package.  Julia’s backstory had her being adopted from an orphanage in Guatemala, and that helped get her farther than Nya, who was also a powerhouse diva and Jayna, who was a rock-flavored powerhouse singer.  While it didn’t save her, she at least followed this rule, so I’ll move on.

Julia also had no problem with the seventh rule, which states that contestants must take any advice offered to her and follow it — within reason.  While it wasn’t enough to save her, at least she followed this rule, so I’ll move on.

The final rule states that contestants must gather and sustain a fan base.  Julia did this best of the trio of her, Jayna and Nya, but it’s still true that the main voting demographic will vote more for the cute guy or the country guy than for the talented female singer, Julia’s weak performance skills and bad song choices stalled her ability to get new fans and might have caused some casual fans to jump ship to Abi, her roommate, because Abi made better song choices and had better performance skills.  Thus Julia fouled up this rule.

Julia should have made the Top 5.  She was a Platinum Ticket winner with a great backstory that could get her a lot of fans.  But she had was a powerhouse diva and the main Idol voting demographic preferred Will Moseley, who was just consistently good but was a country guy and Triston, who was also country, was cute and also had a great backstory.  Julia then compounded her problem with poor song choices and weak performance skills.  This caused her fan base to dwindle while Abi remained consistently great and Jack was improving.  She then had her worst performance with “Roam”, and while her second performance was better, it just wasn’t enough.  Julia couldn’t overcome weak performance skills and poor song choices, and that is why Julia lost.

1 minute ago, AngelaKD said:

Trying to go for songs that haven’t been used over and over:

 

Abi: Surface Pressure from Encanto (but the jazzier Feinstein’s version):

 

 

Jack: Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ from Teen Beach Movie:

 

 

Triston: I Just Can’t Wait to be King from The Lion King

 

Will: Thomas O’Malley from The Aristocats

 

Emmy: Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins

 

 

Ooh, “Feed the Birds” would be a great choice for Emmy!

32 minutes ago, Emmyfan said:

The only way Emmy makes the top 3 is if she kills her 2 songs and 1 of which is the Climb. Will is a lock Abi is a lock with Julia her best friend on the show gone so Abi will get more votes from Julia fans. So Will and Abi are pretty much locks. Jack and Triston will duke it out for the 3rd spot and while i dislike both it will come down to how they both do. I said since Hawaii Abi/Will/Triston final. I really do not see a way Emmy stays as she will not close the show since she did 2 weeks ago and Abi just did so if Jack closes the show he could pass Triston.

 

Will and Abi are locks for the final and placement and song choice will determine if its Jack or Triston to join them.

 

Once Idol is over I think Emmy/Will/Abi have the best chance of making it the most after the show. For people who say Jack just look where past winners from just last year even are doing now that are like Jack the cute boy with a good voice is. And those who went home already that belt high notes will have to deal with millions of others who can as well.

Actually, I think “The Climb” is overdone on the show.  But I agree that Abi and Will are locks for the finale and I suspect (and hope) that Jack will join them instead of Triston.  Triston is just too green.

3 hours ago, AuntTami said:

I completely agree that she would kill Creep! It's one of my personal favorite covers she has ever done. I have no idea though the song choices she is doing this week, but I know anything she performs is going to be epic! I also believe she has already submitted her song choices. I am assuming with the busy schedule of being at Disney World this week, it had to be locked in early.

I agree that it makes sense for Abi to submit her song choices early.  I think that she’ll have a blast at Disneyland or Disney World.  I’ve gone to Disney World so many times and I always had fun!  And I went to Disneyland after moving to Oregon once and had fun there too.  Sadly, I didn’t get to see Moana at Disneyland — it was her day off.

I heard Abi sing “Creep” on YouTube, she was great!

Well, at least Nytsch gave Triston a 1.  

“Creep” was part of the third volume of “Guardians of the Galaxy”, and since Abi sang a version of it which is on YouTube, I’d recommend that for her.

The other suggestions seem good, except for “The Climb”.  That’s overdone.  I might suggest “Go The Distance” for her instead.

1 minute ago, wildestinvegas said:

Wait a second... Creep is featured on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3" (Iam did a song from Volume 2 last season). The song plays throughout the entirety of the opening scene of the movie. If she does this for one of her 2 songs, her spot in the finale is locked IMO.

 

It was featured on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?”  Well then, I see Abi doing “When She Loved Me” because she wanted to do that song for Disney week, and either “Reflection” from Mulan or “Creep”.

1 hour ago, QueenKalie said:

This is just as silly of a comment as we got from other fan bases. So at least that evens things out a little bit I guess.

Yeah.

How bad have I been about other singers who aren’t my favorites?

1 hour ago, Zoey said:

It’s just Zoey. I don’t think “that” appears on my birth certificate.

 

If you want to moan about me “bombing” all of Abi’s performances then you might want to have a look at the people who constantly give her 10’s because she’s their favourite and not actually based on the performances she’s been giving. But of course you won’t because that’s fine when it’s benefiting her.

 

Grow up and address me directly instead of trying to show off and look clever when you’re clearly just being passive aggressive. Another one added to the ignore list.  I’ll be surprised if I see any posts in this sub-forum by the time the finale comes.

Actually, I only gave Abi a 10 once, for “Bring Me To Life”, but I have given her a lot of 9.5s, Zoey.  Still, I think you’re being way too harsh on her.  Giving her a 1?  Even I never gave Blake or Triston a 1.

Abi, Jack and Will are my predicted finalists.  But I would rather have Abi, Emmy and Jack as the finalists.

9 hours ago, m1key said:

hmmm that also made me realize that if Abi were to win, i'd say she would be the winner with the most non-minivan friendly song choices of all The Voice and Idol winners. as of now I'd say it's Gina Miles (and even then her song choices don't feel very risky at all compared to Abi's.)

If she wins, we can say that you no longer need to primarily do minivan-friendly songs in order to win.

12 minutes ago, m1key said:

ugh i hate how close this is  i wish there was a larger gap so i could at least start mentally preparing myself! 

At least Abi has a good chance of winning, and Will isn’t a sure thing.

38 minutes ago, Gustavo527 said:

Yeah, i agree with what you said. But now i'm imagining how great would be if the girl that sang My Chemical Romance, Evanescence and Fall Out Boy manages to win it all. That would be iconic!

I totally agree!

Songs That Make You Want to Dance:

1.  Abi — not her best performance but she was still solid.

2.  Will — his best performance.

3.  McKenna — her song choice wasn’t good but she sang it well enough.

4.  Jack — he’s definitely improving.

5.  Julia — her worst performance.

6.  Emmy — she didn’t even try to move around.

7.  Triston — the weakest one left.

Adele Songs:

1.  Abi — that’s more like it!

2.  McKenna — at least she went out on a high note.

3.  Julia — better but it was just too little, too late.

4.  Jack — his best performance.

5.  Emmy — better than her first performance but not by much.

6.  Will — he was worse on this performance.

7.  Triston — not good.  Not good at all.

Overall (based on average of my IDF stats):

1.  Abi — she’s on her way to the finale.

2.  McKenna — she should still be here.

3.  Julia — so should she.

4.  Jack — best of the guys.

5.  Will — good but not great.

6.  Emmy — she’s just falling behind.

7.  Triston — he should be gone.

Top 7 Perform/Top 5 Reveal Template

Jack Blocker - Long Tall Sally by Little Richard- 7.5.  The song fit him well and he was one of the better performers.

Julia Gagnon - Roam by The B-52’s - 7.5.  Probably her worst performance, sad to say.

Abi Carter - My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up) - 8.5.  Not her best performance, but it didn’t matter.

McKenna Faith Breinholt - E.T. by Katy Perry - 8.  Very good but the song choice wasn’t good.

Will Moseley - Gimme Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 8.  His best performance.

Emmy Russell - Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon - 7.  Good but she didn’t even move around the stage.

Triston Harper - T-R-O-U-B-L-E by Travis Tritt - 6.5.  The weakest singer left.

McKenna Faith Breinholt - Make You Feel My Love by Adele - 8.5.  At least she went out on a high note.

Jack Blocker - One and Only by Adele - 8.  His best performance.

Will Moseley - Rolling in the Deep by Adele - 7.  His first performance was better.

Julia Gagnon - Set Fire to the Rain by Adele - 8.5.  Better but too late.

Emmy Russell - Water Under the Bridge by Adele - 7.5.  This wasn’t a great week for her.

Triston Harper - Easy On Me by Adele - 5.  He’s reached his limits.

Abi Carter - Hello by Adele - 9.5.  Best song of the night.

1.  Season 19 — although I didn’t have a favorite win that season, it probably had the best Top 4 — and Caleb.

2.  Season 21 — it had a male winner I liked.

3.  Season 18 — although it was a shortened season, the Top 5 were good enough to make it that far.

4.  Season 16 — had Maddie, Gabby and Michael.  Cade was good too.

5.  Season 22 — three of the people in this group are good enough.

6.  Season 20 — had Kennedi not withdrawn, I might have liked it more.

7.  Season 17 — bottom of the barrel thanks to Wade.

It’s a real shame that McKenna was eliminated, but the writing was on the wall.  Had McKenna not gotten sick for a week, she might have stayed.

1.  Abi — she’s the best one left.

2.  Jack — I like him most among the guys.

3.  Emmy — just like her more than Will.

4.  Will — he’s the better country guy.

5.  Triston — he’s outstayed his welcome on the show.

1 minute ago, Elliott said:

This place still thinks southern rock = country, so I’m not surprised they’re acting like Abi is the only non-country contestant left. 

Not me.

Just now, m1key said:

Season 17 of Idol was worse than this imo. You had Wade who was a mess, Madison who sang the most overdone songs ever, and Laine who was meh. Alejandro was extremely controversial at the time, and Laci was a bit inconsistent (and people were bitter she got saved over Jeremiah).

 

but if we are using your Season 16 analogy... let Abi be our Maelyn pls  

I agree.  This Top 5 isn’t the best by a long shot but Season 17 was definitely worse than this one.

Just now, m1key said:

if people consider Emmy and Jack country then they also have to consider Julia country with how many country songs she sang and the aesthetics she drew from lol.

 

Will and Triston are the only country contestants in Top 5 imo.  

 

I agree.  Emmy and Jack have sung some country songs but that doesn’t necessarily make them country singers.  Emmy’s a singer-songwriter and Jack’s more Americana/folk.  Abi’s pop, I believe.