Crisis

It really is. Two reasons why I do this: 1) The audition and Hollywood episodes no longer interest me. There are too many of them and they drag. I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss the bad/joke auditions. They may have worn out their course, but at least they broke up the monotony and brought some memorable moments. 2) I want to assess the contestants as objectively as possible on their performances. Not knowing anything about them prior to the voting rounds gives everyone an even playing field. It would be difficult to watch the contestants impartially if someone becomes a fan or non-fan of someone prior to when it starts to matter.

It looks like a lot of thought and effort was placed into this. I remember the Reality News Online site and used to enjoy reading David's commentary on why contestants placed where they did even if I disagreed with him sometimes. It appears this will be something similar to that. Regardless, I look forward to see how this works out. Agreed. I think likeability and relatability plays a major factor for all contestants regardless of gender, but it appears to be more so for females. A prime example of this working against someone is Crystal Bowersox. She was considered to be the best overall contestant of S9 if not the most consistent, yet she fell short of the title. One of the main reasons is because she didn't come across as the most embraceable contestant. She appeared aloof and guarded, plus her banter with the judges may have turned off some people. With that said, two contestants who contrasted this are Fantasia and Candice. Fantasia was extremely polarizing in both her personality and voice. However, she was one of the strongest contestants who had some great performances. Her first rendition of Summertime is in the short list of the best all-time Idol performances. As for Candice, I recall some people who weren't fans of her attitude and personality. However, as with Fantasia, she was very strong and consistent; in fact, she was considered to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field her season. In addition, she had what is often considered to be the best Idol performance with Love Song. One thing that may have helped them, however, is they were in seasons in which the male fields were fairly weak. The results may have been different if the opposite were true. Nonetheless, these are couple of examples of not being exactly the most relatable eventually coming out on top, but it goes a long way to have that relatability.

Semifinals - Part I Semifinals - Part II Top 20 20 to 14 14 to 11 11 to 10 10 to 7 Great American Idol Reunion 7 to 5 5 to 3 S20 Finale - Part I S20 Finale - Part II

It looks like it's that time again! Last season I had a thread where I gave my thoughts on the S19 contestants and the overall season in general. Something must've hit me in the head because I'm doing it again for S20. Like last season, I have not watched any episodes up until this point, ventured into any contestant fan threads, and did my best to avoid any spoilers; in fact, I've more or less stayed away from the Idol subforum during this time (with that said, I've gotten wind of one spoiler. I may address it or not should the opportunity presents itself). Also like last season, I ask for no spoilers to be posted in the thread (this means themes unless addressed on the show and song choices, among others). Last season, my opinions were pretty much immediate hot takes shortly after the performances and episodes. This year, I'll try to be more deliberate. This means I may watch the performances a few times before sharing my thoughts and therefore, they may not be up until a few days after the episodes have aired. I'm aiming to post my opinions before the following Sunday episode(s). With all of this said, I'm looking forward to the season and seeing who the contestants are and how they fare.

Armadillo absolutely did not fall on purpose! With that said, he recovered nicely. Speaking of Armadillo, he should be eliminated next week. The question is who will join him? Both Ringmaster and Miss Teddy are strong acts, but only one can make the finals. I would probably go with Miss Teddy because she is part of Team Cuddly, and Team Good already has Firefly. If my theory is correct, that leaves Ringmaster out as she is part of TG. Also, Ringmaster didn't pick a great song this past week. I never would've guessed Penn & Teller for Hydra, especially since Teller did most of the singing. Since he barely talks, it would be difficult to recognize his voice. With that said, I was secretly hoping it was Bert and Ernie; we had Kermit on the show after all. At least I'm starting to recognize some of the eliminated acts now.

Not really feeling this set. It's also the second year in a row my #1 didn't make it.

Meh VOTE TO ADVANCE : "Don't Phunk with My Heart" - The Black Eyed Peas - 1 (Chris) "Like You" - Bow Wow feat. Ciara "Soldier" - Destiny's Child feat. T.I. and Lil Wayne - 4 (Steven, Wallace, Nico, Priscilla) "Truth Is" - Fantasia - 1 (Crisis) "Cool" - Gwen Stefani : 5 (Gigi, Rei, Alex, Akshar, Diana)

VOTE TO ADVANCE SIX SONGS "Don't Lie" - The Black Eyed Peas 1 (Crisis) "Don't Phunk with My Heart" - The Black Eyed Peas "Like You" - Bow Wow feat. Ciara "1, 2 Step" - Ciara feat. Missy Elliott 1 (Diana) "Soldier" - Destiny's Child feat. T.I. and Lil Wayne "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" - Fall Out Boy - 1 (Steven) "Truth Is" - Fantasia - 2 (Victoria, Crisis) "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day 3 - (Diana, Victoria, Crisis) "Cool" - Gwen Stefani 1 - (Victoria) "Rich Girl" - Gwen Stefani feat. Eve "Because of You" - Kelly Clarkson - 4 (Steven, Diana, Victoria, Crisis) "Behind These Hazel Eyes" - Kelly Clarkson - 2 (Steven, Diana) "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes - 4 (Steven, Diana, Victoria, Crisis) "Pon de Replay" - Rihanna - 3 (Diana, Victoria, Crisis) "La Tortura" - Shakira feat. Alejandro Sanz - 1 (Steven) "Caught Up" - Usher - 1 (Steven)

"Don't Lie" - The Black Eyed Peas

Cut "Let Me Love You" - Mario

Both Armadillo and especially Hydra were weaker than Lemur, but it is what it is. For the former, he reminds me of Raccoon in that he knows he isn't the best singer but goes out and have fun regardless. As for Lemur, at least I'm familiar with her. We'll see what happens with the others. This is one of the best non-athlete guesses for Ken. I didn't think about her before Ken explaining the clues and making his final guess. However, I thought he made more sense as he went along and thought it could be her.

It looks like I missed out on some action. So the voting rule finally came into play. Shakira stood no chance against Kelly.

#152 - Chikorita - 1 (Steven) #162 - Furret #169 - Crobat - 6 (Rei, Sola, Derek, Nico, Hayden, Crisis) #172 - Pichu - 4 (Steven, Victoria, Derek, Priscilla) #186 - Politoed - 3 (Steven, Sola, Derek) #194 - Wooper - 1 (Hayden) #202 - Wobbuffet - 3 (Hayden, Priscilla, Crisis) #209 - Snubbull - 1 (Priscilla) #212 - Scizor - 5 (Rei, Steven, Sola, Nico, Hayden) #214 - Heracross - 2 (Nico, Crisis) #215 - Sneasel - 3 (Rei, Victoria, Hayden) #227 - Skarmory - 1 (Nico) #241 - Miltank - 2 (Sola, Nico) #242 - Blissey - 4 (Rei, Steven, Sola, Crisis) #243 - Raikou #244 - Entei -1 (Priscilla) #245 - Suicune - 2 (Rei, Derek) #249 - Lugia - 4 (Victoria, Derek, Priscilla, Crisis)

I don't think anyone will partner with me for any of my songs, so I'll agree to advance this and hope for the best, LOL.

Isn't this Weavile?

Our cuts are Xatu, Bellossom, and Espeon.

Now I wish Switch would've moved on based on recent events.

I'm here for 1 Thing, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and/or Feel Good Inc.

"I Don't Want to Be" - Gavin DeGraw "Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes

I am

Happy 38th birthday to Katharine!

Me to 3 of the 4 eliminated acts. The only one I'm familiar with is Ram. Yeah, this format does leave a lot to be desired. Mixing the groups up kept the show fresh and interesting. So a member of the Good is in the finals. Something tells me there'll be one of each group in the finals.

Next round: #155 - Cyndaquil #159 - Croconaw #199 - Slowking #208 - Steelix #231 - Phanpy #232 - Donphan #244 - Entei