miss denise

1 hour ago, Crisis said:

Them leaving Hummingbird's unmasking as a cliffhanger was predictable because they started the countdown to Lego Masters after announcing Harp was the queen for the episode. Besides, they didn't even have the panel guess who they thought it was. I

 

I'm just waiting for the obligatory Jamie Foxx guess(es). It looks like the First Impression Guesses and Golden Ear isn't coming back.  Regardless, here's hoping this season is better than the previous one.

 

This! That's why when Nick said "We can't wait to see who you are", I literally shouted at my TV "Well, you're going to make us!"  

omg yesssssss!   And did they finally get him on the show?  

This Masked Singer VIP section is too much.  

Thank goodness Harp advanced (although omg at confetti and how dramatic her advancement was on week 1 ), as I don't think anyone else came close to her level. Hummingbird was good too though.  

Really not a fan of this format now that I'm understanding it more... thankfully this group wasn't stacked so the result was fine IMO, but Harp has to face the winner of next week and then one will be eliminated? Is that correct?  Definitely not here for that. Oh and wow, imagine all the time and money that's gone into soooo many costumes that will only see the light of day once.

"We can't wait to see who you are" and then the show cuts out?  
 

“Why you hitting me with the duck?”  

Wait what? Not Knight glued to a golden goose.  

Watching on the west coast now so going to avoid spoilers in here until it’s over.  

But omg Harp having to carry that actual harp around behind her.  Also, me guessing right away who she is based on the actual clues and not just her voice?!  I feel so smart.   But three of the four judges guessing legit Idol alums makes no sense when she clearly said she was told “no”…   And two of the people they guessed won the show!   

I was so disappointed Sara didn't make the top 5 but possibly even more disappointed that they gave her a backup singing spot in the performance that was supposed to be her showcase.   I was loving the finale up until that point, as all the extra performances were so fun and exciting. She looked like a star and sounded great when we could actually hear her, but I don't even think she had a solo unlike each member of the BEP?   I just had to rant because I was so shocked and disappointed in whoever decided that. She deserved so much better for that moment.  

This is still the best thing I've seen in a long time. 

Otherwise, the top 5 wasn't too shocking for me, outside of Kristy who I never would have predicted to make the final 2.  Actually wait, I was surprised with Chapel Hart too, even though I love them, I didn't love their final performance. But I was happy they still got enough votes to place so high.  

How interesting the last two finalists to make it through (aside from the wildcard) were the final 2 of the season. I was pretty shocked and disappointed neither Drake nor Metaphysic made the top 2 but oh well. This group of finalists was all so crazy talented. I still very much enjoyed the season and the finale show (up to the point of my ranting   ). 

Yay, so excited!   

Not sure how I feel about the new format but still excited to see all the new characters.  

Drake is just so good.  

The talent this year is unreal. The final was incredible and I can't wait to see how it plays out tomorrow.  

I love Sara so much.   She never fails to give me major chills.   

I'm shook by the Metaphysics performance I just saw.   

This final is amazing and will be so tough, but they're my favorites from the first hour.  

Chapel Hart slayed again.  

I agree with Heidi. America's Got Country.  

On 6/15/2022 at 7:29 AM, kamil24 said:

I don't watch this show but just saw Sara James on my Youtube timeline! Though I've always lived in Canada I'm Polish, so I know of her. She's already a pop star in Poland with radio hits despite being 14. Hope she gets some good exposure

 

Her father is Nigerian, but appeared on X Factor Poland. His audition:

http://www.video.banzaj.pl/film/8251/john-egwu-james---nigeryjczyk-z-poznania-zrobil-show-w-x-factor/

 

On 6/17/2022 at 12:21 PM, paparizouqueen said:

Sara James represented Poland in Junior eurovision 2021 and ended 2nd with this song

 

Video

Live performance

And here, being an icon

 

Ooh, I love her.   This is so fun to see! 

On 7/21/2022 at 6:28 AM, WastedinMemphis said:

Chapel Hart Band did a great job this week. Surprised to see them on AGT - they've been around for a little while and have had good notices. They're answering posts on Twitter after the AGT postings of the performance and said they felt they'd gotten stuck so figured why not?

 

 

I love them too. So many music acts I love this year.  

I'm not a fan of this year's format at all. We're getting so few performances and the cuts are so huge.   It's disappointing.

That said, the first live show went fine for me. I easily predicted the two who would go through and can't fault the results (although I might have hoped Don snuck in there  ). Drake was my favorite of the group.  

My favorites on first listen were "Denim & Rhinestones", "Burn", and "Crazy Angels" (absolute favorite). I've listened a few times now and think maybe "Faster", "Pink Champagne", and "Poor Everybody Else" are getting up there too. 

I really like the whole album! 

My favorite so far tonight.   Still watching the episode!

They've had some great auditions so far.  

On 5/23/2022 at 5:12 PM, Crisis said:

S20 Finale Part I

Like last season, the finale began with a rooftop performance from a rapper who's major popularity in the 2010s. This time around it's Flo Rida. However, the main difference is the Top 10 performed with him unlike last season where only the Top 3 sang with Macklemore. Admittedly, Flo Rida standing on the incline and all of those camera shots made me a bit nauseous. Also, with how much he was moving, I was afraid he was going to slip and tumble down the thing. With that said, the final shot with Ryan on the incline was kind of funny.

 

It was really cool to see Earth, Wind, and Fire, although it's not the same without the late Maurice White. It was interesting to see Phillip Bailey sing the lower parts and Jay singing the higher parts when he eventually came out. There were times I thought he overdid it, but he sounded good overall. Maybe EWF could use an extra singer somewhere down the road.

 

I didn't even recognize Mr. Barrett Cade without the curly hair. I only knew it was him was because of his guitar. As for Gabby's song, meh. I guess they gave her the spot for her song that was originally supposed to go to Carrie. I didn't know whether or not to laugh or cringe at Cade trying to be the center of attention. The duet with Emyrson wasn't too bad, but I'm no fan of Gabby nor Cade.

 

Who? My reaction to Tai Verdes. Based on his spot, I'm not interested to know more about him.

 

So here's the obligatory Katy Perry spot. This year it's a duet with Thomas Rhett on his new single. The song isn't too bad, and the two sounded good together. I like a few Thomas Rhett songs, so I may check out the rest of the album.

 

The Top 10 parodying the Top 3 was funny. My favorite parts were Jay and Christian trying to walk in Huntergirl's boots.

 

I was wondering which Lionel song the Top 10 would sing this year. You Are was not one that came to mind; however, it was great to hear. Everyone looked like they had a blast, and even Lionel came across as more youthful.

 

Well, I was wrong about Katy dueting with Fritz.  However, Leah was another good option. It was a nice touch to have the video of eight year old Leah start Firework before transitioning into the current Leah and Katy duet. As far as the Katy duets go, it was good as they usually are, but I felt it was the weakest one.

 

The only thing I'll say about the Huntergirl/Luke duet is HG is no Carrie Underwood and Luke is no Randy Travis.

 

Overall, this finale is towards the lower middle of the pack compared to the others. It's not the worst, but there have been better finales.

 

Part II will have my thoughts on the Top 3 regarding their performances and placements.

 

- The comparison.  It was all too familiar. I actually love all your commentary on this.  

- I enjoyed this performance from Jay! Wow, imagine him joining the band like Adam did with Queen.  

- Ooh, I've seen Cade with his short hair for awhile now. I enjoyed the performance, but then I love Gabby, unlike most around here.  I love that Emyrson sang with her. 

- "Who?" is my reaction now because I don't even remember this.  

- Aww I love Thomas, so I hope you find more songs of his you enjoy if you do listen.  

- I loved that segment too. My favorite was also Christian imitating Huntergirl.  

- I agree this performance was fun and aww youthful Lionel.  

Not much to add to the rest but am curious to see the rest of your thoughts on the competition part!

On 5/12/2022 at 6:05 PM, Crisis said:

- It would be cool if they did. Now I hope there's footage of this somewhere.

- Fair about the first two sentences. Yep, and hopefully the last; however, I feel this way about the song in general. Everyone who sang this song:

 

Trenyce

Leah

Jennifer

Vonzell

Katharine

Lakisha

Shannon

Jessica Sanchez

Sonika

Gabby

Grace K.

Jay

 

We may never know.  

Way too many names.  lol I just never realized they were all woman until now.   Good catch! 

On 5/16/2022 at 8:50 PM, Crisis said:

The Contestants:

Huntergirl

Undo It – Carrie Underwood

This is more of a performance song than a singing one, so the most important things to have are stage presence and attitude. For the former, HG did a fine job working the stage. For the latter, I think she could’ve had a little more edge to her. I wanted to see more anger and disappointment from her given the nature of the song. Vocally she was OK. She didn’t have the power necessary to really sell the song, but she wasn’t outright horrible either. All in all, this was an OK performance.

 

Girl Crush – Personal Choice

I’m not the biggest Little Big Town fan, but I do like some of their songs; Girl Crush is one of them. As for HG’s rendition, I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. For starters, her voice sounded too harsh for the song; I guess it’s because I think of Karen Fairchild’s softer tones. Also, her vibrato was out of control at times, especially in the chorus. Finally, her belting at the end didn’t come off as well. The one positive thing I’ll say is HG came out to compete for a finale spot, and fortunately for her it paid off although it was clear she was in barring any complete disasters.

 

Leah Marlene

I’ll Stand By You – Carrie Underwood

First, I’m usually not one to get on contestants for skirting themes, but Leah picking a song Carrie sang when she was a guest on the show was disappointing. I would’ve liked to see her take on an actual Carrie song such as I Know You Won’t or something uptempo like The More Boys I Meet or Good Girl. Anyway, I’ll Stand By You has been done a few times on the show, and all of them were good in some way. Leah’s was no different. One thing that was different was her taking liberties with the melody. There were some spots where it worked and some it didn’t. In addition, she sounded like she had a hard time holding some notes and like HG, she had a vibrato that wavered in parts. Despite these criticisms, although not the best version of the song done on Idol (that still belongs to Pia), this was a solid effort from Leah.

 

Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - Personal Choice

I wasn’t sure of this song choice when I first saw it. Steve Perry is one of the great rock vocalists (or should I say was), so taking on any Journey song is a challenge. Admittedly, I didn’t care for this performance at first because the vibrato that was present in her first performance showed up here as well. However, this grew on me while rewatching it. She had some nice stage presence and didn’t try to overdo it, and she sounded nice on the verse. Seeing what was at stake, Leah decided to go big and if she fell short, she was going to go out swinging. Fortunately, she connected with enough contact to see another day, even if it knocked the wind out of her.

 

 

Noah Thompson

So Small – Carrie Underwood

For starters, out of all the versions of this song done on Idol, Noah’s was the truest to the original arrangement. As for his performance of it, meh. So Small can be such an emotional song when done right, and Noah missed the mark in that regard. There was no plateau, nothing to grab onto. He sang the song the same way throughout. One positive is that he appears to be getting more comfortable on stage, although the judges encouraging him to reach out to the audience post-performance was awkward, especially after recovering from COVID.

 

Working Man – Personal Choice

This is Noah in his element. It wasn’t the flashiest performance or most breathtaking vocal. What it was, however, was Noah understanding his what his strengths were and finding a song that brought them out in the best way. He didn’t try to do too much or compromise who he was (unlike someone else who I will definitely talk about later). What Noah did do was engage the audience in his performance as if he was the narrator and they were the readers and/or listeners. It helped he himself was more engaged in this performance than he was in his Carrie one. It was a simple and pleasant vocal; one that all but punch his ticket to the finale although like HG it was all but a given as long as he didn’t completely bomb.

 

 

The Eliminated:

Fritz Hager

I Wanna Remember – Carrie Underwood

So, the American Idol YouTube page is posting performances of the eliminated contestants now? Oh, they’re only the Carrie songs. They want to promote Carrie as much as they can. OK, moving on. Here is someone else who avoided the theme. At least this song featured Carrie and was recorded. Anyway, Fritz sounded fine here. The smartest thing he did was making the song softer because he wouldn’t have been able to match the original singer’s voice in terms of power. Other than that, this was a typical Fritz performance. He did well enough not to do too much. Unfortunately, that can’t be said about his other performance…

 

Youngblood – Personal Choice

First, I enjoy Youngblood and unashamedly yell out the chorus whenever I hear it. However, it’s not exactly a song that fits a singing competition, especially when a spot in the finale is at stake. Fritz did what he could with it, but he could only do so much. Plus, the aforementioned chorus swallowed him although that was more on the band being too loud as usual. However, the main thing that led to his downfall was him completely changing his performance style. At this point in the competition, the best thing for the contestants to do is to stick with what got them this far. Fritz is more Ed Sheeran than Michael Jackson, whom he tried to resemble with both his outfit and moves. If Fritz wanted to give this type of performance, he should’ve done it after his second or third one. For all the complaints Chayce and Willie received last season and Noah this season for doing the same thing every week, at least they stuck with what worked well for them and it paid off. He still may not have made it to the finale, but this performance didn’t help. With that said, Katy’s jaw dropping at his elimination was hilarious. I guess we have an idea who’ll she duet with in the finale.

 

 

Nicolina Bozzo

Blown Away – Carrie Underwood

First, the outfit with the cape and the wind machine took this song too literally. I’ll give her this: she took on a very challenging song and gave it her best. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she took it on, the song completely overwhelmed her in the end. There were parts where she struggled to hit the notes, especially in the last chorus, and she sounded out of breath at parts. Nicolina was one of the more vulnerable contestants going into the night, so she needed to hit big on both of her performances to have a chance. Sadly, she dug an already deeper hole for her with this one.

 

All I Ask – Personal Choice

After struggling with Carrie, one would think she would really have a hard time with Adele. However, that wasn’t the case. All I Ask isn’t one of my favorite Adele songs and would’ve preferred her to sing something else. Regardless, Nicolina did a fine job with the song. She did a much better job with the notes and breath control, plus it looked like she genuinely connected with the song. Sadly for Nicolina, it wasn’t enough for her to overcome her first performance and her overall status. Like Jay and Christian before her, Nicolina was an old school Idol contestant who would’ve fared better in the earlier seasons. She was better at picking songs than Jay and interpreting songs than Christian. However, having a good voice isn’t enough for this phase of Idol. She couldn’t compete with the artistry or quirkiness of Leah, nor did she have the huge support in her genre of HG and Noah. I said she may be my Grace Kinstler this season at the beginning of the voting rounds, but I didn’t view her that way at all. I think it helped she wasn’t hyped as much as Grace was last season. Regardless, here’s to seeing her, Fritz, and some of the others at the finale next week.

 

Personal Ranking:

Carrie Underwood

1. Leah

2. Fritz

3. Huntergirl

4. Noah

5. Nicolina

 

Personal Choice

1. Noah

2. Nicolina

3. Leah

4. Huntergirl

5. Fritz

 

Overall

1. Leah

2. Noah

3. Huntergirl

T-4. Fritz

T-4. Nicolina

 

For the final three, there are some similarities to S16. The main one is there being two country finalists (male and female) and a female indie artist. Maddie was able to pull of the win then. I don’t know if Leah will be able to do the same, but something tells me she’ll do everything she can to try to come out victorious. Regardless, here’s hoping to some strong performances from all three.

 

Outside of this, I’m interested to see who Luke will pair with and which Lionel song will they sing for the group performance. Now watch none of these things happen.

- I don't think I have much to add about Huntergirl, other than I think I liked her second performance more than you. I do seem to prefer her on ballads. 

- I agree regarding Leah's "Carrie song choice."   I wish they had to sing an actual Carrie song and not just one she's also covered. That said, I really enjoyed both of her performances and was so happy she made it through.  

- Yikes, I missed that about the judges encouraging Noah to reach out to the audience after just recovering from COVD. Not a good look. I mostly agree with you on Noah's performances as well.

- Something is in the water this week (and not just Carrie's music  ) because we're agreeing so much! I have nothing really to add about Fritz either because you said it all. Although interesting about him dueting with Katy in the finale.  

- I will more or less agree with you on Nicolina as well and also thought her second performance was the stronger one. I never really saw her as being vulnerable, but I guess it makes sense for the reasons you gave.

The S16 comparisons are so interesting and even more so because my feelings are so opposite on that season versus this one.  But lol I love the predictions, especially about the Lionel group performance.  

Sorry I got so behind this last week! I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on the finale soon.  

Awww I can't help but feel a bit emotional for Noah.  

Awww congrats Noah. 

3 minutes ago, erik g said:

Lmao they're announcing the winner in minutes and we're still stuck on how to pronounce reprise lmaoo

It's the most pressing question of the night.  

1 minute ago, 1234567890 said:

My life is a lie.

Wait, I just made the same post.  

My life is a lie.  

James Arthur.  

Christian was my favorite part of that video! "I'm Huntergirl'