blackfield Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Elliott said: Wouldn't Jena be considered the first? She performed an original before Jessica and Alex did. she did it in the semis or a wildcard round. not the finals which what this ranking is. he already mentioned it earlier in jena's part. so jess and alex were the first to do originals on the show basically but because jess performed first that week she is the first to do one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 4 hours ago, Elliott said: Catching up on what I've missed which has been a lot. 055. Anoop Desai: He was alright. I didn't have any strong feelings on him, but he was one of the better parts of S8, I suppose. 054. Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon: I liked him more in S17, but he's fallen on my list somewhat. 053. Laci Kaye Booth: I liked more than I was expecting to in S17. I would've preferred her being the top girl over Madison, but I didn't agree with her getting saved over Jeremiah. 052. Clay Aiken: Not a fan. 051. Kris Allen: I had him as a dark horse pick, so I was pleased to see him last so long in the season and eventually win. I've really enjoyed his post-Idol music as well. 050. Skylar Laine: I was expecting to not like her (since this was right about Lauren was TCO), but she impressed me and delivered several great performances. 049. Nikko Smith: I liked him well enough. 048. Naima Adedapo: One of my favourites from S10. I was sad to see her leave as early as she did, because she added some excitement to the season. 047. Didi Benami: Should've been saved, imo. Strong contestant and I didn't think her Top 10 performance was the worst of the night. 046. Megan Joy: One of my least favourite contestants ever. I hated everything she did and wouldn't have put her anywhere close to being in the Top 9. 045. David Archuleta: I had an up and down relationship with him on the season; I liked him, but I liked others more, and I was annoyed the judges were ignoring his faults were overly critiquing some of the others. But I was fine with him being in the finale, and I've enjoyed the music he's put out post-Idol. I'd have him higher on my personal list. 044. Angie Miller: I loved her in S12, but my love for her has faded over the years. I enjoyed the EP she put out under her own name, but I'm not too familiar with her Zealyn stuff. 043. Jordin Sparks: I hated her in S6, and was disgusted she won when I'd have eliminated her far earlier than the finale. She's grown on me post-Idol, though, and I've enjoyed seeing her grow as a performer and singer. I'd probably have her around this spot. 042. Avalon Young: Should've been in the top three with Trent and La'Porsha. 041. George Huff: He was a favourite of mine in S3 and I was sad to see him get so sick towards the end. I haven't listened to much of his post-Idol stuff, but I love that he and Jennifer Hudson are still friends. 040. Syesha Mercado: Queen She turned in so many great performances in S7 and was given dust by the show until they decided to randomly start pushing her over Jason and Brooke when those two were tanking. 039. Trent Harmon: Disgusted by this low placement. I loved him in S15 and he's easily one of my all-time favourite contestants. He's been incredible every time I've seen him live, and is great with his fans. IMO, the second best male contestant after David Cook. 038. Maddie Poppe: I'm pretty neutral on Maddie. She was a solid contestant and a deserving winner, but I never really connected with her all things considered, and her fanbase on IDF during season 16 was exhausting to deal with. 037. Mandisa: Robbed in S5. I've liked what I've heard of her post-Idol music, but it's not really my cup of tea. 036. Trenyce: One of my favourites from S2. I would've much preferred her staying over Ruben. 035. Dennis Lorenzo: He managed to impress me in the live shows (after Rude, anyway). He kind of got screwed by the voting closing so soon after his performance, but I don't think there was really any way for him to survive that first elimination anyway. 034. Paris Bennett: One of my favourites in S5, but I wouldn't rank her this high. The Show Must Go On is my favourite of her performances, though. 033. Kree Harrison: Loved her in S12, but I haven't stayed too much up-to-date with her post-Idol career. Everything I know about her is via my husband, since she was his favourite in S12. 032. Jurnee: I would've had her win S16. I knew the voting public wouldn't get behind her which was upsetting. 031. Clark Beckham: Far and away the best contestant from S14. Him not winning was an absolute travesty, but at least it was to Nick and not Rayvon or JAX. 030. Hollie Cavanagh: I liked her in S11, but haven't really followed her much post-Idol. She was also far better than Jessica, imo, so of course the judges would back Jessica in that battle. 029. Jennifer Hudson: I like her most for her post-Idol career than I did on Idol (though I did enjoy her there). That said, I would've preferred her sticking around over LaToya from that bottom three. 028. Caleb Johnson: He's the definition of cringe. He turned in some solid performances (and I loved his performances of Dazed and Confused & Faithfully), but it was hard to still care about him after his non-apology over calling his fans the R-word. I never really got why the show decided to back him so much, because everything about him just screamed that he was destined to be the lead singer of an 80s karaoke tribute band, which is exactly what he's doing with his career now. As long as he's happy, I suppose... 027. Carrie Underwood: She was terrible in season four, and I don't think she was a deserving winner in the slightest compared to Bo and Vonzell. Her post-Idol success speaks to itself, though, and I have enjoyed most of the singles she's put out. I wouldn't consider myself a stan, but I guess I'm a fan. 026. Nadia Turner: My favourite from S4. I loved her spunk and vibe, and wished she'd lasted longer. Her final song choice did her no favours, but considering Scott and Constantine were still there... #choices 025. Erika Van Pelt: Her getting eliminated over HeeJun will never not be horrifying. 024. Ruben Studdard: Not a fan. One of my least favourite winners. 023. Vonzell Solomon: I liked her in S4, though she was inconsistent at times. That said, I would've much preferred her in the finale over Carrie. 022. Haley Reinhart: Easily the single most overrated contestant in Idol history. The love this place has for her is absolutely baffling and maddening. With the sole exception of BATJ, was terrible for the first half of her run, then largely mediocre up until her final... three weeks? Even then, she still turned in two terrible performances in Earth Song and You Oughta Know. At the time, I'd have taken her over Scotty and Lauren, but more just because of lack of good options than because she was actually deserving. 021. Fantasia: Love Fantasia! One of my favourite winners and contestants in general. 020. Chris Daughtry: He was my favourite in S5, but I've actually grown to love him more over the years. My husband and I ran into him and his wife at Kelly Clarkson's contestant last year, and they were super nice. It's been nice seeing him get so involved with LBGT organizations in the last year or so, as well. 019. Bo Bice: Loved him on S4, but haven't really cared for most of his post-Idol music. His messiness in the last few years has soured him on me, too. 018. La'Porsha Renae: She was solid in S15 and wound up as my second favourite of the time, but all of the things she's done and said about gay people since has turned me off of her. I wouldn't really consider myself a fan of hers anymore. 017. Allison Iraheta: Loved her! She and Kris were my Top 2 during S8, and I loved seeing her slay so many weeks. I was upset (but not surprised) that she kept landing in the B3, and her elimination over Scream On still infuriates me to this day. 016. Melinda Doolittle: Flawless vocalist and insanely hilarious. I didn't really care for Michael Slezak, but I loved her verbally bitch slapping him every week for his terrible opinions. 015. Haley Scarnato: lol I also rank Haley Scarnato far higher than most people would. Not this high, but I'm kind of living for it nonetheless. 014. Brooke White: I liked her in season seven, but it seemed obvious once we got to a certain point that the stress of Idol was getting too much for her. I think had she left at Mariah week, it would've been better for her, though she did at least get to go out on a high note to I Am I Said, which was one of my favourites of hers. 013. Pia Toscano: ugh so f*cking robbed. She easily should've won S10, and while I said earlier that I didn't have any issues with Casey getting saved at the Top 11, it was sad to see that not be an option for her. Her music post-Idol has been pretty catchy, too. 012. Jessica Meuse: She was my favourite in S13, though I didn't really care for her CD that she put out. I was hoping she would've kept the rock vibe going, but it was too country for my liking. 011. Candice Glover: She absolutely demolished S12 and had one of the best winner runs among all the seasons. Lovesong and her reprise of I Who Have Nothing are easily my two favourite performances from that season. Shame that Idol didn't really do much to promote her post-season, but it was clear they wanted to wash their hands of that season. I was wondering where you've been. I'll see if I can reply to everything in the short time frame I have. 055. Fair enough 054. Understandable. It's been kind of the same for me as well though I still like him 053. Fair enough about the last sentence. I would've liked for her to be the last female standing but agree about Jeremiah being more save worthy. 052. Fair enough 051. I was happy to see him win as well, especially when it came down to him, Danny, and Adam 050. Pretty much the same. Speaking of Lauren, I'd like to think Skylar was who they wanted Lauren to be 049. Fair enough 048. Agree with everything here 047. Pretty much agree, especially with her Top 10 performance not being the worst of the night (*cough* Sweet Love *cough*) 046. I guess it's fair seeing I ranked some of your favorites low 045. Fair enough about what was written here, except I haven't really listened to much of his stuff post-Idol 044. Fair enough 043. Pretty much the same except I don't think I hated her as much as you did apparently 042. Agreed 041. Agree with everything written here 040. Yeah pretty much 039. A couple of years ago he would've been lower, but he has grown on me. Good to see he's great live and great with his fans 038. Fair enough 037. I would've liked to seen her go farther as well, and I enjoyed some of her post-Idol stuff 036. Replace Ruben with Josh and I would agree with everything written here 035. Pretty much agree sadly 034. Fair enough 033. Fair enough 032. Yeah, it was too bad the voters didn't really get behind her. I was really disappointed she wasn't one of the Top 7 vote getters. 031. Objectively, he was the best, but I still have one more to rank. Agree with the last sentence, especially regarding JAX 030. Pretty much agree here 029. Pretty much agree except for the LaToya part, seeing she hasn't been ranked yet 028. Fair enough about everything written here though I liked him 027. I wouldn't go as far as calling her terrible, but I can't say I disagree with everything else 026. Pretty much agree with everything except being my favorite, though she was at one point 025. Agreed 024. 023. Pretty much agree 022. At the beginning of the season I felt the same way. However, after losing Naima and Pia in back-to-back weeks, outside of Casey her underdog journey was the most interesting part of the season for me. While I'm not a die-hard, I do like her and enjoyed a lot of her stuff post-Idol. 021. Agreed 020. Good to see he and his wife we're super nice. Speaking of his wife, didn't she come out as bi-; if so, it may explain his involvement in the LGBT organizations, which is still a great thing 019. Fair enough 018. Fair enough 017. Agree with nearly everything except Kris being in my Top 2. Her being eliminated after Scream On is one of the bigger disappointments 016. Agree with everything written here. At least Slezak was good for something 015. 014. Fair enough about her leaving after Mariah Carey week, seeing that's when things really started going south for her. Agreed about her leaving on a positive note at least 013. Pretty much agree except Scotty was winning no matter what 012. Although I enjoyed her album, I agree with being disappointed it was more country than rock. 011. Pretty much agree with everything here What do you know, I did manage to reply to everything, just in time too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 3 hours ago, blackfield said: she did it in the semis or a wildcard round. not the finals which what this ranking is. he already mentioned it earlier in jena's part. so jess and alex were the first to do originals on the show basically but because jess performed first that week she is the first to do one. Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. Jessica was the first to perform an original song in the finals, which is what the clue was referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss denise Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 I'm sooo behind, but hoping to fully catch up this evening! Don't finish without me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tom~ Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 020. Chris Daughtry - Favorite of season 5, I Walk the Line was my favorite performance I'd ever seen on Idol up to that point. Should've won his season. 019. Bo Bice - As I said in Carrie's write-up, he and Bo were one of my favorite top 2's across all the seasons. He might have been slightly more consistent than her but she had the higher highs in my mind. IAD is overrated by love Vehicle, IDWB, and Spinning Wheel. 018. La'Porsha Renae - She and Trent were such a strong final 2. NMD and Diamonds were awesome! 017. Allison Iraheta - My favorite from season 8 as well. Met some friends on here through this forum and we loved watching her journey. Loved her stuff with Halo Circus as well, hope she goes back to releasing music soon. 016. Melinda Doolittle - One of the most consistent contestants ever. Should've won her season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 3 hours ago, miss denise said: I'm sooo behind, but hoping to fully catch up this evening! Don't finish without me. As of right now, I'm planning on listing my first batch of favorite semifinalists some time this evening; however, I don't mind waiting for anyone to catch up and besides, I have some labs to do tonight anyway. 2 hours ago, ~Tom~ said: 020. Chris Daughtry - Favorite of season 5, I Walk the Line was my favorite performance I'd ever seen on Idol up to that point. Should've won his season. 019. Bo Bice - As I said in Carrie's write-up, he and Bo were one of my favorite top 2's across all the seasons. He might have been slightly more consistent than her but she had the higher highs in my mind. IAD is overrated by love Vehicle, IDWB, and Spinning Wheel. 018. La'Porsha Renae - She and Trent were such a strong final 2. NMD and Diamonds were awesome! 017. Allison Iraheta - My favorite from season 8 as well. Met some friends on here through this forum and we loved watching her journey. Loved her stuff with Halo Circus as well, hope she goes back to releasing music soon. 016. Melinda Doolittle - One of the most consistent contestants ever. Should've won her season! 020. An argument can be made for him winning his season; however, it appears not winning was the best thing to happen to him 019. Fair enough about him being more consistent but Carrie having higher highs 018. Pretty much agree with everything here 017. Nice to see you met some friends here through her journey. I hope she goes back to releasing music too 016. Can't say I disagree with anything written here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss denise Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 025. Erika Van Pelt: She never did much for me and I have no memory of her audition at all, sorry to say. I don't know, I never connected much with her or really cared for her voice. 024. Ruben Studdard: I love his voice; it makes me feel so warm and cozy. Of course I was/am a bigger Clay fan, but can be a fan of both, and I really like Ruben as well. It's a shame if he's considered a punching bag among fans, as I don't feel like that was the case back then. I remember him being well-loved. But yeah, he had a solid run and I like some of his music. I also love that him and Clay are still so close and even work together to this day. 023. Vonzell Solomon: I absolutely loved her and considered her my favorite of the season at the time. Her version of "I Have Nothing" was my favorite on the show for a long time and may still be actually. She really shined on some of the uptempo numbers, but I loved her on ballads too. I loved "I Turn to You"... and "How Do I Live" has a soft spot in my heart. I also thought her Top 5 performances were underrated. You naming all these brings back so many memories for me. But yeah, I loved her and wanted her in the finale. I think I'm right in remembering they did that group performance after her elimination, which was so random and bizarre, but yes, she killed it. 022. Haley Reinhart: I have a lot of memories of this forum and when the love of Haley kicked in. It's interesting because I took notice of her early on in Hollywood and was already a fan, but it took quite a bit longer for a lot of the Idol fandom to think much of her... and even longer for you. "I wasn’t impressed at all with her performance of Fallin’ during the semis; in fact, I think I pretty much hated it. " "She would go on to sing Blue the first week in the finals, which was a bit of a surprise because I would’ve never expected Haley to pick someone like LeAnn Rimes as her personal Idol. Either way, it was another performance I didn’t care for. " I thought YRGAHOM was kind of when her breakthrough began, although even more so the following week on Elton John night. Darn you still not being a fan yet. I'm shocked how late you latched on to her considering how high she ranks here, but glad you did finally become a fan. I felt like some outside factors (judges, vocal fans online) kind of tainted my opinion of her and her run towards the end, but I considered her my favorite after Lauren and am still a fan. I also enjoy some of the music she's put out. 021. Fantasia: Not a fan and unfortunately, the second description of her vocals you said is how it usually is for me. I did like a number of her performances though and don't mind her voice too much when she doesn't push too hard. At the same time, her tone is really not my favorite. But she is fun and gave us the smiley which I love and use all the time, lol. I think I also like a song I heard from her post-show but I forgot what it's called. 020. Chris Daughtry: He was one of my favorites of the season and is still one of my favorites post-show today. I always loved his voice and tone so much. I didn't really feel the same as you with the screaming, at least for the most part... but I do love the softer parts of his voice that he'd show sometimes. "Personally, I wasn’t surprised at the time; I would even go as far as saying I saw it coming." I'm surprised by this. I was so disappointed with his elimination, but it obviously all worked out. I've loved a lot of the music he's put out with Daughtry. He was also amazing and better than ever on The Masked Singer. 019. Bo Bice: OMG I can hardly remember when the age limit was only 24. Yikes. Anyway, I wasn't a huge Bo fan, but I liked some of his performances. OMG I just remembered this song he had after the show called "The Real Thing" and how I'd see that on MTV. I liked the song though. 018. La'Porsha Renae: Also not a huge La'Porsha fan, although she has an amazing voice, of course. I guess I just didn't connect with her or something. 017. Allison Iraheta: I absolutely love Allison so much. That season was full of wonderful surprises between her and Kris. I adore her voice and because of that loved pretty much everything she did. Her studio recordings were amazing too. I agree with your thoughts on her performances for the most part and ugh, "Cry Baby" was so good. So sad she went home after that. I listened to her debut album quite a bit and liked it a lot... I absolutely love the song "Scars." I'm sad she became a background singer. 016. Melinda Doolittle: She does rank somewhere among my favorites of the season, but I don't love her as much as a lot of people. I'm not sure what it is. I most preferred her uptempo performances and ones in unexpected genres. I guess the rest gave me the old-fashioned feeling you mentioned or something that prevented me from feeling much. She's an great singer, but I connect more with others. lol this: "despite it being a song so obscure that even Martina McBride never heard of it." 015. Haley Scarnato: omg I did not expect to be mentioned on this write-up, but I absolutely love it. It is so true what you said! I definitely didn't expect Haley this high, and you have proved to have quite varied taste throughout this list. It's fun to see. Haley is probably somewhere in the middle for me among the S6 finalists, but she did grow on me throughout, a lot in part from her studio recordings, which I enjoyed a lot. Ugh, I am sorry about those names she was called. I agree it wasn't right, and so true what was worn on the first season of the show. I agree she does have a pretty voice and I don't know if different song choices could have changed some viewers' minds on her or if it was too tough against the other big voiced girls. I did really like "Missing You" and that is probably my favorite? Actually, I enjoyed all the ones from the finals you named... except maybe TTBA. But I don't think I outright disliked any of her performances. Ugh, that judges situation is annoying. I slightly remember it and would be so annoyed too if it was my favorite. It's too bad she couldn't be part of country night or release the album... and wow, horrible about a stalker. Nice to hear the updates you found on her and hope she is doing well too. 014. Brooke White: I love Brooke too and connected with her personality a lot right away. I also really love her voice and some of her song choices really highlighted that and her style so well. I kind of forgot how her run in the finals went, although I shouldn't have. She did have most of my favorite performances early on, and it's a shame things were a bit of a letdown. She was my second favorite, so I hoped she would advance further, but at least she left on one of her best performances. I still love her and like a lot of the music I've heard from her, as well. 013. Pia Toscano: I really like Pia too and love her voice, although I do prefer some others over her. I actually took more notice of her pre-semis when she was singing more contemporary songs and I think her particular song choices on the live shows interested me less than them just being ballads and more because they felt overdone or something. Although more variety would have also been nice. She has such an amazing range and beautiful tone though. It's a shame she didn't get to show more. "The only negative I had about it was the outfit; you mean to tell me Gwen Stefani didn’t have anything for a woman as beautiful as Pia that would’ve been better than the cow getup she wore?" Mostly cracking up at Gwen Stefani making another appearance in your write-up. Oh, and I also love Pia's song "This Time." Sad she didn't release much else. 012. Jessica Meuse: I was never a fan, unfortunately, although I do really like her song "Blue Eyed Lie." That was my favorite thing she did. Maybe I could enjoy her more on rewatch, but I also have no desire to rewatch that season, lol. I think I've heard some more music from her following the show though that I liked. 011. Candice Glover: I like Candice a lot and I kind of forget how much I do at times. Her voice is amazing and she has a tone that I love. She really could do anything and had so many standout and strong performances. I loved her in that trio with Jessica and DeAndre. That whole thing was amazing. But yeah, she was an easy standout on S12 and I was happy with her winning (if it couldn't be Angie). Yikes your comments on her WIWYM performance though. I think that was probably one of my favorites. Wow top 10! I missed a few days in here, but glad I didn't miss the start of that. Some names I did not expect to see, although most aren't too surprising. I'm excited to see your thoughts and how you'll rank them. I wish I could predict, but I just have no idea how, so I guess no more trophies for me. 1 hour ago, Crisis said: As of right now, I'm planning on listing my first batch of favorite semifinalists some time this evening; however, I don't mind waiting for anyone to catch up and besides, I have some labs to do tonight anyway. Ah okay! That will be interesting to see. I'm all caught up now. You can of course post whenever you want, but thanks for being willing to wait. Best of luck with your labs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, miss denise said: 025. Erika Van Pelt: She never did much for me and I have no memory of her audition at all, sorry to say. I don't know, I never connected much with her or really cared for her voice. 024. Ruben Studdard: I love his voice; it makes me feel so warm and cozy. Of course I was/am a bigger Clay fan, but can be a fan of both, and I really like Ruben as well. It's a shame if he's considered a punching bag among fans, as I don't feel like that was the case back then. I remember him being well-loved. But yeah, he had a solid run and I like some of his music. I also love that him and Clay are still so close and even work together to this day. 023. Vonzell Solomon: I absolutely loved her and considered her my favorite of the season at the time. Her version of "I Have Nothing" was my favorite on the show for a long time and may still be actually. She really shined on some of the uptempo numbers, but I loved her on ballads too. I loved "I Turn to You"... and "How Do I Live" has a soft spot in my heart. I also thought her Top 5 performances were underrated. You naming all these brings back so many memories for me. But yeah, I loved her and wanted her in the finale. I think I'm right in remembering they did that group performance after her elimination, which was so random and bizarre, but yes, she killed it. 022. Haley Reinhart: I have a lot of memories of this forum and when the love of Haley kicked in. It's interesting because I took notice of her early on in Hollywood and was already a fan, but it took quite a bit longer for a lot of the Idol fandom to think much of her... and even longer for you. "I wasn’t impressed at all with her performance of Fallin’ during the semis; in fact, I think I pretty much hated it. " "She would go on to sing Blue the first week in the finals, which was a bit of a surprise because I would’ve never expected Haley to pick someone like LeAnn Rimes as her personal Idol. Either way, it was another performance I didn’t care for. " I thought YRGAHOM was kind of when her breakthrough began, although even more so the following week on Elton John night. Darn you still not being a fan yet. I'm shocked how late you latched on to her considering how high she ranks here, but glad you did finally become a fan. I felt like some outside factors (judges, vocal fans online) kind of tainted my opinion of her and her run towards the end, but I considered her my favorite after Lauren and am still a fan. I also enjoy some of the music she's put out. 021. Fantasia: Not a fan and unfortunately, the second description of her vocals you said is how it usually is for me. I did like a number of her performances though and don't mind her voice too much when she doesn't push too hard. At the same time, her tone is really not my favorite. But she is fun and gave us the smiley which I love and use all the time, lol. I think I also like a song I heard from her post-show but I forgot what it's called. 020. Chris Daughtry: He was one of my favorites of the season and is still one of my favorites post-show today. I always loved his voice and tone so much. I didn't really feel the same as you with the screaming, at least for the most part... but I do love the softer parts of his voice that he'd show sometimes. "Personally, I wasn’t surprised at the time; I would even go as far as saying I saw it coming." I'm surprised by this. I was so disappointed with his elimination, but it obviously all worked out. I've loved a lot of the music he's put out with Daughtry. He was also amazing and better than ever on The Masked Singer. 019. Bo Bice: OMG I can hardly remember when the age limit was only 24. Yikes. Anyway, I wasn't a huge Bo fan, but I liked some of his performances. OMG I just remembered this song he had after the show called "The Real Thing" and how I'd see that on MTV. I liked the song though. 018. La'Porsha Renae: Also not a huge La'Porsha fan, although she has an amazing voice, of course. I guess I just didn't connect with her or something. 017. Allison Iraheta: I absolutely love Allison so much. That season was full of wonderful surprises between her and Kris. I adore her voice and because of that loved pretty much everything she did. Her studio recordings were amazing too. I agree with your thoughts on her performances for the most part and ugh, "Cry Baby" was so good. So sad she went home after that. I listened to her debut album quite a bit and liked it a lot... I absolutely love the song "Scars." I'm sad she became a background singer. 016. Melinda Doolittle: She does rank somewhere among my favorites of the season, but I don't love her as much as a lot of people. I'm not sure what it is. I most preferred her uptempo performances and ones in unexpected genres. I guess the rest gave me the old-fashioned feeling you mentioned or something that prevented me from feeling much. She's an great singer, but I connect more with others. lol this: "despite it being a song so obscure that even Martina McBride never heard of it." 015. Haley Scarnato: omg I did not expect to be mentioned on this write-up, but I absolutely love it. It is so true what you said! I definitely didn't expect Haley this high, and you have proved to have quite varied taste throughout this list. It's fun to see. Haley is probably somewhere in the middle for me among the S6 finalists, but she did grow on me throughout, a lot in part from her studio recordings, which I enjoyed a lot. Ugh, I am sorry about those names she was called. I agree it wasn't right, and so true what was worn on the first season of the show. I agree she does have a pretty voice and I don't know if different song choices could have changed some viewers' minds on her or if it was too tough against the other big voiced girls. I did really like "Missing You" and that is probably my favorite? Actually, I enjoyed all the ones from the finals you named... except maybe TTBA. But I don't think I outright disliked any of her performances. Ugh, that judges situation is annoying. I slightly remember it and would be so annoyed too if it was my favorite. It's too bad she couldn't be part of country night or release the album... and wow, horrible about a stalker. Nice to hear the updates you found on her and hope she is doing well too. 014. Brooke White: I love Brooke too and connected with her personality a lot right away. I also really love her voice and some of her song choices really highlighted that and her style so well. I kind of forgot how her run in the finals went, although I shouldn't have. She did have most of my favorite performances early on, and it's a shame things were a bit of a letdown. She was my second favorite, so I hoped she would advance further, but at least she left on one of her best performances. I still love her and like a lot of the music I've heard from her, as well. 013. Pia Toscano: I really like Pia too and love her voice, although I do prefer some others over her. I actually took more notice of her pre-semis when she was singing more contemporary songs and I think her particular song choices on the live shows interested me less than them just being ballads and more because they felt overdone or something. Although more variety would have also been nice. She has such an amazing range and beautiful tone though. It's a shame she didn't get to show more. "The only negative I had about it was the outfit; you mean to tell me Gwen Stefani didn’t have anything for a woman as beautiful as Pia that would’ve been better than the cow getup she wore?" Mostly cracking up at Gwen Stefani making another appearance in your write-up. Oh, and I also love Pia's song "This Time." Sad she didn't release much else. 012. Jessica Meuse: I was never a fan, unfortunately, although I do really like her song "Blue Eyed Lie." That was my favorite thing she did. Maybe I could enjoy her more on rewatch, but I also have no desire to rewatch that season, lol. I think I've heard some more music from her following the show though that I liked. 011. Candice Glover: I like Candice a lot and I kind of forget how much I do at times. Her voice is amazing and she has a tone that I love. She really could do anything and had so many standout and strong performances. I loved her in that trio with Jessica and DeAndre. That whole thing was amazing. But yeah, she was an easy standout on S12 and I was happy with her winning (if it couldn't be Angie). Yikes your comments on her WIWYM performance though. I think that was probably one of my favorites. Wow top 10! I missed a few days in here, but glad I didn't miss the start of that. Some names I did not expect to see, although most aren't too surprising. I'm excited to see your thoughts and how you'll rank them. I wish I could predict, but I just have no idea how, so I guess no more trophies for me. Ah okay! That will be interesting to see. I'm all caught up now. You can of course post whenever you want, but thanks for being willing to wait. Best of luck with your labs. 025. Fair enough about the opinion though. I just loved her voice the moment I heard it and would go as far as saying it was my favorite voice of the season. 024. Pretty much agree with everything here except I'm a bigger Ruben fan than Clay fan. 023. I wanted her in the finale as well, but it was destined to be a Carrie/Bo showdown, though an argument could've been made for all three of them to be there. At least she managed to make it all the way to third. 022. Yeah, it took me longer than others to latch on. As I mentioned earlier, I was more intrigued by her fighting spirit and staying power than her performances, which was the lone thing outside of Casey that kept me interested in the season after losing Naima and Pia. I'm not a fan of some of the outside factors as well, but I manage to filter most of it out and focus on her and her music. 021. Fair enough about everything. This smiley is certainly a fun one to use. 020. I enjoyed him through the season as well; it's just sometimes he would overdo the screaming. As for his elimination, I thought it was a perfect storm of a variety of factors. Taylor was practically Teflon and wasn't going anywhere. Elliott had what is considered to be the best night of the four, so I'm sure he gained a lot of casual votes along with his fanbase. Katharine was perceived to had a bad night, so her fanbase went into overdrive to save her. Where did that leave Chris? He wasn't good enough to earn any new voters, nor was he bad enough to send his fanbase into a voting frenzy. Also, there was this idea that it was thought that Chris was practically guaranteed to move on, so his fans may have voted for their secondary favorites. As a result, he managed to slip through the cracks and thus his elimination. Of course, this is all speculation on my behalf; who knows what really happened. 019. Yeah, it seemed like eons ago when the maximum age limit was 24. Fair enough about everything else. 018. Fair enough though 017. Yeah, she and Megan were the bright spots for me that season. I kind of liked Kris, but not enough to be a mega-fan or anything like that. Back to Allison, her elimination pretty much killed any positive feelings I had for S8 at that point. I think she's better than being a background singer, but at least she's still working in the music industry. 016. Fair enough about her. I can see how she could struggle connecting to others despite being a great singer. 015. Aww thank you. My ranking of her certainly raised a few eyebrows, that's for sure. To be honest, I strongly thought about putting her in my Top 10, but I decided to have SOME objectivity regarding her and felt that Top 15 was just fine. Pretty much agree with everything said except her being in the middle of the pack of course. 014. Not much to say but agree with just about everything written here. 013. Needless to say I wasn't much of a fan of Gwen Stefani's AI appearances. As much as I love her, I would've liked to have seen more variety as well. Maybe she would have done so if she wasn't eliminated so early. 012. Fair enough though; at least you liked BEL and some of her post-Idol stuff 011. Pretty much agree with everything here except for WIWYM being one of my favorites. Yep, you just made it! I'll get started on the Top 10 as soon as I'm done with the semifinalists which will hopefully be within the next few days. I'm anticipating the reactions of others when I unveil them as well! Hopefully, it'll be an enjoyable experience, even if there are some disagreements. I just finished my labs and will post the first semifinalist set hopefully within the next few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 I guess I'll go ahead and post the first set of semifinalists now. I've decided to list them by season and in no particular order. It's been difficult to find good pictures of some of them, so I've decided to post videos of my favorite performances of theirs. So without further ado... Season 1 Alexis Lopez Alexis was someone who had a powerful voice, but she seemed to struggle with her song selections which was something the judges, especially Simon, harped on. Her two performances weren’t bad, but they didn’t showcase her in the best light. I Will Survive was fine; however, it’s difficult for that song not to come off as anything but karaoke. She sang Saving All My Love For You during the WC Round, which wasn’t good enough, so it was easy to see why she wasn’t picked to move on. Apparently, she goes by the name Alexis Stone now and has performed under the name. I’m not sure if she’s still performing, however. Angela Peel During RJ Helton’s write-up, I mentioned there was someone who I hoped would be the WC pick (though I thought RJ definitely earned it); well, here is the one (though it would’ve been better if she were to be voted through to the finals instead of A.J.). I liked both of Angela’s performances during her brief stay. I thought Run To You was second best of the night behind only Kelly, and I liked As We Lay during the WC Round. For the latter, however, I’ll concede there were two performances that were better, so I understand why she wasn’t picked. Still, I would’ve loved to hear more from her. Christopher Aaron Christopher was this R&B guy who had a laid back vibe and a nice voice; however, he may have been too laid back because it appeared that he didn’t care if he did well or not. His performance of Still In Love was fine all things considered; it was enough for him to be called back to the WC Round. On Bended Knee, however, was the worst of the WC performances; this is where his laid back nature hurt him. It’s too bad because I would’ve liked for him to be better than what he turned out to be. Kelli Glover Kelli was someone with a really nice voice, except when she sang from her throat because she made this weird deep sound that sounded like a frog. This was prevalent in I Will Always Love You, in which she did the Whitney Houston version, which I am not a fan of as I said in Syesha’s write-up. Still, I had her as the third best of the night. She would be called back to perform in the WC Round where she sang How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, which I thought was the second best of the night behind only RJ. She wouldn’t be picked; however, I understand she resurfaced on America’s Got Talent years later still plugging along. I’m not sure how she did, as I don’t watch the show, but I hope all is well for her. Melanie Sanders Admittedly, this one is more of a thirst pick. Melanie was this tall beautiful girl who had a penchant for wearing outfits that emphasized her long legs, which I totally approved of. Shallowness aside, she also had a powerful voice, though she could overboard at times; this was the case in her semifinals performance of And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going. With that said, I thought she did well enough to advance, though I didn’t have a problem with the three who did from her group. Still, it was a pity because I would’ve liked to have seen heard from her more. Season 2 Chip Days Chip was someone who I was a fan of during S2. I thought he had a nice voice, and I liked his rendition of A Song For You during Group 4; I would’ve definitely liked to have seen him advance to the finals instead of Corey. Fortunately, he was invited to participate in the WC Round where he sang Rock With You. While it was good that he tried to show more personality, it wasn’t as good as ASFY. Still he (or anyone else for that matter) would’ve been a better pick than Carmen. Oh well. Equoia Coleman Equoia was someone who I kept an eye on during the season. I liked her performance of The Way We Were, though I’ll concede there were three performances that were better than hers that evening. Unfortunately, she may have rubbed some people the wrong way with her comments post-performance when she said her group was the best. Still, I would’ve liked for her to at least perform in the WC Round; alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Hadas Hadas was a really pretty girl who had a beautiful voice, which was showcased during her performance of You Light Up My Life. Despite not being a fan of the song, I thought she did a nice job with it. Sadly, she had the misfortune of being in the same group as Ruben, Clay, and Kimberley (who would be the Top 3 that season), so she had no chance of advancing from that group. Still, I would’ve liked for her to at least participate in the WC Round, especially over the four girls who were cut in Hollywood. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, which was too bad. Kimberly Kelsey Kimberly was someone I kept an eye on after seeing her sing My Heart Will Go On during the Hollywood Rounds. She sang It’s All Coming Back To Me Now as a part of Group 3 and while I liked it, I actually agreed with Simon when he said she was capable of being better than she was. Still, I would’ve liked for her to move on, but unfortunately she didn’t, and she never really got to showcase what she could do because she was one and done which was unfortunate. Season 3 Katie Webber Katie was another pretty girl who I thought had a chance of making the finals. She started off well enough with Orange Colored Sky, which was an odd choice of a song; still, it was a performance I enjoyed. However, she was in the same group as Fantasia and Diana, so her chances of advancing were slim at best. Fortunately, she was called back to perform in the WC Round, where she sadly gave an underwhelming performance of So Emotional; she pretty much blew her chances with that one. Apparently, Katie has worked on Broadway post-Idol, so it looked like she was able to do something, which is good to see. Lisa Leuschner Lisa may not be my favorite semifinalist, but she is the one I’m the most upset about. She initially auditioned in S2 but was rejected mainly because of her weight. She came back in S3 while not being any slimmer but managed to make it to the semis. There she gave a solid performance of Sweet Thing, which I felt was head and shoulders above everyone else during the infamous Group 2; however, the voters thought differently and voted for Matt and Camile (who I like) to advance to the finals instead. Lisa would then be invited back for the WC Round; however, she didn’t get a chance to sing, which was completely ridiculous. What was the point of inviting the contestants back if they’re not going to have the chance to perform? Between that and Simon constantly picking on her weight, Lisa was someone who never really got a fair shake on Idol. Suzy Vulaca Suzy was another singer who I was disappointed about not making the finals. She had a strong performance in the semis with Un-Break My Heart, which despite me feeling it was the best performance of the night, wasn’t enough to advance to the finals. Fortunately, she was invited back for the WC Round and unlike Lisa, she was able to perform. She sang I Will Survive, which as I mentioned in my Alexis Lopez write-up, is difficult to do without it being karaoke; however, she was still one of the best of the evening. Unfortunately, she wasn’t picked to go to the finals; I guess they figured they had too many similar singers and one would have to be left behind, which in this case happened to be Suzy. If it were up to me, both Suzy and J-Hud would’ve been picked and Leah would’ve been left behind, but it is what it is. Season 4 Aloha Mischeaux Aloha was someone I enjoyed during her unfortunately brief time on Idol. She was fun and had a good stage presence. I really enjoyed her Work It Out performance, which would be in my Top 3 of the night. Sadly, her You Don’t Know My Name was pretty weak, which would lead to her elimination. With that said, I still would’ve liked to have seen her last at least one more week, especially over Janay; however, S4 was a strong one for the ladies, so there would be some early casualties, and Aloha unfortunately would happen to be one of them. David Brown Ugh, David was someone who I hoped would be a lot better than he turned out to be. He really had a nice voice; unfortunately, he wasn’t the best at picking songs, plus he didn’t have much stage presence. Both of his performances, Never Can Say Goodbye and All In Love Is Fair, were on the boring side; therefore, it made sense for him not to advance any farther than he did. He is definitely someone who's on my short list of biggest disappointments. Travis Tucker As with David, Travis was someone else who I wanted to be better than he was. My Cherie Amour was fine, albeit on the boring side. All Night Long (All Night) was better and I thought on the underrated side. Finally, Every Little Step was tragic with the bad dancing and the beat-boxing (yes, someone beat-boxed on Idol before Blake; obviously Blake was much better at it, LOL). While I liked him, I didn’t mind his elimination too much after that performance, even with Constantine and Scott advancing. Oh well. Season 5 Ayla Brown Ayla was someone many expected to make the finals in S5, so it was a bit of a shock when she didn’t. Her first two performances Reflection and I Want You To Need Me were both very solid, with the former being one of the better renditions on Idol. However, the judges wanted her to be younger and more contemporary, so she obliged by singing Unwritten the following week, which was her worst effort and may have caused her to miss out on the Top 12. Still, I probably would’ve had her in the Top 12 over Kellie or Lisa at the time, but what can be done. It looks like she was able to make some music post-Idol, so it appears Ayla did just fine despite not making the finals. Gedeon McKinney Out of all of the S5 semifinalists, Gedeon was the one who I was the most disappointed did not make the finals. Maybe he was too weird for the voters, but he could blow. Shout! was admittedly campy and over the top; however, his next two performances A Change Is Gonna Come and When A Man Loves A Woman were really strong despite the former having a bit of a rough start, and he certainly made a case for being a finalist. However, that wasn’t the case as he would be eliminated in the last round of the semis. I certainly would’ve had him in the finals over Kevin, but there was nothing that could be done. Patrick Hall Patrick was someone who I was impressed with the first time I saw him in Hollywood. I thought he had a chance to do well in the competition; however, he apparently received some bad advice from Paula, saying he should challenge himself and step outside of his comfort zone. He did with Come To My Window, which wasn’t bad all things considered. Unfortunately, he would be one and done, which is too bad because I felt he was better than a number of the guys that night. He would’ve been better off doing what he did best, especially since it was the first performance of the season and there was no need to step out of comfort zones yet. Alas, it wasn't meant to be for Patrick. Season 1 Alexis Lopez Angela Peel Christopher Aaron Kelli Glover Melanie Sanders Season 2 Chip Days Equoia Coleman Hadas Kimberly Kelsey Season 3 Katie Webber Lisa Leuschner Suzy Vulaca Season 4 Aloha Mischeaux David Brown Travis Tucker Season 5 Ayla Brown Gedeon McKinney Patrick Hall I'll stop here for now. I realize it's a lot more difficult to write for the semifinalists since a majority of them didn't have much to work with, LOL. Next set will be my favorites from Seasons 6-10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bk1234 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Won’t be paying much attention to the semi finalists since I’m not too familiar with a lot of them. I’m curious what your opinions are on some of the Season 10 ones though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blirel Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I didn’t watch these seasons so it’s kind of fun to watch performances from them. A few fun facts: David Brown is a 4x Grammy Nominee under the name Lucky Daye. Gedeon McKinney’s sister Evvie went on to win The Four. Also looking back... Ayla Brown totally got robbed yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x3 because of u Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Yay, semifinalists! This is fun. Season 1 Alexis Lopez - Yes, I wish she would've made it too. The song choices did her in though. Angela Peel - Don't really recall her. Christopher Aaron - Same. Kelli Glover - Agree with that weird part of her voice. That's what ruined it for me but otherwise she was good. Melanie Sanders - Don't remember her at all. Season 2 Chip Days - Another one I really don't recall. Equoia Coleman - Same. Hadas - Agree, I liked her. Kimberly Kelsey - Don't remember her either. These seasons were so long ago. Season 3 Katie Webber - One of my favorites. So sad she didn't make it through. Lisa Leuschner - Probably for me the most robbed semifinalist ever. And yes, so stupid they didn't even have her sing. Suzy Vulaca - Another one that should've made the finals. Season 4 Aloha Mischeaux - I have to disagree here. She was OK for me at the beginning but then went downhill. David Brown - Would've been ok seeing him in the finals but also wasn't super disappointed when he didn't make it. Travis Tucker - I'm trying to remember his voice but I can't. I think I liked him though? Season 5 Ayla Brown - I was so glad she didn't make it. Gedeon McKinney - He was OK for me during the show. It was cool seeing him cheering his sister on during The Four. What a talented family. Patrick Hall - If I recall correctly, I was surprised he was eliminated because his voice was good but at the same time not so surprised because he didn't really stand out personalitywise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 7 hours ago, Bk1234 said: Won’t be paying much attention to the semi finalists since I’m not too familiar with a lot of them. I’m curious what your opinions are on some of the Season 10 ones though. It's OK though. At least I hope you enjoy the commentary; I plan on finishing it by the end of the week if not sooner. I don't think I have too many S10 semifinalists I liked; I'll have to check it out later this evening. 6 hours ago, Blirel said: I didn’t watch these seasons so it’s kind of fun to watch performances from them. A few fun facts: David Brown is a 4x Grammy Nominee under the name Lucky Daye. Gedeon McKinney’s sister Evvie went on to win The Four. Also looking back... Ayla Brown totally got robbed yikes. Wow, good for David though. At least he appears to be doing fine. I heard about his sister winning that show. I would've watch it; however, I don't think I could've stomached having to sit through both Diddy and DJ Khaled at the same time. Yeah, I though Ayla was good enough to make the finals, but sometimes things don't always go as planned. 6 hours ago, x3 because of u said: Yay, semifinalists! This is fun. Season 1 Alexis Lopez - Yes, I wish she would've made it too. The song choices did her in though. Angela Peel - Don't really recall her. Christopher Aaron - Same. Kelli Glover - Agree with that weird part of her voice. That's what ruined it for me but otherwise she was good. Melanie Sanders - Don't remember her at all. Season 2 Chip Days - Another one I really don't recall. Equoia Coleman - Same. Hadas - Agree, I liked her. Kimberly Kelsey - Don't remember her either. These seasons were so long ago. Season 3 Katie Webber - One of my favorites. So sad she didn't make it through. Lisa Leuschner - Probably for me the most robbed semifinalist ever. And yes, so stupid they didn't even have her sing. Suzy Vulaca - Another one that should've made the finals. Season 4 Aloha Mischeaux - I have to disagree here. She was OK for me at the beginning but then went downhill. David Brown - Would've been ok seeing him in the finals but also wasn't super disappointed when he didn't make it. Travis Tucker - I'm trying to remember his voice but I can't. I think I liked him though? Season 5 Ayla Brown - I was so glad she didn't make it. Gedeon McKinney - He was OK for me during the show. It was cool seeing him cheering his sister on during The Four. What a talented family. Patrick Hall - If I recall correctly, I was surprised he was eliminated because his voice was good but at the same time not so surprised because he didn't really stand out personalitywise. Season 1 Alexis Lopez - Agreed Angela, Christopher, & Melanie - Fair enough Kelli - Pretty much agreed Season 2 Chip, Equoia, & Kimberly - Fair enough Hadas - Yeah, me too Season 3 Katie, Lisa, & Suzy - Agree with everything written about all three, especially Lisa. Season 4 Aloha - Fair enough; we'll agree to disagree David - Sadly, I can't disagree with this Travis - Fair enough Season 5 Ayla - Meanie! Gedeon - It does look as if his family are a talented bunch. Patrick - I can't say I disagree with what was written here I'll work on the next batch later this evening and see if I can have it posted some time tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bk1234 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 26 minutes ago, Crisis said: It's OK though. At least I hope you enjoy the commentary; I plan on finishing it by the end of the week if not sooner. I don't think I have too many S10 semifinalists I liked; I'll have to check it out later this evening I love the commentary! It’s good for me because it helps me discover/remember semi-finalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss denise Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 22 hours ago, Crisis said: 020. I enjoyed him through the season as well; it's just sometimes he would overdo the screaming. As for his elimination, I thought it was a perfect storm of a variety of factors. Taylor was practically Teflon and wasn't going anywhere. Elliott had what is considered to be the best night of the four, so I'm sure he gained a lot of casual votes along with his fanbase. Katharine was perceived to had a bad night, so her fanbase went into overdrive to save her. Where did that leave Chris? He wasn't good enough to earn any new voters, nor was he bad enough to send his fanbase into a voting frenzy. Also, there was this idea that it was thought that Chris was practically guaranteed to move on, so his fans may have voted for their secondary favorites. As a result, he managed to slip through the cracks and thus his elimination. Of course, this is all speculation on my behalf; who knows what really happened. 015. Aww thank you. My ranking of her certainly raised a few eyebrows, that's for sure. To be honest, I strongly thought about putting her in my Top 10, but I decided to have SOME objectivity regarding her and felt that Top 15 was just fine. Pretty much agree with everything said except her being in the middle of the pack of course. You make some good points and this all definitely makes sense, I just don't know if I thought of it all that night. It could very well be what happened. lol I would personally rank my favorites based on just that - who is my favorite - so it would be valid for you to have her in your top 10 if that's the case. Not sure I have a ton to say about the semi-finalists, but Angela, Kimberly, and Ayla (especially) are my favorites of the ones you posted so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss denise Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 13 hours ago, Blirel said: A few fun facts: David Brown is a 4x Grammy Nominee under the name Lucky Daye. Gedeon McKinney’s sister Evvie went on to win The Four. That is an amazing secret fact. And I watched The Four, but never realized Evvie was Gedeon's sister. What a coincidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 7 hours ago, Bk1234 said: I love the commentary! It’s good for me because it helps me discover/remember semi-finalists. Good to see. Hopefully you'll see some you'll like/remember. 1 hour ago, miss denise said: You make some good points and this all definitely makes sense, I just don't know if I thought of it all that night. It could very well be what happened. lol I would personally rank my favorites based on just that - who is my favorite - so it would be valid for you to have her in your top 10 if that's the case. Not sure I have a ton to say about the semi-finalists, but Angela, Kimberly, and Ayla (especially) are my favorites of the ones you posted so far. Yeah, but as mentioned, it all worked out for Chris in the end. I'm pretty sure he's happy where he is now. I probably should've put her in the Top 10, if only to see some heads explode ; however, I love everyone in my Top 15 (heck about Top 50 for that matter), so it all works out. Out of curiosity, was she the one you expected that I would be the most protective of? I would've dropped some clues but didn't see any opportunities to do so. Understandable about not having a lot to say about the semi-finalists; I'm finding it hard to do so myself. At least there are some favorites from the ones I posted thus far. Speaking of which, the next set should be posted tomorrow evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bk1234 Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 Top 10 finalist write-ups for Elise’s birthday? (I’m joking, put them out whenever you’re ready ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 Today IS her birthday isn't it? It would certainly be a good time to start the Top 10. Unfortunately, I haven't even started on those write-ups yet. Speaking of which, I may get back to the main list sooner than planned because I'm nearly done with the semifinals write-ups. I don't know if I'll be able to get them all done tonight, but I'll try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bk1234 Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 1 minute ago, Crisis said: Today IS her birthday isn't it? It would certainly be a good time to start the Top 10. Unfortunately, I haven't even started on those write-ups yet. Speaking of which, I may get back to the main list sooner than planned because I'm nearly done with the semifinals write-ups. I don't know if I'll be able to get them all done tonight, but I'll try. That’s fine! I’m looking forward to your take on some of the semi-finalists from the ABC seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 I'll go ahead and post some more semifinalists now. Season 6 A.J. Tabaldo The S6 males is widely considered to be one of the weakest groups of males in Idol history. With that said, I felt A.J. was definitely one of the better ones. Apparently, he auditioned five times before finally breaking through; talk about perseverance! I enjoyed both of his performances, Never Too Much and Feeling Good; also, I loved seeing him really get into the women’s performances while sitting in the crowd. He would be eliminated in the second round of the semis, which was unfortunate to see because I would’ve liked to see him at least make the finals. Leslie Hunt Leslie was this quirky girl who had a voice I was intrigued by. Unfortunately, she didn’t pick the best songs that would highlight her voice in the best light; this was especially true with A Natural Woman. Feeling Good was a little better, though the scatting at the end, while it was a nice effort, didn’t work at all. Speaking of the scatting, it gave one of the more epic swan songs when she said “why did I decide to scat?! Does America not care about jazz?!”. She may have been too eccentric for the voters at the time; if she were to be able to fast forward through time and compete in S14, she would’ve fit right in with that group. Still, I enjoyed her despite some of her flaws. Sabrina Sloan In a season full of powerful and similar singers, someone was bound to be a casualty. In this case it happened to be Sabrina, who is considered to be one of the most "robbed" contestants in Idol history. I knew a spot would be between Sabrina and Stephanie because I couldn’t see both of them in the finals. While Stephanie had the better semifinals run, I thought Sabrina had the bigger upside, so I would’ve gone with her. Her first two semifinals performances were really strong; however, Don’t Let Go (Love) was a letdown. I’m a huge En Vogue fan, and DLG is my favorite song of theirs, and unfortunately I don’t think Sabrina did a good job with it. With that said, I still liked her and wouldn’t have minded if she made the finals. Season 7 Alexandrea Lushington Alexandrea was someone who I really liked during S7. I loved the urban flare she brought to the competition during her unfortunately short stay. Her Spinning Wheel was a highlight during the first week of the semis; I enjoyed the urban flair she brought to it. Sadly, If You Leave Me Now was on the boring and forgettable side, which would prove to be costly as she would be eliminated that week. One of the more memorable things about her elimination was Archie crying during her swan song; apparently the two were close from when they were on Star Search. Either way, it was disappointing to see her leave when she did. Kady Malloy Though I like Kady a lot to place her in my favorite semifinalists’ category, she was one of the more disappointing contestants. I really liked her voice and her Britney impersonations were fun; however, she really didn’t bring it to the competition. I liked A Groovy Kind Of Love, though it was a bit on the boring side; however, the judges ripped her apart after it. Honestly, I got Haley Scarnato flashbacks when they went after Kady the way they did after that performance. Sadly, it looked like Kady’s confidence was shaken after the harsh criticism because her next two performances were not good. Still, I hoped she would’ve made the finals instead of Kristy at the time, but it’s understandable why she didn’t. Season 8 Ann Marie Boskovich Ann Marie was someone who I was looking forward to when the semifinals started. I liked the singer-songwriter vibe she had going for her. Unfortunately, she opted to sing Natural Woman, which was a song that did not fit to her strengths, though to be fair I thought she did a good job with it, all things considered. I also remember the exchange with Kara when Kara suggested for her to pick younger songs and Ann Marie replied with “songs not as good” or something along those lines. I don’t know if she would’ve advanced even if she did considering the group she was in, but it may have given her a better chance. Felicia Barton If I were to rank all of the semifinalists by numbers, there would be a good bet Felicia would be near the top of the list if not topping it outright. I just loved her voice, plus I didn’t hurt that I thought she was attractive. To think Felicia almost wasn’t part of S8; she was initially cut right before the Top 36 before being brought back due to Joanna Pacitti’s disqualification (which was 100% bogus BTW). She sang No One as a part of Group 3, and I thought she was in the Top 3 that evening. I was hoping she would be voted through to the finals, but it wasn’t meant to be. Next, I hoped she’d at least get to sing in the WC Round, but again no such luck. She probably would’ve been my favorite contestant had she gotten to the finals. It appears Felicia has done well for herself as a songwriter and background singer on Dancing with the Stars. Also, she was the lead singer of the DuckTales reboot theme song, which is pretty cool. Still, Felicia not advancing is one the big reasons I didn’t enjoy S8 as much as I would've liked. Kristen McNamara Kristen was another semifinalist I looked forward to when the voting rounds started. Apparently, she was on Nashville Star prior to being on Idol. She gave a solid performance of Give Me One Reason during Group 3 Night. However, she was up against some stiff competition, and I had a feeling her prospects of advancing weren’t the best. That feeling proved to be right as she didn’t advance nor was invited to participate in the WC Round. It makes me wonder if she would’ve done better in a different season. Ricky Braddy Out of all the semifinalists of the season, Ricky had the strongest case of being a finalist. I don’t believe he was shown at all prior to the semifinals; therefore, the first time he was seen was when he sang A Song For You as a part of Group 1. I thought it was one of the better performances of the night and wouldn’t have minded if he were to be voted through. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case; however, he did get to participate in the WC Round where he gave another solid performance with Superstition. The judges, however, decided to go with other contestants and thus, Ricky’s time on Idol came to an end, which is too bad because I wouldn’t have minded seeing him in the finals. It looks as if Ricky went on The Voice; I'm not sure how he did, but it's good to see him still pursue music. Season 9 Alex Lambert Alex was one of the eliminations in what is considered to be one of the worst results shows in Idol history. He had a nice rasp to his voice though I didn’t pay him much mind at first, and his first semifinals performance Wonderful World didn’t do much to make me pay attention; in fact, I probably would’ve eliminated him after it. However, his next two performances Everybody Knows, and Trouble were very solid, and he certainly made a case for being a finalist. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough of a case for voters as he would be eliminated in the last round of the semifinals, which is too bad considering some who did make it to the finals. Joe Muñoz I don’t recall Joe receiving much, if any airtime prior to the voting rounds, so he wasn’t someone I was familiar with. With that said, however, I did like his performance of You And I Both; I felt it was one of the better vocals of the night and on the underrated side. At least I thought it was good enough for him to advance to the following week, but alas he was eliminated in the first round. I think the judges’ comments, especially Simon’s, may have hurt him some. Regardless, he was someone I wouldn’t have minded hearing more from. Katelyn Epperly Initially, I wasn’t going to put Katelyn in my semifinalist posting because I wasn’t as up in arms about her elimination as much as most were. However, since I was still on the fence with her, I decided to rewatch her performances and concluded that I like her more than I thought I did. Her first two performances, Oh Darling, and The Scientist were really good. I Feel The Earth Move was definitely her weakest and based on that, I understood why she didn’t advance; however, I probably still would’ve had her advance to the finals instead of some who did. Lilly Scott Unlike Katelyn, Lilly was someone I was disappointed who didn’t advance. I thought she was one of the better female contestants that season. I enjoyed all three of her performances and didn’t think she ever gave a bad one. If I were to guess why she didn’t advance, it would be because she was too similar to Crystal, and Crystal was seen as the superior one as well as the potential vote-splitting between the many singer-songwriter types on the female side. Moreover, I think there were some rumblings about her attitude as well, which may have also played a factor. Regardless, I was still disappointed Lilly wasn’t in the finals. Michelle Delamor Michelle was someone I liked during S9. I thought she had a really pretty voice and had potential; however, one poor song choice did her in. I thought Fallin’ was nice outside of the last note, which was off; however, she was encouraged by the judges to take more risks with her songs. She did just that the following week by singing With Arms Wide Open, which unfortunately was not very good. First, it was a Creed song which says enough. Also, it appeared the song was too big for her, and she was unable to handle it. She would be eliminated that week which while not surprising, was disappointing because I thought she had more to bring to the table. Season 10 Julie Zorrilla As much as it pains me to say this, Julie was one of the biggest disappointments as far as my favorite semifinalists go. I thought she showed a lot of promise prior to the semifinals. I remember loving her audition and the Something duet with Tim, so she was someone who I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, she picked one of the worst songs she possibly could with Breakaway, and the results were disastrous. Not only did I know she wouldn’t get voted through, I felt she ruined her chances of getting to sing in the WC Round, which proved to be the case. If she only picked a better song. Sigh. Lauren Turner Lauren was someone who I was really disappointed didn’t make the finals. I thought she gave one of the better performances of the semis with Seven Day Fool; it was my second favorite of the night behind only Pia of course. If it were up to me, she would’ve been voted into the finals, but the voters didn’t think so. What was even more disappointing was her not even getting an invite to participate in the WC Round because I felt her performance would’ve merited it. Oh well. Tim Halperin Tim was one of the guys I looked forward to at the beginning of the voting rounds. As I mentioned in Julie’s write-up, I loved their Something duet during the Las Vegas Rounds. Unfortunately, as with Julie, Tim had a bad song choice with Streetcorner Symphony. All things considered I didn’t think it was sung poorly; the problem was the song went nowhere, and Tim didn’t do enough to make the performance more interesting. Still, I wouldn’t have minded if he received a WC callback, but it wasn’t meant to be. Apparently, Tim appeared on Songland where he showcased an original song, so it appears he’s still plugging away at music, to which I say good for him. Season 6 A.J. Tabaldo Leslie Hunt Sabrina Sloan Season 7 Alexandrea Lushington Kady Malloy Season 8 Ann Marie Boskovich Felicia Barton Kristen McNamara Ricky Braddy Season 9 Alex Lambert Joe Muñoz Katelyn Epperly Lilly Scott Michelle Delamor Season 10 Julie Zorrilla Lauren Turner Tim Halperin I'm going to stop here and post Seasons 11-15 in a separate post since I have those written up already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 As promised, here is the next batch of semifinalists. Season 11 Aaron Marcellus Aaron was the semifinalist from S11 who I was the most disappointed did not advance to the finals. Apparently he was another semifinalist who auditioned multiple times before finally breaking through in S11. He gave a solid performance of Never Can Say Goodbye; in fact, he received the first standing ovation of the season. I thought it would’ve been enough for him to advance to the finals, or at the very least earn a chance to compete in the WC Round; however, it wasn’t meant to be. I’d like to think he was screwed over by the twist that brought Jermaine into the semis, but that’s just my opinion. Either way, it was disappointing to see him not go further in the season. Baylie Brown Julie Zorrilla should send Baylie Brown flowers and a thank-you note because if not for Baylie, Julie would’ve been my biggest disappointment. I remember when Baylie auditioned back in S6 and unfortunately was stuck in a group with Antonella and Amanda. She was cut and though I sided with her over the other two, I knew she wasn’t ready then. When I saw she came back for S11, I was interested and excited to see how she would do. Unfortunately, the semis came around and ugh, she had one of the biggest tank jobs in Idol history. She was out of tune the entire performance and looked like a deer in headlights; at least she had the self-awareness to joke about it during the Results Show. As it is, Baylie is my biggest disappointment as far as Idol semifinalists go. Hallie Day Hallie was someone who I thought was on the underrated side. She had a strong voice with a nice rich tone, and I liked her performance of Feeling Good. The knock on her was she appeared to have dead eyes and appeared to lack any sort of emotion. Regardless, while I thought the five women who were voted through to the finals were spot on (even if it meant Erika was left out), I felt Hallie did enough for a WC callback; however, the judges disagreed and thus, Hallie’s time on Idol was cut short, which was unfortunate to see. Season 12 Breanna Steer Breanna was someone I liked who had a contemporary R&B vibe. Her Bust Your Windows was one of the better performances of the evening, and I was happy to see her advance to the semifinals. Her Flaws And All, however, was on the mediocre side, and it was understandable why she wasn’t voted through after that. I’m going off on my memory here, but I also think there were some issues about her attitude and personality, though I don’t really recall anything of that sort. Regardless, she was someone I enjoyed during the season. Vincent Powell Out of all the guys who didn’t make the finals, Vincent was the one who I was the most disappointed didn’t make it. His Cause I Love You was one of my favorite performances in the quarterfinals (which caused Zoanette to shout, “get it Papa Smurf!” ), and I was happy to see him be picked to advance to the semis. His End Of The Road was OK, yet I was hoping he would somehow be voted into the finals. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, though I vastly preferred him to Curtis. Oh well. Season 13 Because of the Rush Week format that prevented ten semifinalists from performing, I won’t post anyone from this season and besides, I barely remember the ones who did perform (and currently have no desire to go back and watch). Season 14 Adam Ezegelian This is probably an odd one, but I enjoyed Adam during the season. Though it came off as something that can be seen in any rock karaoke bar, I Wanna Rock was a lot of fun; also, I never expected to hear a Twisted Sister song on Idol, so that was pretty cool to see. I also kind of dug his take on I Want You Back. He probably would’ve worn thin had he lasted any longer (who am I kidding, considering the personalities that season, he would've been just fine, lol); however, he was someone I enjoyed during his brief stay on the show. Katherine Winston Katherine was someone who had a tone I absolutely loved. I also liked the laid back folk vibe she brought to the show. I enjoyed her performance of Safe and Sound, though I kind of agreed with Keith in that she could’ve felt the song a little more. As much as I hate to admit it, I also agreed with Harry when he said she probably would've been lost in the shuffle, which is what I think happened as the other ladies gave more memorable and dynamic performances. It’s too bad because I would’ve liked to hear more from her during the season. Season 15 CJ Johnson CJ was someone who I thought had a nice voice. I was looking forward to seeing what he would do once the semifinals started. Unfortunately, he opted to sing the overdone I’ll Be, which while vocally fine lacked any sort of dynamics to help make the song more interesting. In addition, it felt like it was rushed and some of the cuts were weird and disrupted the flow of the song. I kind of liked his duet with David Cook, but it was all for naught as he wasn’t picked to move on, which is too bad because I liked him more than Manny at least. James VIII James was a rather intriguing one for me. He auditioned with his friend Amber and of course, he made it to the semis while she didn’t (I wonder if there’ll ever be a scenario where the female moves on at least to the semis and the male doesn’t; I know it happened a couple of times in Hollywood). He always said he’s more of a guitarist than a singer, which often showed. Still, I kind of liked his take on Love Lockdown. I didn’t care for his duet with Caleb because he came across as more of a backing guitarist than a partner, yet he was probably more comfortable with that. I pretty much knew he wouldn’t move on, but I enjoyed him for the short time he was on Idol. Of course, we would later find out he’s Ashley Hess’ boyfriend, which was cool to see. Stephany Negrete Sigh. Stephany was another semifinalist I was bitter about not moving on. Admittedly, most of it is for superficial reasons; however, I really did like her voice. I liked her Mama Knows Best, though it lacked the oomph that the Sarina-Joi Crowe version had the year before. I also really loved her duet with Ruben, which I felt was one of the better ones of the night despite its somewhat rough start. Unfortunately, she wasn’t picked to advance to the Top 14; I guess there was room for only one raven, long-haired, and exotic beauty, and Sonika was the one chosen to fill the spot. Still, I would’ve picked Stephany ahead of Gianna and/or Thomas (I would include Jeneve, but Jeneve was a huge guilty pleasure of mine, so I didn’t mind her being picked ). Again, sigh. Season 11 Aaron Marcellus Baylie Brown Hallie Day Season 12 Breanna Steer Vincent Powell Season 13 N/A Season 14 Adam Ezegelian Katherine Winston Season 15 CJ Johnson James VIII Stephany Negrete Two more seasons to go! I'm still in the process of finishing them, so they may not be up tonight. With that said, I'll try to do so assuming I don't get too tired; if not, they should be up tomorrow night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blirel Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Okay so I didn’t fully watch until Season 10 so this is an exciting batch. Here’s the ones I feel like mentioning: First I’m revisiting the old season contestants you’ve put on this list and how didn’t Felicia Barton make the finals. Just wow. Ricky Braddy should’ve made it as well. But I don’t think he would’ve made it much further. He’s someone who sings at a very high level but as I felt on the voice, you feel nothing from. I know Season 9 is a disaster from revisiting performances from the finals and I strongly believe Alex Lambert would’ve been top 10 material. I also think the 3 girls listed were better than some that made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blirel Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 And now for in depth comments. Season 10: Julie Zorrilla- She could sing but was generic. I think she would’ve struggled to stand out as Pia and Haley would’ve overshadowed her. And I even think Thia was better. No problem with her going out early. Lauren was for sure good. She had a kind of retro style which it seems the season had a lot of. I don’t think she would’ve made top 5 but she could’ve been competitive that’s for sure. Tim was better than Paul McDonald. He wasn’t super unique but he could sing and was easy going. He appeared on songland this year and he’s still got it. And my favorite Semifinalist who didn’t make it wasn’t mentioned. Wow. Kendra Chantelle. We all know she was robbed after that Georgia On My Mind performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blirel Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Season 11: Aaron: I honestly didn’t remember him. But think he just failed to stand out. Not bad but I can see why he didn’t make it. Baylie- Her tone was pretty but she made bad song choices and just didn’t stand out. Halle- Was never a huge fan but can’t argue against her being a consistently solid vocalist. I think you left someone out once again. That someone was front runner Jen Hirsch. Nearly all of her performances aired and she could sing. For some reason her last few performances just didn’t click and she was sent home during the wild card. I have to mention Brielle too. the girl could sing but made some poor song choices and vocal choices. And her stage mom never let her stand out on her own. The girl went on to having quite a few popular YouTube videos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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