Jump to content

MOTOWN...TOP 12


Ansamcw

Recommended Posts

Out first glimpse of showman Clay!!!!

I totally remember how nervous I was watching this episode...I was hugging the pillow and my girls were laughing at me. I was so fortunate we had satellite TV...which means I hade east coast and west coast shows. I never enjoyed the east coast shows cos I was too nervous...The later show...is when I just soak in the performance. Oh but in between...I would be looking for the video clips and audio clips already. Ah don't you just love technology....

We will try to have the WC and Motown episodes up by tonight....just keep on checking this site:

FCAmedia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I, for some reason, already have all the AI 2 episodes...I shall kick this puppy off...

Heads up...there will be nothing fair about these reviews - I am completely biased toward the one, the only Clay Aiken - I am totally prejudiced in his favor and everyone will be held up against his performance and found wanting. It keeps things simple.

Seamonkey goes "blah, blah, blah" for the first few minutes before androgyny guy stomps across his/her neon stage. The stage looks really Star-trekky. Charles jogs out first in regular twenty-something wear, Julia follows a little dressed up with some sort of fringe, Klo in a nice red outfit with enough cleavage to kill someone; "ruuuuuuben" and his "205", Clay in really CUTE stripey regular twenty-something wear (Hmmm, the top three are all grouped together! TPTB were plotting something!); Vanessa in something unfortunate and black, Joshua in regular twenty-something wear; Corey in something like ghetto Backstreet Boy wear (the braids were nice though); KimMe in nice skank wear; Treynce in cutting edge fashion; Carmen in something bleh, and Ricky in something bleh. Ruben and Clay (but especially Ruben) were told they were NOT allowed to stage dive. Clay snaps his fingers in disappointment. Ruben rolls his eyes at Clay (At this point in the competition I believe Clay decides against going the techno-punk route). Paula has a big eyeball on one boob. Hmmm.

Motown! Song choice is emphasized. Lamont Dozier is the guest judge. He is wearing a very shiny purple shirt. They show Lamont on the piano with the kids (one thing I like about this season was that it was clear that in this genre at least, the contestants were actually familiar with his work. They might not have known him, but they knew his songs. And the AI2 looked like they took this seriously. Yes, I still hate BicBoi). Clay always has something good to say!

KLo starts off. She made a cute sunflower. She gets "Heatwave". I think she's little breathless with nerves. This is not one of her better performances. She is working on connecting with the studio audience and missing the television one. Randy basically said it was OK. Paula commented on the flames, thinks she looks beautiful and said the performance was OK. Lamont liked her energy and said it was good. Simon said the song stunk, then back off. Said it looked like a Burger King with the flames (and as soon as he said that I said, Yeah, it did). At the end, Simon agreed with the rest and said, just OK and you can do better. And she can and will. Seamonkey makes a gay joke on the "flaming" Simon. I liked her hair like that.

Some dude in a blue shirt is really excited to be on TV. Josh is next up. He was brought up surrounded by girls. I like Marines. But I admit at this point I dislike Josh. He wasn't bad - sounded sort of like a country Johnny Rivers on "Baby I Need Your Lovin' ", which made it one of his better choices. He definitely wasn't doing the Four Tops version. He's still having fun at this point, and it shows in his performance. He looks friendly (but all the contestants have overly exaggerated facial expressions). Randy said he did a good job. Paula says well done. Lamont says Josh wasn't Levi Stubbs but say he came with his heart. Simon begins mocking the necklace, says he needs to lose a few pounds and Josh makes his first mistake by challenging Simon to a push-up contest. I could just SEE his sergeant fuming at those weak pushups - shoot, Seamonkey's were crisper. I bet he did pay for that later.

Charles has really big eyes. His story is so sweet, it's saccharine. He hits "How Sweet It Is" and the weakness of his voice is immediately apparent. And he dances very spastically. There were about 4 guys in the top 32 who were better then he was. He really lucked up in his group. He sounded so dull. Randy said it was "a'ight". Paula is down to praising his profile. Lamont is making excuses for him, saying it was a hard song, and even though Charles wasn't all there, he got through it. Talk about damning with faint praise. Simon agreed with Lamont. Charles is clearly too sweet to crush.

KimMe is from Katy (which is right down the road from me). I'm looking at her baby pictures - her eyebrows are far apart, but that has been helped along with serious serious waxing. Mom has clearly just gotten rid of hers altogether and draws them on where she thinks they ought to be. She's wrong. KimMe likes her truck. Melissa Ethridge called her. She sings "Nowhere to Run" She looks like a high fashion skank commando. So far the contestants are fairly tentative - they are working not to mess up instead of working to impress. She's not bad, just not interesting. And her mom is the scariest looking one of all. Randy loves it (but she's his girl). Paula likes it. Lamont likes it. Simon says best so far, and I gotta agree.

When they see the set for the first time, Clay is playing the role of "hick" to the HILT.

Ricky is in college. His school paid for him to go audition. Ricky is sweet too, and sings "1, 2, 3". I think he missed his cue to start. The nerves were on him. He's OK too. As he settled, he got better. Randy thought he was good. Paula liked his song choice and thought he looked good. Lamont liked his voice on this song. Simon said he was the nicest guy in the competition, and got better as he went along - I got to agree that the film clips are horrible too.

I didn't get the Brittany joke.

Julia was a quiet shy child. I didn't pay attention to the rest. She's singing "Where Did Our Love Go". Julia, dear, if you can't keep step with the music, just stand still. How can she sing when she's so out of step? I hate the performance just based on the bad dancing. Randy loved it. Paula thinks she's beautiful. Lamont liked it. Simon thinks she's gorgeous with big boobs, but not good enough.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's Clay! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! He knows he's a ham! How honest! He wore a three piece suit as a child! His nickname was Gonzo! He let children duct tape him. He's so sweet! He wants to make a difference! He "Can't Help Himself"! It's the perfect song! He sounds WONDERFUL! He's eyefucking someone in the audience. He's eyefucking PAULA! I never noticed that before! The camera freakin' LOVES him. He did the whirly thing! Clay is playing to WIN, baybee! He looked at the TV audience! He loves us! He's pointing at someone! And he, unlike Julia, actually moves to the RHYTHM of the freakin' song! He's so confident! He raised the level of the competition! Look at his fingers...move...so sexy...Man, he's good. He believes the song! Hell, he moved more than most of the other ones! He shook his head from left to right! I love him soooooooooooo! Yeah, bottlecap, I liked him. He's not pretty to be yet, but he's singing the shiznit out of Motown. It's lively, it's fun - it's clearly uptempo, which the previous performers didn't seem to get. My baybee took it to HEART when they told him to give his best performance each time. That shirt was terrible though. And the pants fit weird. But he was oddly graceful in them. Paula is dancing in her seat. Because he eyefucked you, heifer! Corey is probably writhing in jealousy. Randy gives him a TOTALLY deserved standing "O" and says brilliant. Paula is amazed and thanks him. Lamont is honestly impressed, thinks he's professional and says he looks like a star. I love Lamont. Simon is stupid. He thought he had a zinger and it was stupid. Even Seamonkey noticed how my darling brought the crowd into it. I just love him so much.

Vanessa looks just like her mother. Her relationship with her brother is sweet. Darling, but the vintage clothing occasionally does not love you. She does "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The outfit is dreadful, but she sounds good. Just not as good as Clay. She moves better than Julia. Just not as good as Clay. Randy thought she was pitchy. Paula thought she was pitchy. Lamont just said good. Simon said she reminded him of Bette Midler, which was accurate but Simon seemed to think it was a negative, but its not and beside I hate Simon because of his stupid comment about the perfection that came before. And that scripted comment about Seamonkey they made her say killed her. That was TOTALLY unfair.

Corey has issues. The backstory is not touching me. In other words, Corey is a f-ckup and his grandfather wasn't. Corey doesn "This Old Heart of Mine" I will confess, I did like his version of this, simply because he was livelier than all the guys who came before Clay. Just not as good as Clay. The one choreographed move was good. Clay's would have been better, if he actually had, like, choreography. He doesn't look half as skeevy as he will. Simon likes skeevy.

Carmen. Goat girl redux. And I skipped all of his backstory. Whacha gonna do about it? Huh? Huh? Like you actually listened either. She's wearing terrible capris and singing "Can't Hurry Love" Clay danced and sang much, much better. This is not good. And her makeup is horrific - her face looks plastic. Clay's bronzer was much, much better. Randy likes it. Paula likes it. Lamont likes it. Simon likes it. They are all wrong.

Trenyce. I skipped her backstory too. Though the fact that Al Green was impressed was impressive. She sings "Come See About Me". The problem was that really was a girl group song, and she does nothing but the lead. And she needs to stop telling the audience to come on. She was good though. Just not as good as Clay. (She did dance a little better than Clay. But only a little.) All the judges liked her.

Ruben gets the sweet spot. And I skip his backstory too. Hey, if you want me to listen to it, you better come before Clay. What? You say this is in the past and you can't change it? Well tough cookies. Ruben sings "Baby I Need You Lovin'". I'll be darned. I never realized Joshua had a habit of picking songs his competitors just eat his lunch on. "Cause Ruben rocked that. Just not as good as Clay. Ruben even danced a little. Just not as good as Clay. Yeah, suck up Simon. Ruben don't actually like you either.

Honestly, this was Clay and Ruben's genre. This show set up the showdown at the end.

My rankings (like you can't tell)

Clay

Ruben (but honestly he was serously close, I just expect him to do well in this genre - didn't I tell y'all I was being unfair? I did mention that, right?)

Vanessa (she did get totally screwed)

Joshua (he was having fun for what was probably the last time on this show)

Trenyce (song choice did her in)

Corey (he really was entertaining for one show)

KLo (nerves kicked her butt)

Ricky (dull and nervous)

KimMe (not bad, just not good)

Julia (chick CANNOT dance)

Carmen - baaaaaaa

Charles loses to Carmen just because he was so frickin' dull.

My, I wonder how the result show will turn out.

I love the group sings - this was the weakest and STILL sounded better than any of the other group songs in any of the other season - you can tell this was a choir experience heavy group. For someone who claims not to dance, Clay is ALWAYS swinging some girl out unexpectedly. I love that disingenuous cutie pie! The lowest go down - Seamonkey reads the comments.

Ruben - safe. Not a surprise.

Vanessa - bottom three. Clay kisses her.

Clay! He looks so sweet and expessive! Millions voted and hate Simon too. Yay!

KimMe - safe. Clay hugs her.

Ricky - safe. Clay doesn't hug me but does clap for him.

Julia - bottom three. No hug.

Trenyce - you know she's safe because two are already over there and they will drag this crap out to the end.

Josh - safe.

Charles - safe.

Corey - safe (you'll be sorry, 'Merica!)

Carmen and KLo are the last two - and KLo heads to the bottom three

KLo goes back to the couch.

Vanessa gets kicked to the curb because the script writers did her wrong.

She sings us out and I sigh, knowing more goat girl is headed my way.

Ah well! Another week is coming up! My, this post is much shorter than I thought it would be! And no one is allowed to count my exclamation points! No one!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EEEEEE Kandre...thanks for starting this "partay"...

I am excited about this episode...I really enjoyed this theme...will watch this tonight and tomorrow. I definitely WONT read Kandre's before my review...just took a peak at the first paragraph...good disclaimer!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top 12 - Motown - Part One

I have to watch this episode on my laptop, since the file was too big to burn into a DVD. Let's see how switching back and forth between screens works out here.

1:39, and I've already seen my first Clay sign in the audience. EEEEE!

Clay, Ruben, no stage diving per Ryan. Yeah, 'cause if Clay jumps down into the mosh pit, the mosh pit is going to keep him. (Can you imagine what kind of money those tickets would go for on Stub Hub?)

The studio audience claps for themselves. Get out much, people?

Motown is the theme. Lamont Dozier is the guest judge and he is wearing a very shiny shirt.

In the rehearsal footage, Clay looks particularly Opie-esque. Hee,

Kimberley Locke has quite the drawl in her intro piece. I don't remember her accent being so strong. For "Heatwave", she comes out in a red pant suit that is just a little too much, and gets literal flames in the background. She sounds good to me. Simon makes a Burger King joke. Humm, cartoonish characters with with creepy heads and plastic looking hair - distant relatives, do you suppose?

We come back from the break, and a drunk guy in the audience apparently thinks he's at a football game and is cheering his head off. Cool it dude, it's only Seamonkey.

Josh - not only a Marine, but married to his high school sweetheart, and has a one year old. The producers must have been crapping themselves over what great TV he'd be. This guy could have gotten up there and burped the alphabet, and he would have gotten voted through. Nothing special about his performance, I thought. Meaningless commentary from the judges, except for Simon starting the "you could loses a few pounds" routine, Josh immediately drops and gives him, what, five or six?, and looks a little winded.

Charles - sets up the whole grocery stock guy to AI trajectory. He plays to the front rows of the audience, and not to the cameras during his song. He's pleasant enough, but not stellar.

Kimberly Caldwell - Her Branson story makes me kind of sad. I see KAndre's point about her eyebrow being plucked too wide apart (Like mother like daughter). She doesn't really demonstrate much range in her song.

A bit where the contestants see the new stage for the first time. Vanessa squeals "OMG, Corey, it is so big." I'm not touching that one with a ten foot pole.

Rickey - College guy hoping to make it big. Duck singing is shown. He comes out wearing white pants that look like they would be too big for Ruben. There's alot of material to them.

Julia - Hair dresser from Connecticut - not exactly a compelling back story. OMG, is she wearing anklets with pumps? How very Madonna circa "Desperately Seeking Susan". Her sole dance move is to shuffle back and forth.

End of part one. I've looked ahead, and seen who contestant # 7 is. I'll give you a hint: "eeeee!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Motown - Part 2

Clayeeeee -in a lovely blue shirt in his intro video. Loved the YMCA choreography, but I'm wondering if it's now time to stage a stealth raid on Faye's house, and liberate all those embarrassing pictures of a younger Clay that she keeps releasing. Hi, Kristy! Ah Cain't Help Mahself - You know that Ah lurrrve yew, but I don't like your pegged pants. "My love I just can't hide" right into the camera, baby! And was that a little head bob at the end? Ryan gets to talk about hair products, so you know he was happy.

Vanessa has very red hair and she has a pig. She also has a very cute younger brother. Don't tell me to clap my hands, Vanessa. I only take orders from one former AI contestant, and it ain't you. I dislike spoken intervals in songs. I'm not sure she had very much vocally going for her but her brassiness. Hard to tell, since we didn't see much of her. If Paula wants to talk about your clothes and the name of your pig, you're kind of struggling. And she signs her own death warrant by reading the performing monkey shtick about Ryan.

"Who needs to feel some Corey Clark?" - eeewwww, Ryan, not me. He's, ummm, somewhat ratlike and shifty. And pitchy, to boot. And Simon thinks he looks like a popstar? Really? Y-okay...

Carmen - yodels. Ouch. And she goes to high school, Fascinating. I can't even figure out how she does the weirdness with her voice. Just no to the clam diggers.

Trenyce - studied nursing. I think she had the strongest female performance of the night, even with the "C'mon Y'all"s tossed in there. Simon looked like he was close to drooling before he spoke.

Ruben - did you know he was from Alabama? Ruben actually shows some personality in his intro video when he's horsing around with his brother. And once again, a contestant's past performing experience is not mentioned. Ruben's performance is actually very dynamic, and I enjoy it very much. I need to remember to keep an open mind about Ruben, and not blame him for the final results. Pimping alert: Simon manages to bring up Clive Davis and Kelly Clarkson in his comments to Ruben.

I have no energy to go on to the results show tonight, so that will have to come later. I'm sure y'all are on the edge of your seats...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YAY first final episode...MOTOWN...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE...Aiken sign already...only three signs I saw...for Clay, for Josh and for julia.

Seamonkey...I really don't mind him. Kinda fond of him. Aw cute he tells Clay and Ruben no stage diving...and cute interaction between the two...the foreshadowing has started...the message PEOPLE YOU SHOULD WATCH CLAY AND RUBEN!!!!

Lamont Dozier...I thought that was a really cool first judge. He wasn't too exciting in his opinions but I thought he had great credentials. Love the clip with the contestants. Aha...lots of shots of Clay...even commentary. They were pimping him in the early rounds...I think the pimping of Ruben started once Clay just becamse overwhelmingly popular.

Kimberley Locke...I like what we hear of Kim's singing in her background story. I did not like her own commentary. A bit too me, me, me. Heatwave...I thought it was a good choice...I think her problem with this is that she does not seem to be hitting the center of her notes, specially in the yeah yeah part..it was not her best vocal performance, IMO. Stage presence was a bit cheesy. I thought she looked good except for those flapping things around her. I agree with the judges really, ok performance but not as good and passionate as before. I actually found the burger king commercial comment funny and it was not Kims fault of course. So Ryan gets his first gay dig on Simon here...Simon is flaming...

Josh Gracin...I thought that clip was very nice...was very real I thought. Baby I need your loving...you already can see the country coming out..another one who is not hitting their notes quite right. Not truly pitchy but a bit off. I can't stand his close ups...the constipated faces. Randy and Paula, didn't really make sense, how did Josh come out in the chorus. Simon..well judging from the latest pix I saw of Josh, he really did have the tendency to gain and did. He should've taken Simon's comment to heart. I did enjoy that exchange, with the push ups. Very natural and light hearted.

Charles...I find his film clip really sweet. Very down to earth guy. He actually sounded really good singing while unpacking produce. How sweet it is...OMG, this songs truly needs a strong voice like Angelas. His voice is so weak for this song. He is totally pitchy all through out..His melisma's and runs are not on tune. But I like his stage presence, he is really cute. Unfortunately, I think he really didn't belong with this top 12. Randy and Paula jsut ring to be nice. LAmont...I think he was really not happy with it...mentioned that he didn;t really cpature the song, but tries not to be too harsh. Simon...didn;t really give him the scathing critique that he deserved... what the heck?

Kim c...her mom looks scary...needs real eyebrows. Who mentioned that her eyebrows are just too far apart? So true!!! Mom really looks and sounds like a first class stage mom...No where to run...I didn't like her song choice, kinda boring, but I guess it suited her "rock" style. Pretty professional in her presentation. Her voice was strong but had some pitchy moment. Judges comments were pretty positive. Simon was right it was the best one tonight SO FAR...since the ones before were not very good.

Ricky Smith...I love ricky's video clip...he is so sweet. I like his family, seem very supportive. 123...uh oh first line didn't come out. My problem with Ricky, I don't like this type of falsetto voice. But I though the did very well here...vocally. I also like his very cool stage presence. He cut down on the gesturing. I also thought he added a lot of his personality in the perfromance like he truly singing the song from the heart. I like the final run. I think he definitely was better that Kim C vocally. Randy impressed...PAula perfect voice for the song...Lamont was also happy sang Simon...just shows how heartless he is. Or tries to be.

Julia Dematto...looks like a well off family. ouch...the SSB hurt..too much melisma! Nice looking family. Where did our love go...oh God I like her voice on this but her robotic..step close movement was a bit boring. And she is not conencting with the audience. Quite half hearted I thought...Randy, liked it; Paua, loved her look...yeah I like that hair.Lamont said it was meant for her voice...I think he meant it wasn't too hard to sing really and didn't need much power so I think it was damning with faint praise. Simon...he was helping Julia...he meant be careful with the neckline...she totally didnt get that

CLAYYYYYY....I love this clip. I think its very clear from this that his focus was really not in a singing career at the time Idol came in. The focus was on his other passion. I got goosebumps when they talked about Ray...its so interesting that they could;ve made his back story more dramatic and yet, he didn't exploit that...so totally cool...and he wants to make a difference...cool. ICHM...from the moment he opened his mouth the strength of his voice and the range was front and center. He truly was into the song maybe not as soulful as the original...maybe thats what Simon meant about his musical comment. But clearly he really commanded that stage with his voice and presence. He didn't move much but the audience was having fun...The cheers after was truly intense...and the first standing O...Randy..brilliant; Paula...was so excited. The judges reaction is so real. Except for Simon...he said it was Very good...but Motown the musical...I think that was the only put on comment by the judges. Did you see how he just shrugged in the end...like I am just doing my job...or like he just enjoyed yanking the audinece chain. He knew he was going to get some reaction from the crowd ...how did he know that at this time. Love his interaction with Ryan, when he did the thing with the hair totally cool. I think the support in the audeince must've been overwhelming cos he cannot stop saying thank you.

Vanessa...I think her clip was a bit irritating. she was too cutesy. I like her interaction with her brother. the pig was cute...hair coloring...creative? I think I would be a bit scared to go to her to fix my hair.You keep me hanging on...Her vocal performance was pretty ok. But her stage presence was a tad awkward I think. Her style was not flattering on her. She did have some pitchy problem...but its not more than the earlier perfromers. I agree with Simon she was more an entertainer...more cabaret. I really don't like the way she talks. Vocally she didn;t deserve to get booted but her performance was tepid. The monkey bit really fell flat. I think it probably hurt her...they knew it too thats why they had to explain it. I watched it again...I really didn't enjoy watching her. She ain't Bette Midler cos her actions are awkward...Bette was nto awkward. Her voice is powerful but not a very pretty tone. I can understand why she got booted.

Corey...do I have to watch him?I knda thought they pushed the Grandfathers death a bit...its lik ethey needed to make him a more sympathetic character...This old heart of mine...he did have some ok moments but as he got to the middle some pitchy moments. when he does not need to go to his upper register he tends to go flat. The spin was an ok move. As I said not a fan of this type of voice. He didn't really blow it. Oh god Paula...showing your bias about Corey's look...great compliment from lamont, young smokey robinson...aha, they want to push Corey a bit more..Simon sees a bad boy hip hop artist in Corey...

Carmen...wow the pretty pony princess...perfect profile...eew goat girl...you can;t hurry love...god I hate that vibrato...and so nasally. ooh very flat.but she gave it a lot of stage presence. This should be candace...sigh...Randy is right one of the best times they heard her cos the other times were just terrible...Simon she justifies his pick...well she didn;t fall flat on her face but still the worse

Trenyce...seem really like a diva from her clips...Come see about me...love the way she sang this song...very flirty.,.showed a lto fo texture to her voice...sang it her own way. I think she is defintiely one of the best perfromance of the night. Good stage presence. standing O from the threee judges. Randy he said she brought originality to it and thats true; even LAmont agree...she made it her own...and of course Simon congratulates paula for her choice. I don't like her diva personality

Ruben...Ruben really showed a lot of personality in his clip. I love his schtick with his brother..he really is a cool dude. Love Ruben...hey they also have him singing in the gov mansion shot like Clay...SO the RUUUUben starts...baby I need your loving...he really has a cute and fun stage presence. His voice is beautiful...of course he end up not even singing the song in the choru...but I guess that is his style. He did put a lot of his own styl to it. But hey he is pitchy in his upper register...and lots of flat notes. But the energy in the performnace truly made up for it...standing o...brilliant from Randy...Paula...refresshing and warm personality...lamont...love what he did...simon...you are what the competition is all about. Ok..I think at this point SImon really feels that Ruben is already ready for his recording career...and Clay at this point in the competition..not quite. I really respect that..stage presence I think I will give the edge to Ruben...but vocals..Clay blew him out of the water.

rank...eta: (to add explantion to ranks)

Clay - his vocals was really the best that night. stage movements still need work

trenyce - I really liked what she did with the song how she played around with it

Ruben - I liked his stage presence, didn't mind how he cheated in the chorus but was pitcy

Ricky - I liked his stage presence and I didn;t mind his vocals

Vanessa - I didn;t think she looked good on stage, her vocals was a bit yelly but better than most

Julia - I lvoed the tone of her voice here, perfect song for her range, but no presence

kimC - better presence and good attitude on the song..but didn;t enjoy the vocals

Kiml - didn;t enjoye her vocals, thoguht ehr movement on stage was chessy

Josh - vocals not that strong but he looked like he was having fun

Corey - he skeeves me, but his vocals were not bad.

Carmen - good stage presence if she didn;t ahve such an awful voice she woudl be higher

charles - cute...but not goos enough presence and voice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Results show...

hee its so funny Clay was the most nervous looking in that line up...DUDE!!! really thought he was going any moment...bwah!

I really shouldn;t laugh cos I was also equally nervous every Wednseday. the anxiety always starts after the show...then all the analyzing happening on the boards...all the polls go up...all the reports of voting and busy signal. The result show was always a nail biter to me until Clay was called SAFE!!!

13.25 M votes...

review clips...lets see what clips they show...usually a good indication of who the producers want to pimp...they showed Corey Ricky and Clay getting great response...of course they also showed the Motown the musical comment...and Ruben was shown in the end...let the pimping begin.

Heatwave...first group song. I wish they chose another song since klo sang this alread. They did a good job. The blending wasn't too good yet cause you can tell different peoples voices like Klo's but since they are all in tune it didn't ruin the performance. We see Clay flirting already with carmen a little dancing on their own in the side. Wow Clay was giving her quite the look while in his arms...whew..no wonder she had a crush on him

hee huge cheer when they said Clay, it must;ve been loud in the studio cos everyone jsut looked at him and he seem a bit embarrassed about it. He was so cute reacting to every Judge comment read ...and he is SAfe...so funny when he was getting a hug from Ruben.

Pulled down...Vanessa (hated the faces she made);Julia and Klo

first called back Kim...who was a bit ungracious since she never acknowledged the ones left onstage. I didn't hold it gainst her too long at the time, but it kinda made me go hmmm.

booted out...Vanessa

strangely enough...when I look at the whole show overall... I think Vanessa was the right bootee. I just don;t think she built up a strong enough fanbase to keep her going. I know she is probably a better singer than Charles and Carmen, but in this one I think the image of those two won out over Vanessa's quirkiness. I really didn;t think her performance was that good. Vocally it was ok...she was pitchy and her voice has power but the tone is not really pleasant. then she looked pretty frumpy and lacking in energy in her movements. She does not have Bette Midler's strong presence...that's for sure.

I am actually surprised that Carmen was able to get enough votes to even have more that Julia and Klo. She had very little face time prior to wildcard...and didn't even perform really well in those shows. I think that actually justified their choice of Carmen. She was able to build a fanbase rather quickly...

I am also not surprised that that Klo was in bottom three...going first, i really almost forgot about ehr when doing my ranking. Her performance was weak, and was in the beginning of the show...so I think many peopel forgot about her. Julia, I actually like her voice better than Vanessa's. She only lacks stage presence but the tone of her voice is very pleasant.

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Motown Results

In the opening pan of the contestants, Clay looks like he's somewhere between stoic and puking. But he has a nice blue shirt on!

13 and a quarter million votes (not voters, dude.) Clay got included in the good comments summary. Lamont was very nice to him. There are a heck of a lot of Clay signs in the audience already.

Heatwave as the group song. Clay is so unbearably cute in his baggy tan pants, doing his best to remember the choreography. He manages to do his one couples dance move with Carmen - spin the girl while you bend your knees a little. At least they can pretend convincingly to be a couple. Kimberley makes eye contact with Charles, but you just know that she could break him in half with her little finger. Ruben is four times as big as Vanessa. Josh is not a camera, so Kimbermee could care less about him. Corey is doing his best to leer at Trenyce, but she is having none of it. We've seen no evidence of Julia having any rhythm, so Rickey is kind of on his own there. But they actually sound good together, which is more than you can say about any of the seasons since then.

Clay sure gets a lot of cheers. Kimbermee manages to work her way into his camera shot. Clay collapses into Ruben with relief when he is declared safe. Again, I am struck by what looks like a genuine friendship between those two. And a little later, we got some lovely footage of the tan pants. Move your head Charles!

Vanessa, Julia and Kimberley are in the bottom three. After some mugging for the camera, Vanessa gets the boot. Apparently America doesn't care all that much for aggressive quirkiness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay I am now going to read others review and see how right you all are :P

Kandre

...damn I missed the eye on Paula's boob...goes to tell you how much I actually pay attention to her...

...yes I like this vidoes of the idol in some field trip. I think they group really jelled well together and you can see that in these videos. There was no need for choreographed interactions...or high jinks. Very natural. and Clay as usual hanging around the pretty girls. I really wonder how poeple can think he is gay...he is actually quite the slut...HEH.

...Great point on Klo not connecting to the TV audience. didn't pick up on that.

...love your fangirly review of Clay...

ok...I guess our biggest difference is on Vanessa...not really impressed with her singing, and I found her totally irritating. I find the ranking pretty tought easy to figure out top three or bottom two but the middle is interchangeable.

Bottlecap

so true about Josh...its like the fourth of july, mom and apple pie thing...too good to be true..too abd he looks constipated while singing...hee

bwah on Vanessa;s comment to Corey...totally didn;t notice that.

I guess we can all conlcude that we liked Clay!!!!

next stop movie theme night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, Ansa, it's fun to see the common things we all picked up on in the episodes, and where we differed in our opinions.

I have also been going back to TWoP and re-reading Shack's reviews after I write my own. Not only do I enjoy reading the original Tsathy references, I like to think of Shack as being a sort of non-fangirly control group. :P It is interesting to see that even he was picking up on the Ruben pimping in Group 2 and in this episode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh Shack was always full of the good overall haterade...I loved Shack for a long, long time...he made it so hard to tell he liked Kim until she got booted...

Vanessa...I guess I'm one of those who can deal with irritating better than with dull...except for frickin' BicBoi...and Caaaarmen. I admit I didn't see stage presence, more like desperation because I think even she was shocked she was up there. Of course, setting her up for the crushing of her delusions later....

Movie Theme Night! Another of the Clay performances that I don't play over and over again...mice songs don't thrill me...gimme a rat song instead. Ya shoulda sung Ben, Clay. But I love ya anyhoo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Claywright, the downloadable videos links are currently on FCA Media.

Shack and TWoP - Television Without Pity (TWoP) is a website that posts snarky recaps and hosts message forums for various television shows. Shack wrote weekly recaps for AI2, and also was the moderater the related message forums. Posters went wild for Clay, and I would suspect, got on Shack's nerves quite a bit. If you enjoy snarky, biting humor and aren't put off by language which is not always family-friendly, TWoP can be quite entertaining. A thing to remember about the message forums is that they are not restricted to fans and can get quite rough, so if you are only looking for good things, I would be wary. Trolls, while currently not as not as numerous as they have been in the past, continue to pop their heads up from under the bridge from time to time. Long story short - TWoP is an acquired taste, but it does hold a place in the history of the Clay Nation as many posters, particularly from the Clack House, started out there in 2003.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only thing I would add is the TWoP makes it clear that it is NOT a fan site at all - a lot of what we would considering "trolling" is just business as usual there.

They can be seriously funny though...and I can't remember as I didn't check the AI forums until late in the "Rick Astley LIVES" thread...

C'mon claywright, fall under the bad influences of our reviews...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Motown Review with Results

Songs by Lamont Dozier, well known favs and easy(?) to sing, when you heard them, you’ll join in. Songs are happy even when love is lost. Great choice for opening session. Songs offer chance to singers to really emote, move and sing heart out.

A video showing the contestants’ background was filmed to make contestant look good, naturally. Mostly repetitious, with hometown, family, friends, singing career and home welcome.

Tried to make video heartwarming, generally succeeded.

First up was Kimberly Locke. Video showed a happy girl with her loving family in a friendly town. She sang when she was a child and now leads church choir.

She came out first, hot and sassy in a lipstick red dress. She sang Heatwave with pazazz. Screens showed flames in the back which inspired Simon to think of a Burger King commercial. Why be nice when being nasty makes you a well paid TV personality? As much as I dislike him, sometimes he’s right on. Other comments were lukewarm.

Results: Kim was in bottom three, but saved.

Next, Josh Gracin. Video showed all American boy, married to HS sweetheart, has a baby. Joined the Marine Corps to defend his country. Enjoyed base camp and friends. Whatever one says, country needs people like this.

Can’t remember what he sang. but Motown didn’t seem like his best genre. Looks like a country boy. Critique so-so.

Results: Saved

Charles Grigsby. Video show Charles beloved by his home town and all. Sang How Sweet It is. Pleasant voice, only moving by pointing at audience. Critique less than lukewarm

Results: Saved.

Kimmee always wanted to perform (no kidding). Born in Texas and moved with Mom to Branson where she worked in the theaters. Isn’t this professional experience? Ok, it’s not the Olympics. Sang No Where to Run. Very comfortable, moving around stage. Sounds good. Judges liked her.

Results: Saved.

Rickey born in Wichita, but video only showed Keene College where he is loved by everyone even ducks. (I’ve always liked him and wish him well.) College Prez paid him to go to audition. Mom says he is a breath of fresh air.

He sang 1-2-3- in white pants that made him look fat. Called nicest guy in competition. Sounded good. Pleased judges.

(Why did Simon bring up homeless people and Rickey answered “you should see where I live.”?

Results: Saved.

Julia DeMato is another small town girl. Was a quiet, shy child says Mother. Works and enjoys hairdressing. Sang Where did our love Go. Was okay, Judges talked about how good she looked.

Results: One of three with lowest votes.

Then, an angel descended from heaven, sigh, aaaahhhhh. Ok, back to normal. Clay Aiken, mmmmm name is like honey on the lips. Why don’t they just let him sing every song??????? Ratings would skyrocket. He wore a stripped shirt (big surprise). He should have swapped shirts with Charles. Hair lightened a little more. Kidded with Ryan about flat irons and spray. Video showed Clay talking about his southern accent, (soothing to the ears) and living in capital City Raleigh. Camera showed a large colonial house with nice ground. Was that his family’s? A house like that in my neighborhood (Philadelphia suburbs) would cost a very pretty penny. Anyway, I’ll pass family stuff and go straight to Gonzo period where his love for children developed and decided his career of special education. I’ll shorten his comments to “It’s important that I make a difference to someone.....” He sang Sugar Pie Honey Bunch like it was written for him. Moved around the stage like he was having fun, very professional. Camera showed a row of straight haired blond friends rooting for him. After a darling lip bite, the judges et al gave him a standing O. Simon was booed down when he called his performance, Motown, the Musical (foreshadowing the future Broadway comments.)

Results: What do you think?????

Vanessa is an only child from Atlanta. Wants to be center of

attention. Loves her little brother, animals and her pot belly pig. Is a hair colorist (What else? She practices on herself).

Sang You Keep me hanging on. She is lively and entertaining as Simon pointed out.

Results: One of three with least votes.

Corey Clark a young man from San Bernardino who has traveled around the country. He wasn’t going to graduate from HS, but a few teachers helped him. He was “devastated” from Grand father’s death and father gave him the estate to run. His grand dad was a prominent police officer, the first black one in area. and there is a scrapbook of his good deeds and many certificates and pictures of GF with prominent people on the wall, He confessed that he plays around at night, but judges said that’s ok. He’s young. My opinion: if he had stayed home and practiced, he might have gone on farther. Sang This Old Heart of Mine. Judges good. One thing out of the ordinary, this time Paula did not echo Randy. She said a lot of nice things about Corey.

Results: Saved.

Carmen, a beautiful girl from Utah (a Mormon??) with the most perfect life. Great and loving family. Very talented, dances along with singing and goes to be taught every summer in NY by prominent dancer. Plays piano and guitar. (Starting to sing The hills are alive with a sound of music. What? Shut up. OK)

She sang you can’t hurry love in a pair of cropped pants that made her look awkward when she moved. Judges Good +.

Results: Saved.

Trenyce is from Memphis and started singing at two and a half. Went into nursing school and left to start singing. Mom was disappointed but Trenyce promised to return. She sang Come see about me with panache and style. She is young, sultry with a voice to put over song. Judges very happy with her.

Results: saved.

Last and never least. Reuben is considered by parents as a blessing from God. Has a cute, bantering relationship with bro.

Proud of Birmingham Alabama. He sang Baby I need your loving and did a great job. Got standing O. Ryan Seacrest is exaggerating his name so he now has his own signature name sound, RRRuuuuuben!!!!!!! Simon took opportunity to pitch Kelly Clarkson’s new album and said Reuben is same caliber.

Final result: Klo and Julia were save and Vanessa went home, saying she hoped people would remember her for her fun and her talent.

The whole group danced to Heatwave. It looked like Clay was looking down at Vanessa’s boobs, but I could be wrong. The group sort of divided into twos and Clay who was on one end, moved down to be Carmen’s partner. While the others were just sort of moving, Clay was eyefunking Carmen and dancing with her.

Maybe I can lose weight, cut off some legs parts, let hair grow and bleach blond. move to Bountiful Utah, have plastic surgery, make a pact with the devil. Won’t work???? Oh well!!!

KAndre: Don’t count exclamation points, huh? How about 23 in Clay’s paragraph and only 3 others in whole review. Ha,ha

Bottlecap: Thanks for info.

Ansamcw: Put me where I belong? A lot of people want to do that, but not as nicely as you.

:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll ha ha you. Clay's weren't exclamations marks - they were punctuation points of pure bliss! Bliss, I tell ya!

Hey, if there are boobs, Clay's gonna look. Period. I think he wants to be a...doctor. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...