djs111

Oh, I couldn't even bear to listen, hardly - but, since it is just us, I will tell you a secret - I hatesssss that song.

Always have, no matter who sings it.

Clay of course sends it to the moon.....but I don't care if I ever hear it again.

I like Pickler because she has managed to bend space and time and be Carrie's little sister. The very next year.

I don't think she is dumb, she is having a good time, and knows what people are saying....I just like her instinctively, the same way I don't like Katherine (Miss Smug USA).

Yup. Pickler is gone, and thus endeth my interest in AI5!

I think she is nicer than the other girls, for some reason, she reminds me of Dolly Parton, and I hope she has some measure of success.

Did I hear Ryan say "who is next?" and Simon say "Kellie", and then Ryan say "Foster and Bocelli"????

I think maybe Kellie is going.....sniff!!!!

Hmmmm....

Oh, and Chris D. reminds me of Vin Diesel - without the warmth.

I love how Chris looks in that black suit.

Is he singing?

Haha! - I think he is doing well enough!

Bwahahaha! Everybody's little recaps sucked except for Chris'......

Taylor looked demented.

I have a yearning to see Ruben's disembodied singing head & pyramids & other things be used as a background, with no sound.

For Taylor.

Because when I finally go, I want to be laughing.

Taylor seems to be channeling Michael MacDonald, in rehearsal.

Too high and strained.

Both of them.

eta - that wasn't v. great.

So far Elliot did best.

I agreed with the judges on Katherine.

Elliot was pretty good - a bit wavery in spots.

I lurve the Pickler, but I am v. nervous for her.

Yikes.

(Insert evil laugh here!) - YES I am obstinate....but Kellie seems so refreshing after watching Katherine's Stepford Singer moves....plus I think it really bothers Simon that she is still here.....and hey! Simon got the "you're talking too long music!" Yay!

Paris is good, I just am not all that interested in child singers. It is like she is doing clever tricks or something.

What a motley and interesting group!

Heeeee....I know the Pickler is, um, uneven!

Glowers at playbiller.....I like the Pickler. She is more interesting than the others.

Also, if she goes tonight, I can't summom up any interest in the leftovers.

Blah group.

I thought Kat was just as pitchy as Kellie.

Which is real pitchy.

I cannot stand mcPhee.

Flats, sharps, pitches, why am I looking up her nose, where the hell did that close-up come from.

She is straining.

I like Elliot.

EEEEP!!!!! Kellie is rushing and nervous. She reminds me of Crystal on Wings, for some reason.

Bad dress. I may vote for her.

Kandre said:

Sam Cooke sounds like I always though cognac should taste like...

Yesssssss.

Just tuned in....Taylor is like the poor man's Sammy Davis Junior.

He is Vegas lounge, baby!

I was thinking how Simon would have said vegas to Clay for the exact same song - but I think the difference is that Clay has all those powerful notes just struggling to be set free, and Taylor has a limited range that he stays in very nicely.

He does what a lot of singers do - instead of singing higher, he sings louder, if that makes any sense.

We have seen all there is to Taylor, methinks.

Elliot sounds very good, I don't like all the movement and gestures, reminds me of Jim Nabors.

He does have a good voice, it looks like the standards are bringing out the best in people.

Happy Easter!!!!!!

(Don't know what those are, but they look happy, yet able to skewer someone if they need to!)

Didn't Simon once say that the only reason Clay's single sold so well was because of BOTW?

They just say stuff for the media; I doubt they give it as much thought as we do.

As far as a single from MoaM, I think Touch would have been good - it has a hook, it is light, there is something catchy about it.

I love WYSYLM, but I think it sounded too country for a first or second single.

And yes, I too don't care what is on the new CD, I just want it, and let the games and whining and sniping and happiness and all the circus acts begin!

I feel like the official announcement should include jugglers and baton twirlers.

This trip report is AWESOME!!!!!

Next time we will send a covert camera crew along.......

HRH (or I guess YRH) - you need to do this every year!

Yes, Taylor makes me laugh....not good.

I like Pickles, she has spunk. I feel like McPhee expects to win, whoever said she is Star Search is right. She seems more calculated than KimberMe.

Ace or Bucky can go this week, I think.

I like Chris best, of the guys.

My theory du jour is that this year's field is so weak because the producers have been totally seduced by the huge numbers for the bad auditions, and have not concentrated on good singers. Yeah, they are putting together entertainment, but I just don't see a star here.

What I like about Kellie is that she can carry a tune, and can strut around, and seems more real than the current crop of poppy little sound-tooled ponies.

Clarkson does have a superior voice, but she is boooooring. Yes I know how many CDs she sold.

Oh well, at least I know I don't have to watch until 9:15 or so.

I think Paris gave her song a good shot...I did not watch Taylor, he is like Connie, to me, he just makes me laugh....McPhee looks like Sally Field tonight.

I think I liked Chris and Pickler the best.

Everybody else - meh.

Elliot is not doing well.

That last spot cuts both ways....if he is horrible, it will be remembered the most.

McPhee is not hitting many notes - to quote Simon - dreadful.

Simon - you look great

McPhee - I Know, I do.

YAY for Pickler!!!!! The lighting was v. bizarre, looked like she had a dirty face.....but she looked great, and I think she pulled it off!!!!!

Stepford Kelly cannot actually rock, I bet....

Ace was, well, embarassing.

eta - looks around, looks defiant....I still liked Wendy best, too (PR) - I am rooting for the Pickler. She is so dang good-natured!

And yep - she was better than Connie.

Well, that was better than mediocre!!!!!!!! He had fun with it, I think.

Fantasia in the audience?

What a night.....HRH's Adventures in Italy, and now I can view a train wreck from the comfort of my room!!!!

I cannot TELL you how much I am looking forward to seeing Kellie P. sing BoRhap.

Mamaaaaa, Ah kilt a maaaaaan....

And of the ladies I like Pickler the bestest. I don't even really like the other two, or however many there are. I liked Mandisa, though.

Will Bucky mumble? Will Taylor do his little Shirley Temple moves? I am really counting on him looking cross-eyed at the mic at least once.

Will we see Ace's scar again? Has Ryan shaved? Is Pauler medicated into bonelessness again?

My bad....I know these people are earnestly desiring fame and fortune.

But today I was thinking of all the stories I have heard about really good singers not even making it to the producers because they were in the "bad audition" queue or something.

So it is all random anyway.

Heeeee...while looking for the site with a camera out in a corn field, just to watch the corn grow (shut up! - it was funny at the time because a lot of us at work back then moved from Ill./Ind. to florida) we googled corn cam. At work.

OMG. We turned off the PC, we were so flustered.

(here it is, btw - http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/corn_cam/)

Anyway, the first two pages all had to do with people bent over and doing stunts in showers....nowadays this doesn't happen, but this was in 1999, before filters and before the humongous number of available web sites.

This trip report is better than the blogs.....thank you!

okay, 24 hours later.....I just heard a rumour that KAndre is helping Clay with his CD.....

sniff! I guess playbiller is just gonna have to wait a bit to do her own trip report - she flew all the way to my house!!!!! and played UNO!!!!!! and missed the Chef show becoss a tree is blocking my satellite dish!!!!!! AND helped Jacob with his homework!!!!! (patience of a saint, he was trying to do his math for hours, he just cannot concentrate). For sheer excitement, um, Kandre's trip wins. But at least I speak English.

Actually, I am wildly looking forward to the reports on Italy and France!!!!!!!!!

I didn't find anything to cry about in the book....more like sadness and outrage, and the pleased satisfaction when a character or two revealed a life much more interesting and fulfilling - and sometimes more heart-breaking - than the other characters (and I) arrogantly assumed.

I am going to start The Virgin's Knot soon - about a dowry rug weaver in Turkey. It begins in 1953. I am fascinated by contemporary books about other lands and cultures because I have only got a historical sense of them, I have no idea what day to day life is like.

That was one of the cool things about working overseas - I did very little tourist stuff, but learned to shop for groceries and get to work and stuff like that - where to get a good cheap supper, where to go out partying and such.

As long as I am here all by mahself.....I will post this, I posted it at the CH too.

It was so lovely to read about Clay without a discouraging word that I almost teared up.

Shut up.

Just saw this linked to on msnbc - good mentions, and a link to a 2005 article that is pretty good.....

lovely Clay mentions

‘Idol’ season two: Where are they now?

Ruben won, but Clay went on to massive success

playbiller - did your advice to people asking for directions involve "left" or "right"?

Have they been seen again?

Hahaha!

I am waiting for the next installment - this is great!

Heeeee....I have been thinking Elliot reminds me of someone.....Tom the goatboy in Chronicles of Narnia. Same sweetness and ears.

The shows and contestants are all starting to run together or something. Even the boards are just focussed on who will get cut next, a lot of the time.

Hopefully each singer will benefit by the exposure, though, however brief.

I was thinking about the Mandisa issue (the anti-gay thing) and wondering if people make a distinction between those just having a belief that something is wrong, and those who hate and kill and legislate.

So many people are a product of their upbringing and circumstances. Religion, for instance - I think most people are just born into it, they don't do extensive research and pick one they like.

Sort like Cgirl saying it is no great accomplishment to be born somewhere - oh well, too much philosophy for this thread!