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Idol Rewind - season 2


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A little late, as usual!

I thought the Julia-Kimberme was a bit of a set-up and edited to make it more confrontational than it had been, like most editing. However, I thought it was really interesting that Rewind edited out the final solution. After Julia's sister had escalated things, Frenchie (Julia's roommate?) stepped in, did some bitch-slapping all around and got everyone on track.

I was really surprised at Julia's 2007 comments because it sounded as if she were still carrying a grudge. I'm wondering what question she was responding to and how that was edited. I'm sure I saw/heard things in 2003 from Kim & Julia indicating that the cat-fight was partially scripted by TPTB.

Can you tell I don't trust a lot of what I see on "reality" TV??????? :whistling-1:

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A little late, as usual!

I thought the Julia-Kimberme was a bit of a set-up and edited to make it more confrontational than it had been, like most editing. However, I thought it was really interesting that Rewind edited out the final solution. After Julia's sister had escalated things, Frenchie (Julia's roommate?) stepped in, did some bitch-slapping all around and got everyone on track.

I was really surprised at Julia's 2007 comments because it sounded as if she were still carrying a grudge. I'm wondering what question she was responding to and how that was edited. I'm sure I saw/heard things in 2003 from Kim & Julia indicating that the cat-fight was partially scripted by TPTB.

Can you tell I don't trust a lot of what I see on "reality" TV??????? :whistling-1:

Oh really, Frenchie got involved? Darn, they left that out of the REWIND!

What's TPTB?

But lilyshine, you're right of course. Television is an illusion. They show you what they want you to see, and what they want you to see is stuff you'll talk about at the watercooler - just as we are doing lol - so that it generates interest and therefore big bucks from the advertizers.

C'est la vie. It's fun, as long as I'm not the one they are calling a b****..... (it rhymes with "witch", thanks KimC).

I'm a little surprised that they brought back Corey for REWIND, after his disgusting attempt to discredit and shame Pawler. Oh heck, that's part of ratings too, so I'm NOT suprised after all....

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Darn it! I missed my favorite TLS!!! Here I was cuddling with Cait thinking that there was nothing on TV...she finally fell asleep and I turn it on to see Trenyce doing Tina. Shoot! Oh well I can watch it next week.

Then watching the 60's Sedaka show...I fell asleep before Solitaire....woke up to see the elimination. Damn!

Anyway....watching it back I can see that everybody's vocals are getting ragged ...except for CLAY! His voice was pristine.

Klo sounded terrible in my ears specially with BeeGees... I agreed with Simon she deserved to leave that week. I skipped Josh performance because I knew he was bad...he did redeem himself with TLS.

Rubens voice was also ragged...Breaking up is hard to do was great and his final BeeGees song.

rewatching Grease I really loved that performance, not just the vocals but the visuals because he looked like he was having lots of fun. He came on with great confidence. Loved it and everyone loved it too... Simon really hates campy.

Yeah...Klo was kinda grating on my nerves in her current interviews. She sure didn't mince words with her opinion on Josh.

I do believe since Diane Warren Clay was in a different zone than all of them. Its so much fun to see it again.

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TPTB = The Powers That Be. I use it because I'm never sure who makes those editing decisions - Lythgoe, Fuller or others lower down the food chain. I know the scuttlebutt on Vincent was that the decision to lengthen it came right from Nigel L.

I missed the second half and Grease last night because of a ball game. I'll have to dl it and see how it compares with my memory!

ETA It's good to keep in mind that the production team on Rewind is not the same as AI and they may have very different agendas. Some people were wondering why things like the order of songs has been changed and it may be as simple and as practical as keeping the ad spacing and timing correct. They are compressing at least two hours of aired footage plus new interviews. Placement and timing of advertisements trumps the show content any day!

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I can understand the whole thing with Vincent for production values, but the next week when Paula was covering AI for ET every week, the only thing she talked about for Clay was "jhe forgot the words", and the rest of the time was how wonderful Ruben was. Of course she had every right to talk about how wonderful Ruben was, but to just repeat over and over that Clay forgot the words was annoying. I wonder what Clay will say next week. At that point, I accepted that Clay would lose, beforethat, nothing could convince me. I had trolled the internet for opinions and talked to people at the office and did a personal survey, so to speak.

I think, at this point, with another jail term facing him, Corey would do anything for money and also to get his face back out there. I was nottoo fond of "sweet" Paula early on, but after seeing "Hey Paula", her reality show, I can believe Corey. The woman is a train wreck nut case and her world really does exist of her needs only, everyone else are just actors in her life to serve her irrational needs despite constant abuse. Yes, she has little dogs, but they are like Paris Hilton's dogs, just props in her life.

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See, AI2 top 4 was my favorite show EVAH - so y'all will just have to suffer through a long-ass recap! HA HA!

Ryan looks semi-normal in a dark t-shirt with some sort of modified peace symbol, jacket and jeans. The Bee Gees! Lord, I love the Bee Gees. Loved them even before Saturday Night Fever...though no one should be allowed to wear light blue sunglasses indoors. Robin, you just look too pretentious for words. The Idol Rewind show this time is spending too much time on the "banter". Feh. Robin claims to be a good critic - he lies.

Josh comes out - man, he's chunked up a bit over the show. And of all the BeeGee songs in the world, why in the hell would anyone pick "Jive Talkin'"? Oh wait, it only has like ten words, repeated over and over and over again. Tsk, tsk - don't sing from your scaredy place, Josh! And he picks up with Jive Talkin' where he left off with Bad Blood, squinting at the audience, shaking his finger, and frickin' nodding his head at me - I want to disagree with whatever he's saying. - and dude, it's hard enough to sing good standing in one place, much less running like a chicken with your head cut off. And the last verse, where we had to wait to get back up on stage and catch his breath and it was like it was out of nowhere. Randy is full of shit. So is Robin. Paula's still psychotic. And again, I agree with Simon, it was shouty and manic and frankly not that good.

That idiot Ryan is all but calling some woman a liar about being around in 1969.

Ooooooo. Now this, this is where I totally fell in lust with this dude. Clay Aiken. He comes strolling out - that's HIS stage. He's dress in a dark suit - electric blue tie. He's in no hurry. And his voice rings out with GORGEOUS tones. And he knows he sounds good. And HE'S LOOKING AT ME! RIGHT THROUGH THE TV! HE KNOWS I'M THINKING OBSCENE THOUGHTS ABOUT HIM AND HE'S GRINNING AT ME! People in the audience (including Robin) are swaying naturally to the music (instead of that damn fake arm waving they do now) HE'S EYEFUCKING ME AGAIN. BABY, YOU GOT ME, I SWEAR TO GOD! Who is he pointing too? That bitch has got to die! He's MINE, MINE I TELL YOU! Hot potato that mike, Clay! Orange spikey-haired Clay is the hottest thing on the planet. Oh, lord the knee bends with the glory notes - I love him. I love him so very much. Oh, he's looking at me again. I love him even MORE. I would so hit that hard that one of my favorite lines from Scrubs comes to mind - dude, by that time I was done with you, you would have to walk sideways for the rest of your life because I would use up all your up and down! Mmm mmm good!

In case y'all couldn't tell, I liked it.

Randy thought it was brilliant and rightfully so (though Randy seemed to think everyone was brilliant tonight); Robin say the most true thing EVAH - an absolutely fantastic voice and that's the way the song should be sung. Paula said blah blah blah (Clay laughed a bit at her because he clearly didn't understand what the hell she was talking about). Simon could not deny the truth. Best!

Ryan talks about people slow dancing to Clay's song - women want to marry Clay - and shows how Ryan doesn't actually listen to what Simon says, besides being something of an idiot.

KLo looks OK but a bit blah. She's doing one of my favorite teenage songs - Andy Gibbs' I Just Want to be Your Everything - this is a really bad choice for her. For some reason, she's doing it in a very staccato style - she's almost non-melodic and is not connecting with the song. This was bad for KLo - but miles better than Josh.

Oh, BTW, when I said this was gonna be a long-ass recap - that's the Clay parts. Just so you know. Randy blah, blah. Robin blah blah. Paula blah blah blah. Simon is right, it wasn't anything special. They showed very little of KLo/Ryan's interaction.

Ruben comes out with Nights on Broadway - the boy sounds good. This is the dance mix sound and he got the people to their feet. I like his performance on this. Outfit is also a little blah. Wasn't as thrilled with the end but can live with it. Randy blah blah, Robin blah blah. Paula blah babble blah. Simon desperately trying to save the show.

It's Josh! He's doing To Love Somebody! After Clay's already kicked its ass! He's crazy, man; crazy! Now, I gotta give Josh props - he made this WORK as a country song - as far as I know, this is an arrangement he came up with, he's still squinting and pointing his finger at me but he's not running around like a deranged monkey. He also looks better in the beige top. This is my second favorite Josh performance. Randy says best he's ever heard him and brilliant. Robin likes the country. Paula blah blah. Simon says he pulled it off.

I hear the opening note's of Clay's Grease and start GRINNING to myself! Ryan lets Josh intro Clay. Clay comes out with his little white boy's "cool" strut. And he's wiggling his little hips - and pointing those big ol' feet in odd directions. He DOES know where the beat is. And he's SMIRKING at us, encouraging us to laugh with him, and I'm laughing my ass off. He's got people standing and dancing (and laughing) and cheering. OK, I can't watch without tittering hysterically so to do it justice I will have to pull out my audio and listen - and oh my god, he sounds SUBLIME. His is a gorgeously warm tenor voice, with clarity enough that even though I've been singing that song for thirty years - this was the first time I really heard and understood the words. I remember somebody breaking this performance down note by note just to highlight the sheer talent of it. Man, this was just good.

Randy was rolling - he could barely comment for the laughter - but clearly took it in the spirit in which it was meant - he liked the moves, baby! Robin was clearly at a total loss as to what the hell Clay was doing "but loves his voice anyway". Heh. Paula knew the dance was for her to shut her up and therefore enjoyed every minute of it. Simon was completely and totally flabbergasted. He didn't know what to make of it besides I think he had a suspicion that Clay was laughing at him. The part that tickles me was this was the first time that the booing got totally out of control and actually got to Simon enough that he actually turned about and told the audience to shut up. And then Clay confirmed that he didn't take Simon seriously and THEN Clay waggled his hips at America again! Man, life doesn't get much better than that.

KLo - the only thing I liked about her outfit were the boots and and the necklace. Chick, if you're gonna wear fake eyelashes, don't just part the brushy part in the middle. It looks faux fake. The rest were blah. As for Emotions, she would have done better to use Samantha Sang's version instead of trying for Destiny's Child's - frankly she doesn't have the range of that trio (she could probably kick Beyonce's butt - but Beyonce really doesn't have that much of a range). Her transitions were really awkward, and there was a clear glitch when she went up into the dolphin notes - and she was just doing them to do them - they added nothing to the song. Randy went blah blah, Robin went blah blah, Paula went blah, blah, Simon said it wasn't her best night - and the boos were normal to muted. Ha!

Ruben comes out and does Al Green's version of How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. He's not Al (but who is?) but he did a damn good version of it. He wasn't really feeling the lyrics but I bet you LOTS of money he grew up listen to this and he makes it work. It says something to me that he had Robin Gibb singing along. I really do like Ruben. This is my older sister's favorite Ruben performance. The boy has talent. Randy blah blah, Robin really loved it, Paula blah blah blah.

Clay is so sweet and complementary to Josh - but it's clear Clay's not willing to give up TLS either. Clay looked so stressed! And KLo is starting to annoy me - "we" thought Josh should have left? I'm allowed to think that, not you! And "only girl" had nothing to do with you being in the bottom two, bitch!

KLo and Josh are in the bottom two - buh bye Josh! I remember how shocked I was when Ryan announced it so suddenly - he didn't play around at all! See this was the bad part of Rewind - they skipped my favorite Ford pimpercial! Alfalfa Clay turning into Red Hot Pimp Daddy to the music of "Ride Wit Me"! And the look on my son's face when he recognized the tune! Priceless! And the group sing was only second to the top 5. And this was KLo's best outfit in the results show.

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His is a gorgeously warm tenor voice, with clarity enough that even though I've been singing that song for thirty years - this was the first time I really heard and understood the words. I remember somebody breaking this performance down note by note just to highlight the sheer talent of it.

KAndre...is this the vocal breakdown you were thinking of?

This was the work of Pearrrrrrlywhites at the CB...back in fall 2003.

Someone asked for Grease:

My problems and I've seen the light

Did he miss a cue here or did the mic not come on in time? Apparently there are some words missing at the beginning. Immediately we hear that his voice sounds different from TLS.

We got a lovin' thing, we gotta feed it rightNotice that the vibrato is faster and narrower. He lets his accent loose, and boy does it work. "Lovin' thang", indeed.

There ain't no danger we can go too far He scoops up to the note on "There", something many singers overuse. Clay doesn't do it very often, preferring to hit the note squarely in the center. The fact that he does it here points to his versatility. Listen for the softness of "far". No hard rr's there, I notice.

We start believin' now that we can be who we are

The tight "ee" sound on "believin'" has been slightly jarring in other contexts, but works for this style.

Grease is the word The rrr's are back in town.

It's gotta groove, it's gotta meaning I tried to listen to this section again and accidentally went back to the beginning of the song. So I listened to the whole thing so far and got another flash of realization. Clay is really into the rhythm of this song. Listen to how he punches certain words to accent the beats: "problems", "seen", "lovin", "feed", "danger", "believin'", "groove", "meaning". This is a dance song, and he's giving it the appropriate feel.

Oh, grease is the time, it's the place, it's the motion My absolute favorite line of the song. If ever a whine could be good in singing, it's good here. Listen to the beginnings of the words "time", "place", and "motion". He puts this little edge on the consonants. Is there a technical name for it? I don't know.

Grease is the way we are feeling Even in this different style of singing, you can still hear the power in Clay's voice, especially here, beginning with the word "Grease". He drops the volume again at the end of the line.

This is a life of illusion The notes are a little lower, sort of the transition of the song. I don't want to say he eases up on the intensity of his sound, but there is a sort of backing off in order to showcase what comes later.

wrapped up in trouble my second favorite line. The hard rr's have an emphatic effect. Listen for the second syllable of "trouble", he just falls off the word without ever fully pronouncing the 'L'. A digression here: There's been discussion of Clay's acting abilities. Now, I don't know how his rumored screentest will turn out, but I do know that he has a gift for acting with his voice. He can put himself in the appropriate role of the song he's singing. For example, "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore" is from the perspective of a man who's recently divorced. But when you hear Clay sing "Put your pictures in a shoebox and my gold ring in a drawer", you feel like he has truly experienced it. Now in listening to Grease, he really does *sound* like the hair-slicked-back, drag-racing, 1950s bad boy.

Laced in confusion, What are we doin' here?

Of course the highlight of this line is the falsetto B on "here". I would love to know how much Clay practiced this. The difficulty lies in the fact that B is actually in his belting range (witness TITN and TLS), and he generally has problems with singing falsetto on such notes (ex. SOT and TITN). Not only that, but he had to maintain a creditable vibrato on "here" also, something he didn't have to do on the "need" of UM, his other famous falsetto note.

It's gotta groove, it's gotta meaning, Oh grease is the time it's the place it's the motion, grease is the way we are feeling This sounds just like the last time he sang it, which is noteworthy in itself for consistency.

Grease is the word Listen to how he begins the falsetto in "Grease" with vibrato, then straightens it out halfway through. Interesting. "Word" - he breaks into two syllables, breaking as he changes notes.

Overall thoughts: When watching this on AI, I felt like I was watching a train wreck. Simon expressed exactly what I was feeling in his comments. I didn't like the red leather jacket or the red shoes. I was embarassed by the hip shake, not to mention the camera angles. Maybe I was detecting Clay's discomfort with the whole act, I don't know. I just kept thinking the performance was like one of those "Ed" episodes where Warren Cheswick pulls an outrageous stunt to get Jessica Martel's attention. I was truly afraid Clay was going to get booted for that performance! Of course, then I got on-line and realized that everyone else was thinking something quite different!

Now I agree with Clay, "Grease" was one of his better vocal performances. He had to sing in a completely different style than is usual for him to the point of almost making his voice sound like a different person, and maintain that style through the entire song for consistency. And he had to do all that while pulling off some dance moves that he hadn't had time to become comfortable with. Needless to say, he has since become *very* comfortable with said dance moves.

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Ah...I got to watch this one all alone in my house without worrying about any interruptions or smartassed commentary from the teenager...

I remember thinking that it had better be Josh that went home on this one, even before any of them sang. He really should've been sent packing a couple of weeks earlier and by that time I'd come to think Kim was going to give Clay and Ruben a run for their money. Anyway, I was also ready to slap those facial expressions off Josh's face. Why the HELL didn't Simon ever offer Josh some Preparation H or botox or something? He was quick enough to tell Clay that his sex-ay facial tics were wrong...And another thing: here's the deal about running around and jumping up and down on stage when you're singing: if you're not Clay, don't. You don't have the breath control or the pipes and you make me too self conscious about my own inability to do so.

Ah...black suited, hot-blue-tied Clay AIken. Sigh and slurp. There was something about his eyes that night. What? Oh, right...the eyefuck. He killed every one of us women, after bringing all of our girly parts to life first---both with the shear genius of his voice and then with those eyefucking eyes. Whoa. And the mouth. Watch it again and if you can--don't look at his eyes. Watch his lips form the words and frame the VOX as it flows through them....gah. And then the grins---the sly "I know what you need and I know how to give it to you" grins. I remember thinking, "Holy shit! What happened to the sweet, dorky Southern Baptist boy? That man is freakin' dangerous!" (in a very good way)

Kimberly---well, to me her voice sounded tired and strained. I had to agree with Simon about her that night. Just meh. Although it was obvious that Pauler was having some girl-on-girl thoughts with her gushing comments.

Ruben sounded very good on both of these songs. Interesting how you come to anticipate the type of runs each singer will do. Ruben's 'melisma' choices are very predictable, I think, just like Clay's are. Good thing they both do them well or I'd be pissed.

I was SHOCKED! Shocked, I tell you...to hear that Josh was going to sing TLS...and I remember thinking, "Oh, god, PLEASE don't make it too embarrassing for him." But he surprised me. I actually liked his version just fine. Of course, it was just a time filler after hearing Clay sing the shit out of the same song...but still. And I thought it was quite 'manly' of Simon to give Josh props for "pulling it off" (and loved the whole underlying meaning of him saying that Josh "took a risk"---heh. Everybody knew Clay would be the better singer.)

I've already given my Grease reaction. I will admit that watching him this time---with all that's happened since then---wasn't as painful as it was when I watched it that night years ago. And I WANT to believe all the things you guys say---about him doing it just to say FU to those who'd been on his case, etc. Okay...I'll go with that (because it's just too horrid for me to think otherwise). I DO remember, though, the first time I listened to Clay singing Grease on my iPod (without the visual) and how I reacted. DAYUM. Vocally, it was flawless. Amazing, really.

Robin Gibb as a judge? Stick to songwriting, dude. Although he did show some intelligence when he said that Clay had a fantastic voice.

If Totally were still posting here she'd tell you about that clip of Clay during the results show that she and I kept rewinding and watching and rewinding and watching. It was when he was sitting there after Kim was in the bottom two. He looked absolutely terrified...and so...

HAWT! :hubbahubba:

Gawd...we kept watching the same few seconds over and over...just to see him breathing heavily and swallowing nervously and looking with wide, long-lashed eyes and...I even think somebody made me a VHS copy of those few seconds! (Who WAS that? Thankful4Clay? No, I didn't know you then, did I?) No matter how many times I watched, it made me want to jump him in a very bad good way. :Thud:

It's so interesting to watch just how very close Clay and Kim seemed to be then. And how interesting it is to see how close he and Ruben still are...heh. Serves her right. Anybody dumb enough to live with Clay and not get a piece of that stuff deserves to be cut off from his good graces. (and other good stuff of his)

Sorry...this turned into a long-assed epic. I'm avoiding going back to doing taxes. Oh, and I miss the group songs and the commercials with Clay in them, too.

ETA: just read the Pearrrrrrlywhites breakdown of Clay's Grease performance (vocal) and uh...

yeah...what she said.

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I'm watching Rewind right now, and I'm having the same damn reaction to Grease that I did 5 years ago -- grinning from ear to ear! Oh, God, I love this performance. The first time I saw that he had real cajones, IMO, and I loved every minute of it!

I too loved that pimp commercial -- favorite thing ever! And I loved the group medley from the top 4 too, I thought that was the best group medley during the entire run.

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Agree totally--best group sing ever. I've listened to the audio so much, it's funny to see the choreography again. Those four could really harmonize and sing back-up for one another, and then the latter part is all four-part blending. Just amazing. I loved the BeeGees medley on the tour too--it was my favorite part of the show (except for that Aiken guy). Grease as a vocal performance was outstanding as well. Physically as a group it didn't work so well. They didn't move with a whole lot of confidence or sophistication. I didn't care at the time, because I thought of them as budding artists, not pros. And man, did they sound good. No season since has there been a group that could harmonize the way the season 2 folks did. That year the progression that can occur on AI was the narrative (sorry) of that season, and it really worked--the way you can take someone with the raw talent but without the conventional looks and teach them what they need to know to make it.

Clay should've won.

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jmh, I totally agree with you on the harmonizing in that medley. It was a perfect blend of all four voices. Plus, each one had a great solo during that medley.

I too laugh at the guys singing "Woman in Love." But for some reason, the thing that really cracked me up was what I called the "Bohemian Rhapsody" setup for "Good Morning Mr. Sunshine." Loved, loved, loved that staging.

Wasn't that the week Oprah visited?

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I do believe it was. I'll have to check and see if I still have that.

You know what really amazes me...is how much harder those kids....those true newbies to the business... had to work. Compared to say seasons 3, 4, 5, and 6. I mean it's not their (season 3-6) fault they all sounded horrible together...but some years...there were very few group sings. Even now, the choreography is nothing compared to what Season 2 did. And that is the only year I saw genuine concern for each other. ALL of them. Lot's of hand holding, hugs, pats on the back. They really cared about each other. I think the living together in the house helped with that.

They were just really a unique bunch.

Some may not impress me now....but I love looking back at who they were.

Clackunlimited...

Oprah on AI2

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Yes, I still think AI2 had freakishly incredible harmonies - bad dancing (and none of the guys were any good at it) - by the top 5 they had really gelled - but the Bee Gees was sublime. The top 3 medley wasn't anything to sneeze at either. But I still think the live version of What the World Needs now was beyond beautiful - and there wasn't a season before or since who sounded as good together live.

One of my favorite parts of the Bee Gees medley was Clay singing to that woman - totally ignoring KimberMe! But I'm mean. But it was funny - she clearly wanted some more camera time!

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:cryingwlaughter: That WAS priceless!

She and her wiggly fingers.

And then the raised eyebrow expressions he made at her. Funny stuff.

Ya know what I have always wondered? During the Top 5 group medley.....60's music....they go out into the audience during Working My Way Back To You...Clay goes down a row a bit to his right and gives someone a hug. Who was that person?! Friend? Family? Fan?

It bugs the living daylights out of me....not knowing. Screw his favorite color....I wanna know who got the hug and why!

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Top 5 really gelled - or , as it is known, when Carmen was gone.

Seriously, in season 1 and the beginning of season 2, everyone sang a single song as a group song, no solos. By top 5, they had enough people who could sing and learn a lot, that they each got a true medley og different songs.

They tried that during AI3, but there were so many kids on taht show (5 I think) that needed 20 hours of school during the week and divas that were not used to singing with weak voices, that they just could not do it. Hence that top4 song being singing back up for Clay. They did a medley for the finale, but it still hurt my ears. no charity album.

By season 4 they were on individual single lines in a song and, I swear, the only person who sounded good and harmonized on teh group songs was the Scott that so many hated for an altercation where the details are iffy. I think he was the only one who got his training in high school choir where the voices are a bit shakey. Carrie was a solo singer with label experience since 12 and Bo trained singing lead for a rock band since he was a kid. Constantine had serious vocal training, but no choir, that I know of. Anthony almost died as a child! They did not get a medley until the finale. Now, I heard this was the party year and whatever.

Season 5 had serious experienced performers, but still solo artists. Few group songs, no charity album.

Season 6 - kids, divas and odd niche singers. Not many just regular singers. melinda knew how to modulate her voice, but a lot of others were always tryong to outsing the others like it was a challenge, like Tamyra and Kelly on the first AI Christmas Silent Night sung very, very VERY loudly!

Season 7, they are doing a few lines at a time not everyone gets a solo.

maybe no one wants to sing back up to any other. Each year I hear how much the idols love each other, last year they loved each otehr most, which is why a few of them are attacking each other in the news, radios, internet.....

I think that the final few in season 2 truly liked and appreaciated each other. If they don't any more, what ever, this was then, not now.

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HA! That's a good one! (and true too!)

You know what I'm realizing - KLo and Josh sound twenty times better in their solo parts on the Bee Gees Medley than they did in the performance (except for Josh in his version of TLS).

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I can understand the whole thing with Vincent for production values, but the next week when Paula was covering AI for ET every week, the only thing she talked about for Clay was "jhe forgot the words", and the rest of the time was how wonderful Ruben was. Of course she had every right to talk about how wonderful Ruben was, but to just repeat over and over that Clay forgot the words was annoying. I wonder what Clay will say next week. At that point, I accepted that Clay would lose, beforethat, nothing could convince me. I had trolled the internet for opinions and talked to people at the office and did a personal survey, so to speak.

Quite honestly, I doubt many people would have even KNOWN about this if they hadn't made such a big deal of it. I truly couldn't get over it, i.e. that such a fanfare was made out of something I truly didn't even notice until it was pointed out.

I think, at this point, with another jail term facing him, Corey would do anything for money and also to get his face back out there. I was nottoo fond of "sweet" Paula early on, but after seeing "Hey Paula", her reality show, I can believe Corey. The woman is a train wreck nut case and her world really does exist of her needs only, everyone else are just actors in her life to serve her irrational needs despite constant abuse. Yes, she has little dogs, but they are like Paris Hilton's dogs, just props in her life.

Yes, it's hard to believe that Corey made it all up about Pawler and I agree, she makes me go "what the ...?" at times but he's a cad through and through because if she really helped him that much, then what a way to stab her in the back. That's the part I don't like. Pawler is Pawler, she has her weaknesses (have you read LaToya Jackson's autobiography??) and she's part and parcel of the whole nasty Hollywood scene, but even she didn't deserve to be betrayed that way.

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Found at the CH:

From the blogs:

I’m definitely not the type that is "addicted" to American Idol or dance-off shows. Though I do pay vague attention when it gets down to the last few rounds because usually those people have some damn fine pipes.

Around midnight Idol Rewind comes on--basically reruns of past seasons including interviews with contestants. I don’t mind checking out a little Ryan Seacrest every now and again, so I’ll watch.

Holy shit if Clay Aiken didn’t just blow me out of the water with The Bee Gees "To Love Somebody". I can’t believe I missed it the first time around. We’re talking slack-jawed, buggy-eyed....it was good.

And how does he get his eyes to sparkle like that? Is there eyeball pixie dust I don’t know about? Simon says "horrible", I say "adorable".

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I hope that Pearrrrly doesn't mind that I share these with here, as one with no musical skills, I enjoy revisitng them every so often.

Pearrrrly's take on the Top Three songs Clay did.

Re: Pearrrrlywhites and Clay's voice

Vincent

I realize this is ancient history in the Clay universe, but the following is my Zapruder of "Vincent". This was written on July 29 to complete my book for the LWLHD auction, and I wrote this as I was listening to "Vincent" for the *very* first time since the Vincident. I was so phobic of this song that I couldn't even listen to Josh Groban sing it!

After all these weeks of deliberation, I have come up with the ideal punishment for whomever was responsible for putting "Vincent" in the fishbowl and then adding a verse at the last minute. They should spend the rest of their career (if not all eternity) in a small room listening to an endless recording of Atlanta Keith singing the entire Madonna repertoire. Occasional respites will be provided by viewings of the movies "Glitter", "Swept Away", and if advance reports are to be believed, "Gigli".(edit: written just before Gigli's release)

The difference in this analysis and all the previous ones is that while I have listened to all of Clay's other performances countless times, I am about to listen to "Vincent" literally for the first time ever since May 13, 2003. This song brings back such bad memories that I even skip over it on my Josh Groban CD. I was so angry and heartbroken that night, frightened that this beautiful voice was going to be snatched away from us, never to be heard again, all because of some stupid song written about a suicidal artist.

Enough ranting. I've procrastinated long enough. Here it is:

Starry starry night It starts off well enough, the "starry starry" is pretty. "Night" falls flat, not in pitch, but the sound is dull, not the usual Clay brilliance. He recovers near the end by adding vibrato.

Paint your palette blue and gray Nothing lacking here. This is in his middle range, just a sweet, beautiful, relaxed sound.

Look out on a summer day Wow, he sounds good! I get kind of a Josh Groban vibe here. There are no Clay quirks here -- no Southern accent, no emphasized consonants, more of a classical sound.

With eyes that know the darkness in my soul I think it would have sounded better without the breath before "in my soul". Pretty vibrato on "soul".

Shadows on the hills The sound is brighter now, more of a ringing tone, especially on "hills".

Sketch the trees and daffodils I wasn't ready for that high note, wow! Since we're kind of in a "star" mode, that note is like a shooting star -- explosive and beautiful.

Catch the breeze and winter chills He extends the "C" of "catch", giving a sort of catch in his voice, then opens up the vowel, letting a hint of breathiness in. Gives me chills.

And colors on the snowy linen land "Colors" is off, sounds almost nasal, then he recovers, the rest of the line is great. "Land" is a trademark Clay melisma with a decrescendo into that lovely soft voice with vibrato.

What you tried to say to me Was this a flubbed line? It sounded a little strange that he cut off "tried" so quickly and then held out "say" for a long time, as if he was waiting for the music to catch up to him. Vocally superb though.

And how you suffered for your sanity I have a hard time sometimes believing that Clay isn't classically trained. This is one of those times.

And how you tried to set them free He brightens up the sound just slightly to give his usual pop style.

They did not listen, they did not know how It's strange how little I can find to say on this song. He isn't doing anything exciting, it's just a solid, beautiful sound.

Perhaps they'll listen now The "ow" gets me every time, I would know that Clay "ow" anywhere. Ugh, this song stinks -- it's like "Oh, I'll kill myself, then everybody will be sorry they didn't pay attention to me."

And when all hope was left inside You mean that five-second musical interlude was what was splashed all over the news as Clay's "near-fatal error"? I don't even curse, but I find myself wanting to fill the next two lines with a string of various punctuation marks! Paula Abdul deserves to spend *her* eternity in the Atlanta Keith listening booth for pointing it out! Moving on, Clay certainly deserves *extra* credit for following up with one of the purest, most gorgeous notes he sang the entire season. Knowing now that he had missed his timing and was having to adlib somewhat, it makes that high A on "And" even more impressive.

On that starry starry night The way Clay sings "starry starry" is worth listening to the song again.

You took your life as lovers often do Maybe this line wouldn't be quite so awkward if it was about a woman. As it stands, it probably added fuel to the idiots out there who don't know who Vincent Van Gogh was and thought Clay was just singing to some guy. He goes into his almost-falsetto voice on "do", very pretty.

I could have told you Vincent Ditto to what I said above about the awkward lyrics.

This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you Poor Clay. That's all I have to say. He sang this line to perfection, for what it's worth.

Starry starry night Just the slightest voice crack at the beginning of this line, but a pretty finish.

Wow. That wasn't so hard to listen to after all. It's not like it cost him the competition or anything, I place the blame for that on the crazy phone system. And there's no point in feeling the pain that Clay felt that night because I'm sure he's beyond it. Listen to "Vincent" for what it is -- a song that shows Clay's longevity as a superb vocalist. When the shirt tugs and hip shakes are things of the past, the voice you hear on this song is going to be there still. Clay, American Idol was never meant for a voice as beautiful as yours. So there.

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Re: Pearrrrlywhites and Clay's voice

(09/16/03 8:22 PM)

Mack the Knife (May 13, 2003)

Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear Clay's versatility shines from the opening notes. His voice is light and effortless, the vibrato is more mellow with just a hint of breathiness that he keeps completely in control.

And he shows them pearly whites Oh, he's singing to me! No, really, he's not. But obviously I like this line enough to take it for my username. Notice the contrast between the relaxed sound of "them" with the hard consonant sounds in "pearly". The brightness is suddenly back for this one word and then mellows out for "whites".

Just a jackknife has old McHeath, babe The intensity is building a little as he hits the F on "jack" and then he pulls back.

And he keeps them out of sight Again the brightness comes through at the beginning of this line and then he fades slightly on "out of sight". The word I find the most interesting is "them". He has an unusual pronunciation of that vowel, and it's not a Southern accent.

When the shark bites with those teeth dear Key changes in an American Idol performance? That's something you don't see everyday. My take on this song is that it's all just a tease leading to the last note, but I'm getting ahead of myself. There's nothing really to say about this line except that he really does sound effortless here. I can't help but wonder about his state of mind at this point. Did he feel as though he had messed up so bad with Vincent that he was doomed, and may as well just have some fun? Oh, I also like to hear him sing the word "dear". Just because.

Scarlet billows start to spread Back to that almost breathy sound. I think it's like he's singing almost in a whisper, telling someone a secret in a flirtatious manner.

Fancy clothes though wears McHeath, babe Just remembered I need to talk about vibrato again. This applies to all previous lines as well. As mentioned in a previous post by our resident cellist, Clay does a great job of knowing when to use vibrato and when not to. If you don't know, vibrato is when his voice sounds wavy on certain notes. It takes a lot of control to do well and to *keep* from doing it when you don't want to. For example, Carmen had a very bad vibrato which led some to compare her voice to that of a goat bleating (I'm not bashing!). Interestingly enough, in my violin class, the teacher used the analogy of a nanny goat to describe the early stages of vibrato development. Back to topic, in this song, Clay sings notes more brightly without vibrato when he wants the dramatic effect, then lets the vibrato out for the more whispery effect. The word "though" is another teaser to let us know that something big is coming. Also it's a nice use of melisma (again, several notes on the same syllable) without overdoing it.

So there's never, never a trace of red Just as he delivers a whispering effect with some words, "So there's never" makes me think of a shout. He falls off the pitch ever so discreetly on the end of the word "never", which is perfectly acceptable to do in this speaking style of singing. Listen to any big band singer and you will get the impression that they are half-talking, half-singing. I usually don't like it. However, Clay leans more toward the singing side of the equation and so the effect is all good.

Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear Two key changes? Must be a record for American Idol. Yes, I'm making fun of the show, 'cause if it hadn't been for Clay, it would have been, well, "Fame". Oh, I see that for "shark" and "dear" Clay is loosening the apron strings tying him to the letter "r". Listen to that pure sound on the second syllable of "pretty". That is so hard to get the "ee" vowel to sound like that. Eeeeeee! (sorry, couldn't help it)

And now Mackey's back in town The first A (on Mackeeeeee) is slightly scratchy, which made me a little nervous at first. And I don't see how on earth he managed to get enough breath between "Mackey" and "back" to hold "town" for 10 seconds. Clay has phenomenal breath support for a guy who doesn't work out! "Town" started to go sharp, which he fixed immediately by starting the vibrato which made the final note everything it should be.

Overall a stunning performance. Yes, it was a cheesy lounge-singer song (grrrr Paula), but it reminded everyone of how much talent this guy had to be able to sing absolutely anything and make people love it. I think he has a good grasp on the Big Band sound, and would love to see him do a CD of Sinatra tunes someday.

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Unchained Melody

I was disappointed in this performance because I had listened to the demo version soooo many times, and was expecting something similar. However, if you judge this performance simply on its own merits without comparing it to the demo, it is truly outstanding. The arrangement is good at showing off Clay's voice while fitting the song into the time format. But this goes to prove that one of two things was true: 1. The show's producers were idiots. 2. The producers were out to get Clay. Wouldn't the obvious thing have been to lengthen this song to add time to the show instead of adding a verse to "Vincent"? Duh!

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea Even with the tempo change, this song is so natural for him to sing. He begins and ends each note so effortlessly. He stretches the notes whenever he can and still fit into the fast tempo, as in the first "to".

To the open arms of the sea, yeah Listen to the hard attacks on "open" and "of", very intense sounding. "Sea - yeah": Incredible melisma here, I am in awe that a voice can do this so smoothly.

Lonely rivers sigh, Wait for me, wait for me He puts a tear into "Wait". Another example of how well Clay interprets his songs. He's singing about a lonely river sighing, and he sounds like he's sighing or crying as he quotes the river, "Wait for me, wait for me."

I'll be coming home, wait for me Yikes, voice crack on "be", not the good on-purpose kind, either. Thank you judges for not being musically astute enough to notice! "Wait for me" is just pure and gorgeous.

Oh, my love, my darling Okay, now I'm just having writer's block. I mean, what is there to say about this? Neil Sedaka went to Juilliard and all he could find to say is "Perfection, perfection!" I'll go with that for now.

I've hungered, hungered for your touch He sounds so pleading and desperate.

A long, lonely time "A" is a particularly beautiful note, the vibrato is at a perfect speed and amplitude. I don't really like the melisma on "time", it's almost too much.

I know that time goes by so slowly He's taking lots of liberties with the melody here, probably the reason Simon called it "over the top". That is, assuming that Simon meant anything by his remarks other than an attempt to manipulate the viewers. The effect is marvelous here, in my opinion.

And time, time can do so much The intensity of his voice is absolutely mesmerizing. He puts the tiniest hard edge at the beginning of his words, makes each note pierce through the listener.

Are you still mine? "You" - he decrescendos for this note, keeping that intense vibrato. "Still" is off a bit in his pronunciation of the vowel. "Mine" - that will make your hair stand on end - in a good way, of course!

I need your love I don't get that excited by falsetto notes. However, I concede that this song wouldn't be what it is without the high "neeeeeeed". And Clay hits it perfectly, giving confidence to my theory that his falsetto is much better when he is using it to hit notes that are normally out of his range.

I need your love "I" - he ends in a breathy voice, then "love" goes down into his deep sound. We're getting the full range of Clay on this song.

Godspeed your love to me "To" is one of those notes that is worth listening to by itself - he opens up the vowel some and sings these higher notes with his deep voice. The result is an almost operatic sound on this oh-so-very-pop song - a stunning combination. "Me" - not the 17 seconds we've been accustomed to on his demo, but still outstanding. It would be even more outstanding without the cheesy chord progression in the accompaniment.

Things that happened or probably happened after this song:

One of my friends called me to make sure I was okay and hadn't fainted.

My mother said it was the best thing she had ever seen anywhere on TV.

Justin Guarini found a bathroom and threw up at the thought of having to sing this song the next night.

The producers of Justin's CD started looking for a different single to release first.

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