American Idol 7

[Ansamcw]

I was thinking about that 12 M difference in votes...This huge difference can;t be just the result of DC the audience rebelling against the pimping. I think DC has always been way ahead of Archie and all the pimping was to create the illusion that this is a very close contest in the same way that they were pimping Ruben since Clay was always ahead in the votes. I think this is very much like AI2 but with all the extra phone lines they had and the extra time to vote no phone anomaly occurred and the right guy i.e. the most popular guy won.

Was Paula and Randy singing with that guy in the cape? is there a you tube of this?

[luckiest1]

I caught the last 5 minutes (since it went overtime) and I saw "the moment". I had no idea David Cook's brother was dying? Is that true? Anyways, from what little I've seen of the show (flip over during commercials sometimes) I think the right person won. That whole "difference of 12 million votes" thing sounds a bit fishy though.....that seems like an awfully huge gap for such a tight competition.

[Ansamcw]

I caught the last 5 minutes (since it went overtime) and I saw "the moment". I had no idea David Cook's brother was dying? Is that true? Anyways, from what little I've seen of the show (flip over during commercials sometimes) I think the right person won. That whole "difference of 12 million votes" thing sounds a bit fishy though.....that seems like an awfully huge gap for such a tight competition.

But how do we know it was tight with votes? if you check most of the internet sites there are a lot more activities with Cooks threads. It was all an illusion I think to make it more exciting...I don't think they will flub with the numbers now. They have an independent firm checking it out. I think if they would cheat this they would make the gap smaller not bigger.

Its pretty much a recreation of AI2 but this time no phone problems to mess up the results.

[Iseeme]

I think Ansa called it - it was never that close. I also think that's why all the pimping of David A. I just could NOT see him as the American Idol with his lack of personality and fearfulness. The boy can sing though. And he's won Star Search and was the runner-up on Idol - now he needs to record and see if he can make it. It's too bad his parents didn't wait a couple of years and give him a chance to grow and mature a little.

12 million is a huuuuuge difference which really makes me think there wasn't anybody close to Cook ever!!! But they had to hype the finale to get the viewership. It wouldn't have been as "interesting" if there was a runaway!!!

I also wonder if some times they don't put ringers in the audience to do all that screaming and holding up signs.

And I LOVE George Michael. I just always wished he could keep it in his pants and get on with his recording career. He has a great voice and that song was awesome. I wonder if its on his new CD!!!

[djs111]

I caught the last 5 minutes (since it went overtime) and I saw "the moment". I had no idea David Cook's brother was dying? Is that true? Anyways, from what little I've seen of the show (flip over during commercials sometimes) I think the right person won. That whole "difference of 12 million votes" thing sounds a bit fishy though.....that seems like an awfully huge gap for such a tight competition.

Cook's brother has cancer. Yep, sadly, it is true.

I think it is entirely possible that there was not really a tight competition.

I really didn't care much who won, but Archie just seems to young to be out there with all that extra attention; I believe he will be fine and have a great career anyway. Yeah, Jordin's dress seemed just as awful as Christian's horrid prom dress from last year. But she looked and sounded good. I saw the Kimmel clip, it was funny, but I didn't care for the Sanjaya joke, although it looked like Sanjaya cracked up, maybe Jimmy told him about it first.

Mike Myers was not funny, really. I was hoping that the moving cushion thingy Ryan sat on would go down the steps (bad me) - Ryan did lose his cool and snap a bit when it threatened to do that.

I just always wished he could keep it in his pants and get on with his recording career

Is this a reference to old news that happened a while back? because it looks as if he is getting on with his recording career quite nicely!

I am sorry I missed George Michael - he has been fabulous in Eli Stone, he has one of the best voices out there.

Unfortuntunately, and this reminds me of Clay, as long as people keep bringing up George's problems, they won't go away. I do think he has the right to any kind of sex life he wants, just not graphically in public. I don't want to see het couples feeling each other up, either, squicky, really.

I find him just as sexy, knowing he is gay.

That's about all I saw, just 15 seconds here and there - but YAY!!!!! One of the bitchiest guys got booted on Top Chef!!!!!! I do think Richard is going to win the whole thing.

[claytonic]

Just saw Ruben's performance on AI Finale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnABWDs5mCA

It is great to see him and hear him again, but he looks heavier to me. It is way too heavy in terms of his health, otherwise I wouldn't care because he is like a big, adorable teddy bear. I wish he would lose just enough weight to lower the health risks.

[luckiest1]

Thanks for that link, claytonic. I will watch it tonight (youtube is filtered at work).

I think you guys are probably right, there was really never any "tight" race, it was just AI manipulation, right down to the alleged (because I didn't see it) pimping of David A Tuesday night, and then Slimon's apology to David C last night. So glad I didn't get sucked into the show this year.

[annabear]

I was hoping that the moving cushion thingy Ryan sat on would go down the steps (bad me)

Hee! I happened to have flipped back to AI and saw that part. I was thinking the same thing and I doubt we were the only ones, djs!

As far as manipulation on AI? Absofreakinlutely!

I couldn't help but think when Simon made his apology about disrespect to David C. that there are a lot more people he should be saying that to.

[Iseeme]

When I mentioned "keeping it in his pants" the sentence was clearly in the past tense!!! I know George has a new CD out and I'm glad for it. It used to irritate the snot out of me that he kept getting in trouble. Unlike Clay - where it was all smoke and mirrors - George DID publically defame himself!!!! And that definitely derailed his career....not once but several times. I've always loved his voice - thought it was one of the best ever and I think Clay could sing just about any song George ever recorded and sing it just as well!!! But I sincerely hope George keeps his private life private - I could care less that he's gay! Just don't want to hear all the gorey details.

[keepingfaith]

DC already has the Guitar Hero commercial.... WHICH WAS HOT!! I think I'll put it up on youtube.

There was all the difference in the world in the DC and DA re-creations of the Risky Business number. Cook's was great. I loved every second of it, until the "Guitar Hero" logo and voiceover came up. And as a Flower Child of the 60's I will never, never, ever, never, ever feel comfortable with artists/musicians selling out for commercial products.

Although I think Daughtry could move a ton of Milk of Magnesia. And Josh Gracin could have sold the hell out of Preparation H.

I won't even mention David A.'s turn at the "Old Time Rock & Roll" -- poor kid. He's probably a really sweet kid, but he's so immature, even for his age. Also, Clive (ooo a Clive rant from me!!) didn't do him any favors having him sing DLTSGDOM. The song is not open for changing in accordance with the limitations of any singer's voice, i.e., lack of range. When you bring down the high notes, and move up the low notes, you've created some bastardized hybrid. The changes fit his voice, but it didn't come close to Clay's version which was true to the written song, and staggeringly good. I can't believe that Sir Elton would be happy with the way it was fundamentally changed by David A. And someone said that David A. changed the lyrics to Imagine, but I didn't hear him sing that one. If he did, he'd better watch out for Yoko!!!

[jmh123]

I was thinking about that 12 M difference in votes...This huge difference can;t be just the result of DC the audience rebelling against the pimping. I think DC has always been way ahead of Archie and all the pimping was to create the illusion that this is a very close contest in the same way that they were pimping Ruben since Clay was always ahead in the votes. I think this is very much like AI2 but with all the extra phone lines they had and the extra time to vote no phone anomaly occurred and the right guy i.e. the most popular guy won.

Was Paula and Randy singing with that guy in the cape? is there a you tube of this?

They did sing with the guy. They came on stage towards the end, after the band and most of the spectacle, when there was a stage full of people. It must be on YouTube. His name was Renaldo?

Word to whoever said that they could've skipped that, or the promo for the movie, and included a duet between Clay and Ruben, even a quartet with the final two. I thought it would've been better television.

As it turns out, Carrie and Ruben were the only ones that got performances in the two days of finale, and Ruben's was almost an afterthought. I'm not disappointed that Clay wasn't seen on the red carpet or in the audience.

I think you're right about the votes not being close for awhile but I think the constant rise of Cook's votes that started mid-way through was a surprise, and that it kept going up when his performances weren't as attention-grabbing for the last few weeks. I think this was partly because Archie, while very good and consistent, wasn't showing any progression, and his few efforts outside the box were not good. And partly because some of the others just crapped out or were thrown under the bus.

Simon did fire people up at the finale, but he always plays both sides and he had done so quite a bit in the media prior to that night, predicting a Cook win. He was right that he was wrong--he missed the point that people appreciated the risk Cook took more than the polished but predictable performance by Archuleta.

Has any other Idol ever left the show "owning" classic songs like Clay does Solitaire or (as one of the persons whose names are inscribed on) BOTW?

*George*

I love George Michael and I love that song. His personal life is what it is. I'm loving Eli Stone too--at first I didn't believe that was really him, he looks so different, and I didn't watch most of the season because I didn't realize he'd be on so much, but the song he sang at the end of the last episode I saw was wonderful (but I don't know what it was). He has a gorgeous voice, and "Praying for Time" is a song that's especially appropriate for American Idol, although I wonder if TPTB get the irony. Carrie's version was really moving and her performance even more than the vocals, but his was the bomb.

Also, Clive (ooo a Clive rant from me!!) didn't do him any favors having him sing DLTSGDOM. The song is not open for changing in accordance with the limitations of any singer's voice, i.e., lack of range. When you bring down the high notes, and move up the low notes, you've created some bastardized hybrid. The changes fit his voice, but it didn't come close to Clay's version which was true to the written song, and staggeringly good. I can't believe that Sir Elton would be happy with the way it was fundamentally changed by David A. And someone said that David A. changed the lyrics to Imagine, but I didn't hear him sing that one. If he did, he'd better watch out for Yoko!!!

KF, you are so right. I'm afraid having Archie sing that song just exposed his limitations. I think Clive keeps giving that song to people to see if any of them can do it better than Clay or George Michael or Elton John. It's like Simon with the Roberta Flack song. It's a bit boring for the rest of us after awhile though, and it's kind of "old school" and unnecessary, I think. I noticed that "the cryptkeeper" is a pretty common nickname for Clive among AI writers.

DLTSGDOM--why has Clay never recorded it? So many people want a recording of that song, random people who do google searches looking for it. I got lots of referrals because I had a performance mp3 on my blog back in 05.

People respect what Clay has, even if they claim not to like it. I wonder if they even know what it is that they're not liking. I've seen so many random posts saying that Archuleta's version didn't equal Clay's. There's a thread on TwoP in which people are posting their lists of the best Top 12 ever, and Clay is on so many of those lists. Some people feel compelled to add that they don't like his type of music, but also that they can't deny his voice. He's like "the VOX." Still. And there are so many people out there who voted madly for him that year, but then lost interest, many of them years ago, just natural attrition not any kind of negative thing. I wish more of them knew he had a new album out--but maybe they'll see it in stores or in iTunes or seek his music out, with his name coming up so often this week and last.

"You could sing the phone book might be true," but most people really don't want to listen to someone sing the phone book. OMWH is a fine album, really fine, and deserves to be heard. May it be a sleeper. "I think it can I think it can I think it can."

Imagine--I've been wondering about that but haven't sought out a video. He seemed to stumble over some words when he first started, but he skips the no religion and goes right to "no possessions..." which is a bit odd to my ear and less familiar and so I'm not sure if he got that line right or not. His father got in trouble for causing him to sing some different lyrics to Stand By Me, something taken from another song??

[Iseeme]

I was really frustrated with all the hype around Archie - was wondering what people were hearing that I wasn't hearing and why were the judges falling all over themselves over him. I should have taken a step back and realized they were just setting up the finale and trying to recreate the magic of the Ruben/Clay finale. All these years later I remember how disappointed I was, tearfully so, when Clay lost. But somewhere along the way I came to the conclusion that losing was probably the best thing for him. The fans rallied around him. The media rallied around him. And he made a more interesting story than Ruben. Hence - attention!!! The personal toll it took on Clay those first years shows in how he's aged.....albeit gracefully! But when I see those innocent eyes looking at me from his AI appearances and then see the almost-worldly eyes now......

I'm totally prejudiced but I think the people that sustain careers in the industry are not assholes or arrogant fools. Kelly took a few missteps by challenging Clive, having to cancel one of her tours to downsize, etc. And once you get past "cute" she doesn't really give a good interview. Fantasia - won't say anything about Couchie's girl - but....she's a little too OTT! Carrie is a pretty face - not much behind it. Daughtrey is an egomaniac! Taylor Hicks faded into the woodwork quickly!!! Kim Locke is too ascerbic and she's crapped on her friends. That doesn't sit well. I could be wrong but I think Ruben got derailed with piss-poor management and his family's sucking him dry! He has a beautiful voice but ain't no hip-hop artist!!!

Clay is the one alum that continues to be sought after, gives great interviews, is funny and witty, always interesting, burps and its in the news, is philanthropic and caring, the UNICEF gig is awesome....I just don't see any other alum with as much "interest" - even though sometimes it's not postive interest (I hatesssss Kelly Ripa) He's made excellent decisions about his career. I'm just not so sure that he can afford to be eccentric in his song choices anymore. I love OMWH but it's clearly for his fans and perhaps not a wider audience? Just posing that little gem. When people keep cracking on his song choices but praise his voice than clearly there's some kind of a message there. Not so sure Clay cares to listen though - he loves this CD and the concept and the songs. I guess the next CD will tell us what he's learned from this one. I sure do hope its a sleeper though.

So I'm rambling here. But to sum it up....David Cook seems like a nice, humble guy with not a little talent. He isn't just a rocker who screams his lungs out - he has a sensitive side to. He seems to be mature and unassuming. I hope that his label shows both sides with the songs they choose. And y'all are right - he'll get radio play.

[muskifest]

I could be wrong but I think Ruben got derailed with piss-poor management and his family's sucking him dry!

Iseeme, what do you mean here about his family? I've always liked Ruben...and I like the sound of his voice. That he and Clay remain good friends tells me a lot about Ruben, actually. I'm seriously concerned about his health, however, after seeing him on the finale recently.

When people keep cracking on his song choices but praise his voice than clearly there's some kind of a message there. Not so sure Clay cares to listen though - he loves this CD and the concept and the songs. I guess the next CD will tell us what he's learned from this one. I sure do hope its a sleeper though.

This is interesting. I do see the rationale behind this idea, and it makes me think how we (the fans) have reacted to/discussed the 'worth' of each of Clay's cds.

MOAM---the high sales came from Clay being on the heels of the American Idol machinery and hoopla; the cd was 'over produced' and didn't let Clay's voice shine--too much SOUND, etc....Sales of that CD also dropped after the first big push...(although almost 3 million copies ain't nuthin' to sneeze at!)

MCWL--platinum holiday sales; voice is MADE for these songs; many 'nju' bought because of perception of that match

ATDW--poor Clay--'only went gold'! MANDATED to sing tired loved songs; RCA out to ruin his career; retreads and ho-hum according to the critics; fans in love with Clay's one writing credit; covers expected by those who diss him anyway; Clay destined for obsurity because he's singing schmaltzy covers, etc.

OMWH--only dubuted FOURTH?!?!? less than 100,000 first week---sign of imminent failure; cool! some uptempo songs! NJU don't like the uptempo songs. SOU beautiful or syrupy; EIDN---ooh, Clay's growling at us! Fake funk?; lyrics so meaningful/lyrics maudlin and overly sentimental trite and the cd's depressing; dayum, what a voice!/production is so OTT and 'canned'

The fans and critics exchange seats now and then in their assessment of Clay's music, but there's always some reason/excuse found for Clay not being THE BEST SELLING AND MOST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICAL ARTIST IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!

I honestly think that NEEDING that "BEST of SHOW" designation is what hinders some fans from truly enjoying their fandom. If Clay isn't better than everyone else out there---as reflected in rankings and numbers and radio play and critics' praise--then something's 'wrong', either with him or his management or the label or his dogs or....

BTW, this is merely an unprepared rambling--I do not profess to have researched anything, nor do I have footnotes for any of my allegations!

I'm just flappin' my jaws 'coss I wanna go home and not be here at the office pretending I'm actually DOING something productive. Bear with me, 'kay?

[annabear]

I'm just flappin' my jaws 'coss I wanna go home and not be here at the office pretending I'm actually DOING something productive.

I can't relate to this in the least. Nope. Not at all.

But I pretty much agree with your unprepared, unresearched, footnoteless rambling allegations.

[Iseeme]

Yikes - I can't tell if I"m wrong or right here. In any case, I wasn't criticizing or dissing Clay's CD. I think it's MUCH better than ATDW but the buying public doesn't seem to think so. I continue to hope it will climb slowly but surely. Trying to be objective here. But Muski - I think you were being kind of unfair to my post. I don't always expect him to be the best of show or better than anyone else. I would LIKE him to be, but realistically that may not happen. Right now this very minute in time - OMWH is not anywhere near either of those designations. And all I'm suggesting is WHY? When I love it so much, when you and others love it so much....WHY is it not selling better. Is it the songs? Is it the theme? What?

My comment about Ruben's family is not properly researched but I do believe one of his uncles or somebody was "managing" him. I know that he purchased a million dollar plus home in Burmingham and is now living in a condo. I know that his "family" allegedly was behind the jersey debacle! Circumstantial evidence I suppose. But at no time did I imply I didn't like Ruben. I just don't think his hip hop ventures paid off for him.

[jmh123]

Ruben sued someone in his family who was managing him--his uncle?--for stealing money from him several years ago.

[luckiest1]

Hee, I know we don't usually do things like this at FCA, but could one of the mods maybe move this conversation out to main? Just becoss it's really no longer about AI7 and those of us who don't watch the show (including me ) might miss it.

[ldyjocelyn]

Iseeme, I'm not muski, but I saw her post as a "jumping off" point for her own post. I wouldn't worry about it, just remember that these kinds of things happen with message board posts....all the time, IMO.

luckiest, I was going to suggest that the posters bring over their own posts actually. *g*

[playbiller]

I disagree with Iseeme today - different person different day.

! person in the family cheating you is not the family bleeding you dry - that is condemning a lot of people for one person's sin.

I don't see the general public does not juge this album as less than ATDW - they just don't know about it. I tell people, but you can't make them spend money and I am not going to keep buying CDs for them. I will promote it as best I can so they do learn about it buy buying the single, buy playing it on AOL and YAhoo trying to get it to the top page, but other than that, I believe the promotion for this album is to be spread out over time, not all at once.

As to why first day is so low - I still believe the on-line community was shattered by the ugliness of the FC and their claims of the mandate and the general mod bulling tha went on in 2006. I was not kidding when I said about 100 people pm' me they were leaving the fandom on CB alone. I did not know these people, it was like I mentioned one person PMd me in a post and then it kind of gave other s permission to do it. Just think how many left that did not PM me. The fact that FC claims about RCA are still circulating is ridculous and destructive the the fandom. I am just as passionate about this because I see where the haters couldn't make a dent, some egotistical superfans had to destroy things and these superfans are at it again, still not acknowledging their part. I am amazed at how few people will admit they were taken in by the initial claims of the FOFC (friends of fake clay), yet continue to spew the same crap.

Now the rallying cry for some is don't support he current single and get the song wwe want played. Not supporting Clay is never a good thing.

[Iseeme]

That's okay Play - I don't mind being disagreed with. I do believe it was more than one finger in the proverbial pot though!!! But whatever. It's not really important.

As for the general public not knowing about the CD,,,are you suggesting the only real way the public knows about a CD is if it's played on the radio?

I didn't totally understand your last paragraph either. But I guess this is kind of the wrong thread to be discussing Clay's CD.

[Couch Tomato]

My opinion about Ruben is that he didn't have professionals helping him when idol ended. He did depend on his family for most everything and perhaps the best decisions weren't made. Family can be wonderful but not when they don't know what they are doing. Having the "uncle" in a position he probably wasn't qualified for was just not smart, even if there was nothing done particularly malicious. I remember him saying his mom and brother were going to be doing things for him and I was like...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

[claytonic]

My opinion about Ruben is that he didn't have professionals helping him when idol ended. He did depend on his family for most everything and perhaps the best decisions weren't made. Family can be wonderful but not when they don't know what they are doing. Having the "uncle" in a position he probably wasn't qualified for was just not smart, even if there was nothing done particularly malicious. I remember him saying his mom and brother were going to be doing things for him and I was like...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

People who don't have financial skills/knowledge don't realize how much they don't know, and how much professional help they need. This happens all the time to people who suddenly come "into money", such as winning the lottery. The single financial advice Oprah always gives is "always sign your own checks".

There are a lot of people like Ruben who simply prefer someone else to take care of finances so they can just be the artist they were born to be. From Season 2, Clay and Kimberly Locke seem to be the two who were the most savvy about business in the financial sense. I agree with you that even well-meaning relatives can be a big mistake.

I have a feeling Clay won't marry too easily. Everyone in his family has been married twice...

There should be a basic seminar for people like Ruben to attend, just so he can have an idea of what can go wrong and choose his financial caretaker more carefully.

Yeah, Jordin's dress seemed just as awful as Christian's horrid prom dress from last year. But she looked and sounded good. I saw the Kimmel clip, it was funny, but I didn't care for the Sanjaya joke, although it looked like Sanjaya cracked up, maybe Jimmy told him about it first.

Sanjaya was there?

You mean Sanjaya was invited but not Clay?

If Clay had been invited, surely he would have gone??

[djs111]

Sanjaya was there?

You mean Sanjaya was invited but not Clay?

If Clay had been invited, surely he would have gone??

Heeee.....I hope you did not mean this to be one of those things that morphs into something else -

"Surely he would have gone?" morphs into "I bet he was invited but did not go, he is stubborn and getting bad advice!!!!!!" and so on, until there is much angsting over how wrong everything is. I know you didn't mean it that way, I just get twitchy whenever that happens. On some boards, after about 10 minutes, Clay's not being on AI will be blamed on Faye, TC, and Jamie's haircuts. Takes about fifteen minutes. (Even if Clay is "stubborn" - which translates as not doing what some fans deem necessary - it is blamed on his upbringing.)

Kimmel said he used valet parking and wanted to know how much to tip Sanjaya. I guess Jimmy was on tape, but they cut to Sanjaya in the audience and he was laughing. I don't think Sanjaya's attendance did anything for his career :-)

Clay said he was not invited. The show was basically a clusterfuck, who knows how they would have used Clay, historically people don't get that big a bounce, and Clay was mentioned favorably in much of the news about AI the next day, he was used as a measure of success. I would not have put it past RyanS to take a cheap shot, either, if Clay was in the audience. I really didn't want to see Clay as part of an AI also-ran ensemble, either.

Pretty sure Sanjaya had not much else to do, the audience is always full of an odd assortment of celebrities hoping for some camera time.

Was Jennifer Hudson there? She has a CD comig out - perhaps AI did not feel this was the best night to show that boot-ees can do WAY better than the winners.....I did not see Taylor Hicks, either. Personally, taking into consideration the falling ratings, the slow demise of the CD sales industry, and the elaborate I Am Your Brother hot mess, I think AI has jumped the shark.

On the other hand, since I was switching back and forth with Ghost Hunters, emphasis on G.H. watching, I feel very lucky to have caught the Michael Johns - Carly duet, which I loved. Johns is really the only one who caught my interest this year, and the only one I would make an effort to see or buy a CD. Yum.

[claytonic]

"Surely he would have gone?" morphs into "I bet he was invited but did not go, he is stubborn and getting bad advice!!!!!!" and so on, until there is much angsting over how wrong everything is. I know you didn't mean it that way, I just get twitchy whenever that happens. On some boards, after about 10 minutes, Clay's not being on AI will be blamed on Faye, TC, and Jamie's haircuts. Takes about fifteen minutes. (Even if Clay is "stubborn" - which translates as not doing what some fans deem necessary - it is blamed on his upbringing.)

While I have been a fan since 2004 when I first saw Clay on Season 3 performing Solitaire, I haven't been actively particiating until the end of last year when I stumbled across FCA. I also don't go to any other board, so I am not properly aware of how fans deal with issues. I was simply shocked that Sanjaya would be invited, and not Clay. Then it crossed my mind, surely Clay was invited to be part of the audience, since he is one of the prominent Idols, behind only Kelly and Carrie in sales. (Am I right?) I guess I just can't believe he wasn't even invited when he represents such an important place in the American Idol phenomenon..

I knew Clay wasn't invited to sing but I just didn't know that he wasn't invited. Now that I know, we can leave it at that.

[Ansamcw]

I don;t think Clay said he was not invited. He said they asked if he could perform but they wanted to give others the chance. So when it comes to the finale its possible he was invited to be in the audience but chose not to attend. There was a rumor Daughtry was goign to be there but he wasn't I don't think.

There is a dilemma with the idols that have had some success like Clay, Jennifer, Fantasia, Kelly, Daughtry, Ruben, Carrie. You kinda expect them to do something on the show not just sit in the audience. BUT with the finale being sooo popular...AI can fill up their shows with bigger stars than these idols. So they can pick and choose which ones to go on and right now the biggest idol success is Carrie. Jordin had to be there cos she was last years winner. So I think for the others...its better to just not attend at all rather than sit with the audience.

I think a good time for Clay to come on is in the top 3 results...but I guess Fantasia had her turn and gave her own water cooler moment.