Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine American Idol

I think I could only do a dictionary if I could work out a word of what he's saying. It just sounds like... noises. Garbled noises at that. And mostly out fo tune one too.

I found that post where sales for AI alumini were posted, and here is the info by copy & paste:


Sales Totals through 11/27/05 (unless otherwise indicated)

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway - 4,746,001 (thru 2/19/06)

Clay Aiken - Measure of a Man - 2,729,966

Kelly Clarkson - Thankful - 2,429,700 (thru 1/22/06)

Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts - 2,096,645 (thru 2/19/06)

Ruben Studdard - Soulful - 1,776,999

Fantasia - Free Yourself - 1,639,904

Clay Aiken - Merry Christmas With Love - 1,183,700 (thru 12/25/05)

Josh Gracin - Josh Gracin - 584,888

Bo Bice - The Real Thing - 524,657 (thru 2/19/06)

Ruben Studdard - I Need an Angel - 428,204

Kimberly Locke - One Love - 207,841

William Hung - Inspiration - 189,563 (thru 7/3/05)

Diana Degarmo - Blue Skies - 161,574

Justin Guarini - Justin Guarini - 142,130

Tamyra Gray - Dreamer - 121,822

Latoya London - Appreciate - 35,051

William Hung - Hung for the Holidays – 29,189 (thru 7/3/05)

R J Helton - Real Life - 21,227

John Stevens - Red - 16,708

George Huff - Christmas EP - 16,278

Jasmine Trias - Jasmine Trias - 12,025

George Huff - Miracles - 8,264

Jim Verraros - Rollercoster - 2,680

Corey Clark - Corey Clark - 2,142

(important to note that Bo's CD has only been out since right before Christmas '05, and Carrie's CD out about a monthi-ish earlier than that, and their sales have topped/matched CDs from others who have been out for years in some cases).

And what a dinner it was!

Semi is a very talented cook -- everything was absolutely delicious. And the host, of course, was gracious and charming.

Re: American Idol... I realized there was a contestant named "Ayla" only after they voted her off. Maybe there'll be a "Tinya" in the next installment...

THE TOP 12~~

In what is sure to be Semi's least favorite episode (Stevie Wonder night) there were some standouts and some duds, and some "just okays"...


Ace did "Do I Do". And he didn't do it anywhere near as well as Mario Vasquez last year, whose gyrations and hot voice had me wondering whether or not he does do what I do. Parts of Ace's performance really sounded bad. This guy is a second-rate Constantine.

The judges picked on Kellie tonight, but this was the most I've enjoyed her so far. I honestly liked her song (and her) tonight.

Elliott was good; I'm still waiting for him to pop the question.

Mandisa was pretty good, didn't knock my socks off like I hoped. But her "pretty good" is still worlds above most people's "fantastic".

Bucky was actually the first performance to wow me-- the perfect song choice for him, and he did it well.

I enjoyed Melissa's performance and wouldn't have even known she botched the lyrics if she and Randy hadn't made such a spectacle of it afterwards. Most telling is that Simon said it was her best performance yet.

Lisa looked totally hot, and her performace was good but I thought her singing was only so-so-to-pretty-good.

Kevin. It's official. He NEEDS to be the first to exit top 12. That was BAD. REAL bad.

Katharine sang "Until You Come Back To Me", which is one of my favorite songs of all-time; she sang it PERFECTLY.

Taylor: Flawless. And the audience loves him too.

Paris was good, but I have grown to dislike her so much that I'm afraid it clouds my judgement.

Chris. He's excellent, but I'm *really* going to be worried about him on, say, Disco or Barry Manilow night. He's really pigeonholing himself more than any of the other Top 12.

We don't get the show till Friday (both the performances and the results all in one big go), but what's the deal this week? Are we just losing one contestant or are we losing one boy and one girl? I can't remember how they worked it last year but i think here in the UK the last time we had Pop Idol that's how it worked (three weeks of losing two boys and two girls then amalgamating teh lot of them and a couple of weeks of losing one boya nd one girl and then just losing one performer until we got to the final two).

Bevis, once they get to the final 12, whoever the public votes off, goes, one at a time.

My review, from least favorite to favorite....

I thought it was unforgiveable for Melissa to mess up that song. I mean, I know she was nervous, but that shows how she's not good enough for this. I love the song, "Lately" so to have it all wonky doesn't sit well with me. Also, she makes weird faces and rolls her eyes into the back of her head sometimes. Eww.

Kevin. Haven't we had enough?

Ace just never gets into a high gear. That can't last.

Lisa did look fantastic. Her hair's so LONG! She was good, not great.

Bucky was better than Ace, IMO. But similarly, I wonder if he can really amp it up.

Elliott didn't do anything wrong, he just wasn't as good as the others. Sometimes he *did* look like a deer in the headlights, though.

Kellie was a lot better than the judges said. In fact, I think if they listen later, they'll have to admit that the song was sweet, and that she made it her own.

Taylor really is very entertaining.

Paris was channelling that older jazz woman again, which was great.

Mandisa was very consistent with her other great performances. Singing Stevie Wonder didn't seem to intimidate her.

Katherine was lovely and natural and sang well. She does NOT sound like Kelly Clarkson, though. Maybe she reminds Simon of Kelly in other ways, but it's not the sound of her voice.

Chris did the Chris thing and it worked. I agree with Lash that he might have some trouble with some of the inevitable themes coming up, but I believe he will find his way.

I am a little worried about a couple of them when it comes to 'themes' that don't really sit too well with them. Chris is great at the rock side of things and Paris does the whole jazz/blues thing better than any of the others (with maybe the exception of Mandissa) but they're going to have to be really careful to find songs that fit their style and suit them at the same time as fitting the theme. Carrie managed it last year by doing almost everything at least a bit country but I worry that Chris (no matter how great he is) might actually fall down at that point. I just can't imagine him doing a disco song all that well. He could prove me wrong, but... On the other hand you have people like Mandissa, Lisa, Taylor and probably Katherine who don't really seem to have a set style (apart from a personal performance style) who may prove that their versatility is more important than Chris' singing talent. We shall see though.

On America Online, they have a poll of who should win American Idol. The current results:

1. Katherine
2. Kellie
3. Chris
4. Taylor
5. Mandisa
6. Eliott
7. Bucky
8. Ace
9. Lisa
10. Kevin
11. Melissa
12. Paris

Other than moving Chris and Mandisa up to #2 and #3, I agree pretty much with this ranking.

Pickler wasn't SO bad last night, but I wish she'd let her performance speak for itself. She totally lost me with all the forced corn-pone "humor".

I bet Ace has a Chris voodoo doll. Early on, Ace seemed to be the CHOSEN ONE, but he's given one subpar performance after another, and isn't quite as popular as they hoped he'd be. I know AI would like to have a boy win, and I think Chris is their only hope. Taylor won't make it all the way--there are too many people (like me) who find him creepy.

I think the judges were just energized by Mandisa's "loud is the new good" performance, because she had all kinds of horrific spots in her song. And I *LIKE* Mandisa--a lot in fact--but that wasn't nearly as good as the judges said.

I had high hopes for Eliott; he should have had the easiest time with a Stevie song, but it was kinda boring, and he needed to build some momentum after that tepid rendition of "Heaven" last week. Still, I love the little guy. I hope he's top 4.

I just can't stand Paris. Someone on another board dubbed her "Rudy Punchable" which is appropriate. See also Lisa Tucker, who can't get off my TV fast enough.

I want to like Melissa, but forgetting the words that badly in the Top 12 is inexcusable.

I liked Bucky's singing pretty well, but I had a hard time focusing on anything but his bouncin' and behavin' hair. WTF??

As far as Kevin goes, to quote Morrissey, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore".

Lastly, Katherine is becoming my favorite AI contestant ever, other than maybe Kelly C. I know there's people who don't like her personality, but there's just nothing about this girl that I don't like.

My review of last night is going to be really short - I hated it and just about everybody sucked - except maybe Chris and Bucky. I don't fault the singers so much - I blame American Idol for forcing them to do Stevie Wonder songs. More and more I can't Stevie Wonder's music. I just always sounds off key to me.

Seems my least favorite was booted!
Seems the other two in the bottom three were surprises!

OK, it's on now.

Ace was just appaling. He also didn't notice that Simon had dissed him until the audience reacted. So not only can he not sing but he either is a bit thick or just grins inanely at everything in hte hope that people will think he's ever so lovely and cute and vote for him. Ick.

Kellie. Ermmm..... that was good? She was completely off key the entire time. Not drastically but off enough for it to be grating. I just dn't get her. She's cute and slightly amusing because she is a complete bubble-head but she's not a star and she can't sing. Blegh.

Elliot. Not good either. His weakest performance yet. Not a great song, but then I don't know why they keep having Stevie Wonder night since some of his songs are very good but the rest just sound the same and have never really impressed me that much. Elliot just sounds like a white boy doing a Stevie Wonder impression really. Plus he has absolutely no rhythm with his dancing. Not impressed.

Mandissa. I liked her hair. Dammit, i don't want to criticise her because she is *the* talent this series but... it's not so good. I hate the song anyway but she's off in a lot of places and she's just shouting in other places. Not good, which is a huge shame. Now if Bucky actually does ghjdl egwfg, askfkgka uk agkak fawfk bcak well then I will know that it's a sign of the end of the world and we're all going to wake up tomorrow with awful teeth not being able t understand what everyone else is saying.

Bucky. UGjkeaw ja jwdf asjyqKD skgfa jaf ajgfk olq

Bucky. UGjkeaw ja jwdf asjyqKD skgfa jaf ajgfk olq seglhl swl; keut;wg asegfiw daj adwja fajgff Stevie, askegf a ajwgfa fjaf kagfk akbf. Bkef eakf aegf am dkk kdaw suuppsheeeers awrb faaarrrl kfbakfbl. lsebf. Blarg. Bucky! Fnarp! HrruuuuuuuRRRGGHHGHHH.

OK, better than previously. I think Madonna might like her hair back though.

Melissa. Well she cocked that one up didn't she? Screwing up the lyrics that bad is not a good sign at this stage in teh competition. She tried to cover and didn't do it badly, but... She actually didn't sing it too bad though. Probably one of her best performances so far. I'm still not convinced she should be in the top twelve though.

Lisa. Gosh, did all the good people take shitty pills this week or soemthing? She's of key and the whole thing is just... I dunno, it's flat. Just in terms of the performance rather than the actual singing. Even with bopping around the stage (in a combination of really nasty shiny materials) she just seems to be a bit lifeless. Not happy.

Kevin. I'm hiding under the couch until he goes away. I'm afraid to come out until then.

Katharine. The only one so far tonight who has actually been any good at all. No Aretha Franklin but not half bad. She also looks happy and comfortable on stage and seems to relate to the audience. She is very good. Can't work out if I like her dress or not though.

Taylor. Best so far. He and Katharine are the only ones that have been any good. I just wish he could do at east one performance without gurning even once though. But even that said it was still his 'straighest' performance yet, if you know what I mean. he reigned in the whole 'I'm whacky aren't I?' deal for the first time.

Paris. Her stylist needs a good kicking. Not keen. Not awful, but it didn't do it for me.

And finally Chris. He's still shaggable but he shouted his way through that. As with Mandissa very disappointed because it wasn't awful but I expect so much better of him.

So of all twelve only Katharine and Taylor actually impressed me. Mandissa, Chris and maybe Paris were OK. The others were fairly pitiful with Bucky (bskh aekghfab HhhuuRGGHHHHhhHGGHH. Bucky!) and Kevin being the worst by far. But then again like I said before I don't know why they do Stevie Wonder night since it's always pretty poor all round. Now since I can't be fannied sitting through another half hour of Ryan pretending to not want to be taken roughly by Chris and South Park is on on the other channel I shall go and find out who got the boot...

Man, this season has some talent.

It's 50's night, but this ain't your Peepaw's 50's music!

MANDISA opened the show; I was iffy about it at first but she definitely brought the house down at the end.

BUCKY followed, with what was probably one of the two weaker performances of the night. Still, I could easily picture his twanged-up version of "Oh Boy" playing on country radio.

PARIS gave her best overall performace since her audition.

CHRIS. Hands down, the best performance I have seen EVER on A-Idol. I'd buy his sorta-creepy version of "I Walk The Line" tomorrow morning if I could. Frickin' smokin' H-O-T! *swoon!*

Who doesn't love KATHARINE? That girl is just lovable.

TAYLOR was fun once again, but can't replace Chris' performance in my heart tonight.

LISA was the second of the two weaker performances tonight. Just kinda "nice enough, but so what?"

As far as song choice goes, KEVIN picked my favorite song of the night ("When I Fall In Love"). Did it pretty well, too.

ELLIOTT just isn't the performer that Chris and Taylor are, but who can resist those vocals?

KELLIE is slowly and surely "pickling" away at the wall I had built up against her. "Look at the pickle!"

And ACE gave a Constantine-worthy performace tonight; he's back in it, folks.

Tomorrow night's going to be scary, and I'm worried for Bucky and Lisa (Lisa might very well take Paris' place in my earlier prediction of this season's 10th place finisher).

Chris needs to go now. Go and get his career started that will be bigger than any idol this show can produce. He is hands down the best performer ever to be on this, or any singing competition, show.