May I please suggest that if you love music, then be sure to go to the Rock Hall. There is music there for everyone. I am a Founding Member AND a walking advertisment! )

Anita

It’s kind of confusing; if you troll around, you’ll find different people saying she had no vocal training at all, that she studied opera in college, the she only had a little church choir experience. To my amateur ears it sure sounded like she had some good solid training, and I would think she would be proud of that. It’s surely nothing to be ashamed of!

Hmmm. I didn’t check out the profiles this year, but this reminds me of something that really bothered me last year–one of the weeks in the pre-performance interview, Lakisha said she had had no training, but in her profile she said “I have training in classical and opera.” (It’s still up on the American Idol site, too!)

Oh, boy–this is for me a consistent problem with them. I suppose they argue that it evens out because their various reporters favor different contestants, but it is very annoying and, IMO, very unprofessional, particularly when done by reporters for their magazine. It’s not so great when it’s by their bloggers, but I guess they can argue that those are the equivalent of Op-Ed pieces and are expected to be biased. (It bothers me even when I share one of their writers’ biases.)

I do think Jason needs more vocal training to deal with his breathing (which drives me crazy) and so that he won’t permanently damage his vocal chords.

But I like him because I see him connecting emotionally to his songs more than David A does. Yeah, David A has the perfect technique, but I don’t see real emotion in him yet. Perhaps a few more years will help with that.

Jason’s style didn’t work for me for Broadway week – there are genres in which I really require a technical singer. But for my regular listening music, I’d rather hear someone connect emotionally with the lyrics than get their technique totally right. But everyone has their own preferences when it comes to music.

P.S. I think a reason a lot of people don’t like some of these contestants are not because they dislike their talents it is because of their fans. They seem rather irrational and manic over their favorite. It’s really wierd and annoying.

I think everyone is talking about Jason’s potential vocal talent if he did receive David’s high level of training.

Feeling better with each passing day. I guess rest is the key and I am sure getting enough of that.

Lots of links and discussion here and I enjoyed reading the EW stories about Paula and the song selection process for the Top 5.

Boy, Michael Slezack really lets her have it, doesn’t he? Good for him. I just wish they had handled the situation like adults and called a spade a spade.

Bleh -it’s getting to be old news already, but it sure was a funny incident, albeit at sweet Jason’s expense.

Katherine – yes – I feel that David A. is running out of steam. Poor kid. The expectations are so high for him and I don’t think Neil Diamond’s rep. really suited him -or any – of the singers.

He may rally next week -the theme is a broader one, as there are so many different styles of rock: country-rock, soulful rock, classical rock, heavy rock, light rock, bluesy rock etc.

MCL,( I hope you’re feeling better), David A. seems to have an easier time with ballads. Why do you think that might be? Perhaps he has a difficult time with set rhythm? I read a very interesting quote from Barbra Streisand one time. She stated that she sings songs the way she feels them. She said she had difficulty singing on the beat. I used to sing in a group where we all felt the rhythm a certain way and someone else was a heartbeat behind us. There was no way we could “sync up” with her- she just felt it differently.

On “Cracklin’ Rosie”, I too thought Jason sounded more secure. Is this a sign of things to come?

Anita

I came across this article http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007164_20171835_20196803,00.html and really thought they hit the nail on the head of how AI SHOULD have handled the “PaulaGate” situation (note there’s a page 2, so be sure to advance forward at the bottom of page 1).

Anita

But all that aside, I was glad to see Brooke go….quite frankly, she should have left long before Michael left!

Whatever this coming week has in store for Idol fans, lets hope it can erase some of the negativity that has surrounded Idol this past year!! Top 4….let’s hope they bring it!!