April 30, 2008 
I have been so sick here with some wicked flu and thought that nothing would garner any strength or comment from me for a while. Additionally, I wasn’t able to watch the Top 5 show because of my malaise, but this morning, after reading all the vague “Paula-Jason” comments on my Vocal Masterclass Discussion Thread, I figured I must have missed a doozy of a telecast!
Paula just never stops , does she? Critiquing Jason’s second song before it was even performed? I thought this was the most incredible “Paula” event I have ever seen, superseding the “Corey Clark” debacle as well as the time that Constantine Maroulis was unexpectedly voted off the Season 4 line-up. When his elimination was announced, there was Paula, weeping uncontrollably in the arms of Randy Jackson. It was quite the spectacle.
This lady should quit her day job -or, in the case of American Idol, her questionnable job as a judge – and sign up for a reality-based sitcom. The ratings numbers would be gangbusters
However, all kidding aside, can she, along with the Idol honchos, find it in themselves to issue an apology to the person who was unfairly maligned by this nonsensical mess last evening – Jason Castro? I truly hope so. It should have happened last evening, but, I suppose, the shock value was still too fresh.
But, to go on all the talkshows today and simply cover her huge guffaw by more excuses, without taking Jason’s feelings into account, was, to me, unconscionable.
Yes, I had my brief laugh this morning and it bouyed my stuffed up spirits for a small span of time. But then, the reality of what she had done emerged on Jason’s confused and deflated face. Is it no wonder that he had trouble delivering his second song? I still think that this song would have been a marvellous moment for him, but Paula and the Idol franchise dashed whatever confidence remained in this young performer.
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This whole Paula thing is a funny mess!
I agree, MCL, I do wonder what kind of performance Jason could have had if not for thiis. I completely forgot about that Season 4 mishap too! WOW!
I have come to feel sorry for poor Jason, but still think he needs to go home!
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Sadly, his studio single is Forever in Blue Jeans, rather than September Morn, so we’ll never know what he could have done with it. (They only have the one single, although both videos. I don’t want to watch that again.)
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That was more like an anti-apology, wasn’t it? Shame on them.
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I agree – declaring him safe first is about as much of an apology as Jason’s going to get.
What a debacle. If he had been voted off it would have continued to gain steam too, would have been the focus of every post-Idol interview, etc…….. probably a good thing for the franchise that he stayed another week.
Hope he has a “moment” next week too. I like him. I don’t think he can win against the David’s, but I will buy his CD when it comes out.
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PS – hope you feel better soon, MCL!!!
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I wanted Jason to sing Forever in Blue Jeans when the theme was announced. It feels good to hear that the studio version is terrific. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame theme for next week should produce some memorable moments. As a Founding Member of the Rock Hall, I am just ecstatic.
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I wanted to talk a bit more about Paula’s flub, if you don’t mind! I think there are a few REAL issues that have become apparent with this goof. First, the way she tried to cover it up and said that the 2nd review for Jason (which was a tough critique) was really intended for David Cook, but then she realize she said negative things in the critique, so she quickly changed to “David, you were FANTASITC!” So, obviously, it was a critique of Jason’s 2nd (as yet unheard) song, and not David’s 1st song.
Then, there was much speculation that the Jason’s 2nd song critique was written by Paula at rehearsals, and she just goofed by maintaining that it was for the live round. Couple of issues with this … first off, they shouldn’t be critiqued on rehearsals, as things can be MUCH better or MUCH worse live! Secondly, and this is a BIG one, according to numerous fans and press, Paula was NOT at the rehearsal, she had a woman with red hair sitting in her seat for any from-the-back camera shots! So, she couldn’t have “graded” Jason’s 2nd song, if she wasn’t even there.
She claimed in an on-air interview on Ryan’s morning radio show, that she was seating some family members in the rehearsal, and happened to hear the beginning of his song (only the beginning), and wrote her notes then. It hardly seems fair to give such a detailed ‘slap-in-the-face’ if she only heard snippets of the song. I’m not buying this explaination.
That leads to the 3rd option, that she (and the other judges?) are given notes with the “party line” for each singer … in other words, AI’s powers that be may not be actually tampering with the votes, but they may have a very specific agenda that the judges are suppose to support, with this week’s agenda being that Jason was terrible and needs voted off. To me, this would be cheating.
Lastly, I don’t think anyone should have been eliminated tonight, because either Paula’s comments (and the other judge’s) about Jason were ‘supposed’ to be negative, and the Jason fans went crazy voting for him, knowing that his AI time is up as far as TPTB. Thus, Brooke was tossed because Jason’s fans overcompensated for the crappy way he was cheated (can you imagine having to pull yourself together after hearing how terrible you WILL be and sing?!). So, it was unfair to Jason, and to Brooke.
I’m just terribly disappointed, as I’ve always pooh-poohed the roar that AI was faking the votes, etc., but now, I’m honestly not so sure that AI is being fair to all the kids. , They work too hard and put too much of themselves into AI, to be so disrespected by TPTB.
Thoughts?
Anita
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Morning everyone. Feeling almost human today, but still taking it very slow. Thanks for your get well wishes. 🙂
Yea – Jason stays, but, I guess this was the closest thing to an apology as he will ever receive.
And Paula sure did receive more questions than usual last night during the “call-in” segment. Talk about “scripted”.
Oh well, it looks like this will be an all male Top 3 – that’s what my gut says. If Syesha is mixed in with the Davids, the Finale will appear all too obvious. Unless, that’s what they want you to believe. Oh – the head games.
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The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say that the bottom two were really Brooke and Jason, but they stuck Syesha in there so they could make Jason safe right away.
I noticed they never once said ‘This is your bottom two’ just that ‘One of you is going home’. And usually they point out the bottom two.
But I do agree, it was a debacle with Jason and Paula. Amusing, yes, in a ‘What is she smoking?’ way, but to me it definitely shouted that she wasn’t even trying to listen, which makes it worse. Poor Jason, he looked so shocked.
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Wadahoot – I retrieved your very detailed comment. Thanks so much
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Hi, MCL–please check the email address you have listed on the “About MasterclassLady.Com” page!
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Rereader -did you send me an email? To rosanne @timminsyouthsingers.com? If so, I didn’t receive it.
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Rereader: send it to this address: masterclasslady @hotmail.com. without the space between “masterclasslady” and “hotmail”
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Done!
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MCL, did you listen to “Cracklin’ Rosie” as sung by the group on the results show? Jason sounded stronger but I was wondering about his technique during the song, esp. on the first part.
I don’t think Paula’s fumbles were anything more than Paula just being Paula. Awkward, sure, but we will never know exactly what happened. I do think it helped Jason to survive another week. If Jason let it affect him, well, if he really wants to win, Paula’s words could have lit a fire in his belly. C’mon, Jason, those were fightin’ words! Show us the money! Give up one for the Gipper! (Well, maybe the last one doesn’t make sense but you get what I mean…)
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Yes, Katherine, I believe he sounded stronger and more confident. Still spreading his mouth and all, but it was a good strong beginning to the group number.
Yes, Paula being Paula brings a smile to my face. She cracks me up – truly.
But, honestly, all the judges had a wake-up call on Tuesday. They all looked shell-shocked with having to critique these singers as a group. But Simon was pretty quick with his one-two word summaries of the 5 singers – I’ll grant him that.
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I have just watched Paula’s interview on ET and I am furious. It is all about Paula. Poor Paula and the rumors. Excuse me Paula, but you could have said, “I am sorry for what I did to Jason.” Not one word about the fact that he had only sang one song. She is so self-centered it disgusts me.
MCL, glad you are feeling a little more human today. No, no, no – I mean feeling better!
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This Paula thing is definitely making me laugh! I agree that she should apologize to Jason…poor him. I’m sure that they called him out first and told him he was safe to make up for it! I agree with you, Stacy, and really like that conspiracy theory…ha!
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!!
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MCL, I’m SO sorry you’re still feeling poorly. This virus stuff stinks!
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
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MCL
Hope you are feeling better.
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Interesting behind-the-scenes of the ‘kids’ picking songs and practicing http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007164_20171835_20197246,00.html Note: Jason says he’s “Kinda ready to go home” and David A’s Dad sounds sorta like the stage-Dad he’s made out to be.
Anita
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I thought the Entertainment Weekly article re: how the idols choose their music was very interesting. The comments about Mr. Archuleta reinforce my belief that David might connect with his music more if dad took a step back. Dang! I wanted David A. to sing “I’m a Believer”. Ah well, I hope all the idols can select songs that showcase their talents.
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?
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Good morning all:
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.
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Gosh…I just don’t hear the talent in Jason that apparently others do…how can you even compare him to David A who has such incredible vocal ability. Listen to David a sing the last line of ‘America’ (Let Freedom Ring) and tell me Jason can even come close…final 3 for Jason…I can’t imagine how unfair that would be.
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Sheebla -I don’t think anyone on this site thinks Jason’s vocal talent is superior to David A.’s.
I think everyone is talking about Jason’s potential vocal talent if he did receive David’s high level of training.
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I understand, I guess…I am not a singer or a musician so I defer to all of you who do have the knowledge that I lack!
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Almost all of the people say that they didn’t have formal voice training in their profiles on americanidol.com, I find that rather interesting.
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.
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Personally, I would LOVE for Syesha to break up that all male party, but that is just me.
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Sheebla,
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. 🙂
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I don’t like EW.com articles they sound like they are biased in their dislike for certain contestants.
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Another thing that I don’t like about the manic fans is their hypocrisy.
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I don’t like EW.com articles they sound like they are biased in their dislike for certain contestants.
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.)
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Almost all of the people say that they didn’t have formal voice training in their profiles on americanidol.com, I find that rather interesting.
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!)
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I’ve never seen that pre-performance interview.
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Sorry, I just re-read what I wrote, and I wasn’t clear–the profile is still up, not the interview (as far as I know). I did google it, and found a reference to the interview, though, and apparently it was Bon Jovi week: http://hubpages.com/hub/LaKisha_Jones_Stayin_Alive_Longer_Than_Expected
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!
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Well, well … Simon doesn’t believe ANY apology is necessary … AND he hates the songwriting contest for the finale. http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/05/simon-cowell-de.html
I totally disagree with his thoughts on apologizing … Jason was due a BIG one.
Anita
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Well, it seems that things are dying down on the Paula mess-up and the contestants had a great time in Las Vegas. I did wonder if they were going to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.
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! :o)
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