May 3, 2009 
Classic Rock Artists
O nce again, I thought I would give readers the opportunity to discuss this week’s innovative “Rock Week” show.
Innovative? Well, yes, given the fact that, if the message boards and blogs are to be believed, each of the Top 4 singers will be singing one solo, followed by a duet with one of their competitors.
Oh goody, more things to critique – like blend, harmonic cohesion, duet interaction and so much more to come! I can hardly wait for Tuesday night.
And the guest mentoring list keeps on growing. In addition to “Guns N’ Roses” guitarist, Slash, “Alice Cooper” guitarist, Keri Kelli, is scheduled to make an appearance as well. You can read all the news here!
So, what are you waiting for? Grab a cuppa java, some tea or whatever floats your boat at this hour of the day or night (given your time zone) and let the Masterclass dialogue begin. Who will be singing what and with whom?
Masterclass Lady On MySpace.Com
Vocalist.Org
MasterClassLady.Com 
Sorry, mcl, its Guns’N’Roses 🙂
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Arinka – i can’t believe I wrote Guns And Metal. My eyes were closing as I was writing the article. I shouldn’t fight sleep, but I do. Time to call it a night before I humiliate myself once again. Thans for pointing out the error!
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Hi MCL.
RIP Adam Cook. Another reminder of how precious and short life is.
On this week’s show….
I would give my left arm to hear Adam sing Queen’s “Who Wants to Live Forever”. Sarah Brightman’s version is breathtaking and I think Adam could find a middle ground b/w that one and the Queen original. At some point on this show, he HAS to sing this song. I hope vote-splitting stops this week or we could have another season 5 on our hands.
For those who don’t know, Danny Gokey is the new VFTW pick. They don’t like him, but are pretty much in agreement that he is the least talented of the remaining singers.
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MCL, I’m once again looking forward to your critique. I am learning so much from you.
I can’t even hazard a guess as to what they’ll sing, but I am expecting a really great show. Here’s the latest scoop from mjsblog http://mjsbigblog.com/
Season8, can you please explain the VFTW concept and influence? I’m not quite sure I understand their raison d’etre. thanks.
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OH . . . MY . . . GOSH! You mean there are going to be DUETS on Tuesday! Wow. I did not see that one coming at all. Then again, I haven’t seen much of anything coming this season. LOL
Still, I admit that I am looking forward to this Tuesday more than ever now! I think this whole duet concept may actually turn out to be kind of cool! It’d be awesome to see Danny and Adam knock one out of the ballpark!
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Nanine, you can read VFTW’s “About Us” page: http://votefortheworst.com/about_us
(Reading too much of it is a waste of time. I think the point comes across after a few sentences, lol.) The gist of it is that VFTW seeks to influence the outcome of the competition by encouraging people to vote for the contestants the producers would not like to see winning. In a sense, VFTW is trying to discredit AI (a la references to its “suckiness”). I am not so much a fan of the site, and I don’t think it makes too much of a difference at the end of the day. *shrugs*
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VFTW is a site that I can’t even stand. These are people’s lives and futures they are tampering with just to “stick it” to the most successful show on television. Truly a site worthy of utmost disdain if you ask me.
I don’t let them get to me though. Their efforts are NEVER successful, and they have absolutely NO lives. In the ends, America will get it right. I am quite confident in that.
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I keep reading, over and over again, that many of the people that don’t care much for Adam dislike his ‘high’ voice and call it screaming. I wish, wish, wish, he would get through one song without doing it! Is it beautiful? Yep. Do I enjoy it? Yep. But I’d also like to see him win (assuming he wants to!), and if he could just sing a lovely song with no ‘bells and whistles’ I think it would help his cause! I thought we had it made last week on Feelin’ Good … even though the entrance was, well, entrancing, I kinda wish he hadn’t done that last amazing high note.
With it being Rock Week, I’m betting I’m NOT getting my wish Tuesday! LOL!
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Anita, if you want to hear Adam without the “bells and whistles” I’d highly recommend revisiting his renditions of “Mad World” and “Tracks Of My Tears.” But given that it’s Rock Week, I suspect we might be hearing some loud sounds from all of our contestants.
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Season 8 –
Adam did the closest thing he could to Who Wants to Live Forever when he sang If I Can’t Have You. I actually downloaded Freddie’s brilliant performance and I can hear both Adam and Freddie. They really are a lot alike in so many ways. But I can’t see Adam doing that particular song. If he does Queen, and I am kind of hoping that he doesn’t, it will be something else. I just think it’s such an obvious choice and Adam doesn’t usually go for that.
I am hoping we will see something stripped down, like Mad World or Tracks of My Tears. It would be totally the opposite of what everyone is expecting for Rock week and I think it could really put him over the top. No one can do that kind of falsetto, almost acapella singing like Adam.
Whatever he does, I just hope he brings down the house. I want him to stay in this thing. I say maybe he should lay off the screaming, just to show that he can be great without it.
Now that I know they are going to do duets, I think it would be great to see Adam and Danny sing together.
I am well aware of VFTW. I don’t know if I can say what I think of that site in polite language. I honestly do not understand why it even exists. It represents everything that is truly wretched and evil. The less said about them the better.
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Random, but these are videos are too cute!
Earlier, someone posted this ADORABLE video of a young Adam fan. (Awww, I love the end!)
I just saw this video of a young Danny fan:
http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-090421-baby-gokey-fan,0,6876599.story
How CUTE! =D
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J . . . thanks for the clip of the young Danny fan. That was adorable!
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I just heard some folks talking on a local radio station here and they were asking one another what they thought the “average/median” age of an American Idol viewer was. Since I happened to guess it correctly, yes that’s right, correctly, I wondered if anyone here thought they knew what that age was.
One hint: The four hosts of the radio program all guessed too LOW!
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Skid . . . I’m taking a guess at 40. How far off am I?
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MCL, I have a question. Is there a reason why that sound comes out when Adam inhales? Is it possible to control? I love him anyway, no matter what. I love the way he uses his voice and that he chose rock music as his genre.
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Hi MCL, I have a question: Why does Adam make that sound when he inhales? Is it possible to correct? I love him no matter what. He has a huge gift and I am so glad that he chose rock music as his genre.
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Skid…Age 48?
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Here’s an article from Slash about the contestants:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05042009/tv/idols_reluctant_rocker_167551.htm
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Thanks Louise for the link! I really liked what Slash said about Adam. Maybe Adam will do “Sweet Child of Mine” from Guns n’ Roses, that would Awesome!
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Louise and Vonnie:
You’re both close. Louise is a little closer. One of you is too high, the other too low. But, I think the average viewer age, and given that the majority of them are probably voting does help one put the whole voting thing in perspective, especially as time goes on and contestants get eliminated.
I think many people tend to start voting more as time goes on, and many, like me, wait until at least the last three are left before they even start voting. I tend to think that if Kris leaves, his fans will most likely vote for Danny, and if Allison leaves, her fans will most likely vote for Adam—(and vice versa if Danny or Adam leave.)
In the end, it’s really anybody’s game to win. Even though this is a singing competition, I think and have always thought personality plays a HUGE part in the final outcome. Who do the majority of viewers watching that particular season relate to the best? In my opinion, that has to be considered as something that affects the outcome.
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Finally, a rock theme! Only took you eight years, Idol!
In their interviews on the official site, Adam stated that he’d like to sing “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin and Allison wanted to do Heart’s “Barracuda.” I would LOVE to see either of those.
Come to think of it, though, if Adam sings any Led Zep, I’d rather hear him do “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” He’d be brilliant on that, and it’s a definite rock song but one with a slow tempo. It might surprise people if he goes that route. I don’t know if they can clear any Zeppelin songs for the show, so I’m more expecting to hear him do a Guns n’ Roses song.
I think Kris would be great with Pearl Jam’s “Better Man.” That’s right up his alley, I think.
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Vonnie: that would be a great choice for Adam; I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t like “Sweet Child of Mine.” I’m a little worried that if he picks GnR, it’ll be “Welcome to the Jungle.” Not that I wouldn’t love it (because I would), but that song calls for a lot of those screamy high notes that turn some of the viewers off.
I still can’t figure out what Danny could sing. Maybe the Eagles? Or some Bob Seger. I can’t really come up with any contemporary rock music that I think would suit him.
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I don’t believe any Idol has ever sung a Led Zeppelin song on the show. (Anyone know of any?) I’d guess that LZ won’t give them rights.
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Let’s rock and roll.
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Skid…okay! I’m thinking I’m to high so I’ll quess 43?
Erin,
I hope if he does Guns n’ Roses that he does stay away from “Jungle”, he could make “Sweet Child of Mine” another one of those Adam moments!
What is the year range that they can sing? For Danny; if it is today’s, Nickleback, if it’s later, he could do Bob Seager.
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Just puhleeze not do “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” It has been overdone in the AI. Puhleeze do the oldies rock.
Skid–the babyboomers are the highest range of viewers.
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You’re probably right about Zeppelin songs, Gumbo Girl, or at least have never paid for them before.
Then again, LZ have let Puffy/P. Diddy/whatever he’s calling himself these days use the riff to “Kashmir” for a song (I even saw Jimmy Page play it live with him), and I’ve heard “Rock and Roll” in a car commercial before. And don’t forget Leona Lewis singing “Whole Lotta Love” with Jimmy Page during the closing ceremonies of the Olympics last year. I’m not sure that getting permission would be THAT much of an issue.
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That should be, “Or at least the producers have never paid for them before.”
I really need to proofread before I post.
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I think Allison should sing a Joan Jett song “I love rock n’roll”, Kris, maybe something from Boston.
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This is really gonna be a tuff week–rock songs are ruff to pull off with sucess because of the collaboration with the band. Gotta get it down, dudes.
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I hope it is not Alice Cooper for a mentor, he was on before on AI.
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Seriously Surely,
It’s supposed to be Slash from Guns n’ Roses
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Here’s a really cute interview with Ryan http://www.tmz.com/2009/05/03/ryan-seacrest-no-human-is-this-nice/
and a pap getting totally embarassed by his own words to Adam … and the little ‘I gottcha’ grin that Adam gives him is priceless! go here http://www.tmz.com/videos and look for “Adam Lambert Comes Out … of Dinner” (sorry, but I can’t find a direct link to it)
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Think about whether you want TMZ to get your traffic before going there to see their vids. Adam’s dinner date one is on youtube – for now, anyway.
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I can see Adam doing I Got You (I Feel Good)” James Brown…whoo hee
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I can see Kris doing Joe Cocker, “With a Little Help From My Friends”
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I have a headache from listening to rock songs that have been suggested on the Adam thread at american idol’s forum. It’s not the kind of music I am used to hearing, but at this point I am totally confused. Some of the songs are great, like Sweet Child O Mine and Love Hurts, but there are too many and this is not my area of expertise. I just hope whatever Adam does will bring the house down. The expectations for him this week are incredibly high. He dare not disappoint. Although I can’t see how he would.
I love what Slash said about Adam. I know he can appreciate Adam’s vocals. Led Zeppelin has a lot of great songs, but as people on here have said, they don’t give clearance for them.
I am hoping Adam will have another Mad World moment. I know I will be getting more and more nervous as we get closer to show time.
It’s nice to know that the majority of viewers are baby boomers, like me. I can only hope that they have the ability to recognize great singing. I have lived long enough to know that great singers do not come along all that often. These moments should be treasured.
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Personally – I like my rock-n-roll to really ‘rock’ (as in Zeppelin, GNR, Aerosmith ‘rock’). So as far as I’m concerned – Adam can channel Axl Rose all he pleases. I think ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is a FABULOUS choice – though I understand why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Me – I LOVE ‘Ring of Fire’ Adam. All that edgy sexiness (and vocal virtuosity) mirrors the kind of music I grew up with (hello Bowie and Queen!).
If America’s not ready for an Idol who wears eyeliner – then I hope Adam goes out with a bang. ‘Tear the roof off the sucker’ as the fantabulous Bootsy Collins used to sing (man what I would give for a little Parliament!). Break out that upper register and take it for a spin. Pity he can’t do two individual songs (blast Idol producers for the new 4 judge format and extra commercial time!). Rumor has it his duet might be the Mercury/Bowie classic ‘Under Pressure’ (sung with Kris). I’d prefer Adam sing WTTJ followed by something special – like ‘Unchained Melody’……but if he only gets one showcase – I say let it rock the house down!
I’d also LOVE to hear Allison stretch her wings – maybe sing some Heart – or better yet – Janis Joplin. ‘Me and Bobby Magee’ is tailor made for her quirky, smoky, growly voice. Allison’s potential has hardly even been tapped, IMO. I see quite a career in that girls future. As for the remaining two……I’m a bit ambivalent, to be frank. I DO like Kris (but just like) – and Danny leaves me cold, I’m afraid. The perfect final in my book would be Adam/Allison – with Adam for the win – though YMMV.
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So excited for tomorrow. Competition is really heating up.
Part of me wants Adam to sing a breathtaking song like Queen – Who Wants to Live Forever. THe other part of me wants him to come out snarling at America for putting him in the b2, full on with swiveling hips, the snarl, lip biting, guyliner, hair flipping, screaming and moves. Too bad about the duet thing. It’s totally gonna ruin the chance of getting both.
I think it’s still going to be an amazing show. These kids better ROCK!!!!
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TFLS and Season 8,
You know what? My initial thought for Adam was that he would tone down and just sing this week. I wanted him to do “Sweet child of mine” because I thought he could do a beautiful rendition of that song, slow it down and just let his voice be heard. But then another part of me totally agrees with you two. I love the guyliner, OTT, Adam. I love that rock “scream or wail” as some are calling it. And yeah! it’s a shame they had to add the duet this year, otherwise, we could get both, the soft Adam and the powerhousing Glam-bert.
I wonder if the duet is Idols way of helping to pick the top two? Whoever sings with Adam is that who they want in the top two? Cause we all know if Adam goes home; the show goes home!
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Vonnie,
Yes, the average viewer age is 43. And SS, I’m not surprised to read the majority of viewers are baby boomers.
I hope NO ONE does “Sweet Child of Mine.” They play that darn song ALL THE TIME on the radio here, and if I never hear it again that would still be too soon! I’m sick of hearing it, but it’s part and parcel of listening to Classic Rock stations, so what is one to do? Grin and bear it. But, if one of the Idols does it, I’m shutting the tv off! 🙂
My picks are still (as I indicated in another thread here) for:
Allison to do Janis
Kris to do Steve Perry
Danny to do John Fogerty
and Adam to do Freddy’s “Somebody to Love.”
Mindy,
I do think most people can recognize great singing. BUT, if that were the be all and end all to winning this show, (and nothing against David Cook) David Archuleta would have won last year, and others beside the person who did win would have won in years past. As I have said before and will continue to say about this show, it is my firm belief that personality is also an important factor in how far one makes it through this competition.
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Skid,
Yeah! Where did you find that site with that info on the age of the viewers?
When I went to see Taylor Hicks, I was really surprised at all of the “older” people who were there. Alot, if not 3/4 of the people were 50+. My husband and I thought that we would be among the oldest in our 40’s, but that was not the case. Actually there wasn’t alot of young people there.
So what does that say for Idol this year? Are the older viewers going to vote “safe” Kris, Danny? Or are they going to have a walk down memory lane and vote for Adam?
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Vonnie,
Older people were attracted to the kind of music that Taylor sang–it reminded us of our youth. I think that was one of the big problems that he encountered after he won Idol–young people were probably more inclined to appreciate Chris Daughtrey’s music than Taylor’s music. And even though Taylor’s first CD was more pop sounding, it never received any radio play.
When I went to the Idol show the summer after Season 5, most of the people in attendance were people in their 30’s – 60’s and young kids. I didn’t see many teenagers or people in their 20’s, and they are probably the ones who spend the most on music. That probably explains why Taylor never sold a huge amount of CDs.
As for Skid’s question about the average age of Idol viewers, I guessed the average age at 40 because I think there are a lot of people in my age bracket as well as elementary age kids who watch. Shows such as Idol and America’s Got Talent really appeal to me because it reminds me a lot of the talent contests that were popular when I was a kid–Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour. Now that has REALLY dated me!!! 🙂
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Louise,
Makes one wonder then; are us older one’s out voting the teens? That may be very well why Adam was in the bottom last week (if he even really was). Danny seems to be getting alot of votes, maybe they are from the older crowd! I wonder what a David C. or David A. concert would look like? Jason was my guy last year! So I wouldn’t be going to either one of their concerts.
All my votes are going to Adam!
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Vonnie,
I didn’t get the age info off a website. I was listening to a local radio station here yesterday and they asked the question about the average viewer age of American Idol. However, SS (Seriously Shirley) posted that the majority of viewers were baby boomers, and she may have gotten that info from a site, I’m not sure. Given that the average viewer age is 43, I was not at all surprised to read the majority of viewers were baby boomers, making them even older than 43. (Not that 43 is old–esp since I’m older than that)
I’ve seen Taylor too, on many occasions, and I agree, the majority of the folks that were there were “my age.” Taylor is a throwback though, and most of the people who would like the music he does would be of an older age, don’t you think?
Adam???? That’s a tough one to call, really it is. If Adam does get voted off and doesn’t make it to the final two, I’d have to say Danny will probably easily win the whole thing. But, if it’s an Adam/Danny finale, it could go either way really. I am a Motown and Classic Rock junkie, and I like and appreciate Adam and his skills and ability, truly I do. But sometimes he just goes WAY to overboard for my liking. In my opinion, as I’ve stated before, many times I feel like his “performance” is the core of what he does rather than the song being the core, if that makes any sense. In short, I like him best when he just comes out and sings.
People may misinterpret that to mean “I don’t get Adam,” but believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been to tons of concerts and seen some of the best, so it isn’t like I don’t have anything to compare him to. I’ve seen the Stones, and Queen, Aerosmith and Skynard, CLAPTON and Elvis (twice–but I was very young) and many others too numerous to mention; so yes, I am aware.
In my gut, I think that unless Adam just comes out and sings without needing to add all the bells and whistles, there’s a very good possibility that he will end up being voted off, and that Danny Gokey will end up taking the whole thing.
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Here is an interesting article about the remaining four:
http://www.foxesonidol.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=4&article=article2659.art&page=1
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I believe Adam should go for the “kill” tonight. glammed out. He should how us the kind us music he really wants to do, bring on the screams as I believe he relizes he teetering on elimination so go for broke.
Ditto. ALL my votes are going to Adam.
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Skid,
Was just reading over at Mj’s and they were talking about the buying public vs the voting public. Many of the people voting for Danny are not the buying public. Adam is definitely getting the buyers on itunes. I think at this point “win or lose” Adam is going to be a major player in the music industry. It may be better for him if he doesn’t win, and have to be at the mercy of 19.
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Just a thought! But MCL should be a judge on Idol. Then she could turn it into a singing contest instead of a popularity contest.
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For sure there are pros and cons to winning, or not winning, Idol. The only two that have won that seem to be “better off” for the win are Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. The other winners, I think, have not fared as well from winning and I’m not sure Adam would benefit more from winning either. The question is, does Adam really WANT to win, or is it just the exposure he is looking for?
If he doesn’t care about winning, then I agree with joyceanna, he should just come out and do his thing and go out the way he wants to, being true to who he is as a person and an artist. If he does want to win, there’s no doubt in my mind he is going to have to tone it down a few notches and just come out and sing. I mean really, think about it. In a pure singing standoff, who is there left that could touch him? No one. In my opinion, it’s his need to want to put on show that hurts him most in the voters eyes, and that is why people look at him as a “screamer and a wailer rather” than realizing how much talent it takes to do what he can do. To put it in simple terms, many people see him as more of an exhibitionist than a singer, and nothing more. I know it sounds cruel, but it’s true, and he’s really the one who created the monster. His often overdone theatrics takes away from how good his singing really is, and I have no doubt it has cost him dearly with the voters.
Even the greatest front man (and rock voice) ever, the GREAT Freddy Mercury, knew when enough was enough, know what I mean? Even Freddy would only take things so far, and then he would stop. In my opinion, Adam, if he wants to win this competition, needs to learn to realize when enough is enough, and when it’s too much.
But yes, either way, win or lose, he’ll be very successful.
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Skid,
Love reading your posts! You rationalize things so well.
If Adam would just sit on a stool tonight and sing his heart out, that would be awesome. But gut feeling! OHHH! I’m so torn, which Adam do I want tonight?
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19 has an option on all the finalists, i.e. if 19 wants to produce a “losing” contestant, it can at its option. You can bet they’d pick up Adam’s option. So win or lose, he’s going to be bound to 19. Might as well win and get all the exposure that comes with that.
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Gumbo Girl,
Even if Adam goes out at top four? Daughtry and Jason signed with some else, didn’t they? Elliot wasn’t picked up by anyone til much later, was he? (Messa has an old brain, can’t remember)
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Well just listening to Slash’s assessment, Adam indeed will be wailing. Oh well. Also I might add Adam was more or less tame last week, so if following his pattern of soft, wail, soft, wail, this week will be wailing time and I believe the duet, whomever, he performs with will be harmonizing. At this point in the contest, all four will be successful. Didn’t Matt mentioned that he has 3-4 offers right now?
Not basing my opinion on the the performances tonight, I will predict that Allison will go home. This is becoming a knuckle bitting contest. I’m loving it.
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I say good for Adam. He’s a talent beyond what we’ve ever seen on Idol. Maybe his goal is to do one “screamin’ rock classic” and one softer, gentler one. In a way, that’s rather smart, because he’ll only stand to gain votes, not lose any. Especially if he saves the toned downed tune for his last number. It’s the one voters will remember most. In other words, voters will “put up with” the theatrics of the first number if the second one is a killer ballad sung and delivered like only Adam would be able to do. I hope they do the duets first, and his duet is the screamer, and then they do the solos and his solo is a “classic” ballad. That would be a brilliant strategy for him, in my opinion.
For me, it’s just too hard to predict who might be going home without knowing what they are going to sing and how they are going to deliver those songs. But I do think it’s definitely a make or break night for Adam tonight.
Based on all he has to offer, it’s his competition to lose. It’s just going to depend on how far he stretches the boundaries……it’s all in his hands now.
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Vonnie:
Daughtry’s first album was produced by 19: http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/american-idol-5-finalist-chris-daughtry-signs-recording-contract-1009139.php
Clay sued to bread away from the Idol contract (I don’t know how that turned out, but shows that 19 has the option): http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/06/06/idol-finalists-get-recording-contracts/
Also, some more info on the contracts (though this is old, I’d expect that if anything the contracts would have gotten more onerous for the contestants after 19 had proved their star-making abilities with Kelly): http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/feature/2002/09/18/idol_contract/index.html
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Gumbo Girl,
Thank you! for the links.
If someone goes out, say, top four or three, does 19 still have control over what type of music they do, or can they do their own thing?
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It’s my understanding that 19 has an option for one year on all of the finalists. So, if 19 wants to they can put the No. 3 under contract. Then, when the specified time is up, that artist can go elsewhere. Also, I believe I’ve read (but can’t find a link) that the contestants, as part of their contract for appearing on the show, have to agree not to put out an album until after the winner does (and maybe for a period after that to allow the winner to tour on that album). It makes sense to me that that would be a part of the contestant contract. Another reason why you don’t want to not win.
So vote for Adam if you like him — we’re not doing him a favor by letting him lose, even though I appreciate the concern about artistic freedom and the potentially awful music that 19 tends to put out (IMO).
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Skid, no, I did not get that age guess off any site, bird. I used my little bean up here and gave it an educated guess. Baby boomers dig music probably more than any other generation. They grew up on TV, baby boomers dig variety shows and they dig it clean. They can be dirty but they prefer it behind closed doors regardless what you hear about Woodstock. Baby boomers are fairly staying at home at nights than the younger generations–besides they gotta do their frigging homework and texting…figuring out where they are going to do after school and the generation after school is done are either working, worrying, up with kids, out with kids, foreclosed, out of jobs, bandrupted, and what have you.
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LOL Frudian’s slip *bankrupted*
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duets- yikes, that ought to cause hard feelings-creative differences. I generally not dig this time of the AI; the top 4 down to boiling high pressure —the winner! I only dig it when they are the top 12 and watched them bloomed.
You are right, personality does clinches it. Too many peeps are tone deaf.
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Oh Skid, btw, Adam is popular with the baby boomers because 1) he looks like Elvis and Elvis had not left the building evidentially 2) he has the rock and roll wail 3) he is polite 4) he is drop dead gorgeous.
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Gumbo Girl,
Thanks for the info!
I really want Adam to win! So I’ll be voting like crazy this evening.
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Rosanne, thank you for giving us the pre-show discussion and making it easy to find the discussion board by catagorizing them. Sure nuff aprreciate it bird.
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Gumbo Girl,
Thanks for the info! Want Adam to win…will be voting fingers to the bone!
Seriously Surely,
Loved the Elvis comparison…as wel as 2,3,and 4
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UGH! as WELL as 2,3, and 4
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In other words, I hope that you will make an after show discussion so the topic is all together (hint,hint) 🙂
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SS (not to be confused with the German SS):
Personality clinches it because people become emotionally invested, not because they are tone deaf. 🙂
And why are you calling me a bird?
You know, for someone who once “scolded” me for not bringing anything “intelligent” to these discussions, and who basically told me to “exit the building” because they didn’t like what I had to say, your recent posts don’t seem to offer much in the way of meaningful discussion themselves.
Can it be that after all is said and done, you’re human just like the rest of us, dude? 🙂
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Bird means a woman in English.
I still think it is because they are tone deaf.
Whatever.
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Tone deafness is the lack of relative pitch, or the inability to discriminate between musical notes. Being tone deaf is having difficulty or being unable to correctly hear relative differences between notes; however, in common usage, it refers to a person’s inability to reproduce them accurately. The latter inability is most often caused by lack of musical training or education and not actual tone deafness
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Is that meaningful nuff?
Get over it, bird.
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Reads on quietly…minds own business
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Can’t wait til tonight, although I will be unhappy whoever gets kick off and out in the cold.
LOL Vonnie, you got the right idea. Who knows?
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Again, beauty is in the EAR of the beholder.
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Skid, you are beautiful, I love your posts.
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Well, I have decided that I don’t know what I want Adam to do tonight. I find myself going back and forth between stripping it down and letting that glorious voice soar, and just coming out guns blazing at full throttle and going for it all the way. So, I am left to just wait and see for myself.
I don’t think I even want to analyze it anymore. I have to believe that Adam knows what he is doing. I do not think he will go out deliberately to throw the win. He does want this very much. But he has been walking that fine line all through the competition. He wants to be true to himself as an artist and he also wants to appeal to the widest audience possible. Maybe it can’t be done. Who knows!
I was thinking about the median age of 43 and that is a little young for baby boomers. I am in my fifties and most of the boomers are either in their late forties, fifties or early sixties. But it does mean that the audience skews older. Kind of suprising.
I have to say that I do not think that Adam’s so-called theatrics detract one single iota from his ability to interpret the lyrics of the song. Adam is theatrical no matter what he does. Yes, there is the over the top mania of Born to Be Wild and Ring of Fire and Play that Funky Music, but there is also the brilliant artistry of Tracks of My Tears and Mad World and even If I Can’t Have You. If anyone here thinks that Adam’s style of performing makes him incapable of interpreting a song, then you haven’t been listening.
Adam has shown the ability to clearly connect with the words of a song. The greatest performers in history were theatrical – Elvis, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury. All of them were theatrical in the best sense of the word and no one had trouble understanding what their songs meant. Freddie didn’t always come out at full force, but neither has Adam.
I think Adam will stay true to himself right to the end. I really wish they could all sing two songs tonight. I can’t stand having four judges. They take up entirely too much time. I just hope that Simon will go back to being his brief and right to the point self. No meandering and rambing about who wants to win, please!
Oh and Seriously Surely, yes I agree with all four points!
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HEADACHE TIME!!! just joking.
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Back in March on the AI Forums, NYMichael started an Adam Lambert thread entitled “Adam’s Star Power from an industry perspective”. It’s become one of the most viewed and posted threads. Michael states he is “the CEO of an entertainment and new media company, we represent celebrities, motion picture and TV companies” and I’ve found him to be very knowledgeable about the music industry. His posts are quite thorough and he tries to answer all questions asked.
http://myidol.americanidol.com/go/thread/view/32575/14084625/Adams_Star_Power_from_an_industry_perspective?num=10&pg=1
Michael also loves MCL. He states, “I’ve quoted MasterClassLady in several messages. I think she’s marvelous not only for her expertise, but also in making quite complicated technical information understandable for the listening public.”
He has said the following about AI/19 Entertainment:
“Several have asked questions about Simon Cowell (whom I have enormous respect and admiration for), recording contracts, and the interrelationships between the parties involved in American Idol. It’s complicated and some of it I can’t discuss, but I’ll try to make it as easy as possible and want to stress that the salient parts are basically accessible through the US Securities and Exchange Commission (though I’m distilling it for clarity).”
“19 TV is the owner and creator of the Idol Format and entitled to acquire the exclusive recording services of the Artists. In exchange for Simon Cowell performing his services as a judge on American Idol 8, 19 agreed to grant to Syco (that’s one of Simon Cowell’s companies) the option to acquire or allow Nominated Labels to acquire rights in and to certain Artists (including the Winning Artist and any or all of the Finalists of American Idol 8). For Season 8, the Nominated Label is Sony BMG for the Winner; for other Finalists there’s a process where record labels provide expressions of interest (this is happening right now, it’s usually in play by the time the Final 5 are chosen).”
“What this means is that because Simon performed his duties as a judge on the show, Syco has the rights to the Finalists’ recording contracts, which Simon then (as an executive of Sony BMG) assigns to Sony BMG (or potentially other labels based on the expressions of interest) for distribution deals. That’s why Simon is so important to this whole process; it’s basically his decision who’s getting signed. Keep in mind this is just on the recording side; 19 Management has an entirely different set of rights with respect to the overall careers of the contestants as we’ve previously discussed.”
Michael also conveyed that AI/19E has the ‘first right of refusal’ of a recording contract with contestants finishing # 2 – # 10. Only the winner is guaranteed a contract. I also think I have read that past winners’ contract are for a minimum of 2 years.
In regards to Simon Cowell, I’ve read that he specifically wants artists who have international appeal. Of the remaining four, only Adam is considered to be ‘internationally attractive’ to east and west overseas industry experts.
To go directly to Michael blog on AI:
http://myidol.americanidol.com/nymichael
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SS wrote:
Skid, you are beautiful, I love your posts.
Finally, one thing we agree on! 🙂
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Karen – thank you so much for sending me NYMichaels’ link. He sounds like an extremely knowledgeable person and I appreciate his support so very much.
I will have to go and check his blog, as well as his Adam Lambert thread. Thanks again for stopping by and taking the time to write.
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FYI – The last official Baby Boomers were born in 1959 (moi!).
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Anita,
Well I’m just a youngin’ then! My hubby is a baby boomer.
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