Picture Courtesy Of AmericanIdol.Com
Live Update at the end of this blog topic beginning at 8:00 P.M. Eastern
I am adding this blog topic a bit early because, after yesterday’s headaches with the WordPress App, it can’t be trusted to schedule a blog topic properly. (Sigh)
So, better early than never, right? More time to continue the talk here in the MCL community.
If you haven’t done so, you can take a peek at my Top 9 Vocal Masterclass article and see if we are on the same page.
I really enjoyed Angie Miller’s performance last night, even more so on second watch, so I don’t understand the disconnect between her and the majority of viewers and critics. I think her personality is not connecting with the viewers and we all know that this counts for a lot on this show.
Thursday night’s Results Show will also feature Idol alums, Jessica Sanchez and Casey Abrams. That is super. It will be great to see these two singers once again.
I suspect that one of the guys may be eliminated tonight and I just hope it isn’t Devin. He is evolving and it will be exciting to watch his growth as this show moves forward.
So, hit the comments section and let ‘er rip – but be respectful. That’s the Number One rule here. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.. :).
Live Update
Intro music is being played and the judges are introduced followed by The Seacrest.
I just saw a Lee DeWyze lookalike in the audience. Strange. Was it him?
Top 9 is introduced and Jimmy Iovine gives his remarks looking back on last night’s performances
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Jimmy loves Kree despite the fact that she oversings. He also loves Burnell but feels that he needs to fully prepare. He didn’t know The Beatles. Not good. Lazaro was the worst performer of the night. Big surprise. And apparently he had the song five days before the show. Not 24 hours before the show as he (Lazaro) claimed. Amber was excellent and deserves Top 3 status. Candice is a natural and gave the best performance of the night. Paul has a good voice but is not ready for prime time. He believes he will be in the Bottom 3. Angie, he feels, is too dramatic and this needs to be fixed because he believes she could be the next American Idol. Devin has. A great ear but he needs to work on his delivery and his consistency. Janelle picked a great song choice. Her restraint was explosive and is Jimmy’s dark horse
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Amber is singled out and she is coyly told by Ryan that she must wait for the results. They play out takes from the rehearsal, showing the opening segment of her song where she battled the dry ice effect until the production staff got it right. Very funny
The Top 9 guys perform a Beatles medley. It is a neat arrangement- background vocals and all. The solos are great.
Paul is the first person to be told that he is in the Bottom 3.
Casey Abrams hits the stage with a Beatles classic, I Saw Her Standing There. He has such a creative way with his phrasing, bends and twists the phrases in that cool, ad lib,jazzy style that sets him apart. This is a neat calypso take on this number. Very, very good. And his partner, the double bass, is by his side. Very innovative performance.
Randy and Keith give him a standing O. Casey mentions his album and Ryan sort of skims over it. Must be rushed for time or it wasn’t in the contract. Ha! Jessica Sanchez and Neyo are on after the break
The Top 9 girls perform Here, There and Everywhere. All the ladies are doing a wonderful job with their solos. Beautiful.
More results. Devin is told to stand and he is in the Bottom 3. Darn. Lazaro is next and he says he has to do songs that he loves. Nikki agrees. Lazaro is safe
. Commercial break!Jessica and Neyo are next.
A montage of Jessica’s journey is played and she is quite overwhelmed by her success. She shares the fact that she will be appearing on Glee. She recently finished her album and it looks very good. It is available for pre-order. She performs her new single, Tonight with Neyo. It is an incredible duo – well-rehearsed and a contagious melody to boot. I wish the singers would learn to support their bottom range, though, and articulate their words when they sing in the lower end of their voice. Drives me nuts!
Commercial break. Results are next!
Kree is safe along with Lazaro. Candice is safe. Awesome! Angie and Janelle are safe. Burnell is safe and Amber is in the B3 along with Devin and Paul. Commercial break time. Don’t soot the messenger here
! Haha
Singing for the save is Paul Jolley. Amber and Devin are safe.
He is performing Alone and is singing the heck out of it. What a shame! I am seeing a new side to him and it is really good. Oh darn. But I know they won’t save him
.
Randy says it is not unanimous and he is eliminated to the music of Phillip Phillips.
That’s it everyone. I wish he could have stayed a bit longer but that’s Idol, right? See you next week
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March 21, 2013 
Picture Courtesy Of AmericanIdol.Com
Masterclass Lady On MySpace.Com
Vocalist.Org
MasterClassLady.Com 
Is there any word on whether Cassey and Jessica will perform together or not? My favorite work of Cassey’s has been his duets with Haley Reinhart. I imagine little Jessica might be up for some cool jazz as well.
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To Gene W.
Jessica will be performing with Neyo.
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For me, Angela still sings too loud in her upper register. And she’s not connecting with me emotionally… it seems too planned out.
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Thank you expressingcreativity!
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Sad to see Paul go home…
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Yes, Vonnie, me too!! He sang “Alone” so beautifully too. (Sigh)
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i LOVED seeing casey. or rather, HEARING casey. gosh, we need something unique and we’re just not getting it this year.
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Hunter – it will come with time. The contestants are doing very well considering that it is still early in the competition. 🙂
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I was disappointed to see Amber in the bottom three. Just seeing these contestants for the very first time last night, she was the one who impressed me the most. There is a ton of talent among the young women this season, but I loved her gorgeous voice and thought she interpreted this lesser known Beatles song quite well.
I don’t think that Paul should have gone home, but this is Idol.
I think this group overall handled the Beatles songs quite well. They are songs that have stood the test of time, but also ones that are challenging and difficult to pull off.
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Amber in the bottom three was as ridicules as Lazaro not being in it.
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Yes, it was really surprising to see Amber in the bottom three. And, by the way, good to see you back Mindy! I understand why people are voting for Lazaro, and I definitely feel for him too, but I fear this is going to get a little ugly. As has happened many times before, people who don’t quite measure up to the others are kept around for one reason or another. I think this will happen with Lazaro too. Lazaro has a nice voice, but in my opinion as a listener with no professional knowledge of music whatsoever, he hasn’t shown thus far that he is on the same level as the others.
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In no way should Amber have been in the bottom, Lazaro should have been there and should have been the one going home, each week he has fallen behind the rest of this group, he is not even in the same league! He is adorable, but needs to go home…
Paul’s voice had an Adam Lambert vibe for me, I thought he was the best of the guys!!!
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I thought Paul was an ok singer. Unlike Adam Lambert he doesn’t have the incredible vocal control across his range, especially on the upper end. I wish him all the best. It’s really time for Lazaro to go…
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Malcolm…my comparrison was in tone only, if you go back and listen, when he sings in his upper register, he does have an Adam vibe…to my ears anyways, LOL!!! 🙂
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Hi to Louise, Vonnie, Gene and all the other regulars here! It’s good to be back! I really wasn’t going to watch Idol this season. I was left with so many bad feelings after last season. But I am a sucker for good voices!
I do think that Lazaro should have been the one to go home. He has serious technical issues with his voice, based on what I heard this first time listening to him. He sounded breathy throughout the performance and also off key. I did notice that Jimmy took great pains last night to insist that he did work with Lazaro like he does with the other contestants, that the song wasn’t thrown at him last minute. However, I still think from what Lazaro said, that they convinced him to sing that particular song. Who would have let him go out there singing in a key that was obviously wrong for his voice? I don’t buy what Jimmy is selling.
Lazaro is simply not in the same league with the rest of these contestants. I don’t know that the voters did him any favors by keeping him in the competition. The pressure only gets worse. I read online that they got rid of the really good male singers in the earlier eliminations. Not having watched any of it, I don’t know if this is true or not. But it sure seems like they are setting it up to make sure that a girl finally wins this season.
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I also agree Lazaro should have gone home; however, Jimmy isn’t helping matters much. I am trying so hard to appreciate his efforts, but I would prefer the method we had before Season 10. I loved having the guest mentors working with the Finalists each week. Having heard from dozens of former alumni, we know Idol does throw things at these kids and change their numbers. They pulled that way back in Season 2 on Clay Aiken. The manipulations are oh so obvious!
Hello everyone!
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Kariann,
I agree with you about Jimmy. I also preferred having the guest mentors working with the contestants each week. It sounds like they convinced Lazaro to perform a song that he really didn’t want to do. This has happened far too often. The manipulation and behind the scenes machinations are insultingly obvious.
Jimmy has an agenda. No matter what he says, he is trying to push the contestants that he wants to sign, through this competition. All he did was create even more sympathy and maybe a backlash for Lazaro. He needs to dial it back.
If Jimmy would cool it, then maybe Lazaro will go home. It’s not doing this young man any favors to stay in this pressure cooker when even he must realize that the other contestants are in a different league.
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Jimmy’s remarks sound so scripted it is ridiculous. It’s like he is reading from cue cards or something. Which would be fine if he didn’t have an agenda.
And why would Lazaro supposedly “make up” a story about a last minute song change? I am sure he is not that naive. And, if he is, then he needs to go home sooner than later.
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I think Lazaro created his own problems.
I don’t think he made up a story but rather, we are misunderstanding what he was saying. He didn’t actually say that he had a last minute song change. I think he was trying to say that he didn’t get his first song choice AND he didn’t learn his song until last night.
Not getting his first song choice could be due to his place in the pacing order, ie, another contestant chose his song first. Or he may have chosen a song that was slated to be used by one of the two groups, or he may have chosen the song Casey Abrams sang.
As to when he learned it, I believe the contestants are on their own to learn the songs on time. We have seen kids show up to the mentoring sessions not knowing their song pretty much every season and this season is no exception. Brunell said he didn’t know his lyrics this week when he met with Jimmy. We also know that a few weeks ago when the top ten were selected and each kid sang his victory song that Lazaro stopped by Ray Chews work area in a panic and ask him (Ray) to follow him (Lazaro)because he didn’t know the end of his song and he was going to fake it. We know, at least on this previous occasion that Lazaro wasn’t prepared on time.
On the issue of what key he sang in we have heard the judges frequently mention key this year, either commending the contestant for “choosing” the right key for their voice, or recommending that they consider a key change (a half step is frequently mentioned) in the future. I think the key they sing in is entirely their choice. If a contestant isn’t capable of choosing his key I guess a vocal coach might assist so I doubt they would chose a key that was wrong for the kid on purpose.
When Lazaro met with Jimmy we saw Jimmy ask him “what song are you singing?” Lazaro answered “I chose”… He didn’t say, “I’m singing,” “they told me to sing” or “I wanted to sing but…” He said “I chose.”
Frankly I would be surprised if a man who has been a major player in the music industry for several decades, with a net worth of over ¾ of a billion dollars, would tell a bold face lie on national t v over such a petty issue as how Lazaro’s song was chosen, but stranger things have happened I guess. If he was unable to choose a song, someone may have suggested one for him but I don’t recall anyone ever saying that someone besides Lazaro chose his song for him.
I think they are playing a game with Lazaro that they have played many times before and that is over praising a low ranking contestant so that they will bleed votes off from the mid ranking contestants which helps to clear them out so that they don’t pose a threat to the designated winner later in the season, ie, thin the herd. It also creates more water cooler talk than everyone being eliminated in an order that most would agree with. It Lazaro’s case they play the sympathy card pretty heavily, and it seems to be working.
Next week’s theme may catch a few strong contestants out. It’s Motown week.
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The issue is not Jimmy telling a bald-faced lie on national television! He’s too smart for that. Also, just because he is a powerful, successful player in the music industry, doesn’t mean that he is always forthcoming. He wanted to make it clear that Lazaro wasn’t given the song at the last minute. But Lazaro said that he wanted another song. That does happen on this show. They get a contestant to choose another song, one that may not be right for their voice.
Lazaro’s technical issues are his own.. That’s not on Jimmy and I never said it was. However, he was put through by the judges, who could have let him go earlier. Having not seen the earlier rounds, I cannot comment on that. He’s not going to make it up against the superior talent in this group. I thought that song was all wrong for his voice and there were issues with the key. If there are vocal coaches, then they should help the contestants with things like that. As far as contestants knowing what key to sing in, there is a wide array of themes and different genres of music in the weekly competitions. Sometimes there will be times when a contestant may be out of his/her comfort zone. These are amateurs, so not knowing the right key for a particular song is not unheard of.
Motown week is going to present its own challenges.
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Honesty – why can’t they just find great singers who are even across the board? Everyone comes with a personal story or issue and, quite frankly, I am tired of all the drama.
The pre-performance clips always focus on their personal background and it becomes cloying and manipulative after a while.
I don’t mean to be cruel or mean-spirited but this IS a singing competition, first and foremost. Or, at least, that’s what I thought.
If The Voice can find superior talent, why not American Idol? And yet….one cannot argue with the success some of these singers have achieved post-Idol, so maybe that is part of the allure?
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An actual singinging contest? No way; it’ll never sell!
I sure would like to see Nicholas from the Voice sing a few more times.
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To Idol’s credit, they have produced a few stars, and up ’till now, no contestant on The Voice has had the success of some of the Idol finalists. I remember Christina saying that these types of shows can lead to a great career, she actually mentioned Idols, not The Voice contestants (by name) in her dialogue on the show.
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I would like to know what happens after these shows end? It seems that Idol is committed to promoting some of these singers’ careers post-Idol, whereas the other shows just use their shows as a platform to boost ratings for their network. Once the show is over, they have little to no interest in these singers.
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That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
The Voice had a very limited tour after the first season with a total of six stops, none of which were in the Southeast. They have apparently discontinued even that minimal amount of post season support. I think a lot of the Idol finalists who aren’t signed by a label use their tour earnings of about $100,000.00 to kick start their own careers. I would have liked to have seen last year’s Voice cast in a live show, but it wasn’t to be.
I’ve heard that Terry McDermott (sp) has a single out that is doing well but I haven’t heard it. I don’t know if he is getting any promotional help. No releases from the others yet.
Speaking of the Voice, if you go to their website there is a five minute preview of one contestant’s blind audition that makes this year’s Idol look like amateur hour. It also appears from this preview that the new coaches are going to work well together. The season starts tomorrow night.
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Gene – I will be adding a blog topic about The Voice tomorrow. Unfortunately, I can’t play the videos because I don’t reside in the USA but I have no doubt that the format is once again excellent. It’s a great show, brings in ratings but when NBC is done then so are the singers.
American Idol operates differently but, to be honest, many of their singers from recent seasons have not done well. Phillip Phillips has been fortunate in that he has hooked up with extremely strong songwriters but it is still too early to tell if he will be a mega star like Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson.
David Archuleta and David Cook are taking their own path to success and my money rests of them for even greater success in the future.
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however, some of the coaches do *something*. blake has taken his people on tour with him. he does seem to get personally involved with his people. i don’t know about the others.
chris mann had an entire show on pbs and he also sang for the president at ‘christmas in washington’. i didn’t watch the pbs show so i have no idea what it was like. nor do i know how these things happened. did they see him and request him? did he have an agent that approached them? i don’t know. i doubt christina had anything to do with it.
i think it depends on what motivates the show. Idol has record companies behind them or part of who they are, they are looking to promote in that way to find the next big singer to make a ton more money. their point is to earn money with record sales. and i think Idol is the ‘granddaddy’ so it has more clout.
nbc has mark burnett who is wanting a great show in the ratings.
nbc was very hurting in the ratings. they were/are looking for something. they promote their singers on jay leno. that is promotion for ratings not for the singers.
in the end, no one is really caring about a *person* or a *singer*, the idea is *show me the money*.
and the singers/performers have to take the ball and run with it. kelly pickler had the personality and she ran with it. etc. each in their own way.
x factor-simon is looking for the next big singer too, but i also think there is a ton of ego mixed in with it, more than any of the other shows.
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In regards to Paul, I wasn’t really a fan, but I found there were moments in his performances that I loved the sound of his voice
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I think Paul has lots of potential. It’s too bad he had to leave before Lazaro. Like I said before, Lazaro is a sweetheart, and I admire him for his courage, but it’s been his time to go for weeks now.
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I agree with a lot of the comments on this post. American Idol promotes their show as singing competition but in reality it is drama plus singing competition. Lazaro cannot keep up with the rest of the group and yes, he should have gone home first. But I think because he is the cutest of all 5 boys in the final, girls vote for him. Sympathy votes add more numbers for him and also the latino votes. From the look of how the votes were the past previous weeks I think Devin will go home this week. If he goes home many of those latino votes from Devin will go to Lazaro. I think out of the 3 remaining boys Devin has the best voice and sadly to say, he’ll probably leave this week. I will continue to vote for Devin for 2 hours and if you are his fan, please vote for him for 2 hours.
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