<p>I thought some of the judge comments were spot on. Alex adheres to a coffee house level of singing, which is fine but … and I compare that to the advice to Sam to check out Ricky Nelson. I think the idea they’re trying to convey is “emulation”, that is you need to find people to emulate and you become a better you through that process, much as painters were long taught to copy great works. In this day particularly, there’s a lot of emphasis on “being you” when the essence of performing is being a type while being you. </p>
<p>As to some of the others, I think a few tend to be good only when shouting it out. They aren’t very good singers when they’re not doing the big moments. </p>
<p>I remember the first time I heard Sam sing years ago and my comment was that he hits the start and gets into the middle of phrases but isn’t strong enough yet at the ends of phrases. He still tends to fall off in intensity at the end of phrases unless there’s something going on like a pitch change up. Part of that is register: having a naturally full voice, those registers take more time to control. Michael Buble had this problem: his voice opened up like the sun and then would tend to close. But he worked a lot early on with old arrangements - I mean the literal actual old arrangements like for Frank - and those tend to be built to force you to drive to the end of the phrase. That’s one of the big differences in that development of that vocal style out of crooning, the more power “pop” push in contrast to the intentionally intimate croon. </p>
<p>That’s one reason I liked the Ricky reference. If you just listen to Garden Party, you can hear how he works to hit the last bits of phrases. You can hear the register issue in lines like “there was magic in the air”. Another good example is Fools Rush In because you can hear him open up his sound at the end of many lines. </p>
<p>I thought Sam was good, but he’s just SO shy! All those cute little girls around him you’d think he would have acknowledged them at least, but he didn’t seem to even notice them. Actually, I felt like them being there made it worse. CJ is beyond awful. I can’t see how he’s still there. I like a couple of the girls, but I agree that Caleb probably has this one sewn up. Of course, I thought Joshua had last years sewn up…so what do I know?</p>
<p>Having Sam sing in the middle of a scrum of girls smacked of producer desperation and only made him look even more uncomfortable than usual, but I’m sure he’s too reserved to say no to that sort of manipulation. </p>
<p>I adore David Cook–didn’t he look different though? Having him there really pointed out the mediocrity of this year’s batch of singers. I remember how absolutely thrilling it was to hear his arrangements. No thrills this season.</p>
<p>I have a feeling the judges are carrying on in an attempt to mimic the The Voice–and maybe create some excitement in light of the lack of excitement on the stage.</p>
<p>Alex, Caleb and Sam were the standouts last night. Sam has a beautiful tone but unfortunately doesn’t do it for me because he has no stage presence…so far. I liked Sam and Alex’s duet but for some unknown reason I hoped they had sung a Tears for Fears song. CJ should go home tonight. My ears and eyes automatically shut down whenever Jessica & Malaya go on stage. I think Harry was drunk last night. </p>
<p>C.J. has got to be the next to go. Can’t figure out who is voting for him. He seems like a nice guy but his intonation gets worse every week, imo.</p>
<p>So what did people think about tonight’s performances?</p>
<p>I’ll admit that Jena is not my favorite personality of the group, but she sang one of my favorite songs of all time (Radiohead’s “Creep”) and killed it. And I’m feeling really old because I just looked it up and it was originally released 22 years ago. </p>
<p>I just realized they are down to only two girls, so the odds are good that a boy will win this year. Jena could possibly win it all, though, and I would be ok with that. </p>
<p>I’m ready for Jessica to go. I think it will be she and CJ in the bottom two, except he had his best performance so far tonight and apparently they both have a lot of fans because they haven’t been in the bottom much. </p>
<p>I was soooo frustrated with this show tonight. Like a circus! Why are we spending time on Demi Lavato but we don’t have enough time for judges to make enough comments at the end?! Why are we fully criticizing Sam and Alex’s performance (when duets are not suppose to be judged) but we don’t judge Jena and Caleb’s?! Why does JLo make the most awful face at CJs terrible note near the end yet she praises the heck out of him?! The minute they started talking about CJs Son the judges did a u-turn - cant give bad reviews to this sweet dad/son story!!! And Jessica - they just threw her under the bus! She wasn’t great but she was fine and they mutilated her! Ugh. The only thing I enjoyed tonight was Sam and Alex’s duet and Alex’s solo. I’m worried about Sam. And I’m ticked at the show- a circus I tell ya! And if they focus on JLos face one more time…</p>
<p>Big fan of Jessica, but Harry made a great point about Jessica’s lack of rhythm-- throughout the season! </p>
<p>I agree with abasket… the content and time management of tonight’s show was abysmal. Lots of blame to go around starting with the writers, producers, judges, and even Ryan Seacrest! </p>
<p>The band drowned out practically every performance tonight, including Caleb.</p>
<p>I did think that Jena did a great job. Missed a few notes, but besides that, very good. Disagree with Jennifer about the bangs, don’t think that is a good look…actually, for anyone.</p>
<p>Agree with abasket about not wanting to watch JLo during the performances anymore. Hello producers, we don’t care about watching JLo, we want to watch the dang performance! It’s so annoying, I’m starting to just look down. In fact, the judges (though they are better than any other year) are really starting to irritate me. They are making everything about themselves, talking and laughing and messing around during the performances, having a love affair with the camera. Yuck! Even Harry. Knock it off, you’re like little kids!</p>
<p>The only performance I really enjoyed was Sams. He is so incredibly good, he did fantastic. I would have enjoyed Alex’s, but he sang that song way too quickly, so I didn’t care for that version.</p>
<p>My mother amuses me during AI with her blurted out comments -usually directed at JLo. “Her lipstick is ugly!” “Her hair looks like she just got out of bed!” I did not like the faces JLo made tonight. And they should not show the judges during the performances, especially when they are whispering and laughing. the time mgmt has seemed off many times this season. Wonder what’s up with that. I like Jena and Alex and Sam.</p>
I liked Sam and Alex’s duet but for some unknown reason I hoped they had sung a Tears for Fears song. CJ should go home tonight. My ears and eyes automatically shut down whenever Jessica & Malaya go on stage. I think Harry was drunk last night. </p>