<p>Just started out West… . I guess Keith didn’t see the email that the show tonight was formal attire???</p>
<p>I think Caleb’s original song was much better than Jena’s song and gives him the win on Wednesday night!</p>
<p>Did anyone notice that they kept showing Jena’s parents in the audience during final night, but barely a pan to Caleb’s family? Maybe their attire last week caused the producers to avoid showing the polyester shorts family? I mean really? your son is on one of the biggest hit shows in America and you show up in a ratty T shirt and polyester shorts up on the stage? </p>
<p>First song, and that was pretty unimpressive. Talking about outfits, Jena’s grossly mismatched outfit was really ugly. Whomever is dressing these kids needs to be fired.</p>
<p>Okay, almost halfway through and nothing sounds good to me. I stopped even looked at the tv, and only looked up when Sam had a brief part, because he sounded good. Maybe it’s this hotel tv sound system. Okay, Demi Lovato sounds pretty good. J Lo sounded terrible to me…seems so weirdly inappropriate to have a judge wearing very little and shaking it…ugh. Well, that wind machine was working overtime.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just disappointed that it wasn’t Alex and Sam in the finals! Should I watch this again when I get home, on a better sound system? Is it just me?</p>
<p>Okay, John Legend. Wow! That guy is phenomenal. On any sound system.</p>
<p>Okay… now we know why Harry hasn’t gotten up to dance before tonight!?</p>
<p>^^Yeah, and he probably shouldn’t be singing on the show either…weak! </p>
<p>Jena’s mom after Ryan announced the winner to herself: “What the heck!!??, oh-oh I’m on camera, put the good sportsmanship face on now!!!”</p>
<p>I got censored, and had to revise slightly…</p>
<p>And Malaya did a nice job with John Legend. He is amazing on any sound system, I agree!</p>
<p>Yes, I agree on your comment about JLo. Demi Lovato was covered much more tastefully and still wow’ed me. No gimmicks needed.</p>
<p>@jshain , I missed that - did Jena’s mom really do a WT_??? on camera??!</p>
<p>I thought many of the performances were weak. I personally thought that Malaya was not good with John - he is a class act though - so refreshing to hear him!</p>
<p>Hugely disappointed in Sam’s duet with Phillip - I mean, WHAT DUET?! We hardly got to hear Sam!!! I did read a couple write ups that said that Sam sounded better than Phillip - I do love to watch Phillip perform though!</p>
<p>Between JLo in the racy costume gyrating around the stage and then coming back with her trio with Keith and Harry using that sickening little girl voice - gag. </p>
<p>I think you must be commenting on Harry’s lack of dancing skills? HAHA. I will say though, I still give Harry SOOO much credit for never standing up for a performance during the competition. </p>
<p>I thought that JLo looked REALLY REALLY disappointed that Jena was not called the winner. That camera shot of the judges really told a picture. Did not see much excitement. Loved the big hugs from the rest of the contestants. Otherwise, Caleb seemed pretty calm and sort of unaffected to me. WAY too much confetti. WAY too many yellow balloons for the one number!!!</p>
<p>Did anyone else notice that MK wasn’t there? She had tweeted a day or two before that she was sick and was not going to be there. But that she would be on tour. I thought that a little odd. You’d think you would have to be PRETTY sick to call not coming 2 days in advance! Seemed a little odd to me. </p>
<p>So we’re done for this year!!! Raise your hand if you’ll be watching SYTYCD in a week? I’ll start a new thread!!! 
</p>
<p>abasket, Jena’s mom had an initial expression of total shock that her daughter had not won.</p>
<p>That was pretty awful. J-Lo and Harry were sort of embarrassingly bad. Sam was definitely better then PP. Can’t wait for SYTYCD…that’s my favorite. See you on the new thread, @abasket! </p>
<p>
Me too. Everything else is a place holder : 
just to keep my DVR from rusting.</p>
<p>Me three. Cat Deeley is a gem. I saw a bit of preview on Idol last night and saw Mary has gone completely light blonde. If anyone ever needed a stylist…</p>
<p>Some SYTYCD trivia to get you in the mood: I heard “Say Something” by A Great Big World for the first time when it was used for a dance last season (Amy Yakima and Robert Roldan–go watch, really lovely). Apparently Christina Aguilera heard it for the first time while watching the show, too, and she was prompted to contact the band and suggest a duet–which then became a huge hit.</p>
<p>Look forward to a summer SYTYCD thread!!!</p>
<p>@Lergmom ! I saw you posted on another thread that you attended an AI concert last night! I’d love to hear more details! Who you liked, who you were surprised at, etc. </p>
<p>I have heard/read that they have no band (lame AI!) and that Dexter has been missing from the line up for awhile possibly due to health issues. </p>
<p>Here’s the AI tour review:</p>
<p>The show is to recorded music, so it flows at a specific pace. There’s a big screen behind the stage and a video guy roams below the front on some numbers with the shot appearing live (with transitions, etc.). A big light rig for effects. Each of the 9 - Dexter is gone, at least for now, possibly ill - gets a 2 or 3 song showcase. They do numbers they did on TV. They run a video bit about each of the judges and promote Caleb’s album several times. (August 12th, btw.) Caleb gets the final showcase with his name projected and more intense lighting, etc. </p>
<p>As to the performers, most were quite similar to TV. Jessica did a nice job with Pumped Up Kicks; it sounds good as a happy country-ish song with a catchy, mid-tempo melody. No one cares about the weird lyrics live. Didn’t really remember most of what many did. </p>
<p>Alex was very good. He can really sing. My only criticism is he needs to put more dynamic range in his delivery . Same as we saw on TV: when he does Just Too Close to Love You, he begins high and doesn’t have room to go up with the chorus. Maybe he should drop the pitch of it. But he’s very talented. His family is nice. They were there en masse. I’d say Alex sounded exactly the same live as on TV.</p>
<p>Caleb can sing but has relatively limited range, both up and down. He can’t hit the really high notes and can’t drop down so the singing stays in the same narrow band. He chews gum on stage. He should stop doing that because it looked really bad. He sounded similar live, but not quite as good, maybe because the screaming style of singing came across with more power on TV.</p>
<p>Jena is a natural entertainer. She got the crowd out of their seats. But her voice sounded strained and her articulation was, well, unclear to the point you couldn’t understand the lyrics. She also struggled with the amplification. That may be mic mix into the sound but it felt like she was trying to sing over the mix instead of into her spot in it. She didn’t sound as good live as on TV.</p>
<p>Sam was the only performer who sounded better live. His voice is simply stronger. On TV, when he’d reach the end of vocal lines or when he’d drop register, his voice would lose volume and sound like it was trailing off. Not live. He’s singing out more and sounded significantly better than on TV. His pitch was excellent and his tone sounds as smooth as a lower-pitched Michael Bublé. He was genuinely impressive.</p>
<p>Idol is choosing to sell only 3 individual t-shirts. They probably do this each year, but it means they’re selling Caleb, Jena and Sam though Sam was 5th in the show. Shirts were $35 and family has to buy them same as anyone else. (I did not.) </p>
<p>The kids also act as back-up singers. Sam did a bunch. Alex played drums a few times and electric guitar on one number, including the solo. Jena did a bunch. Jessica did some. Majesty Rose did a bunch. </p>
<p>They have an after-show tent where the kids sign autographs, give hugs and take pictures. I took a bunch of pictures of Sam’s dad taking pictures of his son signing autographs, which I think was both cool and funny. The kids are all nice and gracious with their fans who wait patiently in line for each one. (I have no idea how people got in, though I assume many were family and friends of someone involved plus contest winners - because we met some winners.) My wife talked to Malia because they went to the same school and she was all hugs and sweetness. Have to mention my cousin met 2 girls who paid a fair amount for a pre-show meet & greet that was disappointing; they let them only have a group shot. So he convinced customer relations to let them into the after-show tent. We haven’t seen Sam in a few years but he reminded us that our faces are on the wall in his grandparents’ house. </p>
<p>Wow, awesome. Interesting about the Sam T-shirt even though 5th place. I’m sure their confidence is well placed!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing! SO happy for Sam. SO happy that Alex sounds as good in person. SO annoyed that Caleb is chewing gum on stage! </p>
<p>That is really odd about the tshirts. I’ll be Sam’s shirt sells the best! I have to tell you, I have been to three AI concerts - season 2 (for Clay Aiken - yep, I was a big fan!), David Cook’s season (STILL a big fan!) and Lee DeWyse’s season because Crystal Bowersox was #2 and she is from here (and the concert was like 10 mins from my house and they had a special day where tickets were only $20!) - NEVER did I see tshirts for individual contestants - wonder if that’s newish. </p>