<p>Internet voting, using Facebook, has arrived starting next week:</p>
<p>[‘American</a> Idol’ adds online voting for viewers - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s//ap/us_tv_american_idol_online]'American”>http://news.yahoo.com/s//ap/us_tv_american_idol_online)</p>
<p>Is it me, or is something wrong with the sound tonight? So far they sound like they’re in a cave.</p>
<p>why, oh why do we need to keep the boy/girl ratio 1:1 for so long?</p>
<p>only liking one y chromosome type so far…</p>
<p>Opinion may change tomorrow.</p>
<p>Is the panel tone deaf? Brett sounded so weak and they loved him. Huh? Maybe the sound is off.</p>
<p>I remember prior seasons when the judges discussed the difference between the broadcast sound and the studio/auditorium sound in the context of the popular vote.</p>
<p>rmac, I was surprised that Brett made it to this point. I think there were others who were better last week. I think he’s going to have a tough time hanging on .</p>
<p>DH and I have not been watching Idol much at all but my favorite guy tonight was Paul. That Jordan guy, IMO, was probably the worst.</p>
<p>I think the sound was off, too. I couldn’t hear some of the first few singers over the background music. I personally think Idol manipulates the sound on the ones they want to get the votes. I have thought this for years. The sound mix was excellent on the rock singer they like so much. I also found it odd that they said the contestants could choose any song they wanted, then when they asked that one guy if that was the artist he wanted to be, he said no way. Then why did he choose that song? hmmmm. I love Idol and have watched every season since the first, so I’m not trying to put the show down. These are just my observations. I love the country singer, though not sure what he’s doing in a pop singing competition. Love the judges, too.</p>
<p>The judges like Brett because he’s a “character.” They need to keep a couple of the character’s on through the early rounds so they will keep viewers who are more interested in a reality show than a singing competition.</p>
<p>I didn’t love them all tonight, but I think the talent is quite good this year. I agreed with Rand. on some of the singers he was critical of. Overall, the judges are better than I expected. Entertaining…but certainly appear to be genuine in most of their comments. So far, they interact well. I found Simon amusing, but I was getting tired of the “issues” between the judges/Ryan in the past couple of years…whether made up for “hype” or real.</p>
<p>Out of the 12 guys who performed tonight, there were definitely 6 who I thought gave “A” performances:</p>
<p>Casey
Jacob
Paul
Scotty
James
Clint</p>
<p>I thought the following gave “B” performances:</p>
<p>Jovani
Stefano
Robbie</p>
<p>And I thought the “C” performances were from:</p>
<p>Jordan (wrong song choice)
Tim (wrong song choice)
Brett (so-so song choice; awkward movements that made me feel uncomfortable- judges “overlooked” a mediocre performance)</p>
<p>American Idol is to a lesser but still sizable extent about being a popularity contest almost as much as it is a singing/new artist competition. When you combine unique singing talent, musicality, versatility, AND popularity- as is the case with Casey- it is going to make him the early male front-runner and favorite to win the entire competition. Casey doesn’t take himself too seriously and that is always a huge plus. Clint has the talent, but he doesn’t seem to have the likeability of a Casey, Scotty, Stefano, or Robbie. Jordan has the talent but is too ego-centric, Brett too quirky. Besides the top 6 tonight, I think the ones who may challenge these guys may come from Jovani and Stefano.</p>
<p>If last night is any indication I predict a female winner.</p>
<p>^^ditto; and what a disappointment since during the preliminary rounds, there was not ONE female that I particularly liked…I don’t even think I will watch this week’s results…</p>
<p>I totally agree about the sound. For me, it was as though the band was overshadowing the singers in almost every one. The only performance I didn’t think so was with Scotty, the country singer. Perhaps that was because his accompaniment was mostly acoustic, best I could tell.</p>
<p>I was disappointed in the way everyone sounded in general and felt that something about that stage and venue swallowed them all up. I know these guys are all very good singers. I certainly hope adjustments to fix the sound will happen. Without it, I won’t be watching much in the future.</p>
<p>That said, I agree with others who have said they like the feel of Idol this year and the new judges in particular.</p>
<p>I didn’t see any indication that all of the guys are good singers. I haven’t watched earlier performances, but I heard very few good singers. I am also convinced that, based on his comments, Steven Tyler is deaf. The “money note” is the ruination of many. It should not be a “money scream.”</p>
<p>I agree with jshain’s top 6, but I bet Brett ends up in there somewhere for entertainment’s sake. In the preliminaries, I don’t remember any girls who really impressed me, so I am interested to see them tonight. I like the fact that this year it is not so much about the judges, but more focused on the contestants. I do know that reality TV is not always real 
so anything could happen.</p>
<p>I’m glad we weren’t the only ones who noticed the bad mixing. We couldn’t really hear the singing of the first several contestants.</p>
<p>I disagree that the winner will be female. Possible, but I think a few of these guys will have careers, regardless of who wins. On a scale of 1 to 10:</p>
<p>Scotty, the country singer-- zillions will go see this guy when he opens for some successful country singer. I’m not a country music fan, but he is one singer I wouldn’t turn off if his song were playing. – an 8</p>
<p>Casey-- probably the best musician so far from what I’ve seen. Wonderful facility in his voice, soulful expression in his bass playing and singing, a unique and honest performer.-- a 9</p>
<p>Jacob-- head and shoulders above everyone as a singer/performer. Unbelievably fantastic voice, gifted beyond belief as a performer, maybe a once in a generation singing talent. H’s comment after Jacob finished his performance: There’s your winner. – an 11</p>
<p>I’m enjoying this year, I think there is a lot of talent. There definitely are a few others who performed well, maybe even who might have won in a different season. But I think the above three will remain on top for a while. I’m looking forward to seeing the women, and I hope the screamers (not as many this year, IMO) get weeded out soon.</p>
<p>But I’m really only watching for JLo, I’m a big fan. 
I wonder if Marc Anthony will make a guest appearance this season? Or who else might be doing so?</p>
<p>Did anyone get the impression that Ryan Seacrest seemed more relaxed without Simon Cowell on the judging panel? I thought he acted as if a huge burden had finally been lifted…</p>
<p>Anyone want to take bets on how long until Scotty does Roger Miller’s hit song “King of the Road”, if he’s still around in future weeks?</p>
<p>Marc Anthony was in the audience last night…</p>
<p>There were a couple of standouts in the girls’ group tonight, but more who really didn’t live up to the occasion. I’m really showing my age here, but do any of you think that Haley looks like Laura as in Luke and Laura on General Hospital from 30 years ago? And I’m not sure why the last girl deserved a standing O from the judges. Must have sounded different in the studio. The sound mix was much better tonight.</p>
<p>Haven’t watched the show in years…watching this season because of Tyler. Question…all these weeks to get to the final 12 guys and ladies, and 7 each are cut after 1 performance?.. that doesn’t make sense to me. There are some very good singers and I would like to hear more than 1 performance to see what they really have.</p>