<p>Wanted James and Casey in the final.</p>
<p>Thats hilarious, mommaj! Great analogies! Paula Deen and Alfred E Neumann!! LOL!!!</p>
<p>I don’t get why a 16 year old has already taken a “stage name”. She dropped her last name (Suddeth) and goes by her first/middle name. Why? To me it makes her less “real” and more “packaged”. I am sorry to see Haley go. This whole season gives me a big yawn. The judging is a constant “attaboy”. No true critiquing of the songs. </p>
<p>I also am not a fan of country music. Except the song “I’m gonna hire a wino to decorate my home”. That song always cracks me up. Here ya go-- since youtubes are now allowed. Enjoy [YouTube</a> - I’M GONNA HIRE A WINO](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I admit I am not a fan of country music, but I also could not stand what I thought was Haley’s smug attitude. Did anyone notice tonight when Lauren’s name was announced, the expression on Haley’s face? For any of them to make it this far, they should at least act graciously, which IMO Haley did not. And what was with the headband she wore that resembled a crown. Wish it would have been James in the final with anybody else.</p>
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<p>He was polite and cute while they were together. I just don’t think he needed to kiss his cross and say "Lord this is not my doing. after it was over.</p>
<p>I agree that Haley looked shocked and pi**ed when Lauren’s name was announced. Past years have taught us that you don’t need to win AI to have a career in music. The exposure alone will bring opportunity to the singer if they are good enough. Actually, I think the winner’s careers are hindered by the win.</p>
<p>It always seemed to me that Scotty could win - he’s clearly got something going in the country thing. I do NOT get Lauren making the final. Not at all.</p>
<p>Oh well. If she wins it all… what a let down, imho.</p>
<p>Well, I was wrong about Haley making it into the final. Agree that the look on her face was one of incredulity…I guess she figured that the country vote would split between Scotty and Lauren. Still, she had a pretty good run considering she was on the hot seat a number of times.</p>
<p>Lady Gaga is the Madonna of the current generation.</p>
<p>I was surprised that Haley wasn’t a finalist, but not as surprised as she, based on her reaction. What a difference a few weeks makes. A little over a month ago, she repeatedly seemed to “mock the suspense” of her being in the bottom 3 during the results shows. Her bubble really got burst with the announcement tonight.</p>
<p>I also was bummed that Haley was not in the final, but on the other hand, if she was in the final and lost to a kid country singer, that would have been worse. I love the talent part of AI, but I do not like that the finalists the past several years have not necessarily been the true musicians. The winner lately has been a short-term pop-star that then fades away quickly as the fans get distracted with the next pop star. AI has some interesting guests that remind me this show is about a pop star, but not necessarily the best talent as a vocalist. I mean, seriously, what was that song that the Pussycat Doll girl (Nicole Sheridan?) did with grinding and dancing? That was not music, that was an older ex-star trying to get the spotlight back on herself before she ages out. No offense, I’m 40-something and know what aging looks like, but what’s wrong with moving to a more sophisticated and mature style of music as you move from your 20’s to your 30’s to your 40’s? Is a high school or college kid really going to buy a CD of a woman acting their age but is really an Atlanta Housewife in disguise? Did she really never have any vocal talent? Beautiful lady, but please don’t sing again on my TV. The one thing I liked about Haley is that she did know how to hit the high point of a song … her best vocals were really amazing. Like someone said above, Haley’s downfall was that some of the non-chorus parts of the song were just not amazing. Scotty and Lauren did sing fine in their songs, but the best part of their songs was still not as amazing as the best part of Haley’s. I wonder how long the country kids can ride the tween vote before the next Idol is announced? I think Haley (and Casey) will be around as great musicians for the long haul.</p>
<p>^^^^What Snowflake said. I’ll be skipping the country snooze fest.</p>
<p>I don’t think Haley got into the finals because, unlike Scotty and Lauren, she didn’t define herself early on with a specific musical genre, either Jazz or Rock. In the end, I don’t think enough voters knew just what kind of artist she really wanted to be.</p>
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Great line.</p>
<p>Something about Haley rubbed me the wrong way. When they had to bleep her out when she saw the limo, it turned me off. Some of her mannerisms while performing turned me off – the perpetual arm lifting for one. Also, as my son observed, she too closely imitated the artists whose songs she was singing. It was difficult to get a handle on who she was because she kept imitating others. When she did something unique – The House of the Rising Son – she was amazing.</p>
<p>I never understood how Haley made it this far. She should have been voted off weeks ago, IMO. I saw that look on her face, too - she looked pretty shell shocked.</p>
<p>I am sure AI never thought it would be a country duo at the end. I like country occasionally, I actually saw a Alan Jackson concert with our neighbors last summer! And my “country” observations are that I am sure these fans voted like CRAZY!
I actually think Hayley got better at the end, just because James was gone…and when comparing her style to country she was the “winner” in her category!(duh…no competition)</p>
<p>I will have to go for Scotty for the win…I think his maturity just shines through far more than Lauren’s. And…boy did I think that blue dress was BAAADD!! She looked like Loretta Lynn…not a 16 year old.</p>
<p>And just wondering…have any of our wonderful thread participants actually voted? I admit it…I haven’t!</p>
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<p>I think she thought she was on a karmic cosmic journey…I have to admit, I would have voted her off weeks ago and more than one time–and yet, here she was, one of the final three and seemingly getting better every week after taking punch after punch from the judges and still managing to get them to sing her praises as she fights back.</p>
<p>But the karmic journey was not supposed to end by not getting into the finals. What kind of karmic journey is THAT?! No wonder she was surprised…</p>
<p>I voted once or twice at the beginning. But the idea that you have unlimited votes (or only 100 if you vote online)? Huh?</p>
<p>I voted just ONCE each week online and posted on Facebook, and always for who I thought deserved to win for that week. James and Casey (when he was still around) got the majority of my votes over the course of the competition. I only voted for Scotty, Lauren, and Haley once and never voted for Jacob (although he came close to receiving my vote one week). I even voted for Stefano during one of the weeks.</p>
<p>I may have voted once or twice, probably for James, but when I heard you could vote in unlimited mode by phone or 100 votes online, I realized that my one little vote was going to get squashed by the tween crazed kids hitting re-dial or fulfilling their online 100. If I knew you could only get one vote her phone number or email, then I would likely click myself an online vote when I felt the urge.</p>
<p>I voted for both Casey the week after he was saved, and James a couple of times, including the week he was voted off. Sigh.</p>
<p>Well, Idol is on and I’m not watching, and so far I’m feeling just fine, no withdrawal issues. I must confess that I did flip it on at about 8:03 just to take a peek at the Kountry Kids Kontest, and there was a doctor on stage talking about how Lauren had damaged her vocal cords (this is what happens when you put a teenager with inadequate vocal training through the ringer of a competition, but I digress), but she had been pumped with meds and was somehow soldiering on, thank you Jesus or whatever. At that point I got a little barfy and turned it off. Glee is on soon, and then The Voice. All is well.</p>