<p>Im tired of the judges not judging but praising who they want to praise. Phony baloney!! I wasnt surprised that Jessica was in the bottom 3. I didnt care for her performance at all. I had to laugh when Randy was admonishing America to vote for the best…and how we got it all wrong. Uh, Dawg, maybe we got it right ;)</p>
<p>They cannot fake the voter results, can they???</p>
<p>How do we know? It’s not like they are certified by Price Waterhouse as Oscar results are, LOL!</p>
<p>Maybe someday, someone on the inside will write a book about what REALLY happened behind the scenes on AI…I was amazed at how much money Ryan Seacrest makes for his part of the show.</p>
<p>laxmom, the judges almost literally praises everyone. I was actually surprised they were actually doing some type of critiquing this year after a complete absence of legitimate critiques last season. Re: Jessica’s performance, I’d have to side with Randy. Regardless of your personal like or dislike, she delivered a technically flawless vocal. You have to concede that much despite it not being your cup of tea.</p>
<p>I actually don’t think I’ve heard them call out their ultimate favorites (Colton and Philip) yet. Philip was flat for an entire performance without being called out on it. Good lord. I fully expect either Colton or Philip to win, especially when you see that the past four winners have been white males with a guitar (usually of the “rock” genre). Give the current voting demographic, the likelihood of winning or succeeding for anyone who isn’t male or rock/country is not very high.</p>
<p>Once again, NYsmile finds some good ones! Thanks … saves me time surfing for these.</p>
<p>performersmom–have you ever seen them publish the number of votes each contestant has received? The producers of the show have the final say in who stays and who goes. Also, there have been many instances of where contestants have decided to leave and they still produce the show like they got voted off–remember that spunky Mom from about 3 or 4 years ago-Alexis??? that was so good and got “voted off” early in the show. She wanted to leave, missed her kids too much. Same with Pia from last year, she got a recording contract offer and was “voted” off.</p>
<p>I still have no understanding why Phil Phil is still there. He is so boring and makes every single song sound the same, in his three note range. You never find yourself humming his songs afterwards, and can’t even remember what he sang. So dull, I will never get it.</p>
<p>I agree that PP’s songs all sound the same, but he has a certain charm about him that the young, female voters probably find appealing. I think the clips they show of his dad are precious, too. His dad is so enthusiastic in support of his son. :)</p>
<p>^^^Or not so young female voters. :)</p>
<p>There are TWO performances each this week… </p>
<p>Round 1: (#1 hit songs)
Hollie opened the show and I really liked her effort but going first in each round may put her at a disadvantage. Thought Colton had his worst effort so far. Loved the all-girl band that accompanied him, however. Elise’s outfit was extremely unflattering. She looked like a pumpkin. Combined with a mediocre performance, she may be in trouble on Thursday night. Philip sounded exactly the same as he always does so I’m not sure why Steven said he never knows what to expect from him during his critique. He is one cool unassuming dude, I’ll give him that. I thought Jessica picked the perfect song that really showcased her talent. I thought Skylar sounded much better during her preview with Jimmy than when she performed it on the stage. Too much “growl” for my liking. Thought Joshua had the best performance of round 1. Being the best styled is just icing on the cake. I can NOT wait for his round 2 performance when the theme is “soul” and he closes the show.</p>
<p>Round 2: (Soul songs)
Hollie not as good, compared to her first song, even though the judges thought she was better in this round. Didn’t think Colton had it going on at all tonight, in either round, and I believe he may be the “lone guy” in the bottom 3 this week. Elise sounded good but didn’t connect with the song. She’s probably going home on Thursday. Phil Phil sounded same same, but it was good good. Steven had a great line when he called him “brilliantly awkward”. Does Taylor Hicks or Casey Abrams come to mind? I’ll be shocked if Jessica is in the bottom 3 again. Her second song was great, accompanied with a dynamite line of horns. Skylar’s second song better than her first. She’ll be sticking around. Joshua didn’t disappoint but I thought he could have picked a better song given this genre was right up his alley. </p>
<p>I think Hollie, Elise, and Colton will be in the bottom 3 this week and Elise will be going home.</p>
<p>Agree that Colton was not at his best this week. Hollie impressed me for the first time; she’s a different person from earlier weeks. Philip - to me? Pure fun, pure fun. I do really like him. Skylar does not do much for me, probably because I’m just not a country person. Elise doesn’t connect, just like the judges have said and her matronly clothes don’t help (even if they’re not pure matron, she somehow always manages to have a matronly filip on them, like the diaphonous outer layer on the orange dress).</p>
<p>Jessica’s 2nd round - I think when you work so hard to hit it out of the park, that’s just what you get… looking like you’re working so hard and focused on hitting it out of the park, instead of having it really come from the soul. But she’s impressive, that’s for sure. Agree that Joshua somehow left me wanting more. Can’t criticize the performance… but it wasn’t the perfection I was expecting.</p>
<p>Yes, jshain, agree with you except I agree with jmmom on Jessica. She tried too hard and all I saw was a girl that has been on stage since she was 5 instead of a girl comfortable in her song. Yes, she can sing, but she’s too young to really feel the emotion of these songs in a way that’s believable.</p>
<p>I have to give it to Hollie … even if she’s in the bottom 3 she revealed a new, more comfortable person on stage. I enjoyed her tonight and thought she was better than Jessica.</p>
<p>My wish is for Colton to go home … I don’t buy his act and I do not like it when he looks in the camera. His voice is not strong enough and his look is too forced. Nope, don’t like him.</p>
<p>I would go see Elise in a show if she came to town. While she can be awkward at times when they interview her, I do feel like she connects to a song more than the judges suggested. The maturity she brings to a performance is what I like, matronly dress or not.</p>
<p>My boyz Phillip Phillips and Joshua were enjoyable. Joshua seems a little hurt that he was in the bottom 3, but he’s still a star to me. I want to clean up PP but I think he gets a kick out of being a ‘natural’ musician. I even noticed that he has not whitened his teeth yet and Skylar definitely has … come on Phillip, just a little whitener for Aunt Snowflake? He’s still charming.</p>
<p>I think I finally saw the appeal of PP. I still don’t care for his singing, but after watching last week where he gracefully put up with Elise acting like a diva about their duet and throwing things (including a can) at his head…though I’d really liked her, her interest to me dropped considerably, and his went up. I think his mannerisms of being unaffected, comfortable and a down to earth guy have the same appeal of Scotty McCreary. Showing a small snippet of unattractive personality can really affect you when everyone is so good. It actually is unfair, as anyone can be shown behaving inappropriately at any given time, it’s all what they choose to show. But you can’t help judging them on those snippets. I used to really like Jessica, but when she did that strange English accent thing a few weeks ago, was calling Joshua and Holly’s relationship weird…and the oddness of a teenager singing that way just doesn’t pull it off for me, though she is amazing. Skylar’s personality and comfort level is going to pull her a long way up. Colton really stunk this time. Sometimes he is excellent, but he is so inconsistent. Honestly, the only one who always nails it is Joshua.</p>
<p>No matter who goes home tonight, it is going to hurt. Hollie is improving; Elise can be fabulous; Jessica has been fabulous (although having to sing to stay in the competition seems to have really dinged her confidence big time); Joshua also seems to have been set back a bit, but as busdriver said, he’s been the most consistently good performer.</p>
<p>Phillip came back from last week’s flat performance; Colton seemed flat this week; Skylar is now the one who seems to be hitting her stride and leaning for the tape.</p>
<p>Song selection gets more and more critical as the difference between the contestants gets smaller…As Jimmy Iovine said, one bad performance or one bad song selection can spell a trip home. Elise is particularly vulnerable in her song choices…</p>
<p>Not sure who will go home tonight…Hollie or Elise, just because they’ve dodged bullets all season?</p>
<p>It’s still all about who will be the most marketable to the recording industry and Colton is the only one left that can make it as a “star”. The others are all very good signers, except Elise, can’t stand her, but they are not “star” quality. Skylar will have a career in the country industry though. I told my hairdresser to watch this week because I love the color of Skylar’s hair and I want mine done like that :D.</p>
<p>So far I really can’t get behind Jessica. Yes amazing vocal techniques but she seems to just mimic the original artist. I have not seen who she is yet. I can see why she was in the bottom. It takes more than an amazing talent. Someone with a lessor talent but greater “soul” will beat them.</p>
<p>SteveMA … that will look awesome on a golf course! Will you get the colton-hawk, too?</p>
<p>^^Very funny. If you do get the colton-hawk with the skylar color, you’re going to have to post a picture of that.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I actually believe that Colton had the least number of votes. He did have a bad week, but I would think he had a big enough fan base to stay on the show. Wonder if he’s found better things (recording contract) to do?</p>
<p>SteveMA, I can’t stand Elise either and have been hoping she would be gone by now. I think I will start voting a bunch for Hollie to try to keep her ahead of Elise. Like my few votes would make a difference. LOL</p>
<p>Sad to see Colton go. Perplexed at what keeps Hollie there week after week.</p>
<p>From now on, it is anyone’s guess. With only 6, any three of them could be in top or bottom.</p>
<p>Agree that Jessica has gorgeous voice, but I feel like she is always trying to outdo the song. Sometimes a song just needs to be sung without making it dramatic.</p>