<p>Love Nicki as a judge. Hopefully her absence for Curtis’s opening performance was a fluke. Maybe she had a “robe malfunction” and it really wasn’t the traffic? I’m pretty sure Nigel Lythgoe gave her an earful and I will be somewhat surprised if she’s late again. I thought last week Keith sugar coated his critique on most everyone just a bit. Maybe it was for fear of not wanting to sway the voters. I hope someone warns him about using the word “beautiful” too much. Don’t want to pull a Steven Tyler. I’m not sure if Mariah is at that much of a disadvantage going last. For me, she’s just a little too similar to Paula Abdul with her content. I think Randy has improved this season, with the better quality of fellow judges. I wouldn’t mind seeing the judges rotate the order in which they comment.</p>
<p>^^Totally agree with your judge analysis, jshain. Except Nicki kind of throws me. Most of the time she seems brutally honest and doesn’t let the others sway her. But sometimes she gives inaccurate critiques when she seems controlled by her hormones (whether it’s a man or woman, I think she might be bi-sexual, or maybe she’s just being outrageous). </p>
<p>Keith needs to stop the sugar coating, and both Randy and Mariah are getting better.</p>
<p>OMG I don’t know where to start! </p>
<p>Loved, loved, loved seeing Phillip in the line up at the beginning! I MISS YOU PHILLIP! Loved his performance and YEAH on the four times platinum record!</p>
<p>Group song - lip synching??? I think so. I caught a couple of them not moving their lips!</p>
<p>I cannot believe they named a top 3 and counted them down. Cannot. Something just felt dirty about that to me. A way to get the #of votes increased??? I was so surprised at that.</p>
<p>And about those results. Top 3 all girls. What a surprise. Lazaro was the top boy. Wow. So thankful Devin made it through. What drama by Nicki over Curtis!!</p>
<p>And omg, Charlie was #6!!! What?? Omg. I didn’t think he sounded too good. SOOOO happy to see Aubrey.</p>
<p>Agree with abasket. What’s with all the ballads? Everyone sounds the same. Enough already</p>
<p>I’m down to DVRing the show and watching the bare minimum. This may be my last season. Just feeling very bored by it all.</p>
<p>At his point I’m just watching Idol as a placeholder until The Voice returns. Such a better show! But meanwhile I’m rooting for Candice. I think she is head and shoulders above the rest–but the massive number country fans who vote will give it to Kree.</p>
<p>I think it’s quite clear that the producers were determined to have a girl win this year and had the judges pick a weak slate of boys to guarantee it. As for the vote ranking thing, it was done on X Factor, if I’m not mistaken. I guess they’re going to try whatever they can to goose the ever-falling ratings. </p>
<p>I can’t stand Nicki. While she does offer some substantive comments, she’s such a huge attention whore–tonight’s late arrival and carrying on about the elimination being prime examples–and tries to make every critique about herself. (Waffles?) I’m sure the rest of the judges hate her. Keith, on the other hand, is a doll–he knows his stuff and it’s a joy to watch the obvious delight on his face when he hears a great performance. I think Mariah would have more to say if she didn’t speak last. It’s hard be assertive after Nicki sucks all the oxygen out of the room. Even Randy seems overwhelmed by her. They rotated the comments for years; no idea why they don’t now.</p>
<p>I’m surprised to hear so many positives for Nikki Menage. I absolutely cannot stand her. H and I think she has no talent, she doesn’t sing, she yells and whines, her speaking voice is atrocious, can’t STAND the nasal quality, really hate her whole shtick, her look, everything about her. Of course, that means that I’ve watched maybe 5 minutes this season, so if she’s a good judge, I haven’t given her a chance. IMO, her flipping off the camera during her section of Madonna’s Superbowl half-time show a few years ago killed it for me. I remember thinking how bad this person’s performance was, why did Madonna give her this spotlight, and then, she gives the finger to the audience? And she was terrible besides. And now, she doesn’t bother to show up on time for her gig on AI? Seriously??? Honestly, because of her, I don’t watch anymore. If she leaves, I might tune in again. So, I’m really shocked to read that anyone likes her as a judge. I don’t see any redeeming qualities. At all.</p>
<p>Well, I do see a couple of redeeming qualities in Nikki. Just a couple. Though she is obnoxious and inappropriate, attention seeking and all that…I have to give her a couple of positives. First, I had really low expectations, and she does have a brain and makes some decent critiques. Hadn’t expected anything from her but the show off behavior. The main positive is, that sometimes all the other judges are too nice to say what is obviously the truth, and she will come right out and say it. They’ll talk around the edges, and she just nails it, unpleasant as it might be. It’s easy to miss those times, though, if you aren’t watching every show. You might just be catching the times where she seems to be hitting on the singers, or saying something weird!</p>
<p>Right now it is clear that the girls are way stronger than the guys, so I won’t bother saying how much I love Candice and Kree.</p>
<p>Nikki has surprised me in a good way as a judge. She is a performer, so it is okay to me that she is outrageous and all that. She does say things to the contestants that I am thinking need to be fixed (hair, outfits, confidence), but I do think she saw a few folks much more positively than I thought they deserved in terms of future stars. I think the fact that she loves Charlie is interesting, as his performance last night was quite good compared to what I remember of him. She saw through his oddities and I give her kudos for that. Maybe now he will get assigned a stylist?</p>
<p>Keith is too adorable, between his looks and his accent, so I just swoon when he talks, so I can’t comment fairly on his judging qualities. Randy is what I expected … Although he doesn’t seem as into it this year. Mariah seems like the judge that really is evaluating the technical quality of the voice and the song for that voice, so her girls better … She doesn’t need to show her trashy side if she is to be respected for voice quality. She should let Nikki do that or Christina from the voice.</p>
<p>I agree with busdriver and snowflake - Nicki can definitely be annoying, can definitely be attention seeking, can sometimes be inappropriate. But she doesn’t candy coat, which I appreciate. She also looks more at the “it” factor - the styling, the look, the presentation - more than the other judges. So overall, I think she’s doing a good job. I can look beyond her quirks that aren’t so desirable to ME, and see how she has a valuable place on the judging panel. </p>
<p>Keith is adorable. (but hey, he has some big tatoos - THAT might offend some people - we all have our quirks and levels of “inappropriate”) I am starting to notice that I can tell though when he IS candy coating a bit - he dances around his comments and doesn’t make full eye contact with the contestant when he is fudging around and trying to make some good out of a “not so good” performance. </p>
<p>I think Randy was TICKED at Nicki last night at the end - when she talks about how they needed “more than a minute” or “a minute more” - THAT’S THE WAY IT’S ALWAYS BEEN NICKI!! Plus the fact that it seemed to only be Keith and Randy doing any discussing - and what was the point of talking more - if the vote has to be unanimous across 4 judges - well, that’s going to be hard to come by. (how ironic that the performance that Nicki missed Weds when she was late was Curtis’s performance!!)</p>
<p>I don’t blame AI for trying to change things up. I don’t LIKE all the changes, but season 12, gotta shake things up a little. I just felt SO awkward for the contestants showing the rankings that way. As I might have stated above, I guess that will encourage more voting. </p>
<p>Finally, it appears someone talked to Charlie and told him if he wanted that spot on the tour he better put out a tender, normal performance - which he did. He did not come off as a scattered kid as he did the last couple of performances - and I’ll bet that wins him the 11th spot. Hope he can handle it all.</p>
<p>Dear Nicki,</p>
<p>Maybe if you had been on time Wednesday night, to hear Curtis sing the opening night’s song and given him your unwavering support, he might not have gotten the lowest number of votes and been sent home on Thursday. Maybe, just maybe, you should take some of the responsibility for this outcome.</p>
<p>PS: I don’t understand why you don’t like Mariah, but I can certainly understand why she doesn’t like you-- particularly after this latest display of immaturity.</p>
<p>Too bad Nicki didn’t keep her promise about going home if Curtis went home!</p>
<p>I agree with those who say that Nicki has offered valuable critiques, however, what I find truly offensive are her sexual remarks to contestants. Steven Tyler was bad, but she is even worse. She would be fired from most jobs for her comments - they are certainly a form of sexual harassment. No contestant can say they are uncomfortable, she is in a position of power. I wouldn’t be offended it this were a show that aired much later (I have long watched the highly inappropriate SNL), but this is a show whose fan base is made up of teenage girls and middle-aged (oh, I am not middle-aged anymore) women. </p>
<p>As for Charlie - yes, he was a happy camper last night, but that young man is very fragile. I was so relieved to see him leave. AI is a pressure cooker for even the most resilient.</p>
<p>I liked Curtis - but he was going to go early, whether it was last night or in the next three weeks. I was glad they did not use their save, way to early in the eliminations - oh, and by the way, you would think the judges would already have a pretty good idea before each show who they would be willing to save.</p>
<p>You are right, worknprogress, it is harassment. It creeps me whether she does it to men or women, and they can’t do anything but go along with the joke or smile. Here she is, saying these comments in front of millions of viewers, I think it is really inconsiderate and embarrassing to the contestants.</p>
<p>Yes, she is creepy.
I think she would have been right at home on this last season of “American Horror Story”.</p>
<p>Kree is the only one catching my attention.</p>
<p>Must add my 2 cents worth;</p>
<p>I enjoy Nicki for her quirkiness, she is unafraid to express a true opinion and she is quite a character, no doubt. I find her critiques to be the most honest, as well as Keith Urban’s.
Mariah Carey I find exceptionally vapid. If anything, she says almost the same thing to every contestant, ie. was really looking forward to hearing you, keep doing what you are doing, I hope we hear more of you. Or, she picks up a few key words from the other judges and repeats them. In addition, her usual dress is much more offensive to me than what Nicki Menaj says. I also dislke Mariah when she lapses into her fake English/Zsa Zsa Gabor accent “Dahling.”
Guess we don’t all enjoy/dislike the same things about the show.</p>
<p>I don’t care for either Mariah or Nicki doing the fake accent thing, really silly. And her comments used to be vapid, but I think Mariah is getting better. Quirky is okay, commenting on women’s boobs and drooling over men and women is gross to me. I didn’t like it when Paula and Kara were doing that either.</p>
<p>Any predictions on how long AI will stay on the air? It seems to me it’s on its way out. What do you think, is this the last season? If not, how many more?</p>
<p>I was happy to see Aubrey in the sing-off. She is from my town, and is a really remarkable talent. Unfortunately, she was completely cut out of all the shows leading up to the top 20, so “America” didn’t really get to “know” her. I hope she’s able to go on tour and show her stuff. I guess producers pick all the contestants’ songs from five or so the singers provide, so I wonder if it’s really the Producers who have us stuck in ballad-land. And, on another topic, I have a huge crush on Keith.</p>
<p>There is some thought/talk that the producers may allow both Aubrey and Charlie to go on tour.</p>
<p>So far, I think Amber was fantastic. And so beautiful. I think they over critiqued her.</p>
<p>Lazaro, yuck. Randy was the only one brutally honest. He sucked. Oh Jeez, I am so uncomfortable watching him sweating and crying, but I feel so sorry for him. Ryan is very classy and kind.</p>
<p>Candice rocks!</p>