IdolHeadEd.com - A Sharp, a Flat, and 20 Reasons this Season Hurts my Soul

JLynne writes
Looking back on past seasons of Idol, I can say with complete confidence that this is my least favorite season of Idol ever. Now, the real question is, why? Is anyone as mediocre as say, Ryan Starr, Nikki, or A.J. Gill? Is anyone as obnoxious with their antics as Taylor’s dancing, Ace and Constantine eye camera sex, or Kellie’s awe shuckscapade? The answer to most of these questions is no, and maybe that’s half the problem….. Read on for reasons why this season is truly hurtful to my being and how Idol could improve for next year.

I loved season 1,2, and 3. Really I did. Maybe not all equally, but I wasn’t yet reproachful about any season. I adored Kelly, and thought Tamyra was amazing. That mixed with the lovable R.J., the lovably awful Ryan, the shriektastic Nikki, and the power of Justin Guarini’s charm, made season 1 the special thing that is is. Even Christina Christian had a magically memorable performance with ‘Aint No Sunshine.” This season we just get Lakisha throwing the tag of that song inappropriately at the end of another, even when Tony Bennett told her not to. Awesome.

The Velvet Teddy Bear versus Clay’s vocal gymnastics, with a little Kim Locke smoothness on the side, made for a lovely season ending. I liked Rickey Smith, Kim C. had a cool tone, albeit a smaller range, and Carmen was one of the most delightfully fun contestants to loathe ever. And she’s so damn sweet! I’m happy she’s gonna have a country deal soon, I won’t listen to her music, but I wish her well. This season Melinda and Jordin are the only real vocal gymnasts, and perhaps a showdown between the two could be the best finale to the worst season ever.

Season 3, which I have compared this season to, was exciting. So many talented females and so little room. This season the females were eons better than the men, this is true, however, the men were so impossibly mediocre, that of course Sabrina Sloan or Stephanie singing pretty well made them look like superstars in comparison. However, if we compare Lakisha, Melinda, Jordin, Haley, Gina, and Stephanie to the number of outstanding performances brought by LaToya, Fantasia, Diana, Jennifer, and ever some of Jasmine’s…..it just doesn’t compare. Until half way through the season, the win was anyone’s game. And don’t forget the delightful George Huff!

I wasn’t so excited by season 4. I grew tired of Carrie and Bo by the end, mostly because Carrie wasn’t the performer that she is now, and because Bo seemed to phone in the same performance over and over. I liked Vonzell, but almost by default because no one else was all that. Looking back, Nadia and Constantine had some pretty great performances, but I still felt like something was missing. Season 5 was my year, because I was obsessed with Elliott! Obsessed! It was the first time since season 1 that I got goosebumps just thinking about the next Tuesday. This year…definitely no goosebumps.

The Top Reasons why This Season Hurts My Soul

An overbearing number of Celine Dion covers. Literally, I believe we heard Celine Dion 4 times in 2 weeks. How unnecessary is that!?
Gwen Stefani week. I don’t even hate Gwen, but pop/people who influenced Gwent Stefani week was an atrocity. Gwen half speaks half sings most of her latest material, and we managed to see some of the worst performances from everyone and also the most obnoxious combination of music.
2 Donna Summer songs: And it wasn’t even disco week, it was, go back and read #2, week. Seriously, that’s the best Melinda and LaKisha could come up with.
LAST DANCE!? When Ryan and Brenna sang it they were goners, again this is a subset of Gwen Stefani week, but still. Lakisha lost all her cool points with me.
As Long as He Needs Me? Now, to me, British Invasion is talking about all the bands and singers that crossed the Atlantic during the sixties, it is not, however, a musical about thieving orphans. This was a totally cop out song choice, from one Melinda Doolittle, who managed to pick three songs from musicals without even having Broadway night. (My Funny Valentine, Home)
Phil Stacey singing LeeAnn Rimes. I’m starting to think Phil sold his soul to the devil. Not only did he make it into the 12 coming off this heinous performance, he’s still around being heinous. (with an exception to last week.)
Chris Richardson declaring nasal his choice of vocalizations for the evening. Yes, nasal is a way a person could or might sing. Yes Chris, that much is true. But proclaiming that you haven’t sung like that every week, and it is a positive vocal choice you were making just this week…….!?!?WTF!?!? First of all, your tone has been nasal since we met you, some nights more obnoxiously than others, and the only time I would ever consider singing nasal a positive choice is if you are playing a character role. Period. And the only way nasality is useful to anyone, is if they are technically skilled enough to turn it on and off and control it. Errrrrrr…….
Lakisha taking a breath in the soaring middle of “Jesus Take the Wheel.” It is definitely risky for Lakisha to pick a Carrie song, and usually I admire anyone who goes big….but all this performance showed was Lakisha’s severe need for breath exercises. She lost her breath in the verse and the chorus. Now a seasoned singer would have found a way to mask it better, or make it look more like a choice, but Kiki just seemed to run out of steam…maybe it was from all the shouting.
Country Week- Shouldn’t we get a break from country? Really, season 2, 3, 4, and 5 all had country weeks. Carrie, Carmen, Kellie, Josh, and Bucky made every week sound like country week. So, why? So we could hear “Broken Wing” sung for the third time? Please…..
Motown Week- This is another genre of music that should have seen it’s last dying day as a theme week on idol. So many people fall flat singing Stevie, and most people end up choosing Stevie….it’s just tired, we’ve already had a Stevie specific week! Yes, you might say, it was Diana Ross night, and she sang for many decades, and did disco….yeah well….I still had to hear “You Can’t Hurry Love” again, so back off!
Gina the resident rocker starting us off with Celine- I know I already complained about Celine songs, but I don’t care how much Gina LIKES Celine, does she want to sing that type of music? No. So why start off your Idol career with a banal ballad that was best sung on Bridget Jones, or by LaToya and only LaToya. (Not Jasmine.) Gina’s watched the show, she knows this song has already been killed, but she doesn’t finish there, she takes on Heart’s Alone. Color me annoyed, Gina sing something that can be your song. The song that you kill, and you musn’t yell it while running out of breath either.
Haley’s Kat like extensions- I didn’t even mind her legs, her shimmying, her calling herself a shmuck, her sauntering, her forgetting her lyrics, her saying she turns herself on and off after performing, or even her entirely lackluster, boring, and forgettable “True Colors” performance. But did she HAVE to get annoying pageant hair extensions!? Her hair would have been much better sleek and modern. Don’t you think?
Smile, though your heart is breaking….- No it didn’t hurt my soul to watch Gina sing this as she got kicked off, that just made my evil soul laugh hysterically while my roommate looked at me like I was the worst person on earth. No, what hurt my soul was the fact that she chose it in the first place. There’s a difference between subtlety and knowing how to keep yourself from oversinging. Then there was this….only one cool run in the whole mix….boring, boring, boring. Not even in a difficult key…..
The early departure of Sabrina Sloan- Honestly, it wasn’t THAT upsetting, but everyone and their cousin new that she deserved to make the 12. I think she had just begun to set fire, while as we saw, Stephanie’s fire had already lit and gone out.
The downward spiral of Sundance- So much potential and then he murdered Pearl Jamm…among other songs…..just a sad, sad thing. He could have been what kept Sanjaya or Phil or Chris or Brian out of the 12….. He could have been a contender………
Blake getting continued credit for complete originality…- Just because our 3 judges are limited in their knowledge of musical genres, does not mean Blake can just 311 everything up and get away with it. I’m fine with it as long as the judges can be like “oh, you know that was good, I can really see your blatant use of 311’s style there, but it was good.” (or Blake’s actually doing 311’s version that is.) Chris Daughtry had to come clean and Blake should have to as well.
Chris Sligh losing his cool…. Chris Sligh was the guy to beat…until he gave up and didn’t want to be there anymore. Chris got cocky in the semis and had to apologize, than he sang some utterly forgettable songs accompanied by uncomfortable performances in the top 10. This season marks the first year were 3 talented people blew it and got sent home first, while the more entertainingly mediocre stuck around. Think about it, Ejay, Jim and AJ, albeit EJay, no one was in a tustle about them being the first to go. Nor did anyone worry about Charles and Julia leaving. (still sorry about Vanessa) Matt Rogers, Camille, or Leah? Nope, America got it right…..Lindsey Cardinale, Jessica Sierra….Melissa McGhee…Kevin Covais…it’s all good. Literally, Brian, Stephanie AND Chris Sligh!? They shoulda all made Top 6 easy…but it’s truly their fault.
Phil Stacey is Sanjaya’s successor. This guy’s already stayed around long enough without V4TW’s help. I don’t think they’ll get the same fervor of votes that Sanjaya brought in for them. And my thing is, yes Phil is mediocre, but this has to be the weakest of their picks ever. Meaning, Phil’s not awful enough, not that Phil’s the worst. Phil can’t take the Shitteous title next, not after Nikki, Carmen, John Stevens, Jasmine, Scott Savol and others have carried it so wonderfully and obviously. I don’t care what anyone says, V4TW may have gotten the most press this year, but they couldn’t even get Antonella into the top 12, and that gift was wrapped with a bow.
Sanjaya leaving- I honestly got used to the idea of him making it to like the top 4, and he’s just about the most exciting thing going on this season. He’s a nice kid, and he has an okay voice. I think if it hadn’t been for the hair, he wouldn’t have been a phenom, he would have gone the way of Charles Grigsby, another nice kid. I really hope that he can find work doing what he loves through all of this, it would be really sad if he ends up totally scorned once he’s off the show and his feet hit the ground.
Utterly forgettable- The worst thing about this season is how it is so forgettable in everyway. I have a hard time remembering what people sang, or what theme week it was, or who left, or who is still there. They’ve for the most part, all picked lame songs and sung them lamely. The whole idol process is growing tired and repetitive, and if the singers don’t keep it exciting, then it’s like we’ve seen it all before. I think next season they need to do at least 5 exciting things. Here’s what I think:

(1) Bring back the wild card round
(2) Do the semis much like “Grease” & “Rockstar” did, show America’s bottom 3 and then have a sing off of completely different songs and the judges decided who of the 3 actually go home. Let America decide themselves in the top 12.
(3) Have a week in the 12 other than the Top 3, where the judges get to pick songs for the contestants. Maybe top 10 week!
(4) Have a week where the guest gets to pick the songs for the contestant. Christina Aguilera week and Christina decides what they sing! Now that’s exciting!
(5) Have a week where contestants have to learn 6 songs each for Top 6 week, and they don’t which song they are actually going to perform until Ryan announces it. (it could even be different than what they sang in dress rehearsal) That would be like Idol Survivor! Fun Fun!

There you have it. This season rots my world. Yes, I like Melinda, and Jordin, and Blake….but not in any exciting way. I’m sure I might even eventually purchase their cds….but really could anything top season 5?

This is Jlynn206….email me at Jlynn206@aol.com