American Idol, S5, Results show
Feb. 28th, 2006 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beandelphikiOkay, I meant to get stuff down on American Idol's first results show this season, and look how long I put it off? Yeah. So this is going to be mostly from memory from five days ago - if I get anything out of order, that's why.
From top to bottom, some choppy notes more than a recap:
The show opened with some rather pointless comments from the judges, video recaps, blah blah. The aspect was messed up for the first few minutes, but that might have been a problem on my end, since I didn't hear anyone else complain about that. Simon Cowell called out Ryan for the constant references to his clothes, which was pretty funny:
Simon: (I think this was following a snide comment from Ryan about his "baby blue" shirt) Why are you so obsessed with what I wear?
Paula: At least someone is! [Speak for yourself, honey!]
Simon: It's bordering on creepy.
Ryan: I definitely look up to the elderly. [The audience laughed at this part. I didn't think it was really that great a comeback.]
Simon: Do you want me to send you a picture?
And this would be the part where all the slashers in the audience stood up and screamed, "YES, HE DOES!"
...Okay, that didn't really happen. But it should have. (And originally, I wrote "screamed" as "creamed," which also works.)
A group song followed, "Take It Easy," by the Eagles. Paris and Kevin were sitting beside each other on the edge of the stage for most of the song, which was actually really cute for some reason.
Some people have noticed that only the guys had solos. I think the producers are pushing for a guy to win this year.
There was a video montage trying to drop the various moments of past two shows into categories like "best performances" and the performances the judges didn't like and so on. One was a bit comparing Katherine's and Ace's "smoldering looks" (i.e. audience eyefucks), and it was amusing, simply because Katherine did it so much better, and Ace still looked like a lizard.
The girls were the ones starting out on the couches, and they all pretty much looked nervous. Ryan did his very best to get someone to spill news of any hair-pulling or drama, but when he drilled Heather Cox, she was shockingly diplomatic.
And Brenna's hair. I'm one of the people who LIKED it. It seemed like her. Also, I thought her "duck" analogy when Ryan asked her how she felt ("You're calm on the surface and paddling like mad underneath," or something like that) was pretty great, and surprisingly open.
So we get down to business. One girl, the one with the lowest number of votes, will be eliminated. We have dramatic spotlights (which actually look like something the school geek pulled off for the high school play) roam over the girls. Suspense, tension, I think there was bad music. The back row of girls is asked to stand up. Then, since the back row is essentially the top six in America's eyes (Mandisa, Kellie, Paris, Katherine, Lisa and Ayla if I remember correctly) they're told to sit down again. Nobody in the audience really breathed a sigh of relief there, because we're not that stupid.
Apparently Paris danced briefly, and this was taken as an over-the-top gesture, which I suppose it must have been. But I'd be pretty relieved too if I wasn't kicked off the island on the FIRST CUT.
Then the second row. Heather is safe - she didn't have the lowest number of votes. Stevie is safe. (Really?) Melissa is safe. That leaves Kinnik, Becky and Brenna, who are asked by Ryan to take the center of the stage.
At this point, I am stressing, because I don't REALLY want any of these three to go home. I'm worried Kinnik is leaving early. I'm more certain it is Brenna who actually is. But Kinnik sits down, so it must be Brenna.
Surprise, at least on my end - "after the break" it's actually BECKY who is going home. I predicted Stevie and Brenna...not Becky at all. I didn't expect her to get FAR - maybe just until the second week - but I certainly didn't expect her to go home right away.
Becky took it quite well, and even sang herself out with real grace. I think the only sign that she was upset was that she refused to let anyone comfort her, jerking away from Ryan every time he tried to take her arm.
And the judges, of course, had their final comments to make. Including that gem from Simon where in the same breath he told her to pursue something she was actually great at instead of just pretty good at (which is fine) and also told her to become a model. Which probably shouldn't bother me, since the girl actually IS a model; but then, it's bothered me from the beginning the way Simon so casually breaks the female contestants down to their looks.
And then, "after the break" it's the guys' turn on the couch, and the girls in the Red Room. Elliot has a moment to be modest about being called the best male performer in five seasons by Simon. (No actually, I quite like him so far. He seems unpretentious.) Kevin gets to talk about how great it was to have the girls pinch his cheeks. Unlike with the girls, you can almost forget that two of the twelve guys sitting on the couches are going home...why is there so much less tension with the guys, and why is Ryan not egging them on?
...Oh, nevermind, I know why.
Anyway. More spotlight, such-and-such-a-row-is-safe business. Ace's row is informed they're safe, and Ace actually looks visibly relieved, dumbass. The two guys who end up standing in the middle of the stage are Bobby and Sway. For a moment I entertain a desperate, delirious hope that Sway is going home. No such luck.
So Bobby is cut. No one is shocked, except for possibly Ace. The judges tell him he has great stage presence, which he does. He winks at the audience and expresses no regrets - in other words, he's Bobby Bennett. He's GREAT, and I'm sorry to have to see him go so soon because he made me smile.
Back to the girls. Since they make this dang show last an hour, there's lots of commercial breaks in here, and I seriously can't remember one commercial I saw that night. Nice try, guys.
So we're looking for the girl with the second-least number of votes. It comes down to Heather Cox and Stevie Scott. Stevie is staring at the floor the entire time, looking utterly defeated. That's the most pathetic thing ever. So yeah, she's cut. And proceeds to take the stage and butcher her song about five times worse than she did the first time. Ouch.
Just as an aside here...the first two girls to be cut were WHITE. So what was that bit with bringing Brenna and Kinnik up with Becky? I get the sense that they are subtly warning those players with lower votes by scaring them a bit, but why were the two WOC in the bottom row essentially pitted against each other, visually, and in their own minds? That bothers me, too.
Back to the guys again. Blah, I got tired of watching this. They get guys coming up on the stage in pairs, and send them back to their seats. Bucky and Patrick end up in the middle. Okay, Bucky's going home. Except that it's...Patrick.
Okay. Can I just say...
PATRICK HALL?
Is America insane? I mean, I realize he didn't have the biggest fanbase, but I can't believe that one of the top four male singers on this show got sent home at the first cut because he doesn't have David Radford's looks or Sway Penala's fanbase. Neither one of them touch what Patrick did for his first performance, vocally. This is so UTTERLY depressing.
And in the background, Lisa Tucker cries. Aww.
Okay. Enough of that. Closing comments from Ryan Seacrest, whatever. I'm so not sure about next (that is, THIS) week.
Predictions and Outcomes
For the boys, I said:
Who I think will actually go
Bobby
Bucky or Gedeon
...And, the result was:
Who Actually Went Home
Bobby
Patrick
1/2
For the girls, I said:
Who I think will actually go
Stevie
Brenna
...And, the result was:
Who Actually Went Home
Becky
Stevie
1/2
2/4 = 1/2 predictions right.
Okay, I believe it's girls again tonight.
From top to bottom, some choppy notes more than a recap:
The show opened with some rather pointless comments from the judges, video recaps, blah blah. The aspect was messed up for the first few minutes, but that might have been a problem on my end, since I didn't hear anyone else complain about that. Simon Cowell called out Ryan for the constant references to his clothes, which was pretty funny:
Simon: (I think this was following a snide comment from Ryan about his "baby blue" shirt) Why are you so obsessed with what I wear?
Paula: At least someone is! [Speak for yourself, honey!]
Simon: It's bordering on creepy.
Ryan: I definitely look up to the elderly. [The audience laughed at this part. I didn't think it was really that great a comeback.]
Simon: Do you want me to send you a picture?
And this would be the part where all the slashers in the audience stood up and screamed, "YES, HE DOES!"
...Okay, that didn't really happen. But it should have. (And originally, I wrote "screamed" as "creamed," which also works.)
A group song followed, "Take It Easy," by the Eagles. Paris and Kevin were sitting beside each other on the edge of the stage for most of the song, which was actually really cute for some reason.
Some people have noticed that only the guys had solos. I think the producers are pushing for a guy to win this year.
There was a video montage trying to drop the various moments of past two shows into categories like "best performances" and the performances the judges didn't like and so on. One was a bit comparing Katherine's and Ace's "smoldering looks" (i.e. audience eyefucks), and it was amusing, simply because Katherine did it so much better, and Ace still looked like a lizard.
The girls were the ones starting out on the couches, and they all pretty much looked nervous. Ryan did his very best to get someone to spill news of any hair-pulling or drama, but when he drilled Heather Cox, she was shockingly diplomatic.
And Brenna's hair. I'm one of the people who LIKED it. It seemed like her. Also, I thought her "duck" analogy when Ryan asked her how she felt ("You're calm on the surface and paddling like mad underneath," or something like that) was pretty great, and surprisingly open.
So we get down to business. One girl, the one with the lowest number of votes, will be eliminated. We have dramatic spotlights (which actually look like something the school geek pulled off for the high school play) roam over the girls. Suspense, tension, I think there was bad music. The back row of girls is asked to stand up. Then, since the back row is essentially the top six in America's eyes (Mandisa, Kellie, Paris, Katherine, Lisa and Ayla if I remember correctly) they're told to sit down again. Nobody in the audience really breathed a sigh of relief there, because we're not that stupid.
Apparently Paris danced briefly, and this was taken as an over-the-top gesture, which I suppose it must have been. But I'd be pretty relieved too if I wasn't kicked off the island on the FIRST CUT.
Then the second row. Heather is safe - she didn't have the lowest number of votes. Stevie is safe. (Really?) Melissa is safe. That leaves Kinnik, Becky and Brenna, who are asked by Ryan to take the center of the stage.
At this point, I am stressing, because I don't REALLY want any of these three to go home. I'm worried Kinnik is leaving early. I'm more certain it is Brenna who actually is. But Kinnik sits down, so it must be Brenna.
Surprise, at least on my end - "after the break" it's actually BECKY who is going home. I predicted Stevie and Brenna...not Becky at all. I didn't expect her to get FAR - maybe just until the second week - but I certainly didn't expect her to go home right away.
Becky took it quite well, and even sang herself out with real grace. I think the only sign that she was upset was that she refused to let anyone comfort her, jerking away from Ryan every time he tried to take her arm.
And the judges, of course, had their final comments to make. Including that gem from Simon where in the same breath he told her to pursue something she was actually great at instead of just pretty good at (which is fine) and also told her to become a model. Which probably shouldn't bother me, since the girl actually IS a model; but then, it's bothered me from the beginning the way Simon so casually breaks the female contestants down to their looks.
And then, "after the break" it's the guys' turn on the couch, and the girls in the Red Room. Elliot has a moment to be modest about being called the best male performer in five seasons by Simon. (No actually, I quite like him so far. He seems unpretentious.) Kevin gets to talk about how great it was to have the girls pinch his cheeks. Unlike with the girls, you can almost forget that two of the twelve guys sitting on the couches are going home...why is there so much less tension with the guys, and why is Ryan not egging them on?
...Oh, nevermind, I know why.
Anyway. More spotlight, such-and-such-a-row-is-safe business. Ace's row is informed they're safe, and Ace actually looks visibly relieved, dumbass. The two guys who end up standing in the middle of the stage are Bobby and Sway. For a moment I entertain a desperate, delirious hope that Sway is going home. No such luck.
So Bobby is cut. No one is shocked, except for possibly Ace. The judges tell him he has great stage presence, which he does. He winks at the audience and expresses no regrets - in other words, he's Bobby Bennett. He's GREAT, and I'm sorry to have to see him go so soon because he made me smile.
Back to the girls. Since they make this dang show last an hour, there's lots of commercial breaks in here, and I seriously can't remember one commercial I saw that night. Nice try, guys.
So we're looking for the girl with the second-least number of votes. It comes down to Heather Cox and Stevie Scott. Stevie is staring at the floor the entire time, looking utterly defeated. That's the most pathetic thing ever. So yeah, she's cut. And proceeds to take the stage and butcher her song about five times worse than she did the first time. Ouch.
Just as an aside here...the first two girls to be cut were WHITE. So what was that bit with bringing Brenna and Kinnik up with Becky? I get the sense that they are subtly warning those players with lower votes by scaring them a bit, but why were the two WOC in the bottom row essentially pitted against each other, visually, and in their own minds? That bothers me, too.
Back to the guys again. Blah, I got tired of watching this. They get guys coming up on the stage in pairs, and send them back to their seats. Bucky and Patrick end up in the middle. Okay, Bucky's going home. Except that it's...Patrick.
Okay. Can I just say...
PATRICK HALL?
Is America insane? I mean, I realize he didn't have the biggest fanbase, but I can't believe that one of the top four male singers on this show got sent home at the first cut because he doesn't have David Radford's looks or Sway Penala's fanbase. Neither one of them touch what Patrick did for his first performance, vocally. This is so UTTERLY depressing.
And in the background, Lisa Tucker cries. Aww.
Okay. Enough of that. Closing comments from Ryan Seacrest, whatever. I'm so not sure about next (that is, THIS) week.
Predictions and Outcomes
For the boys, I said:
Who I think will actually go
Bobby
Bucky or Gedeon
...And, the result was:
Who Actually Went Home
Bobby
Patrick
1/2
For the girls, I said:
Who I think will actually go
Stevie
Brenna
...And, the result was:
Who Actually Went Home
Becky
Stevie
1/2
2/4 = 1/2 predictions right.
Okay, I believe it's girls again tonight.
