TVSquad

I LOVED Taylor! I think he is thoroughly entertaining, and not just because he's silly (although he is). The fact is, he has enough talent that he can afford to be relaxed and have fun on stage. If he couldn't sing, he'd be ridiculous.
That said, Chris definitely has the "it" factor! He is hot hot hot. He'll win but it should be he and and Taylor at the end.
Oh, and good lord, Ryan lying down with Taylor was embarrasing! Ryan, at least you could buy the guy dinner first! Sheesh.

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Paris can do nothing to please most of the viewers. She and Elliot have the best pure voices but don't fit the image of the next AI. Why do you care that she changes her hair? She's 17-years old. She's allowed to be all over the place. It's a right of passage of all teenagers. So you didn't like here outfit! What was to like about Katharine being wrapped in swaddling cloths? Oh, at least it wouldn't come unwrapped. Face it Slezak replacement, you just don't like Paris or Elliot for that matter and all that says to me is that you really don't appreciate nor can you judge real talent.

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Loved Kat but not her song choices last night or her being on the floor. Really loved Taylor glad he has come so far the only one who seems to really be having a good time. Chris good looking will reall boost his career just not my kind of music. Paris go back to school. Yamin great voice just can't kick it up in time to pull off the whole pkg he will have a future.

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Wow, what a poorly written blog.

Yes, Lacy, we readers know the Charleston. And yes, more than a handful of us are familiar with "It's a Wonderful Life". Geppetto with a J?? Does that even look right to you?

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So the ladies think Chris is hot. Well, being a guy I just don't get it and don't like him at all. He just shouts, and his glare into the camera can be freaky. If you want genuine bad boy rock, check out some old AC/DC material and let Chris go home.

Since my fave Pickler is gone, gone, gone, I gotta stick with Kat. Besides being hot she can sing. Her first song last night was a bomb, but the second was much better and should save her for another week.

The buzz seems to be that Paris will leave tonight, but I'm guessing it will be a surpise with either Taylor or Elliot getting the ax.

By the way, Paula seemed rather composed last night. No tears, no goofy comments. Hope she's not turning over a new leaf. Paula the Space Cadet is much more entertaining.

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With regards to Beverly's post about Elliot and Paris having the "best pure voices". This may or may not be true. With regards to Elliot - my issue isn't that he looks like a hobbit. It is that he always is singing in that shaky voice thing. Even when he was told to stop - he still does it. With regards to Paris - This week she sang well, but performed horribly. Both songs she sang I thought were boring as all get out. She can sing, she can put together funky wardrobes, but she just doesn't have the IT factor. I thought back at the auditions she would be the one to go all the way, however I have yet to see or hear, the same vocal talent that came out of her mouth at auditions. If you have a chance, go back to her audition and listen to that versus last night's performance.

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The judges were pushing Daughtry even harder than usual last night. He better hope his voice holds out for a few more weeks. I like McPhee, but the only real standout performer (not necesarily singer, but entertainer) last night was Taylor Hicks. No overblown sound & light show needed for him.

I agree with Randy that there should be a Beatles night. I wonder if there are problems getting the rights. "Something" was one of George Harrison's songs, so maybe the rights issue didn't apply.

My hope has been that the producers would get a California Highway Patrolman to do a sobriety test on Paula before each show. Maybe they did last night.

So many of the comments now are about visual elements, not music. Hairstyles, wardrobe, sex appeal, etc. This seems worse for the women's comments, especially Lacy. Come on, your "sex organs" talking? TMI. This show looks like a televised Tiger Beat Magazine for a lot of you folks. Elliott can't help his looks. You wonder if Rod Stewart would have made it on this show with his looks. Thank God for radio, where looks didn't matter.
I think Paris leaves tonight.

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Joe T hits the nail on the head.

The reason Chris sounds like he's on the radio is that he is safely transposable into any number of modern, largely indistinguishable "rock" bands: Creed, Saliva, Nickelback, etc.

That is not rock. It is product marketed towards a particular demographic.

So, whenever I see him come on stage, no matter what the genre, I can pretty much expect that he will attempt to Creedify the song into yet another rock ballad.

Okay, so the guy is obviously a fan of that kind of thing. While that in itself isn't a crime, truly believing that you're a rock bad-ass singing this drivel is a hanging offense.

Keep posing, Chris. You'll go far. Sadly.

Jim H.

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I completely think that Taylor was last night's winner. In my opinion, he was the only one that delivered two solid performances. Everyone else had a least one that was a little shaky. I also think that Taylor used those two songs to his advantage and showed that he can be fun but he can sing his butt off as well.

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Taylor was definitely hot last night. I know he has the votes from all the over 40 crowd. I love his dance move even though they can be a little spastic (Joe Cocker). but he sings those low deep notes that hit all the ladies where we live. I hope he wins it all. Chris' voice will give out. Simon although everyone hates him is dead on. Paula and Randy are afraid to just say what they should not react to the crowd. Rock on Taylor

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Speaking purely from the viewpoint of vocal talent, Katherine and Chris are the most consistant. Each of the remaining talents have performance appeal that will make them succeed whether they win or not. I fear that Elliot or Paris will leave the line up next. Paris because of age. Elliot because time and pressure appear to be making thier mark. None of these souls will lose either way.

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Missy, I agree with you. I was completely entertained by Taylor last night. He hit the mark with both songs. Isn't the AI supposed to be
someone who knows how to entertain and sing? He fit the bill on that score last night.

I think we are at a point where all the finalists have decent voices but we have to go with the "IT" factor. They have to show that they are ENTERTAINERS. I think Katherine, Paris, and Elliott have not figured out how to do that yet. Nice
enough people (although I find Katherine lacking in
personality more than any other finalist). They need to transmit electricity through the small screen and it isn't happening with those three.

It seems as if Chris's lesson regarding using his diaphragm (from last week)has fallen to the wayside. Of course his voice won't hold up he if keeps singing from his throat.

I must agree with Vince that the judges seem to be pushing America to make Chris the next AI. I don't
really have a problem with that but last night I felt it was a winning night for Taylor.

I would like to see Taylor and Chris as the final two.

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Lacy- Glad to see you back writing on Idol. I agree 100% with your comments on Elliot overall and Katharine's ass.

I for one am fed up with the general Idol Web chatter about Elliot being so fantastic and the public bias against comments about weight. If they want the fame/money, they gotta pay their dues (ex. now hottie Kelly Clarkson).

Last night was great. Very entertaining. Nice to see the strategy come out. Taylor is now the weakest singer, so he's got to return to his wacky roots and yet show he can sing, but really make this 100% a personality contest. He did both brilliantly and will last another week.

Chris- I wish he had a better personality and was more of a rebel (also maybe give up the shaved head, but I know a lot of the ladies like that). He's still the one to beat.

Kat- She might win.

Elliot- Go away finally.

Paris- I don't know why she hasn't had more support. Maybe it's the talking voice.

One comment on voting. There are lots of theories on fan bases, voter support, etc. If these dynamics are true can anyone riddle me this: who is voting for Paris? She obviously is the one person of color left, isn't that a block? Where would Pickler's votes have gone, or for that matter Bucky's? I really wish I had more info on the voting.

Out this week: Paris

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Last night was Taylor's night for sure! I thought both songs were good & I loved his wild shirt in the 1st Wild Cherry song! Taylor is stepping out of the box! Chris is personally my fav & Renegade was awesome!! And yes Chris, you are a wanted man! Kat was awful on the first song & I am glad Simon clarified that he thought she was bad! His wording was wrong but his tone & body language let you know he didn't like it. The 2nd song was better but she is still annoying...she needs to stop smiling while she is singing like she is in a pageant or something. Elliot was great with his first song but the 2nd was just OK. And then we come to Paris...she nailed the Mary J. Blige song - sounding just like her but the 1st song was annoying. I think tonite is her night to go but I think she will do well because she has a wonderful voice, especially for being a teenager! And this comment is for Jim H. - Chris sings alternative rock & that is his genre...period. Just like Kellie turned everything country & Taylor changes everything to his style (Joe Cocker, Ray Charles style). So if you are going to say that he is the ONLY one to change things to a Creed style, you may want to examine the other people more closely too.

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So it seems that the people commenting here can't even agree on what "personality" is or "the it factor" or whether clothes or (ahem) "dance moves" (yes, I'm looking at you Taylor Hicks) or speaking voices matter.
The question you should ask yourselves is: Would I buy a CD by (Taylor/Paris/Elliot/Chris/Katherine) if (he/she) won? For me at least, the answer this year is no.

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I probably wouldn't buy any of their albums, but I would be tempted to download the singles from iTunes if I heard thing like, "Chris Daughtry's new single written by Linda Perry" or "Katharine McPhee's new hit produced by The Neptunes".

With the current state of the record industry anyone can make a hit single with the right help. Except for Paris. She sucks.

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I just wanted to throw out a little bit about Elliott. I just don't see how anyone can say he is a lacking contestant. His voice is beautiful, and he hasn't been doing as many runs (save for moments in On Broadway last night) since he was criticized for it. For the person who said Katharine and Chris were the most consistent vocalists.... have you been listening clearly? Especially in regard to Katharine... she tries to belt out these huge songs and falls flat... Elliott is consistently on key and consistently sounds great! It's a little sad... because he's not classically handsome or sexy he loses a fan base. To say he doesn't have a personality? Just because he isn't constantly playing up his faux stupidity (a la Pickler)? What has Chris Daughtry done or said in interviews that is so much more charismatic and gives him the 'it' factor? I have a hard time pinpointing that one...

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It was Taylor's night and he went for it. He was fantastic. I loved his song choices, I loved him dancing, I loved him singing, I loved him shouting "Soul Patrol", I loved it all. It was the old Taylor and I'm so glad to see him back and comfortable and loving music.

I thought Elliott gave two solid performances. He does have one of the best voices they have ever had on American Idol but his song choices were boring. Simon was right, there was no hook to "Home" and it was forgotten anyway.

Katharine was horrible on the first one but did well on KT Tunstall. I have always liked it when she sang a song with a little sass and spunk to it. "Think" is still probably one of my favorite performances from her.

Each week I hate Chris even more. I'm tired of Chris being Chris. Yeah it was the Creed song that did it for me weeks ago and singing Bryan Adams didn't help at all. I know he delivers pretty solid performances and the judges like him but I don't.

Paris was boring last night. She changes so much week to week that you don't know which Paris to pull for anymore. I liked that the last two weeks she has looked her age. But the baby voice has got to go, you can't sing like that and not be able to train your talking voice too. Plus her "Thank You's" now sound more dismissive than anything else. It's like I don't care what the judges say anymore.... Thank You!

Winner: Taylor
Going Home: Paris

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I have to agree with Joe T and Jim H - Chris just does not represent rock to me. If he does end up winning this year I don't believe the "rock community" will accept him at all. Rather, I would expect them to chew him up and spit out the greasy piece.

I am cheering for Taylor at this point. Although he may not be the best singer, he is the most entertaining and seems to enjoy what he does the most.

AI wraps up this month, right?

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"He can sing"
"He's got an amazing voice"
"I must admit that she sounded pretty good"

isn't it odd that in a 600 word review of a singing competition, the 16 words above are the only ones related to the vocals?

anyway, i think elliot has the best voice, chris is the most marketable, taylor is the best overall entertainer, katharine has a great voice (btw, GEppetto gave her a great ass, lacy), and paris is... really good for her age.

i think she'll be leaving tonight.

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