gnradd21

It was Joe Cocker's version, and J.D. should never attempt it again. It was horrible. The crowd was enthusiastic but they clap and cheer at just about everything. Joe Cocker had real soul in his voice. J.D. just doesn't. Alex Chilton at 16 had 10x more soul in the original Box Tops version.

I'm just not getting the love for J.D. Apparently I should b/c I'm female, but I don't find anything about him charming. He just seems to be trying way too hard to be really intense and have stage presence, which you either have or you don't. Above all his voice is just meh, especially on this song and "We are the Champions". Jordis and Mig were by far my favorites, followed by Marty (i have to disagree with Dave Navarro though; Dave Grohl's parody version of "Arms Wide Open" is the best funny as hell) and Jessica. I've already forgot the rest.

Roto

Yeah, Tim Farriss got a pretty good shot in at JD, saying that Queen should feel much better after Mig's performance.

Dave was on fire the beginning of the show. There was the sister line and then the dig at Scott Stapp by saying Marty did the best version of Arms Wide Open that he ever heard. Ouch! And the slow-mo scary conductor

I really don't know who will be in the bottom three. It was a tough call tonight. The only obvious choice to me is Tara just because she was boring. She was the only one with an energetic song that didn't really do anything on stage.

Really all I am hoping for is that JD is in the bottom three instead of Jessica. I'll give him credit for having a sense of humor and doing the Joe Cocker spaz move, but I didn't like the vocals and the guy is such a phony. I think Jessica did as well as any of them could have done with Blister in the Sun. If anyone deserved a pity vote, this would be the time. I'd rather see someone else do an INXS song anyway.

Bill Needle

Maybe it's just me, but Jordis seems like she's too American Idol for this gig. Great singing chops, but not the caliber of performer of a Marty or Mig. That's why she won't win. She outsung JD by far, but was yesterday's news the minute he went after her. The band, INXS, even made a comment along this line during the show, probably so people won't be surprised when this happens down the road.

rkndkn

My bottom 3 this week were:

Ty (He covered his not feeling the song was his type, his unfamiliarity and frustration with the song well, but it just didn't sound right.)

Brandon (REALLY want to like him, but this is a beautiful song, and I don't think he "got" the emotion behind it. He was also off key for quite a few lines after he got up off the floor.)

Tara (Not a great song choice for the contest and rather blandly done. At least she showed a more subdued side, hair and all.)

Yes, I called J.D. a weasel, but I thought he did great with "The Letter" (except a little too manic at the end again). I'm not one of those women who are drooling over him at the Rockstar boards, but the performance oozed sex. My favorite MiG did fine with "We Will Rock You", but I'd like to see him do a ballad that shows some vocal range and emotional poignancy. (Though he has an enunciation problem that I think may become more evident.) Good for Jessica for pulling that song off. Tara was quite bland tonight -- I love her voice, but she doesn't have that "likeability" factor. Thought Suzie was a little too restrained and controlled. Jordis -- not my favorite, but poignant and pretty. Perfect song for Deanna, well done! I thought Marty was a bit overpraised -- a little shaky on certain notes, and I didn't feel the emotion of the song from him.

movieking

This was probably the most solid episode, with pretty much all of the singers doing a good job of the songs. No one did a poor job.

Loved the snarky comments slamming JD. The asshat deserves it.

I guess the commercial saying a rocker breaks down was a load of crap.

I watched it on a Canadian network, and they were pimping all of the Canadian contestants, telling people to vote for them: Deanna, Suzie, and Tara - No JD. Found that strange, since he is from Canada as well, eh.

Thoughts on performances:

Mig - Great job, much better than JD did last week (as was pointed out). He keeps getting better and better every week.

Deanna - Fantastic job, her best in the last few weeks. The first two weeks she was fantastic and rapidly declined, but she was back this week. Loved Dave's comment against JD, and JDs pissed off reaction.

Marty - I liked it vocally, but his "dancing" was odd and distracting. Not a fan of the song, but he made it passable.

Ty - didn't like his performance. I don't like his voice, and I find he can't really carry a solid melody. He seems to be very confrontational in his facial expressions and body language when getting criticism. It seems like unless he is receiving praises, he brushes off the criticism without actually thinking he might benefit from it (he's mentioned something similar in one of the past shows).

Jessica - I liked the performance, but not so much the singing. Love the song though. I think that she is great to watch on stage, but her voice is too weak compared to others.

Brandon - I am becoming more and more disappointed with him as the weeks go by. After the first couple of shows, I thought that he was a shoo in for Top 5, but I am not so sure anymore. Seems like he was going to blow off what he learned in vocal training, despite actually needing it (based on what Paul from the house band said), but I guess he actually listened after all. As for the song, it was okay.

Jordis - Amazing job. If she is not the one who gets to do the encore on tonight's show, the fix is in against her. The only way she can't win this is if the band Inxs goes with an inferior singer (which I can see, since they probably want someone who will fit in with the band and is not necessarily the best singer). She does look like Angelina Jolie and Gwen Stefani, with some Haylie Duff thrown in.

JD - Didn't like his performance at all. It seems to me that the band Inxs have already decided that they want him to go deep in the competition, so they are going to praise him regardless of what he does.

Tara - It was a decent version, but there is no way she escapes the bottom three this week. She is outclassed by pretty much everyone left, so it's time to put her out of her misery.

Suzie - I liked her version of this song, but I thought that the band Inxs would knock her for not singing as much as the others since there were so many solos in the song, but I guess they were being sick of being in Michael Hutchence's shadow and are looking for someone that will let them shine as well.

My guesses for the bottom three:

Tara
Brandon
JD

I think that Jessica might get pity votes since she has been in the bottom three for a couple of weeks and complained that no one liked her. She could easily take JDs spot though. Suzie could be in there as well.

BDLOU

I'm no JD fan but I have to be honest. That was a very good performance. I can't see how anyone could say otherwise unless you just don't want to see him do good. I agree he is a complete jackass but that quality is shared by a majority of rock bands out there. The bottom line is that he can sing well.

movieking

To each his own. I don't think that it was a good performance by JD. Too manic for my liking. I am not a big fan of his voice either, and haven't been since show one. I did like one or two of his performances (Hand in My Pocket for one), when I did, I said so in the thread.

Joeboo835

I thought of something last night while watching. Don't you think its wierd that you won't hear the best singers, like Jordis, Marty, Mig, etc, sing INXS songs till the very end. How do they know they can even do INXS songs well. I'm starting to think the fix is already in.

To further support my point, the best singer (in my opinion), Jordis is RARELY shown on the shows? Brunett knows INXS will never pick a woman and he fukked up having her on the show. So now he has to hide her and hope no one picks up on the fact that she's the best.

Just my $.02.

Gil Jawetz

I wa a reasonably good batch, except for Jessica and Tara. But I still think that Jordis is the only one who is good without qualifiers. Mig and Marty are good for a reality show contest but they don't come off as REAL musicians to me. Jordis is the real deal and I would go see her in concert tonight. I can't say that of any of the others at all. After she sang we rewound the DVR and watched it again immediately. Beautiful.

BDLOU

I'm assuming that after they get to final 4 or so, they will change things up. They will all be forced to do INXS songs at some point.

They have forced it down our throat that they are looking for someone that is a good fit for their band, INXS. I don't think they will have a problem if they picked someone other than Jordis if she just didn't fit. American would understand. Personally, if I had a record company, I would offer Jordis big bucks to back out now. Kinda like that one dude did on American Idol.

Joeboo835

They were talking about that on the radio and someone made a good point that Brunett probably made sure hte contract was solid before doing this so that that exact thing wouldn't happen.

I know for a fact that if she left the show, I wouldn't be watching.

uteotw

Loved Marty, Deanna and Mig. I do hope they start mixing things up a little...

P.S. Since we're on page 11 here, I think we need a weekly thread, at least.

movieking

I think that once the numbers get down a bit, each singer will start to do two songs per show, probably one they pick and one Inxs song that the band picks for them.

atlantamoi

Still can't understand why people don't think they'd choose a girl (specifically Jordis). I mean, this band INXS, came up at a time when a lot of groups were taking chances on different sounds and they had a playful vibe going throughout most of their career. I think it would fit right in with being "different" by choosing a woman.

I don't get the love for Marty. But, then again, I've never been a big fan of the Pearl Jam school of singing. He seems too serious on stage even if he's a nice guy. I'm hoping either JD or Jessica go home tonight, but it will probably be Tara.

Gil Jawetz

I agree with everything you said (except putting Marty in the Pearl Jam school of singing. Maybe he's a int he school of singing Pearl Jam songs into his hairbrush in the mirror but that's about it)

I think they could definitely choose Jordis.

Jadzia

I agree, and I think one way they could avoid any Michael Hutchence comparisons is by choosing a woman.It would be one way to go in an entirely new direction and re-invent themselves completely.

Nerinab

Another Jordis fan here. She continues to impress me each week with her vocal abilities and her "presence." Yes, she's young, but as the vocal coach noted, after 35 technique starts to falter and the vocal chords do lose elasticity. I think she has great range and clear tone. I think she SHOULD win, but I'm not sure that INXS will go for her.

I also like MiG. He seems to physically fit the bill. Marty has had some good performances, but I don't really appreciate his stage performance. Ty is another person with a great "instrument" but I think INXS is right in pronouncing his style "too theatrical." Brandon does nothing for me and I know I would never listen to another INXS song if he wins. He seems like a nice guy, but please people, lose the goofy hats already (and the equally goofy sunglasses).

Suzi is a sweetie (and I think all the piercings and tattoos ring a little false, but that's just me). Tara is horrible. She does absolutely nothing for me and how she's managed to avoid the bottom three is a mystery. I think she's good at covers, but lacks originality (and not very good covers).

I didn't really like Deanna's performance. I adore Melissa Etheridge and she is amazing in concert so maybe the bar is set a little high. I appreciate "working the crowd," but I want a good vocal performance too. I found her to be pitchy, her low-range very unstable and that leather vest was too much.

JD (as noted before) is a shameless weasel and I can't imagine INXS choosing someone so manipulative. But, this is money we're talking about and if they think he can pull it in, they'll choose him.

And finally Jessica. I don't know. She's a little boring and relies a little too much on halter tops and bikini tops, but to each his own. In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I could be a bit jealous as I am a middle-aged mother of four who would not be caught dead in any of her outfits. Gravity is not nice.

As a final thought, let me just say that this is one of the most considerate and thoughtful threads I've read regarding reality shows. The boards over at AI (yes, a guilty pleasure) are awful. Nothing but personal attacks and no substance regarding each singers abilities. It's very interesting to hear what other people think.

Gil Jawetz

Uh-oh. I just had my first moment of Jordis doubt. Her "playlist" (whatever that is) on MSN.com is: http://music.msn.com/rockstar/jordis

Huh????!?!?! Any list of songs where the absolute best songs are Wanted (dead or alive) and I Want You Sex is a bad, bad list!


Ok, I just read her statement there:
That makes a little more sense (she's too cool to come up with anything so pompous as a list of 14 REALLY GREAT SONGS) but still, come on. You gotta try a little harder than that.

Jadzia

But "Private Eyes" is one of the best singles of the 80's. I'm serious.

Hall and Oates are very underrated.

I had to kind of laugh at the "Oh shit" look on Deanna's face when he said that. How old is she anyway? It was almost like he was saying "When's your birthday? Oops, you're too late!"

rkndkn

If you calculate from her bio, she's at least 32. A lot of them seem around that age, though, except Jordis, who's only 22.

movieking

I think that on one of the first shows, when they showed the singers ages, Deanna was 36.

Big Boy Laroux

and who has the most INXS songs on their playlist, obviously trying to "impress" the band? JD, of course!

well, Wil actually has all INXS songs, but i think that may be a mistake on the website.

Cardiff Giant11

weird, did anyone else notice that MiG's name has the capital G? Could that be a nickname/stage name or just some weird spelling?
I have a funny feeling JD is using a stage name (and a lame one at that). I highly doubt his name is really JD Fortune. I just hate how he's always going up to girls in the crowd and stuff like that. Plus, I don't think he's that great of a singer.
Should be interesting to see what INXS songs are done tonight and who goes.

rkndkn

CBS has "dumped" the Monday episodes of the show over to Sundays on VH-1. It will begin showing on Sunday, 8/7 on VH1. The Tuesday and Wednesday shows will remain on CBS, with VH-1 repeating them on Saturdays.

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve...730|1|,00.html

Bill Needle

In light of that, perhaps look for the entire bottom three to be dumped tonight.