jazz singer whacked on American Idol

[jazzhound]

only gal who sang jazz got whacked last nite. the judges are way biased toward black R&B singers. the audience obviously never heard a jazz singer.

if jazz isn't dead, the powers that be are sure trying to kill it.

[relyles]

only gal who sang jazz got whacked last nite. the judges are way biased toward black R&B singers. the audience obviously never heard a jazz singer.

if jazz isn't dead, the powers that be are sure trying to kill it.

Should not be too surprising. How many contemporary jazz artists can we honestly say are "American Idols"?

[jazzhound]

only gal who sang jazz got whacked last nite. the judges are way biased toward black R&B singers. the audience obviously never heard a jazz singer.

if jazz isn't dead, the powers that be are sure trying to kill it.

Should not be too surprising. How many contemporary jazz artists can we honestly say are "American Idols"?

there have been jazz singers that were embraced by the American public, Tony Bennett being most recent example. Its just too bad the judges didn't give this young lady more credit for having the courage to go down the road less traveled.

[mikelz777]

What's up with all the conspiracy theories against jazz? She was voted off because she was not as good as the others, not because she sang jazz. The two women who were voted off deserved to go home. (If not this week, then in the next week or two.) The only woman still standing right now that should already be gone is Antonella Barba.

The women have a nice group of strong singers and you can already easily pick who should be in the top 5. I don't think the guys or a guy has a chance at being the idol this year.

[RDK]

What's up with all the conspiracy theories against jazz? She was voted off because she was not as good as the others, not because she sang jazz. The two women who were voted off deserved to go home. (If not this week, then in the next week or two.) The only woman still standing right now that should already be gone is Antonella Barba.

The women have a nice group of strong singers and you can already easily pick who should be in the top 5. I don't think the guys or a guy has a chance at being the idol this year.

Agree completely. Even calling her a "jazz singer" is really a stretch. So she scatted a bit (and not so well at that), that doesn't make her a jazz singer. I agree that there are worse singers than her remaining, but she had an odd personality and even worse stage presence. Jazz or not, she would have been my first pick to go last night too.

[Soul Stream]

That girl wasn't anything close to a jazz singer. Hell, Melinda Doolittle who basically won the week with "My Funny Valentine" IS a jazz singer, though she obviously can do all styles of music. Her version was a powerhouse that I'd kill to hear in any jazz club in America. I don't say that lightly either.

I dug how they closed the show with that chick singing her song, and at the end she sung "Why did I try to scat....people don't like jazz!" Do you hear that! It was pretty damn funny.

Melinda Doolitle. She KILLED it with My Funny Valentine. And that's a tall order on that show.

edit...here's the clip of Doolitle singing Valentine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4YUPmKwFOc

Edited March 2, 2007 by Soul Stream

[zen archer]

Her scatting was horrendous, yea Doolittle was fantastic my pick to win.

[jazzbo]

Yeah guys, Melinda delivered the goods, and I did hear that comment at the end. My wife and I got a good bellylaugh out of that (and we needed it!)

I was just so hoping it wasn't Jordin going home (lovely lady!) and it wasn't.

[BruceH]

What's up with all the conspiracy theories against jazz? She was voted off because she was not as good as the others, not because she sang jazz. The two women who were voted off deserved to go home. (If not this week, then in the next week or two.) The only woman still standing right now that should already be gone is Antonella Barba.

The women have a nice group of strong singers and you can already easily pick who should be in the top 5. I don't think the guys or a guy has a chance at being the idol this year.

Agree completely. Even calling her a "jazz singer" is really a stretch. So she scatted a bit (and not so well at that), that doesn't make her a jazz singer. I agree that there are worse singers than her remaining, but she had an odd personality and even worse stage presence. Jazz or not, she would have been my first pick to go last night too.

Total agreement.

Jazz had nothing to do with it. She just wasn't very good.

[Tom 1960]

You guys are too scarey! I wouldn't be caught dead watching American Idol.

[RDK]

You guys are too scarey! I wouldn't be caught dead watching American Idol.

It's not so bad. Where else can you hear kids sing without autotune and pitch-correction?

[Soul Stream]

My kids are 8 and 11 years old. And for whatever reasons, this is the ONLY show on T.V. that we can all watch together. I haven't watched the show religiously before this year, but at this age my kids love it and I enjoy being with my kids and interacting with them on a show we can all enjoy. Yeah, I'm gettin' old I guess! However, I will say the talent level has gone up it seems every year. Say what you will, but they've got an Oscar Winner from their talent pool. It may be a cheesy way to get exposed. But someone like Melinda Doolittle is as deserving as anyone in America. Without AI, she would most likely have never had a chance in today's record industry....

[mikelz777]

You guys are too scarey! I wouldn't be caught dead watching American Idol.

I said the same thing to myself until I actually sat down and started watching a season from the beginning. (Last year-season 5)

[mikelz777]

My picks for the top 5 women: (in no particular order)

Melinda Doolittle Lakisha Jones

Stephanie Edwards Jordin Sparks

Sabrina Sloan (she's better looking than this picture.)

As far as the guys go, does it really matter? I like:

Chris Sligh

I like what I've seen so far:

Chris Richardson Blake Lewis

All the rest could disappear and I'd barely notice.

[relyles]

I have never really watched the show other than a couple of times watching the auditions for their comic value.

[RDK]

My kids are 8 and 11 years old. And for whatever reasons, this is the ONLY show on T.V. that we can all watch together. I haven't watched the show religiously before this year, but at this age my kids love it and I enjoy being with my kids and interacting with them on a show we can all enjoy. Yeah, I'm gettin' old I guess! However, I will say the talent level has gone up it seems every year. Say what you will, but they've got an Oscar Winner from their talent pool. It may be a cheesy way to get exposed. But someone like Melinda Doolittle is as deserving as anyone in America. Without AI, she would most likely have never had a chance in today's record industry....

Very true. My kids love it and we all enjoy watching it together.

[Dan Gould]

Her scatting was horrendous, yea Doolittle was fantastic my pick to win.

Now that I see which one she is, yeah - the background singer with the talent to step out front.

Oh HELL yeah - but I am afraid that when push comes to shove she'll fall to one of the pretty young things, for no rational reason at all except that "America" gets to decide. Let's face it, every year there is an African American girl on the show who can sing the hell out of "Valentine" or "Summertime" but it never gets them to the promised land. Her best hope is that this is the exposure she needs to start her career.

As for the men, I have to say I can't stand that beat-boxing twerp and I can only imagine how many beat-boxing fools will show up next year for the auditions. Despite his rather unorthodox appearance for a pop star, I do like Chris Sligh's voice and his sense of humor ("I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called this meeting").

The interesting question going forward is how long will the would-be porn star, Antonella, be kept around by horn-dog teen age boys who figure the only way we'll see some video is if she's still in the competition?

[Soul Stream]

Well,...if there's a vote... I cast my "would be porn star" vote for Kelly Pickler last night! I thought her puppies were gonna hop outta that blue dress at any point.

[zen archer]

Pickler's pickles looked pickled.....

[jazzbo]

I'm with you Mikel7 on the women except for Sabrina, who makes my skin crawl.

The men. . . well I like Sligh the most. .. I like Sanjaya believe it or not, mainly because he reminds me of an old friend, and dislike the rest.

I agree with Mike F that the caliber (of the women singers at least) has improved over the years. My wife LOVES this show. It's so much fun to see her get interested in music as she never has before!

Those Pickler Puppies have been wellfed lately! They didn't look so. . .brimming over. . .when I saw the Idol show in August!

Edited March 2, 2007 by jazzbo

[jazzhound]

I would rather hear someone try to sing jazz than mimic Beyonce.

As far as any any conspiracy theory, the production company has a vested interest in having an American Idol that will sell alot of cds. I think they get a piece of the future sales in some way.

I do detect that the black dude doesn't dig white chicks singing r&b.

Then there's the mindless emphasis on pitch. Most of the singers on the Grammys were off pitch half the time.

I nominate myself to replace the macho Brit.

[Dan Gould]

As far as any any conspiracy theory, the production company has a vested interest in having an American Idol that will sell alot of cds. I think they get a piece of the future sales in some way.

The production company has the rights not only to sign the winner, but has first dibs on all finalists. That doesn't mean they have to manipulate the voting in any way. The winner has a built-in audience for the first CD, and that's all it takes initially.

I nominate myself to replace the macho Brit.

Only if you can provide 15 synonyms for "atrocious" in ten seconds or less without consulting a thesaurus.

[RDK]

Odds are good that we won't be hearing anyone sing "Feeling Good" anytime soon. Damn song is cursed!

[jazzbo]

Nina Simone is having a good chuckle somewhere.

[RDK]

Nina Simone is having a good chuckle somewhere.

Nina Simone? I thought that was a Pussycat Dolls song!