The final 2 will be revealed tonight.
Over 50 million votes....
Oh, my! It's a one hour results show. How will they pad it out?
Okay, the Ford commercial was the coolest thing that ever happened on the show. If my TiVo catches up to the present, I'm just going to go back and rewatch that. The three Idols were in full old-age makeup, singing "Young at Heart." Elliott was insanely old-mannish. And Kat, well, she was making fun of her propensity to display her posterior. It was very padded and she -- as an 80 year old woman -- bobbed it up and down, repeatedly, right in front of the camera. Taylor seemed to be much the same person he actually is. In fact, I'm thinking his gray hair is what gave them the idea for this awesome commercial.
The kids go back to their home towns. Taylor goes back to Birmingham, Alabama, where he briefly performs with his band, then brushes them off to go be in his own parade. The mayor, a black man, gives him the key to the city. Then we see him cheered by crowd after crowd, and everybody's white. We see him inside the governor's mansion (which is fabulous).
Back in the theater, Taylor sings the Doobie Brothers' "Taking It to the Streets." In the lines, "Take this message to my brother/You will find him everywhere/Wherever people live together/tied in poverty's despair" he shouts out "in America" after "Wherever people live together." Does that have some discernable political slant? Or is there a Doobie performance where they shout out "in America"? Anyway, it strikes me as quite political for "American Idol."
Katharine McPhee is from Hollywood. What? An Idol not from the south? It's hard to do the home town show from Hollywood... Ryan asks her about her parents, and she says, "To be honest, I don't talk to them that much." Ow. That's going to hurt with the voters! Now she sings "Think" and she's good on the "Freedom!" lines.
Finally, Elliott Yamin. He goes back to Richmond, Virginia. "Can y'all smell the sweet Virginia air?" he says from the limo. He has the nicest home town people. At one point, there's a closeup on his mom, his overwhelmed mom. Back in the theater, we see mom -- she's beaming -- Elliott -- he's crying -- and Paula -- tears are streaming out of her eyes and mucus out of her nose. He sings "Moody's Mood for Love." It's sweet. Restrained. We ache for Elliott. Must he go??
I speed over some crap with Clive Davis and get to the "reveal." Ryan displays the percentages: 33.06%, 33.26%, and 33.68%. Whose name is behind the o6? Ryan asks. "Let's see it now." Elliott Yamin. "The journey ends. But you have a lot to be proud of."
Elliott's last words: "I'm just a counter clerk in a pharmacy. I've been waiting my whole life for a shot like this."
Bye, Elliott. Dear, sweet Elliott.
May 17, 2006
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27 comments:
"It was boring" !?!? What the? Did she really say that?
I think Elliot has won me over. Not that I vote, so I guess it doesn't matter :)
Is Clive Davis sporting a comb-over? Or is that Chia-hair?
Man...I just saw the numbers plummet with his record exec talk about the previous winners.
I think so, Jim...Taylor's got it in the bag, stuffed in deep and tied with a pretty bow.
I think "I don't talk to my parents much" would have cost McPhony a couple of thousand votes.
She is pretty though... And Taylor sucks.
So I guess it's McPhee.
Jim, agreed that Elliott at home would have been a big up for him, but I think the Taylor at home versus McPhee at home may have been an even bigger contrast. "I don't talk to my parents much"? Whoo! That's worse than John Kerry's response to the "tell me a bit about your wife" question from the 04 debates.
Ah well... so the best singer loses. I'm not a fan of either of the final two so it just got a little less interesting for me. I wish I could have fast-forwarded through Clive Davis. Jeez... that was the most boring ten minutes in TV history.
She clearly said she did not talk to her parents much since the show had been going on. At least that's how I interpreted that statement. Try finding a more substantive reason for not liking her like maybe the way she dresses or what kind of car she drives.
I think text messaging made the difference. Basically all the lines for all the singers were busy all the time. Thus, the 33% split. The text messagers probably broke the tie.
I spent two solid hours last night getting busy signals for Elliot. I got through about 1 in 8 calls. I think AI needs to invest in more phone lines.
"I spent two solid hours last night getting busy signals for Elliot."
Don't you think that you're maybe getting a little too involved in a trumped-up talent contest if you're investing two hours of your life - two hours you can never get back? Over a drug store clerk? Surely there are more rewarding things to do with the time, even assuming it isn't rigged.
Sorry I missed Elliott' sing out and what seems to have been a memorable video of him going home. And I'm sorry Elliott is gone. But it may be for the best. He can sign with a smart jazz label. I'd buy his product.
Over a drug store clerk?
Yeah, how could you feel anything for anyone as low class as a clerk? Honestly...
Dare I admit that the first time I ever watched American Idol was a week ago. I have to ask, how does that Kat keep winning? I haven't heard her sing a song yet that was on key and why does she slide into the notes? It is grating. If she wins, it will be on looks alone, certainly not on talent.
Hollywood's a home town. Families live there, kids go to school there. It's synonymous with movie-fantasy land, but people grow up there.
Oops, I cut my own message off. I wanted to add ... my vote is for Taylor. He is definitely the best voice. Can't say I think much of his dancing though and he does look like he still hasn't lost his baby fat.
Loved every minute of it. Everyone sang great, everyone had fun, Elliott's my hero and I will buy whatever he does. Now I don't care who wins, so I can just relax and enjoy the huge finale. So effin' awesome!
Word verification: vapoi
I live in San Diego and for those of you who have never been to Hollywood, it is very understandable why people there wouldn't be as excited about someone on American Idol. When you can walk down the street and see famous people every day, it's not such a big deal. Katherine seems like a sweet girl and she has an amazing voice. Granted, so does Taylor, so we'll just have to wait for the finals to see who can pull through.
I agree that seeing Elliot in his home town would probably have pushed him over the top. He also showed himself to be (I think) genuinely humble and grateful for the experience.
I thought Katherine came off pretty bad, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt given the circumstances...
tcd said...
"Yeah Simon, like you have room to criticize someone else's AI viewing habits. As if you didn't get caught like a deer in the McBeaver's humongous headlights. At least Elliott could sing."
How are those sour grapes tasting there?
Interesting take by poster Paine at TWOP's Idol forum:
"50 million votes
Assume the order went Taylor, Kat, Elliott
33.68% of 50 million = 16.84 million (Taylor)
33.26% of 50 million = 16.63 million (Kat)
33.06% of 50 million = 16.53 million (Elliott)
Assume 10% of each contestants votes come from texting. That leaves landline voting as follows:
15.156 million (Taylor)
14.967 million (Kat)
14.877 million (Elliott)
Now, take the DialIdol busy signal percentages and compute the total number of phone calls actually made:
80% busy (Taylor)
70% busy (Kat)
70% busy (Elliott)
TOTAL LANDLINE PHONE CALLS FOR EACH CONTESTANT
75.78 million (Taylor)
49.89 million (Kat)
49.59 million (Elliott)
TOTAL PHONE CALLS AND TEXT MESSAGES ACTUALLY CAST
180.26 million
TOTAL COUNTED
50 million
Bottom line: by artificially choking the phone lines they can get ANY vote total they want (and by extension any outcome they want)."
Another poster wrote:
"If you try to drain three swimming pools through garden hoses, you shouldn't be surprised if after two hours the amounts are the same."
TCD: What about us McBoob fans? I've never had any illusion it was a singing competition.
You could go to someplace, for example McMurry University in Abilene Texas and listen to the twenty or so students in the Chanters choral group, anyone of whom is a better singer than Taylor or Katharine. They don't want to be pop stars.
jult 52, the thing that was most impressive about Elliot was that he did not have major pitch problems in spite of challenging his voice.
3rd place is fine for him. If he actually beocmes the confident funny singer he may be and showed last week, he'll be fine. More than fine. Maybe actually interesting.
I will not be watching AI any ever! I believe it is fixed! Chirs or Elliot should have won!
jult52: My point is, its not about singing and we are not seeing the best singers at this stage. Taylor is there because he has elements in addition to singing which make him popular and a willingness to go through the process (such as singing whatever they tell you to). And Katharine looks good..
TCD seemed to imply it was wrong to vote off a better singer in favor of a more attractive one.
Simon says: Surely there are more rewarding things to do with the time, even assuming it isn't rigged.
There were. I multi-tasked and watched "Sex and the City" and "Seinfeld" reruns while hitting the redial button. I even blogged and dialed.
tcd: I'm speechless, I have no speech!
tcd: I can't hold it against the guys too much! She is gorgeous.
Besides, many of us women were a little gaga over Chris just a few short weeks ago.
well in defense of tcd's original point, it does seem odd for simon to rag on ruth anne for "wasting time" voting when he himself ostensibly "wastes time" regularly posting about AI.
And as a former clerk myself, I must say I *especially* love the "clerky" qualities of Elliot. Especially over the L.A. qualities of "Tits McGhee" Katherine.
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