Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Week Two, Pt 2 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/-american-idol-_b_83047.html [4/5/2009 8:08:47 PM] APRIL 5, 2009 HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY 23/6 VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE Make HuffPost Your HomePage Get Email Alerts Twitter: Follow Us BIG NEWS : Angelina Jolie | Madonna | Chris Brown & Rihanna | Paul McCartney | More...</p><p> LOG IN | SIGN UP Michael Giltz BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Similar Bloggers Email Print Be the First to Submit This Story to Digg American Idol -- Week Two, Pt 2 Posted January 24, 2008 | 11:01 AM (EST) Read More: American Idol , Cds , Music , Paula Abdul , Randy Jackson , Reality TV, Simon Cowell , Breaking Entertainment News Another slightly off kilter show from Idol.</p><p> We saw about 10 people or duos make full blown auditions and only three times did they hear "You're going to Hollywood." And in a truly bizarre bit of editing, we saw three "yes's" in a row followed by five "no's" to end the night.</p><p> When it comes topacing, that's pretty poor planning.</p><p> The Idol producers are focused on telling stories this season.</p><p> Great.</p><p> But since we saw plenty of people getting the exciting news in montages, we can't helpwondering why we didn't get to see more potentially good acts.</p><p> They've forgotten the main purposeof the show: not to tell a story, but to find a great singer.</p><p> People watch the auditions looking forsomeone that blows them away, someone they can "discover" along with the judges and feel likethat person has a shot at the final 12 or winning it all.</p><p> Last night we only saw four people(including two siblings) go through and frankly none of them was instantly thrilling.</p><p> Sure, thejudges have bad days like that, but with the magic of editing, we shouldn't.</p><p> Raysharde Henderson -- the guy with the big Afro.</p><p> He set the stage for the night by bringing a lot of volume if not a lot of skill.</p><p> Apparently, these days when a CD is mastered, the labels insist the recording levels be pushed up to "11," out of fear that their CD might sound quieter than the one next to it.</p><p> Even quiet passages are pushed to be as loud as possible.</p><p> Nuance has gone out the window.</p><p> This might just be influencing the way kids sing, since so many tonight thought "loud" equalled "good." DeAnna Prevatte -- a sullen waitress who doesn't get good tips from the Sunday buffet crowd.</p><p> It mightbe your personality, sweetheart.</p><p> Idol tries to weed out the people who know they can't sing and just want toget on TV and Prevatte proves they usually get itright.</p><p> Her subtle moment of disbelief when Simon says she doesn't have a great voice was priceless.</p><p> Randy Stark and Crystal Ortiz -- a couple that met on an Idol message board do a duet, with Randy in particular trilling away like Tiny Tim.</p><p> He doesnt even remember the words.</p><p> A waste of our time that seems self-promoting of the show, somehow.</p><p> Popular Stories on HuffPost Fashion Face-Off! 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I played backher audition a few times and I still don't know what they were hearing.</p><p> London Weidberg -- she sang Billie Holiday's "Good Morning, Heartache" but -- just as Idol intended -- what I really remember is that her dad died.</p><p> London was good, though the judges seemed less than thrilled with her and I thought for a moment she wouldn't get through.</p><p> But theylike her "tone," which is definitely the word of the day, the way "pitchy" used to reign supreme.</p><p> Then in a break from the action, Randy was hopeful South Carolina would produce some better acts because he's always heard the South will rise again.</p><p> Uh, Randy, you do NOT want that to happen in the way that's meant.</p><p> Lyndsey Goodman -- an attractive Air Force pilot who looked a lot more nervous when she was auditioning than when she was piloting a plane the size of a football field.</p><p> Maybe she should have just pictured Simon as a B-52 bomber.</p><p> Maybe if she hadn't sung "Black Velvet." Seriously, don'tthese auditioners know the judges must be sick of the same ten songs people sing over and over.</p><p> Aretha Codner -- Simon smiles immediately when the big-breasted Aretha shows up.</p><p> But none are smiling after she belts out Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing." This was a rather strange rejection.</p><p> All three of the judges were brutal and treated Aretha as if she were the most talentless,horrible singer of the day.</p><p> No, she shouldn't have been sent through.</p><p> But it wasn't hard to hear whyfamily and friends might urge her on.</p><p> Maybe if they'd acknowledged she had an okay voice and canand should enjoy singing at church or on her own, but just made clear she'd never have aprofessional career, Aretha might not have been so adamant.</p><p> She wasn't William Hung forgoodness sake and that's how they acted towards her.</p><p> Joshua Boson -- he sang "(And I Am Telling You) I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls and was a total disaster.</p><p> But at least his angry response and tirades to the camera while walking out seemed genuine.</p><p> Joshua was not pleased and that's a lot more fun than someone who is just begging forairtime.</p><p> In a clever use of music, Idol showed a montage of rejections set to the tune of They Might Be Giants singing "No!" one of their witty songs from a trio of albums geared to kids.</p><p> Well done, whoever thought of that.</p><p> Oliver Highman -- new dad Oliver ended the night with a lot of vibrato and a friendly "no." I do fear/believe his newly born daughter might very well audition for Idol 16 years from now and we'll be seeing footage from this episode when she does.So, bad pacing, lots of "no's," not a single person I'm ready to gamble on as a major talent and two out of the four people who are going to Hollywood are questionable.</p><p> Was South Carolina that bador has Idol placed telling a story ahead of showing us talented singers? Is there anyone here you think will get to the final 12? Is this season more or less or the same amount of fun as previousyears? Tell me what you think.</p><p> Comments for this post are now closed Email Print Style On CBS' "Washington Unplugged" Arianna was on CBS' "Washington...</p><p> Huff TV Arianna Appears on ABC's "This Week" Roundtable With George Stephanopoulos(VIDEO) Arianna was a guest this morning on... "BRUNO" TRAILER!Calamity, African Babies, Chase Scenes And More (NSFW VIDEO) IT'S HERE! 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RICHARD POPLAWSKI,Pittsburgh Gunman, Kills 3 Police Officers Dr.</p><p> Rachel Ehrenfeld: Does Iran Harbor Osama bin Laden? Comments 2 Pending Comments 0 Comments are closed for this entry SNL: Madonna And Angelina In Weekend Update...</p><p> Reality Star Jade Goody Buried In Lavish...</p><p> Robert De Niro Nanny Sues For $40,000 Alex Da Silva, Celebrity Choreographer Accused Of...</p><p> More in Entertainment...</p><p> HuffPost Stories Surging Right Now Ads by Google Watch Idol Performances Watch The Idol Performances Free! It's Easy w/the Free Videos Toolbar Videos.alottoolbars.com Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to View Comments: Newest First Expand All Nutcase See Profile I'm a Fan of Nutcase permalink Sorry.</p><p> Based on the headline, I stumbled into this blog thinking it was about Clinton and Obama.</p><p> You know.</p><p> The celebrity version. cognito ergo populistae You must be logged in to reply to this comment.</p><p> Log in or Ads by Google Watch Idol Performances Watch The Idol Performances Free! It's Easy w/the Free Videos Toolbar Videos.alottoolbars.com Computers India Barack Obama Michelle Obama Sports Olympics Housing Crisis Fox News Cars MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » Books by this author A cabin of one's own: New England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... 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(The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine) by Michael Giltz American Idol CdsMusicPaula AbdulRandy JacksonReality TVSimon Cowellchemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of...</p><p> HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Bloggers Index Read All Posts by Michael Giltz Related Tags Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:40 AM on 01/24/2008This Blogger's Books from Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Week Two, Pt 2 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/-american-idol-_b_83047.html [4/5/2009 8:08:47 PM] HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY FUNDRACE ARCHIVE Advertise | Login | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type
