Show du 22 mars - oups...du 21 s'cusez

[felix]

Citation :Posted March 20, 2006

'American Idol' still going strong

Post-Crescent wire services



The clock is ticking on this year's crop of "American Idol" finalists.

Last week, with the final dozen in place, Melissa McGhee took the first hit.

Now comes week two.

Will soulful teen Paris Bennett, hunky Ace Young or winsome warbler Katharine McPhee be the next "American Idol"? What about Southern-fried Bucky Covington, pop-rocker Chris Daughtry or R&B belter Mandisa?

Your guess is as good as anyone's. Even the judges are stumped.

"Everything's open this year, isn't it? There are four, five, six people who could win," Simon Cowell said. He singles out Daughtry, Taylor Hicks and Mandisa as favorites.

Randy Jackson adds McPhee and Kellie Pickler to the list. "I think America made the right choices. It's a better balance. You got some pretty good boys, you got some pretty good girls."

More than three years after its debut, "American Idol" continues to be a ratings phenomenon, attracting between 25 million and 30-plus million viewers per telecast this season.

Host Ryan Seacrest said on Wednesday's program that viewers called in more than 32 million votes to determine the top hopefuls.

The final 12 contestants, along with 12 others who made it to the elimination rounds, were chosen by judges Cowell, Paula Abdul and Jackson from thousands of aspiring singers at casting calls around the country.

The final Idol will be named May 24.

The balance, along with what many say is the singing competition's deepest talent pool yet, could help TV's most-watched series maintain its record ratings pace.

Averaging 30.4 million viewers, the fifth edition of "Idol" is running 12 percent ahead of last season, reversing the usual pattern of audience decline over time.

"That's what's remarkable about it. After five seasons, it's still on the upswing, and viewers find it just as fresh as they did" when it premiered in 2002, said Brad Adgate of ad buyer Horizon Media. (By comparison, "The Apprentice" hit a series low for a regular episode, 9.7 million viewers, with its recent fifth-edition premiere.)

As sales of albums and movie tickets slump, Americans' appetite for the karaoke boot camp seems insatiable. The program clobbered the Winter Olympics and the Grammy Awards, and two audition shows drew more 18-to-49-year-olds, TV's money demographic, than the usually dominant Oscars.

Fox reality chief Mike Darnell said "Idol" has made the rare jump from network hit to national event: "I believe (viewers) want to be in a community. Right now, TV isn't giving them many things. And the scheduling of it once a year has made its event status bigger."

Darnell also said changes to the semifinal last season, such as having all singers perform each week and splitting the men and women, helped flatten out the traditional midseason trough, generating more momentum going into the finals. And he said the personalities make the show more compelling. "I hear people referring to them not (only) by name but by persona: 'He's the bald rocker.' 'He's the gray-haired guy.' 'She's the country girl.' You have such unique personalities, people are connecting with them."

The finalists got a taste of their newfound celebrity at a recent party, where photographers called out their names and fans tried to capture them on cellphone cameras. "This is so weird. I went from a roller-skating waitress at Sonic to walking on the red carpet," country girl Pickler marveled.

Jenny Eliscu, a Rolling Stone contributing editor, isn't surprised by the show's clout. "You can't underestimate the degree to which people are drawn to a show about singing. It's one of the only contests on TV where the talent element is something anyone could have. Everyone can sing, no matter how badly."

Tighter competition may stave off "Idol" fatigue, she said, noting that long before Carrie Underwood was crowned in May, Cowell predicted her victory. "It's not clear at all who's going to win, and I don't think even the judges know," Eliscu said.

Her faves? Hicks, despite his affectations. Also Bennett, Elliott Yamin and precocious Pickler, "merely an average singer, but you can't not love her." Oh, and the videogenic Young. "Please gouge out my eyes so I can stop looking and drooling."

She's pleased to see "the shticky singers are getting weeded out sooner in lieu of genuinely good singers or overwhelmingly lovable personalities or people generic enough to appeal to a broad range."

Nevertheless, even judges and producers don't agree with all the top picks. Cowell and Jackson say Gedeon McKinney should still be competing. Executive producer Ken Warwick laments the departure of Ayla Brown but said such unpredictability keeps people watching. In the end, "I think the public gets it right. It might be a rocky road, but great. That's what we want."

"Idol's" ability to tap into different musical genres has helped it develop a deeper talent pool, music consultant Tom Vickers said. "It's broadening out so that rock and country are as dominant as pop and R&B. Last year, I got the feeling it was playing itself out. This year, it has a new energy that feels more real."

For Jim Murphy, 46, of Auburn, N.Y., "Idol" "reminds me of the show 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' in that you root for people to overcome adversity and shine, and in that it is one of the few shows that people of all ages can watch together. In our living room, there are three generations watching."

This higher talent quotient should make for a more suspenseful countdown and livelier water-cooler debates, particularly with fewer clunkers in the final dozen.

"When the show was at 12 finalists last year, you could see which six or seven needed to go," Daily Variety associate editor Phil Gallo said. He notes that producers seem less intent on manipulating audience perceptions. "Last year, the producers did subtle things, like using the word 'rocker' for anyone with long hair, to make it clear "American Idol" wasn't just producing Clay Aiken or Kelly Clarkson retreads. This year, it seems they've calmed down."

Gallo said the male finalists feature a broader repertoire, but the women are "way ahead" in talent and potential. "Mandisa is powerful and has tremendous breath and pitch control, and there's no reason that woman should be working as anything other than a singer," he said. "Paris blows me away."

The runaway success of "Idol" "points to a desire for freshness" in an era in which music is consumed and discarded quickly, Gallo said. That is evident in Idol-spawned recording efforts that have not matched the show's soaring TV trajectory. Subsequent winners have not fared as well as the inaugural Kelly Clarkson, and finalists who don't land in the top two spots "are lucky to sell 12,000 copies of a record."

Mitch Schneider, who heads the MSO music publicity firm, which represents such artists as Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie and Depeche Mode, is impressed with the show but suspects its high notes will sour before long.

"Right now, it's giving the audience this sensation of empowerment," he said. "In the audition stage, it's like 'The Gong Show,' pure comic humiliation. As the elimination process begins, it's like watching cruise-ship passengers being tossed overboard, and the audience gets to push. It's strangely titillating. The audience can take pride in saying, 'We picked Kelly Clarkson and created a superstar.' There's something perversely wonderful about 'Idol' trouncing the Grammys."

But "Idol" can't sustain this height without more adjustments, Schneider predicts, and its decline won't be for lack of intriguing contestants.

"It will be a combination of predictable material and the judges' hackneyed comments. They're going to run out of popular songs. There's this beeline to cover Celine Dion and Mariah Carey because those songs have money notes if you can climb up that register. And how many Motown covers do you want to hear? What's frustrating is the lack of cutting-edge songs."

Some fans see a sameness in the judges' comments. "The Randy-and-Paula (Abdul) block vs. Simon seems to be getting more intense and ... a bit boring," said Deirdre Biles, 49, of Lexington, Ky., who praises Cowell's honesty. "I would like to see more constructive criticism from them other than 'Dude, you chose the wrong song.'"

Although Schneider said Jackson's "dawg pound" gimmick, Abdul's syrup and Cowell's snarls have grown stale, he never tires of a simple refrain: "I do like it when Simon said, 'Your voice is never going to be heard on the radio.' That's the ultimate reality check."

source:
http://www.postcrescent.com/

--Message edité par felix le 2006-03-21 18:52:28--

[Zoukie]

Thème de ce soir: Musique des années '50! Le début du Rock n' Roll!


Demain artiste invité: Barry Manilow

[~*Chris*~]

Predit Mandisa et Chris va faire bon

[felix]

Pour Chris...ce sera bien mais j'ai bien hâte de voir si Paris et Lisa pourront faire lever la place...elles sont jeunes donc tout un défi que d'accrocher le public

[Dreamer]

J'ai bien hate de voir tout ça!

[dorothé]

Moi aussi j'ai bien hâte !! années 50 on peut avoir des surprises..

seulement je vais l'écouter sur cassette plus tard je vais le manquer !!    

qui est Barry Manilow ??     y chante quoi lui ?? scusé moi les noms j'ai ben de la misère .. je le reconnaitrez surement en le voyant    

bonne soirée  

[Jadz]

J'pense que ça devrait bien aller pour Paris, Lisa aussi m'semble. Les 2 sont assez énergiques, tout dépend des chansons qu'elles choisissent.

En passant... c'est le show du 21 mars

Bonne soirée !!

[nicki]

Salut le monde

Les années 50... ahhhhh ça me fait rêver.  Que voulez-vous, c'est de mon jeune temps, ça.  Enfin, je devrais connaître les chansons.

Paris et Lisa devraient y aller avec Branda Lee ou quelque chose du genre, me semble que ça leur conviendrait.

Bon show tout le monde.

[nicki]

Barry Manillow chante "Copacabana"

[nicki]

Mandisa

I Don't Hurt Anymore de Diana Washington.

Ahhh ce qu'elle est belle ce soir.  

Wow Wow et re-wowwwwww  C'était absolument fantastique.  La marche est très très haute qui ceux qui vont suivre.

[qwertygirl]

Mandisa :  i don’t hurt anymore… Elle est très jolie ce soir, très féminine et diva. Début tout en douceur… et vers le milieu, on voit la puissance de sa voix… ayoye !! Quelle puissance… j’adore !!!

Les juges disent : regarder la foule… wow !! Randy est sans mots !! Il dit que c’est incroyable... Ovation debout de Paula...  elle est une bouchée d’air frais !! Simon dit que c’est une performance sexy.  Il a absolument adoré !! Le nouveau mot à la mot : MAN-DIVA !!!

[qwertygirl]

nicki  a écritMandisa

I Don't Hurt Anymore de Diana Washington.

Ahhh ce qu'elle est belle ce soir.  

Wow Wow et re-wowwwwww  C'était absolument fantastique.  La marche est très très haute qui ceux qui vont suivre.





tu as raison Nicky, elle est vraiment tres jolie ce soir. Elle a un très beau visage.

Je viens de découvrir cette section.

[William]

Mandisa ... vraiment en beauté ce soir ...

La prestation fut super bonne ...   wow

[nicki]

Salut Qwertygirl.

Es-tu ma belle Qwerty qui a changé de pseudo et qui a perdu tous ses posts précédent?  Ça fait longtemps que je me pose la question.

[nicki]

Salut William  Je suis contente que tu sois encore là ce soir.

[William]

nicki  a écritSalut William  Je suis contente que tu sois encore là ce soir.




 


Ichhhhhh Bucky .... il a vraiment fait un mauvais choix de chanson ...  

[William]

ennnnn Andy qui dit bon choix de chanson ....   faut croire que je suis dans le champs ...  

[qwertygirl]

Bucky: Oh boy! est le titre de la chanson!! Le début est bien selon mes goûts personnel... c'est difficile de passer après mandisa... L'ensemble de la chanson est bien mais sans plus.

Les juges disent: Randy dit que le choix de la chanson est bonne, il a aimé le jeu qu'il a fait avec son micro. Il a aimé et ce meme si ce n'était pas parfait vocalement. Paula  dit qu'il avait l'air d'avoir du fun et que c'était solide. Simon va dire les vraies choses... c'est une performance de karaokee. Il va laisser les gens qui le voient pour la première fois sur leur appétit.

TU en penses quoi toi Nicky... moi, disons bien moyen!

[qwertygirl]

nicki  a écritSalut Qwertygirl.

Es-tu ma belle Qwerty qui a changé de pseudo et qui a perdu tous ses posts précédent?  Ça fait longtemps que je me pose la question.


non ce n'est pas moi!! Je suis une nouvelle qwerty!!

[nicki]

Bucky

Oh Boy de Buddy Holly

Ce n'est pas tellement parce que c'est si  différent de Buddy Holly mais c'est plutôt parce c'était trop monotone que je n'ai pas beaucoup aimé.  Il ne l'a pas mal faite mais c'était sans originalité et sans âme.