I wouldn't call it skeevy, but the tie/cravat thing? Had to go. Sorry MJ went with it.

didn't someone upthread say he pinged their skeevy meter?

I thought his way of hugging the mike was awkward and stilted and I felt some distance from him in the way he sang (with his eyes closed sometimes). So I can kind of see how that would seem kinda weird from a different perspective.

I still kind of liked him though. Much more than David A whose breathing problems are distracting as fuck.

It's like the difference between Annie Lennox and Miley Cyrus.

This makes sense to me.

But, does that mean the 'idols' should only be amateurs/amateurish?

I could agree with that...given my agita over the 'Dream Team' phenomenon with the Olympic basketball team. That felt like a betrayal of the Olympic ethic. And I could see requiring the idols to not be starlike going in. But given the comments at the auditions, that doesn't seem to be what they are looking for. Sort of schizoid, which is where my confusion lay. I think I get it now though.

okay, Sail, but they aren't exactly telling him why they think he's being pompous. at least not on camera. so how can he try to change that?

it implies that you believe you have a special status and are in a position to encourage people to do good

he's no different than any of the other celebrities that were on the show last night asking people to donate. as for thinking it was corageous, i'm not really willing to argue his intentions or if he thought it was corageous. i somehow thought he did, he just wanted people to know he thought it was something important to do.

anyway...thanks for being specific, bon. i disagree completely, but i do appreciate the actual reasons.

thanks to you to, Sail. i agree with quite a bit of your last post as well. David doesn't have the best voice, but he knows what his range is and he knows how to use it. that makes him more marketable in my book. whereas with someone like Carly Smithson or David Archuleta have good voices, but you don't know what to expect from them week after week. not to mention what an actual album would sound like.

as for MJ, i heard things a while back that made me change my mind about him. song stealing/royalty screwing of a previous band he had been involved with mostly.

Writing "give back" on one's hand is obnoxious for several reasons-- it implies that you believe you have a special status and are in a position to encourage people to do good, and yet, he used his podium to write the least specific expression of charity one could think of, and treated it like it was a big, courageous thing. Fair trade actually implies something of controversy. "Give back" is pabulum.

Well, the entire Idol thing this week is "Idol Gives Back" so I think you gotta give him a pass on that one. It was a promo for the show's big promo event, not something he thought up on his own because it was so profound.

So he chooses arrangements of songs that aren't as well known so he can have an excuse to: 1) not have to use much of a range, 2) make it so unrecognizable you can't even tell what he's singing until he's halfway through it, 3) try to convince everyone this makes him "arty."

Gotta say, I find it such a breath of fresh air to hear someone who isn't mimicing (mimicking?) something everyone knows by heart. And you are taking a chance there, because I think a lot of people are voting based on the level of mimicry.

From bonny:

But, does that mean the 'idols' should only be amateurs/amateurish?

From tiggy:

makes him more marketable in my book

These two things are sort of the heart of Idol. One, the person who wins really needs to be marketable. Two, they have to let Idol be the one to market them. That is why DC is peeving Simon. David is an amateur marketer. Just sing, damn it, and let Simon and his crew worry about boxing you up when you win.

I find it such a breath of fresh air to hear someone who isn't mimicing (mimicking?) something everyone knows by heart.

This is the thing that has impressed me the most. The different versions of familiar things are so much more interesting to me than say, the one who sang Whitney Houston's version of Dolly Parton's song. That was pretty predictable.

I even liked the fellow who did the bluegrass/hoedown version of a Beatles song.

And, as stated above, the version of Over the Rainbow sent me off to learn all about IZ and his music. I kind of love it.

Two, they have to let Idol be the one to market them.

OOOOOHHHhhhhh. NOW I really DO get it. t smacks forehead . I see.

it's possible i'm watching the show from a different angle than the general public, as well. i'm not really into cookie-cutter pop stars and i know that's technically what the winner is supposed to be. i almost always enjoy the ones who buck that trend and go for it.

Honestly? David Cook is the only American Idol contestant I've heard in the entire run of the show whom I didn't immediately hate on hearing him.