little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

american idol

I am going to write about American Idol now. Some of you will roll your eyes. Too bad - I don’t get paid to post or put ads on this weblog, and you don’t see me talking about pop culture on VH-1. Who do I look like, Choire?

Now, I just watched the American Idol finale, with Fantasia [keywords: ghetto-fabulous, single mother] and Diana [keywords: bubbly, pink]. Me being the biggest reality television junkie ever, I’ve been scanning a multitude of message boards and websites which says that Diana will most likely come out of this the winner.

To which I say:

HELLO, ARE WE WATCHING THE SAME SHOW? I’m absolutely shocked - gobsmacked - flabbergasted - that no one has brought up the fact that Diana totally went off key in the middle of “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” Like a full on, half-step off, cringe-inducing half note. It was *really* painful, guys. If Diana nailed that song, I was pretty convinced she was going to walk away hands-down with the competition, but now I’m not so sure.

Not to say that Fantasias first song was great (Jodeci?! For the love of god, girl, if you’re trying to win America’s vote you don’t sing *Jodeci*) but at least her ad-lib screeching wasn’t half a note off.

What won me over was Fantasia’s version of “I Believe.” I LOVED IT way more than Diana - Diana sang it well, she held the power notes and she stayed on tune, and that’s fine. But what I love about Fantasia is that she actually emoted the song, felt what she was singing as she song it. “Who’s the more appropriate American Idol” be damned, Fantasia is a much better storyteller, and thus performance artist, hands down.

Now if you excuse me, I have to call and cancel as many Diana votes as possible.

[I'm pretty sure Diana will still win, however.]

ehn - after the Conan look-a-like left, it all went downhill… but, seriously.. do they *realllly* become an American Idol? I haven’t heard much from that Clay guy in a while… or the first chica who won…

diana has a face like a pepperoni pizza.

We get American Idol down under and I can’t watch it. Not because of any of the singers, but because of Ryan Seacrest. He’s too damn happy, kind of like a midget on speed after getting laid. We have these two guys that host Australian Idol and they act stoned, nice and relaxed, the way an Idol host should be.

I agree!!!

I’m a Diana fan, but last night, in terms of figure skating it was as if she were in the middle of a nice program and then she attempted a triple Salchow and fell flat on her ass.
At least she got up, wiped off her purdy uniform and kept skating.

her in NC claymania is stills trong, and he was the LOSER. he’s getting paid $100,000 to sing at the state fair, beating Loretta Lynn’s previous fair record of $50,000. Now, NC is switching to Fantasia mania. There was a tent set up on the side of the road yesterday selling T-shirts.

Does it really matter who wins? They’re both going to walk away with contracts. Besides, just look at last season - Reuben actually won, and who do we see the most of these days? Clay. They were both deserving and they both walked away with deals. Same game this year.

In any case, I still threw my votes to Fantasia. Diana bit it big and Fantasia nailed it to the floor.

I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who heard Diana go (way, way) off key. Ouch.

fantasia is the queen of my life. if she doesn’t win i ponder a protest.

Aside from Diana’s off-keyness (which is separate from her perpetual lack of vocal control and tempo problems), isn’t that song banned under the Geneva Conventions as being Too Horrible for Human Ears? Plus, the only thing I will ever associate with it is the scene in “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” which pretty much says it all.

“I Believe” Bingo (can be played as a drinking game as well):

http://www.copperboom.com/pixelchallenge/tamyra/

Don’t disagree that Fantasia is super - but weren’t there reported sound issues during Diana’s performance?

The reported “sound issues” during Diana’s performance were the result of the incorrect notes emanating from her voicebox. Absolutely cringe-inducing, as Ern said. It made my fillings ache.

The really horrible thing was my boyfriend couldn’t tell that she was off-key. I had to rewind the Tivo and replay the offending bits for him and point out the dissonance.

I’d be pretty suprised if Fantasia didn’t win this thing tonight. She wiped the floor with Diana’s pretty little dress last night. You never heard the judges say Fantasia is “pitchy”, did you? Mmmm-hmm.

Eric in Seattle

hey ern.. didn’t get a chance to say Congratulations, homo…wner!

hahaha, on another related note:

Q: whats a gay programmers favorite command?
A: c: (see colon enter)

i think your keywords pretty much tell the story about who’s going to win.
if it’s between a “ghetto fabulous single mother” and “bubbly pink”, being that we’re in this particular ameriKa right now, the white girl will most likely win.
talent does not always count. in fact, in today’s insta-pop, manufactured image, no more ‘paying your dues’ climate in pop, it’s not about talent.
ruben won, but clay WON.
know what i mean?
i know that you do

What happenned to Ernie? Who is this guest blogger?

I don’t think either of them really emulates the American Idol vibe. Fantasia seems too old and Diana is way too young.

Stacy: That really narrows it down. I guess you have to be between 16 and 18 to be an American Idol?

Cleo: I agree. No one ever says it, but the thought did cross my mind too. Let’s hope our faith is restored tomorrow.

As for who should be the winner, let’s look across the whole competition… Clearly, Fantasia is a better singer, better performer, and has a better on-screen/public personality. I will be very disappointed in the system if she loses. But like everyone else has noted, at this point… no one really “loses”.

Kc! I said “Fantasia seems too old.” Whenever I see her I think 25+, but I’m sure she’s much younger. (I’m guessing you know; I’m not an American Idol fanatic –only seen it while flipping channels)

Fantasia has a child, and just emulates a very hard life/wise beyond her years vibe. She just doesn’t really doesn’t appear to be like any other American Idol we’ve seen. Whenever I see her I think she should be voting instead of competing.

But that’s just how I feel. I don’t watch the show. I don’t vote. I don’t really care.

I think Fantasia’s 19, but girlfriend’s lived a lot. She just comes off so much older because she has a kid, but every now and then she looks really young.

The show doesn’t interest me at all, but I saw clips of Diana’s going off course, and it was clearly because of a problem with her in-ear monitors. As a professional musician, I can tell you that she is depending upon these monitors (inside the ear, like hearing aids) to hear *everything* going on. It seems like, hell, she should just listen to the band - they’re right in front of her. But its not that simple. The monitors give you what you need, and she lost that feed. Too bad she’s getting slammed for it, like she made some sort of “mistake”. I know her pain. A sound system can make or break you, and guess which one it did to Diana last night?

Amy the Professional Musician is right: it’s impossible to hear yourself, or anything else, when you’re on stage, which is why they use those little earpieces.

However, that was hardly the first time in this competition she’s wandered off key. I think Fantasia is going to win; she will win on her merits, just as Diana will take second place based on her merits. Diana is a good singer, but Fantasia is a slightly better singer with a better sense of performance.

What-ev-ah. Not that it makes a difference; they’ll both be snatched up by a label within 25 seconds of the show ending tonight.

Eric in Seattle
Unprofessional Musician

FANTASIA WON

Yay! Fantasia won! I love me some Fantasia! Woo hoo!

yay, you were wrong!

I watched it hoping Latoya would make a comeback like in WWE wrestling matches.

You knew Fantasia was going to win because notice how Diana sung the “First single” early on in the comeptition and Fantastic chose something else to sing? That left it really nice and open to get two plugs for the new single and let Diana sing it one last time.

I won’t say the game was rigged, but I think everyone knew that Fantasia was going to pull it. I actually thought it would be better for Diana, because then she would get a good contract, and then Fantasia would be snapped up into a bidding war by the other major labels… heh.

Stacy: It is not that I watch the show religiously, I just TiVo it and skip through past all the “we’ll tell you right after this break” banter. I remember them saying something before one of the recent performances. I didn’t vote either (or pay attention to it much until the last few shows) because I want to see if my opinion is the same as the rest of voting America’s is. Amazingly, it is!

I think I would watch American Idol if Ryan Seacrest wasn’t so… I don’t know how to explain it. He’s just so excited all the time that I find it a little frightening.

What is more frightening is probably the fact that I find his “Ryan Seacrest Live” show incredibly (not entertaining but) addictive.

Mystic tanning. Baby photos. Phone calls from Mommy Seacrest. Constant poking fun at Simon. Seacrest Out!

I was watching a show the other day (one those Behind the whatever on VH1) and it said something along the lines of, even if you don’t win, you have to do whatever recordings you do under the show’s producer. Like, even if you don’t “win,” you have to stay under the same producer as the winner does. Something along those lines. Maybe I’m wrong.

Fantasia won because the racism accusation was thrown about a few weeks ago. Pop/American Idol viewers do not like to be told what they are, so they tend to do the opposite. It’s why the fat cow won over here…

Fantasia’s great. I’ve been watching her all along because she’s from my town, and she’s been great the whole time. I like Diana too, but I agree with what you said about her being off key. It probably hurt her a lot, and before that point I really didn’t know which way the votes would go.
Anyway, I come here a lot to read what you have to say (though this is the first time I’ve bothered to leave a comment), and you seem to be a very intelligent guy with a great sense of humor. Take care!

I still regret the loss of Jasmine Trias. She had the mannerisms of a pop star.

There’s a difference between being able to sing, and having a nice voice. Fantasia can sing, but she sounds like someone shoved a cat down her throat and pulled it out backwards. I don’t care if she hit the right notes… she’s like a bad Macy Grey sound-alike. Diana is only 16 and therefor has a TON of vocal maturing ahead of her; female voices don’t reach peak maturity until we’re in our late 20s. Give her a few more years and she’ll be singin’ with the best of ‘em.

Sar: I agree with you about Fantasia’s voice. I thought I was the only one who thought it sounded a bit grating. A very apt-description: “a bad Macy Grey sound-alike.”

I see another Idol fan blogging away about the show…I’m addicted too, as you can see from my blog. Now that the show is over, I need more reality TV!! I wasn’t surprised that Fantasia won, but I always figured it would come down to her and LaToya, with LaToya winning it all. Oh well…

“that no one has brought up the fact that Diana totally went off key in the middle of “Don’t Cry Out Loud.”

Um, are you joking? That’s ALL you heard about from after the show until the selection show. Every morning show talked about her going flat, and a few even asked her to her face what happened.

all you people need to go outside. really. it’s better out there.

I’m so glad that you Americans have your very own wannabe Eurovision Song Contest now. Mind you, not that we don’t have our own terrible versions of the Idols format, but the ESC still wins by a mile. Maybe you could do the same with each state and canadian province represented?

“Québec… zero point”