I’m slowly entering the “astounded” phase of American Idol. I think we all know it — that incredulous four or five week span in which some blatantly outclassed singer somehow advances farther and farther in the singing competition as more talented folks drop by the wayside. Sanjaya remains the poster boy of such ridiculousness, but he’s not the only craptastic crooner to defy the odds. Let’s not forget Kristy Lee Cook, Haley Scarnato, or pretty much half of the season three cast. This time around, we’ve got Scott MacIntyre, a soft-rock piano man who has yet to hit two consecutive notes. However, there doesn’t seem to be much by way of outrage about Scott’s quiet ascension through the ranks. Not even Vote For The Worst is endorsing him (which I suppose is a good thing, if you think about it). Instead, that site has anointed Megan Joy (née Corkrey) the queen of crappy, which doesn’t really make sense to me. Yeah, she’s quirky, but she is far from the worst. Has that site jumped the shark? Nevertheless, the point is that Scott is awful, and the fact that he made it through last night has me concerned he might be around for quite a while. He clearly has the sympathy vote — even Simon gets all PC around him — but Scott has more than just that going for him. His music appeals to a powerful voting block in the Idol universe: older women who enjoy inspirational ballads (and by extension, figurines at the Hallmark store too. In other words: awfulness). It’s gonna be hard taking this bad boy down.
With Scott staying in the competition, it meant someone more deserving had to go, and it was poor Alexis Grace who was sacrificed to the Idol gods. This girl definitely shouldn’t have gone home — especially before the tour. People were saying she might go top five or four. Oh well. Her performance of “Jolene” on Tuesday wasn’t the greatest, but it was definitely not the worst (see Scott’s performance). Unfortunately, even though her second rendition for the judges last night was much improved, there was no way Simon et. al. were going to use up the save on only the second week. As a result, Alexis was sent packing. Not fair, but that’s Idol.
Truth was that if Scott wasn’t going home, next in line should have been Michael Sarver, and while he was in the bottom two, he dodged the bullet big time. Luckily for him, he earned some major, major sympathy points by telling a heart-crushing story about his toddler daughter, who asked him “Why don’t you want to be with me anymore?” Raise your hand if you just wanted to throw yourself out of a window and end it all right there? Not because it was shameless (which it wasn’t). But because it was so SAD. I’m shocked Scott didn’t immediately run to a piano (with a guide) and start singing some uplifting melody about children and love and sunshine through the rain.
As for the rest of the show, I fast forwarded over most of it. I did stop to watch the Carrie Underwood / Randy Travis duet, and even though I’m not a big country fan, it was pretty damn amazing. They were great, and I’m still astounded to see the transformation Carrie has gone through since her run on Idol. Randy, meanwhile, is looking a bit skeletal these days. In a weird way, he reminds me of Slim, the walking stick from A Bug’s Life. Nevertheless, the two were quite good, and they served as the highlight of the hour.
Meanwhile, I fast forwarded over the terrible group song and some lame band, but I did stop to see the stupid music video, which involved water balloons. Ryan apparently tried to throw a water balloon at Simon off camera, but he missed (no surprise there) and soaked some poor girl in the audience, thus inviting dirty jokes in my head about Seacrest liquids and the opposite sex (two things that I imagine are rarely linked). We also saw some neat video footage of the contestants enjoying a farewell dinner for Jasmine and Jorge at Bucca di Beppo (Fox forgot to blur out the restaurant name for like one second. EAGLE EYES!), and, well, I think that was it. Hey, it’s the results show. It’s all filler.
Next week, I believe we have Motown, which automatically elicits a groan from me. I have nothing against the genre in real life, but on Idol, Motown usually translates to Bad Karaoke Week. I wonder what Scott will sing. Did the Four Tops ever release a song about climbing mountaintops and reaching for angels? Because that would be perfect!
What did you think about the show? Happy with who went home? And how long are we gonna have to deal with Scott? He’s really using up all my anti-Adam Lambert energy.
SATURDAY IN LOS ANGELES: Hiking, Food, and Ellen Pompeo
ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Jalapeño Cocktail Hour
Inception, As Told By The Real Housewives
REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Once Again, The Reunion As Told By Shot Glasses
ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Eat Your Feelings Edition
ADVENTURES IN FOLKSY AUTUMNAL ACTIVITIES: Bloggers of the Corn Edition
Scenes From E3 2010 (Or, Embarrassing Pictures of Me Dancing)
REAL HOUSEWIVES REUNION PHOTOCAP: Yup, They’re Still Crazy!
Journey To The Corpse Flower
"EAT MY BLOG" Charity Bake Sale Descends On Hollywood This Weekend
bonbon (11)
LynnB (9)
La Güerita (7)
rhnjnomore (7)
honeybunny (6)
Nikki (5)
Anni (4)
jennifer30309 (4)
Kelly (4)
MissMakin (4)
I can see how lame he is, B-Side. Trust me. I rant about him every week in my recaps on WeHateIdol.com too.
Randy Travis is skeletor v2.0. And Carrie Underwood’s hair looked atrocious.
But the main reason I’m here commenting is because this line of yours made me literally SCREAM WITH LAUGHTER:
“I’m shocked Scott didn’t immediately run to a piano (with a guide)”
It is bad enough we have to listen to a group sing along but at least they could lip sync it better. Last night was all kinds of mess.
And when did they start taping the “special guests” appearances before the show even starts?! I noticed it last week when Kayne was on and the judges were MIA. Again this week – no judges. Come to find out it’s not part of the “live” show.
I did love the huge Grand Ole Opry mic stands that Carrie and Randy sat behind. AI is shameless in the product placement category. Right up there with Bravo. Gladd? No!
Sorry about little Alexis. She wasn’t the worst but she wasn’t going to win. Just a bummer she won’t be on the tour. And speaking of the tour — looks like BlindScottyGuide is going on tour too.
hb
I think Scott will go home soon. I mean he just isn’t good enough even with the sympathy vote.
I want Sarver to go home too because he is boring. I didn’t really like Alexis either though, so I wasn’t too sad to see her go.
What did you think about Randy calling her Alison?
I can’t find the energy to sit thru the results show, so I came here to find out who went home. Shocked, shocked I tell you, that Scott wasn’t shown the door!
I’m a sorta older woman, and can’t stand the guy. Don’t like Hallmark figurines either.
I understand that Scott is blind and all, but can’t one of his handlers/guide dogs get rid of that awful Ronald McDonald hair do? I keep waiting each week for a makeover, and just like my birthparents, it never comes.
Jmart…are you implying that people who have long, curly and unruly hair can CUT it?
Huh…who knew?
Scott needs to go home….now.
I like how the headline reads “Can no one SEE how bad”. Was that intentional?
Sure he’s worse than some of those left, and sure he should have gone home last night but this contest is about more than who the best singer is and he’s got a good backstory. I’m also not sure why VFTW didn’t pick him as their “idol” b/c even though I don’t like Megan she seems to have a lot of fans.
However B- I am glad that your dislike of Scott is replacing your anti- Adam energy. I think that Adam is great, so I want him to keep staying in the good graces of the voting public. Danny is another matter. If anyone is an indulgent singer, it’s him IMHO.
Scott will be around until 6th place or so, and that’s when you’ll see the judges start to turn on him. The comments will be carefully executed so as to throw him under the bus in the most PC way possible. (Except for Paula, who’ll just keep blabbing about how strong and inspirational he is. But no one really listens to half of what Paula says anyway.)
With the new manipulations (er, “rule changes”) in place, such as the Wild Card and the mother of all shenanigans “The Judges’ Save” we people ought to know better than to think this is actually about singing anymore. This is a reality show, plain and simple. They create or exploit story lines, develop characters, and carefully edit and word their judges’ comments so as to further manipulate the sheep into voting for whom they have already ordained. The Save isn’t going to be used on anyone except Danny, Adam, or Lil – period. And when it happens the shit will hit the fan.
This new Save rule really has my panties in a bunch. You know why? Because it just reinforces that the people who run this show are just mean fuckers. First they introduce the new bullshit rule that just in case one of their favorites got the lowest number of votes, the judges can override America’s decision. (Soon they’ll be issuing signing statements.) Oh but they rationalize it by claiming they’re just respecting America’s decision. How the fuck does that logic work? Because the crowd gasped when Daughtry went home? (He’s doing just fine without Idol by the way.) These are the same sheep who boo on command every time Simon speaks. Or is it the general outcry from America when Jennifer Hudson went home “too early� (Um, I remember Season 4. No one really gave a damn about Jennifer Hudson until Dreamgirls.) But Simon is convinced (justifiably so) that the majority of America listens to him and votes accordingly. So really it’s not America’s will (that was what the damned votes were for) – it’s Simon’s. Seriously, it’s shameless.
But that’s not why they’re mean fuckers. No, it’s because they’re all about crushing dreams – and they’re beginning to make it an art form. Let’s take a step back to last week, when this steaming pile of shit was laid at our doorstep. To recap: Jasmine, you’re in the bottom two. (The punch in the cut.) Now wait. Megan, you’re safe; Jasmine, you’re going home. (The punch in the face.) Oh unless the judges decide to SAVE you. Now sing while they pretend to deliberate it. (The kick when you’re down.) OK, you’re done singing? Judges: No, we’re not going to save you. Go home. (And then spit on you and laugh.) I mean, what possible benefit is there in subjecting anyone, no matter how bad a singer or how weird or anything. Yeah Jasmine was probably the worst singer – she didn’t really deserve a spot in the Top 12, er… 13.
And they did the same thing to Jorge. Except instead of focusing on Jorge and waiting for him to cry, Seacrest took the opportunity to identify that Carrie Underwood was covering the “get out†song and pimp it for iTunes. (And if you don’t think their elimination order is affected by the number of iTunes sales they get for each performance, then you’re living in a dream world.)
Hey didn’t Paula tell us last week that the mark of a great artist was that you could instantly recognize their voice whenever you heard them sing? (Does that mean Danny Gokey is a better artist than Carrie Underwood?) So why did they have to tell us it was Carrie Underwood? Just asking.
Whew. Needed to get that off my chest.
OMIGOD, I was SO relieved to see this blog post. I was beginning to think I needed to have my ears checked or that I must have some degenerative neurological disorder.
Sheesh! Why are the judges ripping outstanding artists like that amazing 16-year-old Allison Iraheta and letting this lame-o singer Scott off with NO criticism? Is this like a pity vote or what? The guy can’t carry a tune?
Much better singers have already been voted off before him. It’s disgusting. I’m not sure I can keep watching. It’s getting ridiculous.