Cool! I've seen your posts, I did always wonder if it was you lol! Ever seen any of my posts as britspark?

Will definitely check your posts out and look at some of the song suggestions I haven't heard of!

Hard to say how any of this year's contestants would have fared in any other season, or any other show. Depends what TPTB wanted at each given time lol! Adam being in the B3 was pretty shocking, but AI and XF have seen so many shockers now, they're not quite so shocking!

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haha i found you in their earlier, in the non us favorite thread i sent a friend request

Haha glad you found me, didn't spot your friend request but will look now. You'll have to bear with me on that site, the print size is tiny! Any way I can enlarge it? Also, can't see where to do my signature lol!

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Edit: Tried to accept your friend request but I was sent this stupid message!

Sorry, but there is no pending relationship for you to pursue with this user.

?????

Is that because your fave's gone and mine hasn't? Lol

Haha weird I'll have another look myself I promise u that it's not cos stefano is still there lol

Haha please do, I can't stay on that site for too long as it hurts my eyes, which is a shame as the content's great! Lol glad it's not because Stefano i still there! Wouldn't want Paul hurting his throat anyway really

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Ahh you are my friend on there actually, i guess it just had a bit of a moment. You can enlarge the screen i guess bottom right of your computer to make it zoom in

Ah good lol might have been my laptop! My dad says it's already on the largest possible print size, will try again tonight, just about to go out lol!

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It was a joke. I'm a fan FCOL.

Whatever people believe or doubt, all the evidence available pointed to Adam being in the bottom two that week. Some would actually say he was lucky to survive that week thanks to a lot of his own fans.

It's not hard to say at all. None of them are as good as their counterparts in the seasons when they previously auditioned (only Lauren and Scotty are first time auditionees). Whatever TPTB want in any particular year, they are going to want the best and/or most marketable in that style or genre.

Wow, because the interview I read of Paul's sounded like his audition was first time (not disbelieving you, just surprised as Paul made it sound like he auditioned on whim as it was 5 minutes down the road from him)

The audition this year may have been 5 minutes down the road from him (though anyone who just decides to queue on the day without a pre-applied for number rarely gets seen) but he had auditioned before. Some say twice before but I don't know about that.

Interesting, I did feel when I read it that it did smack a bit of David Cook's audition - but hey, I've no problem with people trying out more than once.

Paul definitely said it was his first time auditioning, hed never even seen the program before this yr. He has said it in all of his post show interviews;

I dont agree about reauditionees being poorer than those in the season they first auditioned. People grow, their voices grow, look at people like Alexandra on X Factor

Alexandra wasn't put through in her first year because she would have been a serious threat to that year's chosen one, as would the little strawberry blond boy with the big voice (I think his name was Trevor) who was also rejected by Louis at judges house that year but who wasn't anywhere near as good when he auditioned again.

Look at that year's chosen one today. Poor guy.

The only re-auditionees to win have been Alexandra and Joe, though Joe left the competition of his own volition at bootcamp two years prior to winning.

But that is exactly what im trying to say, and Faria was, there are times when people dont get through for other reasons than they are inferior to the people on there. Although Joe and Alex are the only reauditionees to win there are others that have gone on to do very well in the competition when reauditioning mainly because TPTB are looking for something slightly different in each particular year.

In which previous years did Stefano, Casey and Jacob audition? Haley was last year, and James 2 years ago, right?

Casey's only 19/20 now, so would have been very young when auditioning in the past. Perhaps he wasn't as strong on his double bass then, that seems to have done him a lot of favours as I reckon he'd struggle compete with many of the others on his voice alone.

James would've struggled to compete with Adam, because Adam was so flamboyant and advanced in terms of artistry, but I think he could easily have competed alongside the likes of Matt and Allison, and been streets ahead of last year's awful Tim Urban and even Michael Johns from Series 7, who was a favourite of TPTB at the time.

Stefano's my favourite, so whoever dared reject him better be sorry now lol! He's only 22, and even that is young. In terms of pat contestants, he could easily have taken on Aaron, Tim, Mike....his voice is definitely stronger than Lee's IMO, although he's a different type of artist.

Haley would've been lost last year, in the mix of girls attempting to be quirky but not quite having the voices. I don't think she'd have been up there with Crystal and Siobhan, so if she'd made the top 24, either she would've left prior to the top 12, or very soon within it.

Jacob may well have struggled to compete against someone like last year's Big Mike, as they both have strong, soulful voices, but I don't find Jacob's control to be as good, and he might not have appealed to younger female voters in the same way as someone like Anoop from Season 8!

Jordin Sparks was rejected at her first producers' audition in Season 6, the year she went on to win. Stupid producer! Lol we're so lucky she decided to give it another go, and the second producer she saw had checked that his ears were in full working orfder before turning up for work!

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Hmmm back on topic ive been thinking again about song choices and i think

Scotty - Lonestars Amazed would be a perfect choice for him or Black Stone Cherrys - Things my Father Said
Stefano - apparently Maroon 5 havent cleared their music for use on AI therefore Jason Mraz - im yours seems to be the best choice here
James - Alter Bridge - Wonderful Life (a band getting much bigger in the states and this is a beautiful mid tempo track so that we wouldnt have the shouting from last week)
Haley - Still think Amy winehouse - Back to black or Valerie
Lauren - cant luck past LeeAnn - Cant Fight the Moonlight im afraid
Jacob - Would still love Cee Lo Green - Forget You, apparently they have been wanting someone to do Ganrls Barkley - Crazy the last few years but the 'other one' not Cee Lo wouldnt clear it therefore maybe he would clear Forget You
Casey - Nickleback - Id come for you, Chad Kroeger - Hero

Lol im sure i will listen tonight and know about 1 song. One person i spoke to on the AI forums suggested that they should sing more British songs which arent as well known in the US so they wont come across as Karaoke. He suggested Take That, Will Young etc

More British songs might go down well, perhaps even as a separate heme.

Maroon 5 songs were used by Blake Lewis, apparently he was friends with them, but also, Jeannine Vailles sang This Love in the Season 8 semis, so maybe they've only cleared their most well known songs, or perhaps AI won't let contestants use others. Makes Me Wonder, for example, contains the F word and explicit lyrics. Sunday Morning's been shown as an audition son, never on the lives but if it wasn't cleared, they wouldn't be able to show it at all. I'm Yours would be cool for Stefano, like my Script idea too but perhaps not this week, unless he goes for a (slightly) more uptempo song like We Cry

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Scotty- I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (The Jayhawks- 2000)
James- Joker & The Thief (Wolfmother- 2006)
Stefano- You Give Me Something (James Morrison- 2006)
Casey- Accidentally In Love (Counting Crows- 2004)
Jacob- Doesn't Mean Anything (Alicia Keys- 2009)

Haley- Rolling In The Deep (Adele- 2010)
Lauren- Stay (Sugarland- 2007)

As much as it's highly unlikely due to the fact that it's an album track and the subject matter, I'd love to hear Haley sing Girl With One Eye by Florence & The Machine!

Maybe Dog Days Are Over would be OK for Haley? YGTL would be cheating as it's a cover lol

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James would have struggled to compete with Adam? Adam deserves an apology for even naming them in the same sentence in comparative terms.

He's not even in the same league as Matt, Allison, Danny, Lil, Anoop, Alexis and so on. I don't doubt or deny however that James has shown he can sing, play and perform rings around the hopeless King Kristopher of Massorganised-Votingcampaignia.

Tim Urban outsang and outplayed the winner of his year and the year before and as for Michael Johns, he and the best female contestant in his year were never going to do as well as they deserved because the American public were never going to support contestants that are not American by birth in competition with those who are.

Even 22 is young? How old are you? I'm 19 and I wouldn't dream of thinking 22 was anything but young. I wish more people had "older" parents as I do. It really gives you a true sense of perspective on age.

I don't think Haley would have struggled last year any more than any of this year's female contestants. Crystal was different (though only because she was female ............. had she been male she would have been just another WGWG) and though I think Siobhan deserved to get a lot further than she did, she cooked her goose in her VT on Elvis week.

Jacob and Mike are totally different singers. The only thing they have in common is their colour. Mike is more akin to Michael Sarver from S8. Jacob's control is exceptional. He overuses that control to go off on unnecessary runs. That isn't lack of control. On the contrary, it's being able to do too much with your voice and not knowing when enough is enough.

Anoop is a good looking guy with a good voice and lovely tone and deserved to do better than he did but what gives you the impression he appealed to the young girls?

Jordin didn't decide to give it another go. After failing to get past the producers, she won a contest in her state and the prize was an audition with the AI judges without having to go through the producers. Have you seen or heard her audition in front of the producers? It really wasn't good. Jordin was my favourite that year and one of my favourite winners and female contestants ever but I would have struggled to put her through on her first audition.

James is quite a different type of singer to Adam, despite the comparisons due to the fact they both sing very high notes and often perform within the rock genre.

I'd say Kris was quite talented, but seems less so because he took the victory from Adam at the last minute, with Adam seeming like such a favourite for so long.

I wouldn't say Tim ever outsung Kris, Lee maybe. I never rated him as a contestant. Most of the time, I felt that Tim struggled to carry a tune.

Also, I'm sure not being American contributed to a lack of support for Michael and Carly, but Michael was up against David Cook, who was going for a fairly similar angle, with IMO, a stronger voice and putting more original slants on his songs, although I do feel Michael improved towards the end of his time on the show. As for Carly, she didn't seem in such dorect competition with anyone, but to me he was more about potnetial than the end product. I found most of her performances weren't quite there. My favourite girl was KLC, she gave some fantastic performancrs!

Siobhan had an amazing voice. I wish the VTs weren't taken into account to such an extent. There's so much TPTB to make someone seem like a hero or a zero, depending on how they feel about them.

I'm 20. 20 and 22 are still young, but not young for a contestant in the same way as 16 or 17, especially not with the age limit being 28. Stefano's my favourite though, so I'm not trying to take anything away from his achievement! He's awesome!

Crystal was talented, miles more so than Haley I would say. Didn't think much of her attitude though. She seemed embarrassed to be there, whn the opportunity meant so much to everyone else. I do think she and Siobhan would've wiped the floor with Haley, but Lauren would've slipped into a different niche, and Pia would've seemed like a breath of freshg air amongst the quirkier types lol.

I would say Jacob and Michael Linch both have a soulful vibe about them. What I mean by control is, Jacob doesn't know when to stop with his runs, therefore, he has vocal control but not mental control over his vocals.

Anoop didn't have the pretty boy support that the likes of Sanjaya and Archie had, basically, I just didn't want to come across as a homophobe or as if I was stereotyping Jacob, but I get the impression he comes across as quite camp, as well as being openly gay. That can't be the ideal way of attracting votes from young females (althoug it wouldn't put me off if that was how my favourite came across. Comparing him to someone like Tim or Archie would've seemed quite random, so I used an example of someone who sang in a more imilarly soulful style, but also had the looks to appeal to young female voters.

How come you saw and heard Jordin's producers' audition? I remember now about her winning that talent show, knew she'd had a 2nd chance. Bad for Jordin would've been amazing for some of the weaker finalists, and more importantly, for most of the filler acts that make it to Hollywood. Jordin's my favourite Idol of all time, and was the rightful winner of Season 6 whether she had an off day or not.

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Adam sings very high notes. James tries but ends up whining them through his nose. Adam can pull off rock. James would love to be able to, thinks he can and is being led to believe by JLo and JLower that he can.


The perception of Kris' talent, or comparative lack of, has nothing to do with his win or who he beat but that he was punching above his weight as soon as he made it past top 8.


Tim Urban outsung Kris (and others) on more than occasion and out-played him on the guitar, particularly on the Elvis song he performed. As a guitarist, Tim is probably only outdone by both Caseys - James and Abrams.

Lee is probably the least tuneful and consistent vocalist to ever win a talent show. It would be hard to not outsing Lee.


David has a stronger voice than Michael? Seriously?

I don't agree Michael improved towards the end of his time on the show. The performance he went out on was by far his worst but still not bad enough to go out on, particularly when you consider that Danny Gokey slaughtered the same song the next year and survived.



Carly is in just about every measurable vocal way the best female singer in any major talent show.

Do you mean Kristy Lee Cook? Really? Most of her performances were about as close to ridiculous as I've seen on AI. She's up there with Megan Joy for being all about looks and not talent.


I agree about Siobhan. I don't know what CS is referring to in her VT



I think Haley has a better voice technically than Crystal.

Pia could only be a breath of fresh air in a recycling plant. The girl has stale and dated written right through her like a stick of rock.


Didn't and doesn't seem to be a problem for Adam ............... but then Adam doesn't look like a Brummy comedian/impersonator/actor's little brother.


What do you mean?

I like James's voice (although I would agree Adam's is stronger, really James should be going for a different angle.) I notice his nasal quality too, but I don't think it matters in moderation - he does overdo it sometimes. James should go for more indie/whatever the American equivalent is to Britpop lol: Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, The Killers would probably be better suited to his vocal style and range than heavy metal tracks.

The comments about Kris's comparative lack of talent do make more sense when you say he was punching above his weight when he made the top 8. I initially thought you were denying he could sing or play at all, which owuldn't have been fair.

Actually, Tim's guitar playing, particularly on the Elvis song, was very good. I don't doubt that he outplayed Kris, but I was referring to his vocals. I thought they were often all over the place! Lee wasn't much better, perhaps he was more equal to Tim voally than ahead of him, but I wouldn't have placed either of them in the top 24 on vocal talent, let alon the top 7.

I would honestly say, David Cook's voice was stronger than Michael Johns's - without being able to think of a performance which might have proven to be an exception. I preferred Michael's later performances, we all have our own tastes but perhaps his song choices were better suited to him then? He did a better job of Dream On than Danny Gokey, and perhaps could've lasted another week or so, but I wouldn't have agreed with him winning.

As for Carly, I wouldn't even class her as one of the top 10 female vocalists Idol have shown us. She did have potential, but I found a lot of her vocals inconsistent throughout any given song. I loved Kristy Lee Cook - and I hated Megan Joy, she had a horrible tone to her voice. Kristy's tuning was nowhere near as bad either. Her voice wasn't as strong as Jordin's or Kelly Clarkson's, but I'm sure even Dolly Parton's wasn't. I enjoyed her delivery of songs which were well suited to her voice.

Siobhan did make quirky comments, but I liked that about her. I don't remember the Elvis comment either, but how could it have cost her if she survived Elvis week?

I'm not a fan of Haley's tone or delivery at all. I didn't rate Crystal as highly as many, particularly not after the first few weeks, but I didn't doubt she deserved to be there, as I have with Haley since the start. I couldn't believe Haley made the top 13 over Lauren Turner - talk about looks coming into play. Lauren Turner used all the vocal tricks she knew iin a way which sounded much more pleasant to the ears to thr way Haley uses her voice. She might not have looked like an Idol but it seems that only women need to look like Idols to have a chance on the show - Paul and Casey are no more glamorous than she is. Lauren could easily have slotted into any season's line up of females, where as it seems as though Haley is struggling now. So is my favourite, Stefano, in terms of the voting, but for some reason, I don't think the producers like him, and they're lumbering him with dated songs and knocking his confidence. His vocals have been spot on every week. Haley's had much better song choices, and last week in particular, completely murdered them, apart from maybe Bennie and The Jets. I wasn't overimpressed by that, but it was the best of a bad bunch IMO.

Even though Pia was dated, that could've been fixed with more suitable and current song choices. Her one uptempo song was several decades old. With her powerful voice, she would have stood out from many of the quirky girls, although Siobhan, whose voice sat somewhere between quirky and diva, would have shown her up by being more interesting.

Homosexuality should never be a problem, in these competitions or outside of them. It does get Adam some stick, and perhaps as Jacob's style of singing is quite gospel/religious, it will cost him more, but personally I don't think it should, even though I prefer Stefano and a few of the others as contestants. I do like Jacob overall. Looking like a Brummie comedian's little brother does suggest that Jacob doesn't have the image of a typical Idol, just goes to show what guys can get away with that girls can't.

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