***Official Top 9 Show Thread***

[Aloysius]

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Al,

Wow, my thoughts exactly. For one, I get tired of her shoulder shrug--which is amazing b/c she has no neck--and then her eyes getting big and buggy as if, "me? I did better than everyone so far? I didn't even know that?" That routine is so f'ing old. My gf's dad thinks she is the best and I told him she very may well be but every time she sings I tune half of it out b/c I get bored whereas when Lakisha sings I feel some emotion and find her interestion (other than "Diamonds Are Forever" blah).

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T - a couple of my co-workers feel the same about Melinda so we're not alone... woman has no personality - I liken her to a session guitarist - incredibly competent and executes flawlessly... but nothing behind that to grab onto as a viewer and listener. Maybe there's a reason she's a 30 year old backup / studio singer.

I know Analyst and others disagree, but I find the performance / sound of both Lakisha and Jordin more appealing and interesting.

Blake is easily the best guy, I just (as many have noted) wish he could actually sing. Then he'd have a shot to win it all. Maybe he still does.

I'm long on Lakisha and Jordin so you know, heh, maybe I'm a bit biased, but when I post in AI Forum I'm usually just noting what I feel as a fan.

The vote spoilers Thing just posted (which have a B3 bunched together including Lakisha, and Jordin in B4) are surprising and if true, really speak to the staying power of Melinda (if you view Jordin and Lakisha as Melinda's only legit threats).

So I guess America might really disagree with me and T about Melinda.

-Al

[thing85]

Aloysius,

I think you are spot on about why Melinda may not have a successful singing career (relative to others) if she wins AI. However, she has a huge AI fan base who probably don't think about her personality. FWIW, I think she's getting better in the personality department.

[revots33]

[ QUOTE ]
T - a couple of my co-workers feel the same about Melinda so we're not alone... woman has no personality - I liken her to a session guitarist - incredibly competent and executes flawlessly... but nothing behind that to grab onto as a viewer and listener. Maybe there's a reason she's a 30 year old backup / studio singer.

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Melinda is awesome. I respect others opinions but most of the negative comments I've read here and elsewhere online seem to focus on her being "too good". I'm not sure I get how that's a negative.

As for her lack of personality, I'm not getting that either. Exactly what do we know of Blake or Jordin or Chris R. or anyone else's personality? Melinda seems like a perfectly nice woman, but I don't really care either way, because she sings and performs the hell out of every song every single week.

IMO the problem people are having with Melinda is not that she's boring - it's that she's so much better than this weak field that she's making this season boring. Which is not her fault. As a tennis fan, I'd compare it to how people think Roger Federer is boring because he's so much better at tennis than anyone else, and makes it look so easy.

[soflat]

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IMO the problem people are having with Melinda is not that she's boring - it's that she's so much better than this weak field that she's making this season boring. Which is not her fault. As a tennis fan, I'd compare it to how people think Roger Federer is boring because he's so much better at tennis than anyone else, and makes it look so easy.

[/ QUOTE ]

She's boring and the season is boring.

Competitions are boring when it is not close.

Performers are boring when they have dull personalities polished by personal stylists and coaches and they go out and do the same act every week. She's not the only one who's boring, they all are except that goofy Indian kid.

Watch the ratings slide and tell us America is not bored.

[GoRedBirds]

For anyone who appreciates music, Melinda is not boring. For those who like drama and trainwrecks, she is. If the ratings slide, it is because people were tuning in to watch people fail. I'm all for personal taste and its inherent subjectivity, but Melinda>>>>>>every other contestant in just about every aspect of vocal performance.

[thing85]

Like someone said, the show is boring because there is no tight competition. At best, 2 or 3 people are fighting for the #2 spot.

If Melinda was boring, she wouldn't be America's overwhelming favorite.

[soflat]

First of all, I'm not crazy about that style of music. Secondly, I think we have seen the best of what she can do already. If she had a personality or a compelling story that might overcome the other two.

IMO, she'd make a great backup singer. She's seemingly a nice girl but really an uninteresting person and we don't need to see her. But she's nice to listen to once in a while (not every week though).

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
For anyone who appreciates music, Melinda is not boring. For those who like drama and trainwrecks, she is. If the ratings slide, it is because people were tuning in to watch people fail. I'm all for personal taste and its inherent subjectivity, but Melinda>>>>>>every other contestant in just about every aspect of vocal performance.

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GRB - completely agree that technically and in execution... Melinda is very good. I just don't love the tonal quality etc. of her voice. I prefer Jordin's overall sound. I really like and appreciate music also.

It seems America disagrees with me, but that's my subjective opinion on the overall "sound" of Melinda.

Factor in that I don't enjoy watching her perform that much, and that her overall package seems to lack personality (this is obviously, also entirely subjective).

And to clarify - by "personality" I don't really mean "do I want to be friends with / hang out with this person." It's a performer's personality and how it evolves / comes off on stage - Sinatra had a great one (assume we are absent any info of his personal life) as does Bennett.

Compared to Lakisha and Jordin (Lakisha has an edge here for me because she is a much more dynamic performer), I find Melinda's personality quite blah.

For Jordin - technically her breathing was way off at the beginning of her performance last night (she was gasping and not singing from her diaphragm, it was blatant)... but she doesn't get a demerit for me here. In fact, it makes her seem more human and imbues her with some personalitiy. It rounds her out - she's the young, inexperienced, bubbly but very talented girl. What is Melinda? A chick with no neck I guess.

Also obviously some people are turned off by Jordin's "personality" (e.g. Joker I know is *not* a fan), but I find it endearing.

-Al

[GoRedBirds]

Al,

Yeah, I get where you're coming from with backing the "more human" underdog. I bet a lot of people feel that way, actually. She's like Sly in Rocky IV. Any of the Rockies, I guess (except for V... which never happened). And the competition would be more successful and more fun if Blake or Jordin really knock the next few weeks out of the park.

As far as Lakisha, I know all of us in the forum are a little TOO into AI either financially or otherwise, but doesn't she come off as a little bitchy? She seems to get a few demerits in my book from that personality angle because she doesn't seem to like anyone else and has that scowl of death half of the time she's not performing. I bet that's part of the reason she's been slipping (as far as we know) in relation to the smaller voices.

[LKJ]

I don't know how bitchy she comes off, though I don't think she has very high likeability points...also, when Sligh was hugging everyone at the end of last week's results show, his brief hug of Lakisha seemed like by far the coldest one. Possible personality insight.