By Jay (167.167.200.218) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 03:05 am:

They only sing old songs..... Could that be because the old ones might just be a bit better?

That conspicuously absent from the AI Motown Show was the famous back beat guitar of Joe Messina?

That the live band (Funk Bros)really added to the legitimacy of the show.

That Simon should really get a life?

That some girls should never wear RED pleated school-girl skirts on national TV?!?

That it would have been REALLY GREAT to have had Valerie Simpson show those up-and-comers how it's really done.

Oh well....what do I know ?!?!?

By JSmith (212.39.231.20) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 06:55 am:

I think that you will find that because of his TV 'persona', Simon is making money so fast he can't even spend a fraction of it.
So I think he just about has the exact life he wants at present.

By Ralph (209.240.205.62) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:35 am:

For the simple reason that the Funks were on I endured the show last night. In Simon's defense, I have to say he calls it like it is. Paula is useless as was most of the talent. However, the girl that sang Grapevine had it all together. I doubt if I'll ever watch the show again though.

Jay, I agree. They should have had BOTH Nick and Val sing with the Funks.

By Lynn Bruce (68.41.110.49) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 11:23 am:

Ralph,I second everything you said.Especially the part about not watching it again.

The Funks made my day though.

By john dixon (152.163.253.70) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 03:28 pm:

Ralph and Lynn, I'm with you guys. I thought the Funk Brothers did the best they could but most of those kids wouldn't win a high school talent show.

LaToya and Fantasia were pretty good and George was effective in a goofy, Jim Nabors-kind of way, but that's it. And, adding to the choir, that was the absolute worst version of "My Girl" that I've ever heard in my life.

I just don't understand why such a large audience loves this show to an obsessive degree. There's the unctuous host almost smothering viewers in smarminess. The cloying shots of family members after each performance mouthing "that's my baby!". There's Paula Abdul, whose guilty conscience over her own inept vocalism apparently renders her unable to give a true assessment of a performer's true merit or lack of. Celebrity judges who just waste everyone's time since they're not about play the villian and tell anyone they stink when they so obviously do.

I will give props to both Randy and Simon, though, for being honest with this underwhelming bunch about their shortcomings.
I guess it's evident that I don't care for the show. I only watched to see the Funk Brothers and, like Ralph and Lynn, I won't be tuning in again.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 03:32 pm:

Folks:
I got as far as the young lady singing "For Once In My Life" and shut off the TV. I just couldn't bear to watch the rest.
Kevin Goins - KevGo

By DyvaNaye (209.212.74.216) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 03:33 pm:

again...HATED IT!~

reasons later...

By keithl37 (168.159.190.36) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 03:37 pm:

Not to change the subject but an fyi...
Randy Jackson is on the cover of April "Bass Player" magazine. It's a good interview.

By Ralph (209.240.205.62) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 04:14 pm:

John, you kind of hit the nail on the head regarding the judges, specifically Paula, but to a point, all of them. For instance, they seemed to all fall over that last guy, who I admit had a decent voice. But nothing was mentioned on how badly his phrasing was sucking and how he should try other things etc etc. With all the contestants, this was never done. Having a reasonable voice is one thing, but knowing how to use it is quite another story.

I don't include Nick and Val in this critique though. They were playing their role nicely as gracious guests.

By MagyarEd (209.163.99.244) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 04:30 pm:

I'm going to second, third and fourth that emotion; last night was the first and last time I'll watch (unless the Funks are on again).
That said, I thought the montage of Funk Brother pictures, the promo for their CD and DVD, the brief statements about who they are & what they did, the face time they got and the interaction by some of the performers with them was done about as well as possible given that the network is airing a talent (so to speak) show for national TV with time considerations. I enjoyed it. Soooooo much better than that 2 minute Jay Leno spot.

I've heard that American Idol contestants in previous years had more talent....????....no opinion since I didn't watch.

Funks on Wayne Brady Show this Friday!!

(Caleb, I told you Jack and Babbitt were too professional and too much the gentlemen to jack-up Seacrest. But it would have been sweet!)

By Jay (167.167.200.218) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 05:25 pm:

Why do you suppose the show is the most popular thing on TV??

Because folks are starved for old-fashioned entertainment here..... Think Ed Sullivan, the old Star Search...hell even the old Gong Show. People want to be entertained and the record companies STILL don't get it!

Develop tunes (that are NOT melody-free), talent and you know.... folks just might buy it!
Lets just be glad its not another cop show or SITCOM (sorry Vickie ; - )

And lets hope it gets better.
Peace.

By Caleb (141.153.143.104) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 05:26 pm:

Hey Magyar,brother of Big B,where can one watch that Wayne Brady show on Friday-what channel?

By Livonia Ken (136.2.1.101) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 05:31 pm:

Caleb,
It's a syndicated program, so it depends where you live. In Detroit, it only airs at 1:30 AM on the ABC affiliate WXYT (channel 7). Check out this link to find out when it is on wherever you are located.

Regards,
Ken

By Vickie (64.236.243.31) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 05:34 pm:

Reality TV has ruined TV I think....

sitcoms used to be funny and
TV used to be entertaining...

people want to laugh and be entertianed...I could care less who can suvive on an island and eat bugs...I worked on The Old Star Search, that was a fun show....those judgs were nice.....Simon is paid to be mean....I don't like American Idol, I am so sorry I missed the only epsisode I would have cared to wacth though

Jay - I dig ya

By E (68.236.60.21) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 05:49 pm:

TV plain sucks the big one!

By MagyarEd (209.163.99.244) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 06:02 pm:

Caleb, Ken is correct. You need to check your local listings for the Wayne Brady Show. In Baltimore it's this Friday morning at 10:00AM

By Juicefree20 (141.149.34.26) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 06:06 pm:

I have to say the same thing that I said in an earlier thread regarding this show. The first two seasons had some excellent singers. This year the talent is the weakest ever. The guy that sounds like Harry Connick is absolutely abysmal. What is he supposed to be, retro boring? His performance is plain wooden & his singing is just boring & metronomic. This year, the show is just plain bad. It's almost becomes a parody of itself.
For those of you who missed the first 2 seasons, you missed some pretty good stuff. This year, they should just crown LaTonya & bring back The Bernie Mack show. This actually passes as relevance & entertainment in today wonderful world of entertainment. That's a sad commentary on where we are today as a society....brain dead.

Juice

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 06:49 pm:

Vickie:
Have you seen the new Star Search on CBS-TV that Arsenio Hall is hosting? They have this guy who I never heard before who is like the American version of Simon....

Kinda ruins the spirit of the original program.

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By LadyMystique (216.37.228.72) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 07:53 pm:

Hey I only watched it for the Funks and Ashford and Simpson!

By Vickie (64.236.243.31) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 08:05 pm:

Hey Kevgo,

no I haven't seen the New STar Search..

Star Search of yesteryear was a great show and some nice careers came from it..It was a fun show with the differnt categories.....

By Eli (68.163.60.242) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 08:33 pm:

Regarding the new Star search.
That Simon wannabe is a complete arshloch und sheisenkopf!!

By LadyMystique (216.37.228.72) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 08:35 pm:

Hey Eli...English! LOL Nah, wait, don't tell me...you did that for a reason!

By Eli (68.163.60.242) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 08:43 pm:

LM,
The first word has the word "hole" as the second syllable and the second word has the word "head" as the third syllable!

varshteit???$%^&*()

By LadyMystique (216.37.228.72) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 09:04 pm:

See I knew that you did that for a reason!

By SisDetroit (68.42.211.240) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 09:49 pm:

Well America....Not voting for LaToya, you have proven my point. Nuff said.

By E (68.163.60.242) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 09:59 pm:

TRAVESTY

By Juicefree20 (68.161.38.225) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:23 pm:

I missed the show. Are you telling me that they didn't vote for LaToya???? I'll wait for the rerun of the worst of American Idol. I find it to be way more entertaining than the "serious" show. Who did they vote for, the Perry Como wannabe??? In a word: DISGRACEFUL!!!!! They just lost a viewer. Last year, they got it right. The year before, they got it right (except for Justini, anyway). If LaToya's not in there at the end, they're just dead wrong!

Juice

By SisDetroit (68.42.211.240) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:31 pm:

LaToya was in the bottom three, along with Amy Adams "Dancing In the Street", and Jennifer Hudson "Heat Wave."

Amy was the one who was voted from the competition.

By CORNBREAD (66.185.84.74) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:33 pm:

I'm a bit confounded here. Did they run another American Idol with the vote tally, tonight .If so, would appreciate if someone gave a rundown of the results.

Waazzz uppp !!!

By Vonnie (152.163.253.70) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 10:37 pm:

"Red" must have had a lot of people voting for him. When the camera focused on his face, he had the knowing look of I should have been voted off.

I could not believe that LaToya was in the bottom three.

Vonnie

By motown01 (65.93.220.150) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 11:24 pm:

Jon Peter Lewis, that crooner, and the Hawaiian girl who sang "For Once In My Life" should have been in the bottom three, the crooner should have been voted off. Just goes to show that it's not all about singing ability.

By Juicefree20 (68.161.38.225) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 11:29 pm:

Mr Lewis has absolutely no charisma, no style, he's just boring. I know that retro is in, just not that kind of retro. What's the joke, someone please fill me in. What's the joke

Juice

By Jay (167.167.200.218) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 11:58 pm:

Did you notice that..... on American Idol

The build up for the Funk Brothers was first class all the way at the begining of the show?

That there were no string players but you DID hear violins? (keyboard sampled strings anyone?)

That Babbitt got more face time than the singers?

That the mix really could have been better?

That Tom Scott was playing all the up-front baritone sax parts?

That the camera work made you feel like you were on a ship in a storm?

By Mike Sku (64.9.11.62) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 08:14 am:

As I may have said before...if John or Camile were chosen above anyne else, I would be shocked, and I am. I am really upset that LaToya ended up in the bottom three. Could it be that America doesn't feel she needs our help? Is that why people didn't vote for her? I have to say that even Amy being voted off was wrong. She did a very good version of Dancing in the Street. I think she was on key and was very entertaining. The only one in the bottom three that didn't surprise me was Jennifer Hudson. Simon said her version of Heat Wave was manic, and it was.
Hey, if nothing else, John KNEW he should have been in that bottom three...the over 60 generation must have voted for him, probably still calling in on their rotary phones....

By CORNBREAD (66.185.84.74) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 08:18 am:

I smell tokenism. They voted for the redhead.

By john dixon (68.58.196.3) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 09:53 am:

That redhead was laughably, embarassingly bad.
But, above all else, the show BLOWS.

In my earlier post, I said the celebrity judges were a waste of time and not constructive in any way, yet I didn't intend to disparage Ashford & Simpson, who were classy, gracious and did what was expected of them in their (for the most part)thankless role.

By Ralph (209.240.205.62) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 10:18 am:

Mike..OUCH!!!!! I'm over 60. And I haven't had a rotary phone for quite some time.

By MagyarEd (209.163.99.245) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 07:57 pm:

Yes Jay, of course Babbitt got more face time than the singers. He has a very large frame and an even larger nose. So why wouldn't he get more nose...er...I mean face time? After all, he was seated up front and in the center of the stage.

By Jay (24.55.22.36) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 04:11 am:

Dont get me wrong I think his face time way cool !!!