I'll be putting this in one contestant at a time, so, please, be patient... Thanks! (At least I'm doing it this time...because it's so crucial...)

    I'm not even gonna mess with the italics, the underline, the asterisks (well, not the asterisks 'cause that was "Who will make it to Wild Card?" anyway...), I just have to get this in and get y'all voting.

    I have lots of news to throw in. One of them is, in sum, William Hung's CD premieres April 6th. Or maybe it was the ninth. Probably whichever one's a Tuesday... I had no time to even skim the article, so it's very possible that I'm wrong and that's, in fact, when he starts recording or something...

    But anyway!

    Onforward to the folks with talent. (Let it be known: I support William Hung's modest, understanding, optimistic and positive attitude, his overall demeanor, his "try your best and be proud of at least that much" philosophy, but I'm still bitter that his lack of singing talent is getting so much more attention than others' actual talent.)

 

    I might skip out on the full sentences, BTW.

 

iEye's Picks (in order of priority): Vote 1-866-43657-##

Jon Peter Lewis -- 01

George Huff -- 04

Suzy Vulaca -- 05

Jennifer Hudson --08

 

Jon Peter Lewis--VOTE 1-866-43657-01! Why? Because I love this guy (my pen-sexy potato pancake baby...even though I don't really know him...), and you ought to too. He's got a comedic, charismatic personality, he played with the crowd, he, well, he kinda danced! Does anyone else remember anyone EVER getting up there and actually moving around? We had Fantasia doing the BoBo (or...whatever it is...), but I think that may be the closest we've ever come to a Top 32 contestant getting up there and actually freely dancing at will. And, yes to whichever male judge it was, what a daring time to do so. He has shown so much versatility--I can remember him singing in three different octaves, actually, and so many styles. Somebody tell me how you go from "Tiny Dancer" to the much deeper, very different "A Little Less Conversation." Elton John to Elvis Presley...hmm... I think he has the least chance of being picked by a judge though. No one really completely jumped for him. So VOTE 1-866-43657-01, and hurry!

Elizabeth LeTendre--She was good, a bit old-sounding, but she was, ah, all over the place, pitchwise, in my opinion. She's good for the slower songs. And I agree, Simon, she has no "It" factor. She has a pretty typical (or hidden?) personality, and, I mean, even I haven't ever had much to say about her.

Katie Webber--She was...she was just okay. The song wasn't very melodic, and she didn't do anything to help that. She was straining a little, running out of air at some points (like the end...), but she played with the camera, at least. I'll give her that much...

George Huff--VOTE 1-866-43657-04 AND HURRY!! He was just a little shaky in the beginning. He started off really deep, so maybe that's why. He looked kinda scared too. I love the pizzazz, the active theatricals, the charisma, panache, personality… That’s one of the great things about George Huff. He’s kind of reminds me of one of my favorites from last year, Rickey Smith, only he’s on the other end of the pitch spectrum. The guy’s happy demeanor is comparable to William Hung’s. I love his voice, but, y’know, that goes without saying. You have to hear it to get the full effect. VOTE 1-866-43657-04!!!

Suzy Vulaca—I loved her. I love how she took a different turn on the song, especially the beginning. Anyone noticed that that’s one of the big things I’m looking for, someone unique, someone happy, someone daring to change up the tune a little bit. Well, Suzy Vulaca did it. When she said she was going to sing “I Will Survive,” I thought, “Ooh, I would like to hear her sing this one!” And, I did. She was just a bit flat on a few parts, but that could’ve been a result of when they were having technical difficulties in the middle of her performance. I loved it. She has power! She has range! I agreed with Paula on this one! VOTE 1-866-43657-05 but I don’t doubt any judge will pick her!

Matthew Metzger—He sounded typical, he was still weak, but I loved the microphone stand tricks (well, he held it and swung it around once, possibly by accident…the end…). I definitely didn’t think his voice was too high…but I still don’t like him. I think my sister put it well: He’s just too cheesy.

Leah LaBelle—The outfit was a little hooker-ish. I had to put it bluntly, sorry. She even sang and moved too…okay, seducingly. Her voice was weak, she sounded a little amateur, maybe even kiddish, especially at the beginning, and especially comparing her to George, Jon Peter, and an AI2 contestant who blew us away with this song—Trenyce. She needed to sing LOUDER! I was, like, waiting for a climax there, but it never happened! Perhaps a confidence issue? She seemed to change her tone and mood throughout the song, starting out like a soft little lamb, ending with Randy’s favorite R&B/soul sort of thing. She was unsteady, not smooth (yes, Simon!) and simply unexciting.

Jennifer Hudson—I love her personality. Before, she seemed very quiet and a bit closed, but now a little more of her is starting to come out, and I really liked it. I like the quiet, modest side, I like the spunky, fashion-daring side, I like the “Imagine” side, and I like…dear I can’t even remember the song. Actually, to be honest, I couldn’t understand some of the words as she sang, but she had range, she had power, she had a mature voice (credit to my Dad for noticing), and, sure, Simon, she was losing control a bit, but I still thought her voice was great. She made weird facial expressions, and, gee, she always gets a comment about her outfit! But…I still loved her. She was great. VOTE 1-866-43657-08!

     Hey tagboard poster Beth, I've got something you might like!
     Thanks so much to groups.yahoo.com/group/Amy-Adams poster kcgjdar1fan. This person left this post that might interest y'all:

     The iEye has a vision.
     Jon Peter Lewis, my man, not yours  ; P  , has the potential to be a more tolerable (sorry, I do have a place in my heart for Mr. Aiken, heh, but JPL has stolen me for now) version of Clay Aiken for the new...season.
     Did I talk about that yesterday?

• Down-to-Earth, modest personality. Jon Peter just seems to catch my attention more with a more visible sense of humor.
• Unique voice that can't be replicated. Jon Peter Lewis's staple is the open-throated chirp...as i hear it. Clay Aiken's was the mid-high-pitch twang. At first it was hard to "put my finger on" either.
• "Dressing to impress" only stuck with Jon Peter for so long. I don't mind it, though.
• The image switch was more drastic for Clay, and probably more...consensual...for Jon Peter.
• Elton John songs. I was going to say, for their top 32 auditions, but Clay's was for the Wild Card. Still! I love it!
• Hot as a pancake to dorks like me. Wait...pancake? Yeah, well, dorks like me are obsessed with Jon Peter. Dorks like me were/are obsessed with Clayton. (I just hope the obnoxious signage doesn't catch on again this year...)
• Stuck in the good group, they both were. See, there has always been at least one bad group, one mediocre group that we all THOUGHT was great, and one exceptionally good group. (That mediocre group, somehow, has seemed to have its candidates knocked out earlier...) Clay belonged to the exceptionally good group (last year's top three was all from the same group). Jon Peter, I believe, belonged to the good group of this season.
• Fast songs seem to prove a problem for both--I didn't exactly like Jon Peter in Hollywood, and I didn't exactly like Clay Aiken singing "Grease." Nice jacket, nice hip action, not-so-nice vocal presentation. It's that twang getting in the way. And Jon Peter's bizarre, unnamed niche, I think, knocked his performance down a notch or two too.
  
  

     Well, Hawaii, Idaho, and Utah, I think America has chosen whom to vote for.
     LaToya London.
     I hope that "American Idol" is one of the reasons why John Kerry has been dominating, because there's just about no other acceptable excuse for him to be winning. At least to me.
     Oh, now, let's not get into REAL politics, I have to save that for Bloomin' Dazy, which, by the way, I still have to actually START.

     Lots of news. I'm sure you've all heard about William Hung's growing popularity (why no attention for Dingle and his crowd???), but for those of you who haven't, I'll post something about that later. And, yeah, I know! My Tuesday/Wednesday review will be coming soon, under Tuesday and Wednesday's dates. I promise, I have it all written down in my notebook, and half of the stuff is typed, but it's just not HERE yet. My apologies...


Taken from http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds13495.html

'American Idol' wildcard adjusted

 19:09 GMT, Tuesday 17th February 2004 -- by Neil Wilkes

The format of the American Idol wildcard show will undergo a slight alteration this time round.

Few will forget the significance of the wildcard; last year's wildcard public choice Clay Aiken went on to be runner-up of the entire competition.

American Idol's executive oroducer Nigel Lythgoe told reporters on Monday that once again four contestants in all would go through off the back of the wildcard, with one picked by viewers and one by each of the three judges.

Unlike last year however, the decision on who gets to perform in the wildcard will change slightly. "We're hoping to bring back 12 contestants, of which, eight will sing," said Lythgoe. "The judges are going to watch them over a couple of days of rehearsing and make their decision live on the night which 8 of the 12 will sing and audition again for America."

Contestants from any round of the audition process may be called back for wildcard duties, news which could spell a return for Scooter Girl, Paula's male lapdancer or even fans' favourite William Hung.

"Obviously, until we know who's in and who isn't in, we don't want to pin ourselves down too much," Lythgoe added. "We also don't want to pin down how many boys against girls. I personally think we're going to an awful lot of girls this year. I think the girls are stronger. So I might weight the Wild Card show in favour of boys to try and make it a bit more even."

American Idol: The Wildcard airs March 2.

     Hey Filipino cronies, it's 0210!.
     Well you guys, the fun stuff is just beginning on "American Idol." I'll make this relatively short and simple, because I have a lot of homework to do.
     This is in order of performance AND voting number.
     I've italicized the people whom I predict to move on tomorrow night. I couldn't think of a #3. I'll underline my favorites.

• Diana DeGarmo Dynamic. I--gasp!--stepped in late, but my first reaction to her was "An edgier Kelly Clarkson..." She has the charisma, personality, confidence, right size of ego, the tone quality, range, strength, vocal talent in general to take her all the way. I totally agree with the judges, including Simon's kindly witty: "She reminds me of Christina Aguilera when she was nice." In conclusion...let me influence your vote: 1-866-IDOLS-01
• Marque Lynche Another fabulous performance. He seemed pretty nice, maybe a little fake, but still seemed mostly genuinely sweet. I hope it wasn't an act. I think that that might be what might kill him tomorrow night. (See? I didn't italicize him.) I liked his personality. Better than that, though, was his voice. It started off a little too flashy--the runs, the rubato, etc. but it turned out well. He seems like he can do a lot of diverse styles with his voice. I heard a little Broadway, some R&B, a few dashes of pop... This oughtta take him far, especially since each week is themed. He gets my vote, at least. 1-866-IDOLS-02!
• Ashley Thomas She had a pretty good voice, somewhere between country and Broadway, but Diana and Marque were tough acts to follow... She seemed kind of arrogant, might have overdone the visual expressiveness, but she was okay. She's not getting my vote tonight though.
• Katie Webber She has the charisma, the personality, and a good voice, but she couldn't stack up tonight. There were some tough acts to compete with. I don't know about her picking that song though. It's good that she's not "playing it safe," but showing off your versatility when the world isn't even that familiar with you yet...I'm not sure if I agreed with that. She did well, though, better than I'd expected. I think she would sound pretty dang good singing "I Hope You Dance" by LeAnn Womack. I still can't decide whether or not to vote for her. I don't think so--I'm going for the absolute best of tonight, and like I said, it was a tough night.
• Erskine Walcott He was okay. He definitely did not do as well as I had expected. I think he had a weaker voice today than before. He seemed to be straining a bit in the beginning. I agree with Paula, he's very "real," (Coca-Cola plug again?), and that's what I liked, but...I don't think he'll be getting my vote this time around.
• Jennifer Hudson She has a powerful voice, but she was a little oddly throaty on the big part, when she kicked it up (bridge?). She seems very real, she really seems to want it. I like how she didn't really talk back, she was nice about it, and I love that song so she just might get my vote tonight... The only thing she seems to lack is confidence, which killed Julia last year, but...we'll see... I don't think she's going to make the top three, however, because she's lacking a niche, an edge, or just something to make her really stand out, besides the blindingly shiny burrito suit and "leather nurse look." I mean, something in her voice. Again, we'll see what happens...
• Matt Metzger He had a different voice, and it sounded pretty good. He had stage presence, yes, Paula, but, I agree with Randy. It lacks strength. Just didn't do it for me...
• Fantasia Barrino I liked her from the audition. She sounded Macy Gray-ish, in a good way, but with a higher tone and a little less rasp, which really makes her stand out, and will assure that if she is successful she will stay that way. She can sing, without a doubt, but...nasalness. She's a little too nasal and her voice wasn't exactly as pleasing as it was at her audition. She was fun, she was fun. I think it was the song. She might be the #3, I dunno. We'll see...

 

• Simon Cowell He was pretty harsh today, but I guess it's time for the leniance to leave. I think he tried too hard to be funny, though, at times. "Sweet...like Paula used to be." Oh please.
• Randy Jackson I like how he stands his ground. I don't dislike him as much as I did at the auditions, but we still need a translator to care about his input anyway...
• Paula Abdul Sugarcoating as much as she used to. Bah.

--The iEye

     Here I am, getting down to business, trying to influence your vote, and trying to forget about all of last night's injustice and depressing rejections...
     I'm putting these in order of who's going to do the best, starting with the most, then the least, on next week's show. This is probably going to be pretty off, especially since I don't even remember Marque Lynche and some people I've seen more than others. These are going to be sort of a recap of what I thought of them, what the judges did if I remember.

1. Katie Webber Actually, I don't think she's going to do the best, well maybe, but she has a good voice, good looks, confidence, and performance poise, to get her in that number one spot next week so I guess it all works out. The judges loved her. My complaint was that her singing was a little "talky," less melodic. She did better in Hollywood though. I'm reading her idolonfox  bio and I love the last thing: What would people be surprised to learn about you? That I’m part Hispanic (my grandmother was born in Mexico), and my boobs are REAL!!!!
2. Erskine Walcott The originality, the image, and the voice click together. I haven't seen him much, I can't even recall the judges' response except for last night: "You make everything your own."
3. Fantasia Borrino After the audition, my crude reaction was, "There's always a skinny African-American girl with an amazing voice and a cool name, but she always gets robbed." I still think she's great. I still think she's gonna get robbed, though, but perhaps sooner than Tamyra Gray, Christina Christian, and Trenyce...

This is where I stop actually predicting, heh... Unfortunately, I don't remember these people much. I don't remember ever critiquing them before, I don't remember anything incredibly stand-out from last night... Ah well.

1. Jennifer Hudson
2. Diana DiGarmo
3. Matthew Metzger
4. Ashley Thomas

     Somewhat random predictions once I got past three, lol.

     I'm still bitter.
     While I'm not denying disappointment in the decision of dropping Dingle (how's that for alliteration?), I'm not dwelling
     Nicole Tieri proved to be a crowd favorite between all of my cronies (unanimous minus one vote). Now I'm not saying that my few asked "Idol"heads represent Randy, Paula, and Simon, or the millions of number-punching "Idol"heads who would vote on her and others later, but I'm just saying. All of these people I asked liked "Scooter Girl" except for one, but the ones who did like her named her as a fave without me asking. (Jasmine, known for her small stature and big voice, was the only person who topped that.) "I did everything you told me to..." Tieri said disappointedly as she went to a judge for a hug. Sure, I agreed on the whole thing on her sounding too Broadway, but what about passing Clay Aiken last year? That thought resonated throughout not only the judges' comments, but viewer opinion as well.
     "Don't tell me I'm not taking this seriously." Understood, Matt Rogers. Now I'm starting to wonder if the judges are taking this seriously. They've blown hopes for George Huff and Nicole Tieri, who gave it their all to satisfy the judges. George tried to change his image. Nicole tried to change her style. And how much did Alan and Lisa try? Did the judges see the hot tub scenes? They did see the mechanical bull stunt from Corey Clark last year. If Simon's gonna project another wild and normal person plug for the two models (remember how Simon liked Corey for being wild and real) I'm gonna scream. We're not looking for a completely normal person. It's "American Idol." You asked for people to make themselves stand out, right?
     Okay, but I'm happy about one person. Amy Adams has been consistent (last year's theme--season one was "song choice") in her success. She not only has the fun, bubbly personality, but she also possesses, of course, the versatile, strong vocals. She's more than the red hair and her niche this year, I guess because she doesn't really have one, she's more all-around. Last year, Vanessa Olivarez had the voice and the potbelly pig, but when she failed out on the singing once, nobody bought it. Season one, our resident redhead was Nikki McKibbin who had the edge, the sexy smile, but, we found when she tried to hit a note above middle B, maybe not the vocal strength. Amy Adams has, so far, been able to go all over the map of pitches, she has covered the edge in her image, and she definitely has the humor and personality. In my opinion, she was the only stand-out (whom they've shown us) who had always let herself stand out, and she did it in multiple ways, more ways than the sucking up (ALAN!), the model body (LISA! yeah...I am so bitter...)
     George Huff and Nicole Tieri gave it their all, and they deserve more. I'm hoping for another way-back-when Wild Card call to save them (and maybe Dingle--geehee!) like it saved Carmen Rasmusen, and almost three others, last year.
--Looking Out for the Truth,

     Well, *sniffs*, we've been de-Dingle-d. And I'm not sure if Nguyen was there either.