Seattle People: Are You Gonna Take This From Simon?

[Kim]

like most people who can't sing, i delude myself with dreams of singing glory...

actually, Kim, it's kind of cold tonight here in Florida, so ... i'll try singing a little and let you know just how high a note i can hit

I'm guessing around B Flat.....

I can't imagine that your cold can compete with Seattle though. It must be Brass Monkeys up there.....

 

[Cacia]

Oh, Andy stop your whining. Poor JB is in the swamp in snow and ice, for a week now. Its cold even in La.

at least you can snuggle with all those kittys.

I wonder why the south has the best singers?

more church

 

[H2Andy]

Oh, Andy stop your whining.

i'm sorry, but whining is a constitutional right which i intend to excercise vigorously

 

[Cacia]

Cubans don't whine, you know.

(I think you have your ethnicity confused)

 

[H2Andy]

Cubans don't whine, you know.

oh yes we do ... we just call it "singing"

 

[Cacia]

OM gosh! They are playing this on a lot of stations. I think its awful. They have obviously rounded up some people with mental illness or challenges. They are making fun of them for ratings. Seriously...it's offensive.

I'm kind of upset that this is getting passed off as prime time amusement.

Seattle...you should look into this and find out where they got these individuals.

 

[RonDawg]

OM gosh! They are playing this on a lot of stations. I think its awful. They have obviously rounded up some people with mental illness or challenges. They are making fun of them for ratings. Seriously...it's offensive.

I'm kind of upset that this is getting passed off as prime time amusement.

Actually I don't blame the producers of American Idol so much as I blame something called the "William Hung" effect.

For those who don't know who he is, William Hung is a guy who auditioned on AI a few years back. Imagine a pudgy, buck-toothed guy singing (or trying to sing) Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" off key, with an accent, and with all the dance style of..a robot. Actually, I've seen some robots dance better than he did.

On top of him making AI's season premiere (the audition episodes) very popular, people also kind of felt sorry for him. He got a (one) record deal, and supposedly he had to fight off the girls at his school UC Berkeley. Anybody who's seen pictures or video of him will realize his looks don't normally attract the chicks.

I think a lot of people who come on the show KNOW they don't have any talent, but hope they'll become the next William Hung.

While the Seattle episode was entertaining in its own sort of way (as much as I've visited that city, I didn't realize how many freaks they had until tonight), IMHO it wasn't nearly as funny as last night's episode from Minneapolis. The last guy was THE funniest so far, trying to sing ABBA's "Dancing Queen" as well as Barry Manilow's famous "Copacabana" in a horribly constipated style that is best described as "Kurt Cobain meets Johnny Rotten." Perhaps that's the guy's claim to fame, a record singing all sorts of classics with a grunge/punk rock flavor. Heck, it worked with Johnny Rotten and his renditions of "My Way" and "God Save the Queen."

I don't normally watch the show, but I do make sure to catch the audition episodes, simply for the comic effect

 

[Kim]

I don't normally watch the show, but I do make sure to catch the audition episodes, simply for the comic effect

yeah....rrrrright! (you must have been watching THEM for a good while though! )

But the "Simon" guy....he's English right? (if it's the guy I'm thinking about...one of the judges?) If that's him then he does represent a kind of English humour/sarcasm/truth....whatever you want to call it - but it's so laid on....time after time....that it actually loses credibilty for me and I just find him a rather pretentious ex-pat putting out what sells in the US. Watch the same kind of sarcasm/humour in the UK and (if you get it) you'll probably know what I mean. Jeremy Clarkson from "Top Gear" is a good example of the real deal.

 

[RonDawg]

But the "Simon" guy....he's English right? (if it's the guy I'm thinking about...one of the judges?) If that's him then he does represent a kind of English humour/sarcasm/truth....whatever you want to call it - but it's so laid on....time after time....that it actually loses credibilty for me and I just find him a rather pretentious ex-pat putting out what sells in the US. Watch the same kind of sarcasm/humour in the UK and (if you get it) you'll probably know what I mean. Jeremy Clarkson from "Top Gear" is a good example of the real deal.

Yes Simon is an Englishman (I'm surprised you didn't recognize the accent). He is quite sarcastic, but I think that too is part of the appeal of the show.

Jeremy Clarkson is a bit more subtle, but not a lot more subtle. He can be just as sarcastic as Simon, but unlike the AI host he also gets his share of put-downs from his fellow Top Gear co-hosts.

yeah....rrrrright! (you must have been watching THEM for a good while though! )

Actually unlike yourself, I don't find any shame in watching it. On the few non-audition episodes that I've happened to catch, I was entertained by the music and singing (most of the time).

Other than that, I really don't find the time to watch it as I normally work on the nights that it is broadcast. If I do happen to catch it at work, it's because someone at work has a TV tuned to it.

However, when I was in Hawaii in 2004 I was forced to watch it, because at the time not one but TWO local girls were on the show. If it was on, it was playing on every TV on the islands. The local news broadcasts also talked non-stop about them.

 

[Kim]

Actually unlike yourself, I don't find any shame in watching it.

No no...you misunderstand! I find no shame in watching it if it happens to be on. They broadcast it here over the sat on Fox. If I happen to see it's on while I'm channel hopping then if there's nothing better it's good for a giggle - and as you say....some of them can actually sing too!
I was just laughing a bit at your protestation that you only really watched the prelims........sounded like YOU were ashamed! (hey - you're not taking any of this too seriously I hope!)
As I mentioned earlier though....I did prefer the UK variant, but that was on BBC Prime which they have taken off the air now. It's a pity because that show WAS one I tried to watch.

As for Simon - I wasn't 100% sure that we were talking about the same guy or not - that's why I hedged a little. I never had any doubt that the sarcastic judge was English though....how could I? I am.