If anyone other than busguy and darko is following this debate, which of the following two samples sound better to you? (best to open as new tab w/o navigating to it and pretending that you don't know what their voices sound like and who is singing what)

1) Which is better vocally?
2) Which do you like better?

Sample 1

Sample 2

busguy and darko need not reply to this part - opinions are pretty well voiced already.

To all: For control factor, how does this compare?

Sample 3

Brooke does sound decent in the studio (but I'm willing to bet the studio could turn ME into a good singer). It's really hard to determine here because, despite the singers, you tend to prefer the songs you like more. I'm a fan of Every Breath You Take as a song on its own, but Brooke's voice is kind of weak in this. If I had to rank these by vocal quality, I guess it would have to be:

1. Carly
2. Ramiele
3. Brooke

Brooke's is just too boring...she has a nice tone, but the overall rendition is boring. Women with that kind of voice are a dime a dozen imo. Darko, I agree that her style is similar to Sheryl Crow's, but I think Sheryl Crow is a lot more interesting. Also, this female vocal folk-rock type music isn't terribly popular with today's music. Brooke's songs are likable when she does covers of already well-liked songs, but I really wonder if she'll take off with some original stuff.

Ramiele's is a little more interesting and perhaps polished, but seems corny. Again though, I'm not a fan of Heart really. This recording really shows off her strong voice that she hasn't been able to clearly articulate on stage lately. I'm waiting for her to finally nail a song, but we'll see if she can do it before facing elimination.

Carly's is the most interesting, she has a unique sound. I'm also a fan of the song. I think she has this polarizing way about her - you either like her a lot or hate her. If only she were really hot, she'd probably be a much bigger threat.

Total Eclipse of the Heart just doesn't sound right without the swearing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIRiZsDObrU

AI Winner 2009!!!

Good link.

Wow, I'd put them

1. Ramiele
2. Carly
3. Brooke

Although Carly doesn't sound nearly as good as she does live. Brooke sounds almost overproduced; she doesn't sound like that live at all, and Ramiele sounds quite good in the studio. Live I'd easily put Carly at #1 and then Ramiele and Brooke I'm not sure which would be 2 and which would be 3.

Jason Cook isn't making the top 4, I never understood people's fascentation with him and last week showed that his fan base might not be as strong as previously thought.

My Top 4:
David A.
David C
Ramiele even though she shouldn't be
and the last spot is pretty much a toss up between Brooke and Michael but I think it will be Michael. I feel that Brooke is a bit of a one trick pony while I think Michael has crippled himself with bad song choices and I think has more upside.

Carley should be there but will probably go out 6th or so because people don't like her.

Not sure who Jason Cook or Carely is but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

My updated ranking:

1. David A.
2. David C.
3. Michael
4. Syesha
-------------------
5. Carly
6. Brooke
7. Castro
8. KLC
9. Ramiele

I think Michael and Carly can be interchanged in the T4, but I think Syesha will slip in there.

Carly
David
David
are locks IMO

4 spot IMO Michael is favorite, but I could see Ramiele, Sayesha or Brooke making a run for it.

out of the 4 spot, Brooke has 0 chance of winning. If ramie or sayesha bring their game they could win b/c they can SING. unfortuunatly it is like 1/7 chance that they perform well, hence I gotta say Michael is most likely to get into top 3.

IMO it comes down to Carly and David the Rock Star.

Agree exactly with these rankings at this point. I think the closest debate is between Brooke and Castro for 6/7.

Agreed.

Why do you guys think Carly will leave before Syesha?

It's close. In my above rankings, any two people next to each other could probably flip-flop. I wouldn't argue with flipping Syesha and Carly. Or Carly/Brooke, or Brooke/Castro, etc. I think only the top 2 and bottom 2 are unlikely to be flip-flopped as easily. It's completely subjective anyway, but just IMO.

Because I feel that their singing ability is very comparable, yet Carly is extremely unlikeable. I also can not think of any demographics that will vote for her, where Syesha will be getting the black vote and the hot chick vote. Also I think Syesha has been better than Carly over the last three weeks, and I think AI is more of a "what have you done lately" competition.

Also, predicting the most likely elimination order can be different from predicting the most likely to make the top 4. E.g., I think Syesha is more likely to be eliminated next week than Carly, but I also think Syesha is more likely to make top 4 or 3 than Carly.

That's actually a good point and I agree.

I don't know, Castro has been looking really weak lately performance-wise, but I just keep coming back to those AI forums... the guy is still huge there. I guess if I had to revise my T4 it still contains David A and David C obv, but Michael is definitely coming on. He's the oldest contestant and is probably stronger than Castro for the valuable housewife demographic, and Castro has to fight with David A for the teen girls... so this could sink him. He really needs a home run performance, and soon.

The #4 spot is definitely going to a female, but all of them have problems in some regard and there's no clear favorite. Carly is talented but nondescript (Simon was spot-on, she doesn't dress like a star), Brooke doesn't have enough range, and Kristy Lee is as good as dead next week IMO. Syesha is interesting at this point. Though she's tasted the bottom 3 a few times, I think she only needs a couple more bang-up performances to put the rest of the girls away. So, my #4 spot edge is now to her.

And ironically, she's the biggest bargain right now at 1-3 on WSEX.

1. David C
2. Carly
3. David A
4. Michael

imo

As much as I dislike Castro atm I would be suprised if he goes before Brooke. It would appear he has some sort of fanbase whereas Brooke has been progressively adding irritability to her rapidly declining performance quality. Its a fairly lethal combination.

Let's hope so.

Not sure how much it matters but Randy, Paula, Simon, and Ryan were on Larry King last night. Larry had them go through all the contestants and give their thoughts.

They basically said that Archuleta was the one to beat, and just suffers from being so strong out of the gate and having to maintain that. Simon said he personally liked David Cook the best and everyone agreed he was second.

They said Syesha had a great voice but will be some sort of actress/singer hybrid (wtf?) and that Carly had a powerful voice but has no niche that she's good at (i.e. every week she's doing something different that's just OK). Brooke should stick in w/ the Carly Simon style and not branch out into weird ****.

The reactions to Castro and KLC were lol. Larry was like "what do you think?" and there was an awkward pause for both and then Simon said "he/she can't win, gg kthx."

Sounds like the near annual AI 3rd - 6th place finisher --> Broadway route.

DAVID COOK 20 25
MICHAEL JOHNS 7 10
JASON CASTRO 3 5

current wsex prices. honestly am I watching the same show as everybody else? Darko3131's 5 star pick is buying Jason Castro at 5. If you're in to +EV bets then just hold this until the end because Castro wins this thing 20% of the time IMO.

im taking carly out of my top.
castro was insaaain today.
big boost on his stock.

Couldn't disagree more. I agree that Cook is overpriced and that there may be some short term value in Castro, but he doesn't win this thing even close to 20% of the time. It really is more like 5-10% (10% is generous) and he needs to nail every remaining song.