Why is everybody so hard on Idol's Carly Smithson?

Comments (1-15) of 107 Add your comment

• Nose
  Fri 04/04/08 2:10 PM

  Hi Slezak. I hate American Idol, but I watch Idolatry every week. You are awesome. If they booted Randy or Paula out and made you a judge, I just might watch AI.

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• Lisa
  Fri 04/04/08 2:23 PM

  Here’s why I don’t like Carly…this is American Idol, a show that is (supposedly) a launch point for an unknown talent. Carly had a record deal. It didn’t work. For a reason. This isn’t “Washed Up Idol”.

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• Lex
  Fri 04/04/08 2:28 PM

  Carly tries too hard, takes it all too seriously, and comes across as desperate and pathetic and that’s why I can’t stand her. She oversings, dresses poorly, and seems to think she needs to show off her tattoos weekly for some sort of ridiculous street cred. She needs to hire a stylist, chill out, and have fun while singing. Also, she needs to lighten up when talking w/ the judges and Ryan. She just seems very tense all the time compared to everyone else.

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• mark in nyc
  Fri 04/04/08 2:32 PM

  I think as much as Simon may not like Carly EW is heaping way to much affection her way.
  While technically her voice is one of the best, her delivery is not. The whole time during “Here you come again” she had a smug smile as if to say “look how good of a singer I am”, it took away from the arrangement of the song and made me start disliking her. In fact about five seconds before her last big note she smiled so broadly she telegraphed that it would be a huge note….once again saying I am a great singer…are you ready?
  She reminds me a lot of Mindy Doolittle from last season her aww shucks, who me? attitude wore thin after a bit.

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• To Lisa
  Fri 04/04/08 2:33 PM

  Do you also hate Archuleta because he won Star Search, and Michael Johns, who had a deal with Madonna’s label a few years back?

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• Robbie
  Fri 04/04/08 2:36 PM

  She does nothing for me. Something about her renditions the past few weeks reminds me of Meatloaf, and she looks so vacant when she sings. I think she can totally turn herself around, though. The right ingredients are there, which I think is why Simon is so hard on her.

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• Michael
  Fri 04/04/08 2:41 PM

  How can everyone keep faulting Carly for losing her record contract when it’s probably the label’s fault that no one knew anything about her? For everyone who keeps complaining about her album, who actually knew her song?

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• slicks
  Fri 04/04/08 2:55 PM

  Ummm, she might have a great voice, but I’d never buy her album.

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• NineDaves
  Fri 04/04/08 3:02 PM

  I’m on the Carly train. She’s my favorite to win. Maybe Simon is so hard on Carly is because she’s Irish. Come on – the Irish and the English don’t have the best history. Also, thank you Crystal for pointing that out about David A. He deserves some criticism!

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• StaleCake
  Fri 04/04/08 3:05 PM

  The problem is the shows. Is AI a “singing” competition, is it a “star” competition, is it to fill arenas (best live performer) or sell downloads (best recording voice/style). These are NOT the same things. Carly is clearly the best voice – so was Melinda. But that is not an Idol. If it is for downloads / albums, another story. The only one I’d buy is Jason Castro – his upbeat hippieness is like the child Paul Simon and Edie Brickell should have had.

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• John Waters
  Fri 04/04/08 3:07 PM

  I am making a prequel to “Polyester”, in smell-o-rama. Carly will be the perfect Francine Fishpaw.

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• John Waters
  Fri 04/04/08 3:09 PM

  http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2006/04/13/inside-polyester.jpg

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• Suzanne
  Fri 04/04/08 3:09 PM

  Good idolatry, as usual, but Michael Johns was best of the night, not Carly. I’ve never voted for Carly because I’ve never been moved by her performance (although I thought she was strongest on Come Together). She’s got an amazing voice, but I don’t get that much from her performance. It’s like she’s very aware of her “performance” and not very aware of the song or what it means or living the substance of the song. And when she goes for a high note, she doesn’t look imploring or emphatic (about the substance of the song); she scrunches her face and bares her eye teeth to notify us that she’s reaching for a high one. It’s not engaging; it’s mechanical. I like her when they talk to her, btw. If she could get more into her video packages, it would humanize her and perhaps help her.

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• John Waters
  Fri 04/04/08 3:11 PM

  http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ET14QGRRL._AA280_.jpg

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• Suzanne
  Fri 04/04/08 3:14 PM

  And you’re right about Here We Come Again being a completely unique presentation of that song. Clay Aiken’s version was way slower than Dolly’s, and Carly’s version was slightly slower than Clay Aiken’s. So, you know, okay–it’s “new.”

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