LAST EDITED ON 08-02-03 AT 05:17 PM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON 08-02-03 AT 03:46 PM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON 08-02-03 AT 02:27 AM (EST)
NOTE: VERY LONG

Many of us are wondering who the final group member will or should be. Some think that Jordan might be the right pick but some think she doesn't have the power. Some think the group should be rounded out with another male. Others think that Chantel is a shoe-in and others think that her voice has too many problems in the low end. Those in the Dani camp will be extremely upset if she doesn't make it. And some performers are barely even noticed for reasons unknown. In truth, all have good talent or they would not be here.

It seems to me that the production started to go wrong when they started off by voting kids into the group starting off with #10 and like many have reitterated we have not heard from Tori and Taylor since they were voted in. Seems like kind of an upside down approach to me!

Wouldn't it have been great to watch individual AND group performances to see who performed best in BOTH?? And then let America vote performers on their total overall permances into the group rather than just ONCE performance? I'm not sure how this could have been done but I do believe the result would have been better. Something like a FAME thing....

It seems to me that America was trying to make American Juniors to be just like American Idol but a pint size version of it and forgot that they were voting kids into a GROUP rather than individual talents. What they now end up with could be rather interesting. As much of a fan as I am of Lucy Hale's work I'm very unsure of her as a group member and would have much rather seen her with a solo album. I can't help but think her powerful voice will overshadow the kids. I'm trying to think of Lucy with Chauncey, and country Tori and I just can't picture it.

I took the time this morning to download several of the songs that the kids sang both as a group and as solo performers. I remember that when I watched Taylor Thompson perform Proud Mary I thought she had the performance of the night and was pleased to see her get into the group but when listening her sing this morning on the actual recording, the piece had little playability and like Art had mentioned previously I doubt that on the Airwaves I would have ever played the song through. In fact had I had to vote on voice alone I would never have voted for Taylor but this was a vote not on just voice but on many factors; and emotion came into this as well. I don't think the producers or judges counted on the emotion factor and I'm beginning to wonder if it might be a good idea to add a sixth member to the group.

Many have mentioned the quality of Danielle's voice and I have not been able to get over her identity crisis and some bad song choices (good morning starshine) - however, identity crisis is common at her age group and I then also downloaded "Colors of the Wind" and my opinion of her voice completely changed. I still am not sure she is right for the group but I agree with the group here that she is one of the best. I hope that Dani continues to develop her voice but I also hope she does not make it into the group because I believe it could only hurt her and I don't believe it will be good for Lucy's talent either.

As far as the 2 boys go, I don't believe they have no talent as otherwise they would not be here but they have not been the stars of this group. I am not here to bash any kid. However, I also feel that it may be best to put another male into the group and of the two I think AJ would be the best. His voice may not have the "playability" that Art speaks of but he is able to carry the songs, would fit in a group setting and he DOES have a star aura. He did better this last week and I did agree with him being on the top 3 regardless simply because of this. I feel he'll just get better and that many of his problems are due to song choice. I really feel that many of these kids are suffering from poor song choice. Did you notice how bad Tori, Taylor and Chauncy sounded in their video? Again, probably bad song choice and maybe even the kids are not happy as alluded to by someone else.

One member of the group that has not received a lot of attention is Katelyn Tarver - even tho she has put in several excellent performances over the last 2-3 weeks. Everybody notices her as a model but has not noticed she can really perform well when given the right song to sing. The name of the song two weeks ago now escapes me but it was the week Chauncey was voted in and Glady's Knight said "Katelyn finally found Katelyn" as she sang and danced a very cute 60's near disco number, followed up last week with "On the Radio" Both were very energetic and in tune - perfect group material; and not bad for the occasional solo.

Finally, Lucy - The Blondie song did it for her and got her into the group. To be honest, I was elated, disappointed, and confused at the same time. America was apparently waiting to see if Lucy could do a rock tune and when she proved she could, voted her in immediately. Was this the right thing to do? I'm not so sure with this mix of kids. Listening to some of the group songs Lucy's voice clearly does not seem to mix (if I'm picking out her voice..) and I don't think we want it to either. I'd personally much rather hear Lucy go onto an immediate solo recording contract. I know that I'd buy her recordings.

Last week's line up was as I expected, Lucy, Chantel and AJ - Chantel and AJ DID give good performances. However, I had actually hoped that AJ would be voted in for the very reason Art has mentioned previously; playability. I believe AJ can bring playability to this group and possibly get them to work together. As I've said before I believe problems AJ has had have been poor song choice. He will get better and has had some decent showings. I personally liked his performance of STILL and thought he was cute in a teenage kind of way. Remember these ARE kids.

Given that, I still would hope that AJ gets in as the final group member as I believe that is the best chance of giving this group some balance. I also hope that the producers at least consider a sixth group member in the event that one of the members leaves (such as Lucy) for a solo career.

Any other comments on this?

Spinning in the AM