6/27 Show Discussion Thread - "Vulnerability"

[Critical]

Since I didn't get to watch this episode when it first aired, I went to find spoilers to see who got the boot and was shocked that it was Emily. Then I watched the episode and saw her performance for the judges at the end. Man, that was b-a-d. She has a good voice and it obviously a beautiful girl, but that was actually painful to watch.

I want to slap a gag over Lindsay's mouth, like most of the other contestants probably do! She's a pretty girl and she's obviously talented, but she won't last much longer with that attitude.

I like Cameron A LOT. I can see him on Glee, which probably means that he doesn't win. He's one of my favorites right now, along with Samuel.

[ibot2much]

It was a good show....the activity was painful for a lot of the kids. The bottom three- Damien, Cameron and Emily was surprising. The two boys had strong supporters in the casting director and the dance instructor and they spoke up for them during the judging discussion. In previous shows they talked about what role each kid could play, but the new note interjected yesterday was "who could fill a lack that we have" . Both of the boys could bring a new character, Emily not so much, so I think that is the reason she was booted

[Debb70]

I'm really frustrated with the way the show is so arbitrary with their decisions. The first two went home because of their attitudes, yet others are allowed to stay and not even put in the bottom for theirs. What? I think the show is too hinky in their elmination process. I would respect it more if they would just be honest and not be so hypocritical with their application to each contestant.

[ibot2much]

I would think they know what they are looking for and we don't. The first two may have gone home for their attitudes but that is justone of several things listed when they talk about selecting the bottom three. In those first two, the attitudes were overtly detrimental to the show. I will admit that it was a shock when the guy making the cut, commended Emily for showing him how to use the song.....and then BAM....out the door

[AZHotFlash]

With who they have left .. they have several types who are already "represented" in the show = their boot in future shows for whatever reason.. for this person who is selected .. it will be someone who is different than any other character currently on.. they'll probably start filling in the "represented" as they graduate ... my guess is Cameron...

[cal1981]

We were very surprised that Emily got the boot but, after thinking about it, maybe shouldn't have been. She was teriffic in the Mad World video but on her "survival" effort, she made a mistake when she broke character during one of the later verses and then compounded that by, as Ryan Murphy said, getting too cutesy at the very end. It's too bad because she's a talented kid who, as we found out, has had a rough go trying to make it in music. She also, at times, seemed to be trying to out Naya Naya, not a good strategy. We've seen during every elimination, Murphy stress that he can or can't write a character for each contestant. He may not quite know what or who he wants the new cast member to be yet and is looking for one of the kids to point him towards that goal. In a way that's a lot of pressure on each kid since they are not playing to a pre-defined role but have to put a personna out there that Murphy looks at and says "Ok I know what the new character is going to be about".

[Debb70]

How can you even believe what they are saying in the deliberation phase though? If their primary goal is to pick someone that he can see writing a role for, and then he tells a contestant he can easily see their role on the show, and then they are sent packing, what sense does that make? He told McKenlye that she did not show him a character for her as a result of her bottom 3 performance, yet she stayed. He told Ellis he did see that in her, but she was booted. What?

If we reason the fault with Emily that she broke character, then why is that worse than never getting into character in the first place such as Cameron, who still didn't summon vulnerability even in the bottom 3 performance, of which he received two chances. Seems quite unfair and completely helter skelter IMO. Basically, anything that is said in the final 3 sections should be ignored. The one who is the most praised is proabably the one leaving. Go figure.

[Critical]

I think we're really seeing that this show is very different from other competition shows we've seen. People are being eliminated by casting decision rather than because of talent. Ellis was booted for her attitude, not how she performed. I'm sure Ryan Murphy saw her as someone he could write for, but he probably got an earful about her attitude when they deliberated.

The same thing probably happened with Emily, ie, things were discussed during deliberation that we didn't see, which made Cam and Damian seem like better choices.

Ryan Murphy has said that he did eliminate someone too soon and that, after seeing more footage of the person later, he realized he'd made a mistake. I doubt he was referring to Emily, but this points out what I think is a weakness in this show: Ryan Murphy should, at the very least, be seeing the music videos and some of the footage from the challenge before the bottom 3 perform.

[cal1981]

If we reason the fault with Emily that she broke character, then why is that worse than never getting into character in the first place such as Cameron, who still didn't summon vulnerability even in the bottom 3 performance, of which he received two chances. Seems quite unfair and completely helter skelter IMO. Basically, anything that is said in the final 3 sections should be ignored. The one who is the most praised is proabably the one leaving. Go figure.

I agree with you about Cameron. He really didn't deliver much "vulnerability" in either of his chances. After Murphy's high praise of Emily's defining how a song should be performed, despite her losing herself a bit, it made no sense to send her packing. I suspect that Murphy knows that, at this point, all of the kids are more than passable vocalists so he focuses on what kind of character he can create for them. The current Glee cast has several levels of vocal chops so the actual singing ability may not be that crititcal to him. I can't imagine that he doesn't look at tape footage of all if the contestants. Otherwise his decisions would be made in a relative vacuum. It reminds me of the first year of SYTYCD where Blake, a brilliant dancer but a real ass was bad mouthing judges and choreographers on camera and Dan Karity called him out one night with "Dude, do you not realize that we watch all of the tapes?" and then just tore into him. I'm sure that Murphy has had a pretty good look at the kids before the cutdown.

[TeacherLady]

I just watched this episode on Hulu -- and I'm a bit surprised that Emily went home so soon, but I won't miss her in the least. Couldn't stand her exaggerated sexiness/sassiness and b*tchy comments about other female contestants.

The odd thing is that this week is the first time I found anything to like about Emily -- and it was how funny she is. I loved that behind-the-scenes bit where (to entertain the others) she became an exaggerated stereotype of a sexy Latina girl. I believe she called the character "Cha Cha De Jesus". It was too funny. But I think the impulse to break character and clown around is what ended up getting Emily eliminated. Even during her sing-for-your-life moment she broke character and got funny/silly.