Who do you think will win...

[willybobo123]

JD has it in the bag.

[MRD]

I'd like to see J.D. win. I think his voice and talent is more diverse and better than MIG. Mig looks too much like Rick Springfield in the 80's, he has pop star looks, not rock star looks and his performances are so-so. Jordis should sign the house band to back her solo career. She is by far the best performer, but not right for INXS. She should be solo, showcasing HER and THAT VOICE.
Marty gives me the CREEPS. My skin crawls the entire time he sings. He's just tooo weird for my tastes. (but not as weird as Dave. Together they are like the blonde and black creep twins. Maybe they could get a creepy yin/yang thing going together)

[Downsey]

I'm picking JD but I'd like to reserve judgement until I've heard him sing an Our Band: INXS song.

Can he sing to the present arrangement?

If he can't...Mig's the guy.

[kungfuhippie]

There's been lots of chatter about OBINXS not going with a woman lead singer, but wouldn't it make some sense to replace Michael Hutchence with sombody completely different from him, so that you're are not stepping on his memory, or putting yourselves in danger of becoming a parody of yourselves? I think Suzie has shown that a female singer can do a pretty bang up job of at least some of OBINXS's catalogue. That said, I'm not thinking Suzie's going to win this thing. I think Jordis has a shot at it, as does Marty, J.D. and Mig. I think Mig has to show something besides that he is a competent singer and a nice guy. He has so far lacked a spark or an edge for me.

[Trippy]

Ty: Best vocals of the males. Closest sounding to MichaelH. Only problem is one keeps expecting him to, any moment, prance about and sing "The HILLS are alive with the sound of music..." in the middle of his performance. He doesn't have that rock angst.

Having listened to J.D.'s Mystify performance I would say J.D.'s the closest sounding, at least at the lower to mid range of Michael's voice. In fact, J.D. sounds like he's doing a Michael impersonation like he's done for Elvis -- he's that close sounding. Which begs the question what does J.D.'s real singing voice sound like? Does he even have one or can he only imitate other people?

Mig: He can win over the females and is charismatic, but can he hit the high notes?

MiG can definitely hit them at least in short bursts -- go listen/watch his We Will Rock You performance again. It's not clear he has the range that Ty has though.

Jordis: Realistically, she's too young for RBN:INXS, but she has the second best vocals of the females and she's more of a rocker than Suzie.

Technically I think she's actually the worst of the remaining females but I like her sound(s) the best by far. Her "out-of-tuneness" is about the same as Jessica's but Jessica has shown a much bigger range having sung Elegantly Wasted very well while Jordis struggled with Layla.

Jessica: She has limited range and her performances are uneven.

Go listen to her Elegantly Wasted performance. Her lower register isn't that strong but it's not horrible and nothing that some training can't fix.

Ultimately, none of these folks are really a good fit for RBN:INXS. Michael was a male singer who had a feminine voice. All the males here are too masculine with exception of Ty (the HILLS are alive...), and a female lead just isn't right.

I wouldn't say he had a "feminine" voice. He did have that sexy sultry sound in his lower register which is rare in the male but there are others that have/had it including Jim Morrison who Michael got compared to a lot though obviously Jim had a much lower voice than Michael.

His replacement should be a man who sings in the higher octaves such as the singer of Fine Young Cannibals, the one who sang that "She Drives Me Crazy" song.

That would be Roland Gift. Somebody along those same lines, Terence Trent D'Arby, did sing with INXS in a concert in 1999.

Some may argue that the new singer should sound completely different from Michael, but singing the old songs too differently just doesn't sound right. It may sound good, but it doesn't sound right.

I'm kind of mixed on that. Hearing J.D. sing Mystify was a little creepy to me -- it was like he was channeling Michael or something. I think I'd be happy with somebody who could sing the songs with the same spirit as Michael but not necessarily identically like J.D. did. Do you really want a Michael impersonator up there singing INXS songs or somebody who has their own singing identity?

Spill, I think you hit the nail on the head here. Obviously, INXS needs someone to fill in Micheal's shoes and perform the songs the way he did. Sure, they'll have some new tracks later on, but first that person needs to match Michael's range. Michael had a high tenor (like Freddie Mercury and a few others), which helped them hit the high notes effortlessly, which is a tough thing for guys. Among the guys, it doesn't seem like anyone except Ty has the high tenor. Mig, Marty, and JD are serious rockers, but they can't quite match Michael's notes, and we will probably see it in the ballads, accoustics, etc. (I think they should do a capella). Among the gals, Jordis and Suzie have good tenors (listen to Jordis' high notes on the David Bowie song) and Deanna doesn't. And hit me with a club for saying this, but Jessica also has a decent tenor, which is why she does INXS songs pretty well, even if she blows the regular songs. Technically, Ty could be the ideal replacement for Michael, even though his supersized ego could lead to other problems. It seems that his "bottom three" position last week gave him a hard dose of realism and brought him back to planet Earth (from Mars, I guess:-). Not surprisingly, his intensity and passion have kicked up quite a bit.

I agree that having the relative range is critical (and Michael had a large one) but I don't agree that they need to be able to sing the songs in the same key necessarily. If that was something INXS thought was mandatory the top 15 would've been different than it was, and somebody mentioned that the contestants can practice the INXS songs in different keys to suit their voices better.

Suzie and Jessica have both the range and can sing the songs without any transposition. I'm not sure yet if Jordis has the full range to sing something like Elegantly Wasted. Deanna probably has the relative range but she would have to sing an octave lower which is probably better musically for the band than switching keys since some of the band members won't have to use the altered fingerings or play with capos. I'll have to wait to hear her sing an INXS song before deciding whether or not hearing things a full octave lower sounds too weird, assuming that's how she will sing it.

On the guys side Ty has the range and can sing them without transposition. Mig has the high tenor (listen to the high notes he hit in We Will Rock You) but it's not clear he can sing the full range clearly. J.D. can match Michael's lower to mid register without transposition (as he did on Mystify) but it's unclear whether or not he can sing the highest notes clearly (as his botched attempt on We Are the Champions demonstrated). Marty is the biggest unknown since all the songs he's sung so far have been in his sweet spot and have not been very wide ranging.

[Seadog]

Predicted order of elimination:

Jessica
Deanna
Suzie
Ty
JD
Mig
Jordis
(Marty)

[Trippy]

After week six:

MiG (1/1) - Got himself out of his rut with an awesome performance Tuesday.

Jordis (2/2) - Seems to have hit her peak with The Man Who Sold the World. Going to need another really strong performance soon.

J.D. (3/5) - Not a great Tuesday performance but he did a killer Michael-impersonation on his radio Mystify performance. If INXS is looking for a Michael impersonator, J.D.'s their man.

Marty (4/4) - Still have no clue if he can sing INXS songs well.

Suzie (5/6) - Has been in the bottom three much more than Ty has but I'm getting the impression that INXS likes her more than Ty so I'm putting her ahead of him.

Ty (6/3) - Regressing back to his Broadway roots and he made the bottom four this week.

Deanna (7/7) - First trip to the bottom three but did a decent job. Still undecided if her lower husky/gravelly voice is right for INXS.

[AndoraStar]

MiG is taking it all.. even though I like JD as well! Marty scares me.. I seriously have to look away when he starts shaking.

[ADKLove]

I'm thinking Top 4 will be JD, Jordis, Marty and MiG. JD will be eliminated, then Jordis, and Marty and MiG will battle it out (at least in my little world). My best guess is MiG will win, but I prefer Marty.

[Downsey]

Thanks to PurpleCat for bringing it to my attention and Sun_up for posting the version of JD singing Mystify. Now I feel a bit better about making a proper guess.

Deanna....probably the next to go. Too country rock. Great looking but very much a specific type of singer. Hard to criticize anyone in the show they are all so talented but I'd have to say she's not right for Our Band: INXS

Suzie...I really like her tv reality personality. Seems like a really nice person. Technically her voice has blown me away a few times. Seems too nice to be the lead singer of a famous band. No mystery. No layers for fans to peel off or want to know about. Good on yeah lass...you did us proud (Cdn bias aside).

Ty...I thought he had a chance early on. Probably has the closest vocal range to our dearly departed Michael. He's really had a weird few weeks though. Seemed a bit campy during the song writing episode and song styling is getting way too Vegas. Eyes closed, he still has an awesome voice. Two things bugged me this week....Don't smile during heartfelt songs and never, ever show me your tongue again. Future looks bright away from Our Band: INXS.

Jordis...don't like her. Too Goth...Too Young...has a bit of an attitude. JD has taken a ton of heat for his attitude but she's as bad. Well that's not true, she's has subtle way about her. If you're producing a TV show, JD's giving you clips on a platter...Jordis bats her eyes and takes people aside to get her way. She'll have a very decent career in the future...possibly opening for Our Band: INXS

Marty...the people's replacement for Our Band: INXS. I've really enjoyed a few of his performances. Is it any coincidence that they've all been Grunge (Seattle Sound?...I actually hate the Grunge tag) songs? Haven't seen a ton of personality off the stage and he seems to be the type that sits back and observes...don't know if he is a strong enough personality.

Mig...my co-favorite to win it. As a guy I could do without him taking off his shirt every other week. (Dave may have created a monster)....I thought his bringing up Jordis and Marty was a staged plan...he gets to look like a "good guy"...gets to follow up his "JD gets praise for being a brat should we be brats as well". I thought it was childish and phony but...he got his spotlight...he got a few more fans on the chat sites...he created a bigger division between those who like the anti-JD contestants and JD. He's an Aussie and I think it would be a nice fit.

JD..."the Villain" of RockStar. I think that fans of reality tv love two things above all else 1. Chance to cheer someone on. 2. A chance to cheer against someone. JD has been anointed the baddie. I don't really get it. He hasn't tripped anyone on the way to the stage. He hasn't scrubbed a toilet with someone's toothbrush. He hasn't blatantly lied to cause a fight between two people in the house. He hasn't slept with another contestant just to get their vote. He's a spoiled child at times but in the Put Up or Shut Up grading system he's always Put Up. Fantastic rendition of Mystify. He has a better handle on the Blues groove Our Band: INXS can produce than any of the other male contestants (I think Jordis could have it but I don't think she has the experience to emote it as well). Extremely talented if volatile pick...if the public opinion counts, he could be in trouble.