The Last Idol Chat
As much as I like Jordin and Blake, I have to say this was perhaps the dullest American Idol finale to date. We all know who should have won the competition and that's Melinda. This finale would have been far more exciting with her presence in it. But oh well, she was eliminated. Go figure the how the American public votes. I've been trying since 2000! But I will say without Melinda, the playing field was pretty even between Blake and Jordin, and so the outcome isn't necessarily obvious. And now, on with the critique:
Round 1
Blake graciously volunteered to sing first starting with "You Give Love a Bad Name." He was heavy on the beatboxing, but as it turned out it was his only opportunity to do so all evening. At first I wanted to see him have more fun with it, but he got there by time he started strutting around with the mic stand. But I'm sorry, no one does the one-handed mic stand strut better than Bo Bice. Blake was good though. A strong start to the competition.
Jordin chose to start with Christina Aguilera's "Fighter." Her vocals were great on this, but I don't think it was the best song choice for her. Jordin's strengths are her youth, sunniness and vitality. This song didn't play to any of those. The theme off it was dark, and that's not the quality that earned her a place in the finals.
Round 2
Blake started off round 2 with "She Will Be Loved," a great choice for him. His voice is suited for it and he sang it pretty well. He was a bit unsupported going into the falsetto and I worried about his pitch however. His presence is charming though and all in all it wasn't bad. But as Simon said, it's not the kind of safe, middle-of-the-road performance we expect to see in the finals.
Jordin's second song was Martina McBride's "With a Broken Wing." See my critique for round 1.
Round 3
Every year for the Idol finale they make both singers sing the winning song in this lame song writing competition they have. It's always one of these schlocky, sentimental ballads about making a dream come true, or in this case "This Is My Now." It invariably ends up being much better suited for one of the singers over the other and ends up doing the other one in. (Again, I bring up Bo Bice.) This was certainly the situation with Blake. He was clearly out of his element and seemed uncomfortable with this song. I mean, where was he gonna beat box with that thing? It wasn't his style but he did the best he could with it.
Jordin clearly benefited from the song style here and she gave a powerful and honest performance. One thing Jordin is not afraid to do is become emotionally invested in a song. Her very real tears and the emotional break in her voice were so affective they may have won her the competition. She gave a beautiful performance of the song.
Who will be the next American Idol: Jordin
RESULTS UPDATE: JORDIN WINS!
Labels: Idol
posted by Michael @ 8:35 AM
2 Comments:
I agree, although I always feel like the Idol finale is a bit of a letdown . As for Jordin, she should have chosen the Beyonce song she did earlier in the season. I liked the Martina McBride song, but I agree, two downers in a row is tough. As a once 17 year old who was drawn to maudlin songs about heartbreak, I certainly understand her choices, but not the best ones for the American Idol finale. That all said, she hit it out of the park on the third song. That won her the competition. As for Blake, I agree about the second choice song. I really like that song, but again, not enough of a "wow" factor, especially given what he'd have to deal with on the third song. I do think he'll have a huge career. He reminds me a lot of Bono in terms of performance and stage presence. He knows how to command an audience -- and to be at once cool, and intimate at the same time. And most importantly, he knows who he is and what he can do well.
Jordin did a Beyonce song this season? Which one? I don't even remember that....
I was kind of ambivalent about these two, because I've never felt that strongly about either of them. I thought they both did a decent job, and yeah, Jordin clearly benefitted from the ballad-y style of the song from the song writing competition.
I will say it was kind of surreal being in Arizona on the night of the finale results show. I felt like I should go out and celebrate since I was just a few miles away from Jordin's home town.
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