Idol Chat 2008 (Part 6)
This week the contestants on American Idol tried their hand at Mariah Carey songs. At first I was excited that Mariah would be acting as this week's mentor, but she didn't really deliver the way I hoped she would. First, there was that false "who-am-I-to-judge-just-ignore-what-I-say" modesty thing. Give me a break. That kind of feined humility is not attractive. Mariah, you're an accomplished singer/songwriter. You can certainly teach these kids a thing or two. Unfortunately, she didn't really impress me with her coaching notes either, with the exception of some advice on a alternate musical choices. She didn't seem to be all that invested in helping the singers out.
Anyway, here's my top and bottom three:
Top Three
David Archuletta: "When You Believe" Phrasing issues--don't' breath in the middle of a sentence! He took Mariah's advice and went for some falsetto notes but seemed afraid of what might come out of his mouth. Otherwise, the kid has a glorious voice. He delivered yet again what we've come to expect from David: Strong, consistent vocals and an honest interpretation. I want to start seeing more sides of him though. How about an up-tempo?
Syesha: Outside of a couple of pitch issues, I thought she sounded great on "Vanishing". She looked gorgeous and not only sang technically very well, but for the first time she started to show some star quality. She clearly resonated and connected with the song. It showed.
David Cook: "Always Be My Baby" He was his smarmy affected self again this week and the arrangement of the song was dark and odd. But he's a good vocalist. He's interesting to listen to, even if he did shout a bit in the middle.
Bottom Three
Jason Castro: "I Don't Want to Cry" I've said this before: Jason seems to leave his performances up to chance. He gets out on stage looking like he has no idea what he's going to do or what is going to come out of his mouth. This time chance was in his favor. He did a decent job, but compared to the other singers left in the competition, he's a vocal lightweight. He just can't compare.
Kristy Lee Cook: "Forever" OUCH, some of those bottom notes were painful. But when she hit the refrain she wasn't bad. She looked gorgeous in that non-threatening way 13 year old girls aspire to look. And that's probably who is keeping her in the competition.
Brook White: "Hero" This was painful. Brooke should stop playing the piano. She's BAD at it. She is consistently distracted by the keyboard and her connection with the song and the audience suffers because of it. It's starting to feel like everything she does is the same old same old. Nothing new or interesting here. And some bad notes to boot.
Who Should Go: Well, any of my bottom three could go and I'd be fine with it. But frankly, this week I think Brooke deserves to go. Another sleepy, sub-par performance.
UPDATE: Well, it's goodbye to Kristy Lee Cook. While I think she's been in the competition on borrowed time these last few weeks, I did not think this was her worst performance. In fact, she has shown improvement week after week as opposed to some of the other singers who seem stuck in a rut. But I can't say I'm sorry to see her go. She seems like a nice kid though--pretty, too.
Labels: Idol
posted by Michael @ 10:37 PM
7 Comments:
I was pretty upset about Michael Johns getting the boot last week, but managed to watch anyway. With only 7 left, it's tough to do a top/bottom 3, but I agree with this ranking. I thought Syesha did particularly well especially since she seemed set up for failure after going head to head with 2 notorious singers in the last few weeks. She handled the challenge brilliantly choosing an interesting, yet less known song that she clearly got. Brooke has got to go. All I heard was BAD HS TALENT SHOW when she was playing/singing. Finally, I'll say this: I don't hate Jason as much as you do. I definitely see the appeal there. Definitely not in the same singing league as the others, but he's often enjoyable to watch, unlike, dare I say it, Sanjaya (that other favorite of the tweenage girl-set)!
Uh-oh. I had Brooke ranked #1 on my list and David A. near the bottom! I still don't see the appeal of David C.
HUSH! I know Brooke won't win, but I like her. I hope that Tiny Tim in dreads or Syesha get the heave Ho!
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Also I think David Archuleta is really talented and I love his voice, but I think if he sings another inspirational song, I'm going to throw up a rainbow.
I was amazed by David Cook's performance, and the story about his sick brother kind of softened his smug image for me. For once, I actually thought Paula was pretty astute when she said that the song could be in a movie soundtrack.
Syesha was pretty good, but I get the impression she thinks she's as good of a singer as Mariah. Not yet, Syesha; not yet.
I thought Brooke White was the worst. Mariah Carey sung that song to death, and I think she'll be still singing it into her 80s. Brooke White shouldn't have picked such a cliched song. Or she should have gone further with her stripped unplugged version. The way she sang, it just sounded like an amateur version of Mariah's.
YEAH!!!! Brooke is safe!!!
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