Idol Idol Damn

[koganbot]

Got home late, watched 'em all on YouTube, Brooke, David, and Jason are still the only three I care about, Syesha ran her voice 'round several ferris wheels and impressed the judges but not me, Ramiele lost her voice and the judges sympathized and I couldn't tell the difference, Michael Johns sang "We Are The Champions" with no swish but with volume, judges thought it was a breakthrough, Kristy Lee Cook actually found a way to be husky and OK on "God Bless The USA," though she's still a mediocrity, Chikezie went for smoke and lust but doesn't have the voice for it, Carly Smithson's pipes are just too rigid to make "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" sing, as it were, but I liked her for pulling out all the stops, and I'll be sad if this is her swan song but am afraid that the judges may have swayed voters to give Kristy and Michael one more chance. So:

Brooke White "Every Breath You Take": False start, then she's fine, quietly lets the intensity of the song speak through her, then the accompaniment rushes in and whooshes her away and wrecks the mood. The judges were spot-on for once, though the first part of this was still better than anyone else on the show can do.

David Archuleta "You're The Voice": Last week I was saying he couldn't emote in the deep register but he's OK deep tonight; I don't like the song but he's on top of it. Still wish he'd emphasize beauty rather than energy.

Jason Castro "Fragile": His voice is as sketchy as ever and as natural and comfortable, and I don't mind where it sounds torn.

David Cook "Billie Jean": A lot of gall to do the deep ruminative Soundgarden thing on this one. A lot of gall. I have to give the fucker credit. Holds the mood. Damn. (Link.)

(But David's not pretending to the originality that the judges credit him with, since Ryan tells us that David's basing his version on this one.)

Comments

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

David C's version of "Billie Jean" was basically a completely different song with the same words, but it still FELT like the same song. Nice arrangement and nice performance.

I have found myself almost fully agreeing with you on Idol most weeks. Doing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is just suicide, nobody can match the original on that. If you're gonna do it you gotta change it up, and she didn't. I really love Carly's Celine-like vocal fearlessness though. "Every Breath You Take" was good, but after "Love Is a Battlefield" and "Let it Be" I probably have unrealistic expectations. Probably not a good idea to stack her likely two best performances up front like that.

Performance Ranking:
Great: (Nobody)
Good: David Cook, Brooke, David A.
Pretty Good, but Getting Boring: Jason
OK Vocal, Bad Song Choice: Carly
Forgettable: Syesha, Chikezie
Bad: Michael, Kristy, Ramiele

[koganbot]

But you know it was Chris Cornell's version of "Billie Jean" that David was modeling. But not only did David nail it, he gave it an adventure that Chris didn't. If only I liked the style. (But at times I have liked some Soundgarden and STP and Pearl Jam...)

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

Yes! I know that. But, I'd never heard the arrangement before, and I like his performance of it better than Chris C's anyways.