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

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

(My guess is Ramiele gets the boot. Singers like Carly who have "surprising" bottom 3 finishes often experience brief rebounds the next couple weeks as scared fans vote over and over for them. This is what happened to Kat McPhee, who finished bottom 2 in the week of 10, but got all the way to the finals.)

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I don't see this until the weekend, but I am impressed with the quality of the last 12 this time, and think they got rid of good choices in the first two weeks.

[koganbot]

What do you think of Brooke White? If you haven't heard them yet, I urge you to listen to her versions of "Love Is A Battlefield" and "Let It Be." I said on Rolling Country that I think it would be a natural move for her to go country, and with the right material and arrangements she could be a lot better than Carrie Underwood.

[koganbot]

I thought Ramiele's performance was a mess even taking into account her being under the weather, but I do think that the voters will not only take that into account but also will continue to like the way she embodies "class." Whereas I just don't know who Syesha's constituency would be: even the people who like Whitney-pop more than anything aren't going to want performances so lacking in animating spirit. Or are they? Kristy Lee doesn't have chops but she did find her way to a bit of warmth in the Lee Greenwood number. I think Chikezie's future is more as an entertainer who sings than as a singer per se - could see him hosting a local TV variety show if there were local TV variety shows anymore, interjecting a slush ballad or two for the ladies, to great applause. I think his personality keeps him in the competition for several more weeks. And Amanda's voters might well all go to Carly this week. I still think she's on the bubble, though if I were betting I'd guess that Kristy is the one who gets zinged. Syesha would be my choice to vanish (well, she and Michael, but I have a feeling he's secure for several more rounds, though perhaps David's performance will simply make everyone forget him, I hope).

[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...)

[koganbot]

By the way, since I wasn't paying attention two years ago, what would you say were the great Kat McPhee Idol performances?

[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.

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I like her voice, but the two songs I've heard her do so far, both Beatles numbers, didn't impress me a lot. I agree with what you say about her, though. There's only one Carrie track I'm a really big fan of, Before He Cheats, which is fantastic. I do suspect Brooke might be a better singer on mainline country ballads in particular.

[koganbot]

Well, shows what I know. I was shocked at Jason being in the bottom three: he's consistently himself, he's a cutie, and though he doesn't embody the judges' ideas of professionalism, why should the voters care? I'd think he'd have a strong base of support. And I'm surprised at Kristy not being in the bottom three, obviously. Can't say I think there's a great injustice in sending Chikezie home, however. I think that Michael is just as barely adequate no the rock side as Chikezie and Syesha were in the soul, but I guess there are fans for that sort of charmless rock (the charmlessness being its charm?).

[andthatisthat.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Oooh! This is SO the question for me to answer. Check out 'Think' from the third round of semi finals, 'Come Rain or Come Shine' from 1950s week, 'Who Wants To Live Forever' from Queen week (vocals quite suspect but the performance and lights are AMAZING), 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' from Songs from the Top 10 week, and 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' from Top 3, judges' choice round.

Paid up and card-carrying McPhan reporting for duty. I bought her album and everything.

[andthatisthat.livejournal.com]

PS. 'Someone To Watch Over Me' from Great American Songbook week was pretty good, too.

[koganbot]

What did you think of the album? I remember when it streamed on AOL Listening Party that I thought the songs were good and that she was singing really intelligently, using her vocal apparatus without wallowing in melisma etc., but that somehow I wasn't connecting.

(Also was flustered by the fact that four different performers released four different songs called "Over It" within two months of each other.)

[andthatisthat.livejournal.com]

I liked it. I mean, I recognise that it wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but I was happy enough with the end result. I'm possibly the only person in the world who unashamedly likes 'Open Toes'. Actually, I think I had the opposite reaction to most people, because the most common response that I heard was that people hated the R&B-type songs and preferred the big ballads, but I thought that some of the ballads were a bit bland and drippy, and preferred songs like 'Love Story' and 'Do What U Do'. I'm quite fond of 'Everywhere I Go' (particulary the middle eight). But on the grounds that I was still listening to the album quite regularly at least three months after I bought it, I figured she must have definitely done something right.

I do understand what you mean about not connecting with it, though. I think for me it was a fine pop album, but it could've been anyone's fine pop album, and that was kind of disappointing. I would've liked a bit more of a McPhee trademark on there somewhere.

[koganbot]

I was under the impression that everyone around me was liking "Open Toes," though now that I reflect on it, what I mean by "everyone around me" is everyone around me who has an opinion on Kat McPhee, which is skyecaptain and maybe three other people. I liked "Over It" straight off because it sounded so much like JoJo's "Too Little Too Late" (not surprising since the two songs were written by the same people), but I also kept saying to myself "'Too Little Too Late' is better." (Of course, "Open Toes" managed to combine writers who wrote about two-thirds of Britney's "Blackout": the Clutch and Danja and DioGuardi. And my sub-sub-subgroup of humanity pores over the doings of Kara DioGuardi.)

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

Katharine McPhee's performances were highly variable. Her versions of "The Voice Within" and "Against All Odds" were TERRIBLE, some of the worst performances ever on the show. She did well with older songs. "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Bringing Out the Elvis in Me" were my favorite performances of hers. She was one of the best contestants on the show at truly performing, rather than just singing.

In honesty, the fact that she is extremely attractive did not hurt my fandom of her at all.