Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Mr. Thatcher's Neighborhood - A.I.5
Last week, we said goodbye to Kevin Covais and to my chances at winning Ultimate Elimination. Oh, well. Kevin was a smart kid, so I think he knew he was living on borrowed time. Unfortunately, this means that the tv show lost some of it’s sense of humor, and it could have used it this week.
This week’s theme is 21st century songs. There were a few definite problems this week. First, picking a new song is really difficult. They don’t have the benefit of years of distance from the original release to separate the song from the original artist, maybe be covered a couple of times in different arrangements, and stand the test of time that separates a good song from a novelty act. I mean, “Who Let the Dogs Out” was probably a number one record, but you wouldn’t want to sing it on AI! Also, we’ve all heard most of these songs 1,000 times over the last few years, so it’s hard not to compare against the original. With a classic song, you can kind of imagine other people singing it; you’ve probably heard other people sing it at karaoke, etc. But with a new song, the original is so close, you can’t get away from it. Plus, the last 5 years haven’t been a boon for “singer” songs. Rap and Punk-pop have dominated the charts. And finally (!), with the show only one hour, the kids basically got 60 seconds to cram in their song. No one felt like they got a chance to even get going, and the arrangements were terribly awkward. Most of the contestants just looked uncomfortable, and no one wants to start singing a song in the middle, which is what several had to do.
Soooo, after all my pre-complaining, let’s get on with the show!!
(I’m writing this from memory, so my apologies if I get the order or the song names wrong! Sorry for all my typos, too, both in this post and all my previous ones. I haven’t had time to edit! Eeep!!!)
Lisa – “Because of You”
Oooohhhh, Lisa. You had to know that there would be a huge crossover between Idol viewers and Kelly Clarkson fans. Taking on a Kelly song, especially one that’s so personal to Kelly, is a huge risk. I think Lisa did an OK job with this song, but it’s kind of a downer, and she can’t afford to be a downer at this point. Lisa has really struggled to find her groove, and this week didn’t help. I think this is the end for little Lisa.
Kellie – “Suds in the Bucket”
I thought this song was a pretty good pick for Kellie. I could see her performing in a musical comedy revue in Branson, singing songs like this. The judges were so wrong about Kellie being better than this song, though. Almost any song stretches Kellie’s musical talent to the breaking point. Instead of criticizing her song choice, why don’t they point out that she sings the high notes through her nose, and any time she holds a note for more than half a second it goes horribly flat? I’m worried that Kellie will outlast some much better singers on this show, and that’s just wrong. Maybe she’ll hit bottom 3 this week?
Ace – “Drops of Jupiter”
Again, Ace did OK with this song, but you just can’t compare to the original. This is a song that really needs about 3 minutes to get going, too. It builds up from the beginning all the way to the end, and Ace didn’t get a chance to do that. I feel like Ace has potential, but he just needs to sing, rather than trying to do all this sexy crap. When he actually supports and projects his voice, he sounds pretty good, but the “sexy” simpering whimper voice just doesn’t cut it. He always seems so nervous, too – it makes me nervous to watch him. Still pretty, though.
Mandisa – “Wanna Praise You”
For a minute, I thought Mandisa was going to do the Fatboy Slim song (“Praise You”), which I couldn’t for the life of me imagine, and yet I thought would be awesome! It actually was sampled from some old blues song, which would have been a great fit for Mandisa. But, she did some kind of funked up gospel song. It was pretty good, but I think she got really sharp on some of the runs in the middle. I really like Mandisa, but this wasn’t her best show. She needs a “wow” song in the next couple of weeks.
Taylor – “Trouble”
I think Taylor did the best job picking a song. I had never heard it, so it sounded original to me. Plus, it really showed off his voice and was a complete 180 from last week. Taylor did a really good job, he sounded great, and she showed he’s not just a one-trick pony. This song had some real soul to it, and I thought Taylor captured it perfectly without overdoing it. Bravo!! I liked the leather jacket, too, although I admit that it looked like something Taylor would have never picked for himself. But it did help him not look so old.
Chris – “What If”
Chris got a chance to clarify that last week’s song (Walk the Line) was a cover by Live. AI must have gotten wind of all the scuttlebutt complaining about that. I’m guessing that Chris never intended to bluff anyone, but the producers figured no one would care. So, Chris gets to slide for that. He does not get to slide, however, for picking a Creed song. I know Creed is popular, but to me, they are the worst band since Survivor in the 80’s. I just can’t stand them. I tried to listen to Chris’ performance objectively, but part of the reason I don’t like Creed is because their songs are just bad. This song had about a four-note range, no discernable melody, and was basically an excuse to shout a lot. Chris did the best he could with a crappy song, but he picked it himself. I was bored. I totally get what Simon said about Chris needing to shake it up – HOWEVER, if he did come out and sing something different, the judges would rip him apart for crawling out of his designated box. So I think he’s better off sticking to his strengths. But he needs to pick better songs, dude!!
Katharine – “The Voice Within”
This was another song that started in the middle, so Katharine had a hard time getting going. But she did get it moving in the last half and finished strong. I thought she did a real nice interpretation – her voice is more sweet and subtle than Christina’s, and it fit the song well. I could hear a lot of difference from the original version – sometimes, “making the song your own” doesn’t mean changing the melody or messing with the arrangement; it means just singing it in your own voice and with your own emotions. And I thought Kathy did that very well. She had on one of her worst outfits yet, though. What was that? Fugly. Her hair was pretty, and I liked her necklace.
Bucky – “Real Good Man”
Bucky sounded good on the parts he actually sang, but the low parts and the loud parts were bad as usual. I’ve given up on understanding any of the words while he sings, so his poor diction doesn’t bother me that much. And it amuses me how much he sounds like Boomhauer when he talks. Maybe Gedeon could come back and give Bucky elocution lessons. He did good job of moving around – I especially liked his little one-foot shuffle across the stage. But Bucky is just hopelessly outmatched. He’s another potential bottom-3/elimination this week.
Paris – “Work it Out”
Wow, did I not need to see or hear this. Paris sounded great as usual, but this performance was not sexy, it was just disturbing. Paris was one of the only contestants smart enough to pick a real repetitive song though, which sounded fine squashed into 60 seconds, so I’ll give her credit for that. But the whole thing was just creepy. I’m pretty sure Paris will get a record deal out of this show, one way or another, and I think when she’s singing songs written specifically for her, she’ll be awesome. But, like Diana DeGarmo before her, she suffers from the disconnect between her real age and her “perfoming” age. She’s not believable as either a teenager or an adult. But, with all that said, she was one of the best this week.
Elliott – “I Don’t Wanna Be”
This was the best performance of the night for me. Elliott has been on a slow rise since his lowpoint of “Heaven”. He jazzed the song up, but just a bit, not enough to make it sound weird. He threw some more growls in this week, and he’s sounding more and more confident. I think he might have bobbled the words at the beginning, but I couldn’t tell for sure. But he really got the song going fast, and just did a great job. Elliott has a really fast vibrato that sounds bad on slow songs (shades of the old “goat girls” like Christina and Carmen), but it sounds fine on faster paced songs. Plus, he can really nail those fast interval changes. He got the benefit of getting to show a different ending in the recap clip too, which shows how much he is actually ad-libbing when he sings. After Simon criticized his dancing, he did a little prospector-leprechaun dance. Hee! I’m encouraged that the producers are starting to like Elliott and are giving him a shot. I’d love to see Elliott, Taylor, Katharine & Mandisa as the final four. Long shot, I know.
My rankings for the night:
Elliott, closely followed by
Katharine & Taylor
A little gap to
Paris & Mandisa
Another little gap to
Chris
A bigger gap to
Kellie & Ace
Another little gap to
Bucky & Lisa
I think Lisa will go home tonight. But at least she’ll get to go on tour!
This week’s theme is 21st century songs. There were a few definite problems this week. First, picking a new song is really difficult. They don’t have the benefit of years of distance from the original release to separate the song from the original artist, maybe be covered a couple of times in different arrangements, and stand the test of time that separates a good song from a novelty act. I mean, “Who Let the Dogs Out” was probably a number one record, but you wouldn’t want to sing it on AI! Also, we’ve all heard most of these songs 1,000 times over the last few years, so it’s hard not to compare against the original. With a classic song, you can kind of imagine other people singing it; you’ve probably heard other people sing it at karaoke, etc. But with a new song, the original is so close, you can’t get away from it. Plus, the last 5 years haven’t been a boon for “singer” songs. Rap and Punk-pop have dominated the charts. And finally (!), with the show only one hour, the kids basically got 60 seconds to cram in their song. No one felt like they got a chance to even get going, and the arrangements were terribly awkward. Most of the contestants just looked uncomfortable, and no one wants to start singing a song in the middle, which is what several had to do.
Soooo, after all my pre-complaining, let’s get on with the show!!
(I’m writing this from memory, so my apologies if I get the order or the song names wrong! Sorry for all my typos, too, both in this post and all my previous ones. I haven’t had time to edit! Eeep!!!)
Lisa – “Because of You”
Oooohhhh, Lisa. You had to know that there would be a huge crossover between Idol viewers and Kelly Clarkson fans. Taking on a Kelly song, especially one that’s so personal to Kelly, is a huge risk. I think Lisa did an OK job with this song, but it’s kind of a downer, and she can’t afford to be a downer at this point. Lisa has really struggled to find her groove, and this week didn’t help. I think this is the end for little Lisa.
Kellie – “Suds in the Bucket”
I thought this song was a pretty good pick for Kellie. I could see her performing in a musical comedy revue in Branson, singing songs like this. The judges were so wrong about Kellie being better than this song, though. Almost any song stretches Kellie’s musical talent to the breaking point. Instead of criticizing her song choice, why don’t they point out that she sings the high notes through her nose, and any time she holds a note for more than half a second it goes horribly flat? I’m worried that Kellie will outlast some much better singers on this show, and that’s just wrong. Maybe she’ll hit bottom 3 this week?
Ace – “Drops of Jupiter”
Again, Ace did OK with this song, but you just can’t compare to the original. This is a song that really needs about 3 minutes to get going, too. It builds up from the beginning all the way to the end, and Ace didn’t get a chance to do that. I feel like Ace has potential, but he just needs to sing, rather than trying to do all this sexy crap. When he actually supports and projects his voice, he sounds pretty good, but the “sexy” simpering whimper voice just doesn’t cut it. He always seems so nervous, too – it makes me nervous to watch him. Still pretty, though.
Mandisa – “Wanna Praise You”
For a minute, I thought Mandisa was going to do the Fatboy Slim song (“Praise You”), which I couldn’t for the life of me imagine, and yet I thought would be awesome! It actually was sampled from some old blues song, which would have been a great fit for Mandisa. But, she did some kind of funked up gospel song. It was pretty good, but I think she got really sharp on some of the runs in the middle. I really like Mandisa, but this wasn’t her best show. She needs a “wow” song in the next couple of weeks.
Taylor – “Trouble”
I think Taylor did the best job picking a song. I had never heard it, so it sounded original to me. Plus, it really showed off his voice and was a complete 180 from last week. Taylor did a really good job, he sounded great, and she showed he’s not just a one-trick pony. This song had some real soul to it, and I thought Taylor captured it perfectly without overdoing it. Bravo!! I liked the leather jacket, too, although I admit that it looked like something Taylor would have never picked for himself. But it did help him not look so old.
Chris – “What If”
Chris got a chance to clarify that last week’s song (Walk the Line) was a cover by Live. AI must have gotten wind of all the scuttlebutt complaining about that. I’m guessing that Chris never intended to bluff anyone, but the producers figured no one would care. So, Chris gets to slide for that. He does not get to slide, however, for picking a Creed song. I know Creed is popular, but to me, they are the worst band since Survivor in the 80’s. I just can’t stand them. I tried to listen to Chris’ performance objectively, but part of the reason I don’t like Creed is because their songs are just bad. This song had about a four-note range, no discernable melody, and was basically an excuse to shout a lot. Chris did the best he could with a crappy song, but he picked it himself. I was bored. I totally get what Simon said about Chris needing to shake it up – HOWEVER, if he did come out and sing something different, the judges would rip him apart for crawling out of his designated box. So I think he’s better off sticking to his strengths. But he needs to pick better songs, dude!!
Katharine – “The Voice Within”
This was another song that started in the middle, so Katharine had a hard time getting going. But she did get it moving in the last half and finished strong. I thought she did a real nice interpretation – her voice is more sweet and subtle than Christina’s, and it fit the song well. I could hear a lot of difference from the original version – sometimes, “making the song your own” doesn’t mean changing the melody or messing with the arrangement; it means just singing it in your own voice and with your own emotions. And I thought Kathy did that very well. She had on one of her worst outfits yet, though. What was that? Fugly. Her hair was pretty, and I liked her necklace.
Bucky – “Real Good Man”
Bucky sounded good on the parts he actually sang, but the low parts and the loud parts were bad as usual. I’ve given up on understanding any of the words while he sings, so his poor diction doesn’t bother me that much. And it amuses me how much he sounds like Boomhauer when he talks. Maybe Gedeon could come back and give Bucky elocution lessons. He did good job of moving around – I especially liked his little one-foot shuffle across the stage. But Bucky is just hopelessly outmatched. He’s another potential bottom-3/elimination this week.
Paris – “Work it Out”
Wow, did I not need to see or hear this. Paris sounded great as usual, but this performance was not sexy, it was just disturbing. Paris was one of the only contestants smart enough to pick a real repetitive song though, which sounded fine squashed into 60 seconds, so I’ll give her credit for that. But the whole thing was just creepy. I’m pretty sure Paris will get a record deal out of this show, one way or another, and I think when she’s singing songs written specifically for her, she’ll be awesome. But, like Diana DeGarmo before her, she suffers from the disconnect between her real age and her “perfoming” age. She’s not believable as either a teenager or an adult. But, with all that said, she was one of the best this week.
Elliott – “I Don’t Wanna Be”
This was the best performance of the night for me. Elliott has been on a slow rise since his lowpoint of “Heaven”. He jazzed the song up, but just a bit, not enough to make it sound weird. He threw some more growls in this week, and he’s sounding more and more confident. I think he might have bobbled the words at the beginning, but I couldn’t tell for sure. But he really got the song going fast, and just did a great job. Elliott has a really fast vibrato that sounds bad on slow songs (shades of the old “goat girls” like Christina and Carmen), but it sounds fine on faster paced songs. Plus, he can really nail those fast interval changes. He got the benefit of getting to show a different ending in the recap clip too, which shows how much he is actually ad-libbing when he sings. After Simon criticized his dancing, he did a little prospector-leprechaun dance. Hee! I’m encouraged that the producers are starting to like Elliott and are giving him a shot. I’d love to see Elliott, Taylor, Katharine & Mandisa as the final four. Long shot, I know.
My rankings for the night:
Elliott, closely followed by
Katharine & Taylor
A little gap to
Paris & Mandisa
Another little gap to
Chris
A bigger gap to
Kellie & Ace
Another little gap to
Bucky & Lisa
I think Lisa will go home tonight. But at least she’ll get to go on tour!
# posted by Thatchermom @ 7:08 PM 
