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Posted on 03/24/2006 9:00:43 PM PST by silent_jonny
I was just reading a review/s on tonights show.
I wanted to comment on something earlier and forgot. Ace. I think he needed to figure out what to do with his long hair. He couldn't really keep it like he normally wears it and give the aura of the 30's. So, I think they chose to slick it back. He probably should have left it down or combed back but not in a pony tail. Anyway, I think he was trying to look the 'era'.
They had to shoot her that way.
She wore a POWER suit FGS.
The most vulnerable song ever written, and she wears a power suit???
There is something strange about Katherine. Her googly faces she makes when she sings, the nervous jiggling and giggling during the judges' comments, her vamping during every song. I'm not sure she is comfortable with herself, on or off stage. She is better than Pickle, worse than Paris, but Simon loves her.
I cou;ldn't stop comparing her to Jean Louisa Kelly's version of Someone to Watch Over Me from 'Mr. Holland's Opus.'
Remember when Mr. Holland coached her, saying it was a song about loooonging and yearning.
All I saw was vamping and preening.
Katherine's exquisite. Why was she dressed like an executive?
A good night overall. Quality songs and I'm guessing they got more help than they've gotten since Manilow.
Ranking them:
Katharine--Mesmerizing. The first time since the very beginning of AI that I'm thinking she's good enough to win. I don't think she's aloof. Not anymore. She's gone from looking like she didn't want to be up there a few weeks ago to looking like she enjoys being there now. Good song for her because it kept her worst tendencies in check.
Paris--In her element. Don't know where it comes from but she has a better feel for this type of music than she does for current music.
Taylor--Great performance, managed to put the Taylor stamp on a classic. Not as soulful as Sam Cooke, but then again who is?
Elliott--Another fine vocal performance. Disagree with Simon about the personality not coming through. Elliott was sparkling for once, especially noticeable as the song began.
Chris--Thought he did very well on a night that could have been really rough for him.
Big drop to the next two.
Kellie--Didn't dislike her performance as much as most people seem to. Thought this was the first song that gave her room to breathe, so she didn't seem as labored. No swallowing of the ends of phrases tonight. Not a big fan of her voice; it has an odd timbre that I think can make her sound pitchier than she really is sometimes. And then there was the timing difficulty.
Ace--What can I say. I just don't like his usual manner of singing. Pinched, squeezed, nasally...however you want to describe it. Actually, it was a decent Ace performance if you like Ace to begin with.
Chris: He gets total props from me for doing a smooth, easy-listening type of song purely, the way it should be sung. He has a better voice than I thought until now. Also, now that he's loosening up and smiling more, I'm warming up to him. My only mild criticism is that his was the easiest song to sing of those done tonight. But what Chris did, he did very, very nicely indeed.
Paris: A little rough in a spot or two, but overall she gave a wonderful jazz performance of a great song written by Eric Maschwitz and Jack Strachey. 'These Foolish Things' has been performed by virtually every great name in jazz. Paris gets props for singing probably the most difficult song of the night and doing an excellent job, especially considering she's just 17. This girl is gifted, but like Elliott, she doesn't have much charisma. Still, in my opinion, she should be the last girl to go home in this competition. Probably won't happen that way, though.
Taylor: Easily the best performance of the night by far. This tune actually would have been the easiest to sing of the night if Taylor hadn't done what he did with it. Taylor turned a simple 1957 doo-wap/early soul tune with the plain, repetitive lyrical style of that period into something modern and absolutely spectacular. A number of articles appeared this week talking about how Simon is often contradictory in what he says to and about AI contestants. The prevailing opinion is that he does not want Taylor to win because he, Simon, wouldn't know how to market him. Taylor doesn't easily fit any of today's biggest selling genres. I suspect that's why Simon over-praised Katharine's performance (more about this below). How is it that Simon could say Taylor's performance was magic, then tell Katharine she made everyone else look like amateurs. Amateurs don't take doo-wap songs and turn them into magic, which Taylor sure as heck did.
(BTW, I'm absolutely delighted someone of Rod Stewart's stature in the business basically told Taylor to ignore what Simon says about what Taylor does on stage.)
Elliott: I really like this guy. He did a very, very nice rendition of another jazz classic. Elliott has a smooth, effortless style that tends to hide the difficulty of his wonderful key changes and phrasing. You're right, Jonny. If Elliott goes tomorrow night, it would be a true injustice. I think the two things that hurt Elliott, despite his obvious talent, are his looks and his low-wattage personality. I just wish this guy had more charisma to go with his vocal talent. Sigh.
Kellie: Speaking of who should go tomorrow night, this is the person who should. Tonight Pickle showed about as clearly as possible her limitations as a singer. I've been saying for weeks that she tends to go flat in her songs. She loses the melody. She also has a very limited range and not much power to her vocals. She's been able to disguise her weaknesses by choosing fun, mostly novelty songs that don't require serious vocal chops to pull off.
This time Pickle picked a song that is WAY too ambitious for her small talent. Written for the musical "Pal Joey" (Joey in the 1940 original was none other than Gene Kelly), the Rogers and Hart classic "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" has been sung by a whose who of American pop music. Pickle, who I firmly believe does not have much of a musical ear, totally lost the melody and rythmn of the song early in her performance and never got it back. If this mess tonight doesn't at least get her a trip to the bottom 3, I will be very disappointed. It should get her tossed out of the competition, because everyone else -- yes, including Ace -- is more talented than she is.
Ace: So there I was, actually enjoying his mellow and really quite good rendition of "That's All," when he slipped into that awful falsetto. The judges keep telling him that's what he does best, but I couldn't disagree more. I think doing so much falsetto is actually ruining a pretty decent voice. I know falsetto has been popular in male pop vocals for a long time, but I hate it. Simon mentioned the nasal quality Ace gets when he's singing in his normal register. I think that comes from his doing so much falsetto.
Katharine: OK, what did the judges see that I missed? I played her performance back a few times just to try to be fair. But I still came away HATING her performance of one of the top 10 or 20 greatest pop songs of the 20th Century. A classic torch song, 'Someone to Watch Over Me' has been the favorite anthem of lonely people everywhere since it was written by the Gershwin brothers nearly 80 years ago. It was the 4th most popular song of the 1920's according to ASCAP's historical records, and it's never gone out of style or importance since.
Katharine could not get on either the melody or the lyrics for the first couple of bars, and her phrasing was so-so (for a song which demands impeccable phrasing). She also failed to carry through on her notes in a number of places, leading to rather abrupt stops and starts in the flow of the song. Totally failing to convey the torchy quality and meaning of the song, she alternately sang like she was about to get a Christmas present, and like she had heartburn. Although it wasn't as obvious tonight as it is in some of her performances, she also has a nasal quality which I heard in spots tonight. She threw in some modern runs and melody changes, but it was like meaningless window dressing. It brought absolutely nothing to the song other than to show she could do melody changes and runs. Whoop-de-do.
Taylor changed up on his song, making a simple song much more complex. In contrast to Katharine's changes, Taylor brought a whole new sense of drive and urgency and feeling to his song: Girl, I REALLY, REALLY want to marry you and take you home, like right now, honey. Versus Katharine's hear me do a run because I can. Hear me change the melody because I can. Aren't I great.
To me, based solely on tonight's performances, the bottom three are Katharine, Ace and Pickle, and if it were up to me, Pickle would be going back in her jar tomorrow.
I've believed throughout the competition that's Katharine's main problem. Oddly, even though she seems uncomfortable, she also manages to give the impression of being quite conceited. She's a very, very pretty girl, but other than that, her type of singing is a dime a dozen.
Ace looked like a bad imitation of Antonio Banderas tonight.
Time for the West Coast Wrapup!
At long last -- I enjoyed the whole show! Whoopee! (Well, except for certain moments of Kellie's and Ace's performances, where I found myself cringing sympathetically -- of which, more later.) The judges' comments that everyone did well tonight tickled me. First, you've gotten rid of the vocal deadweight now, so of COURSE everyone should do well -- but more importantly, they had REAL SONGS to sing tonight! Picking a decent song is half the battle. It helps when you're picking from a list of the greats.
Chris -- I cringed a bit when I heard he was doing "Wonderful World" since I've gotten deathly tired of hearing that standard mauled over and over again. But it was quite a nice performance. I'm not going to go overboard and say it was the best of the night since it wasn't. But it was a soulful and professional version, and I'm not sure what else you can ask for.
Paris -- Her best performance to date (despite the weird orange satin secretarial suit -- she ought to have worn something flowing instead). She should wear her hair like that all the time -- it made her look slender instead of chunky, and almost (gasp!) pretty. Paris clearly has an innate feel for music of this type. She lost points with me, though, for mumbling some of the words (death in a song like that), and worse still, performing the entire song at almost exactly the same volume level. Gave it a pedestrian feel. I kept thinking of what Mandisa could have done with that song ... sigh ....
Taylor -- Sure glad the last half of the song was there, since the first half was deadly dull. I was not Moved, though Taylor seemed to be.
Elliott -- Nice work! And I'd give him an A- on looking relaxed on stage (up from a C+ a couple of weeks ago). This sort of song is perfect for him. Like Paris, he was clearly in his element. And perhaps the audience noticed it ... I say this because I'm typing this up while I am taking a break from voting from him because I CAN'T GET THROUGH. I keep a tally so I know how many times I've voted for someone, and when I began, at one hour after the show, I dialed 34 times before I gave up. Seventeen votes and 17 busy signals. Up significantly from past weeks. (Note: Final number of votes I cast for Elliott: 94. Number of busy signals during that time: 140.)
Kellie -- I was kind of getting into the first part of the song, even though the country accent was definitely distracting, but then she got mired in the quicksand of the middle of the song ... oh dear ... and lost the band completely at the end -- all but going "glub, glub, glub!" I don't think any other contestant has actually LOST the band before. Simon must have been taking his happy pills indeed since I expected him to rip her a new one ... but no, his pet minx escaped the extreme censure she deserved. (Big surprise, eh?) All that said, BBB is a VERY hard song. She shouldn't have attempted it unless she already knew it before this week. I actually felt sympathy for the Brave Little Gerkhin tonight (though not, alas, enough to vote for her).
Ace -- I just can't appreciate that nasal thing he does, and his falsetto sounds like nails on a blackboard to me. (Actually, does *anyone* appreciate that whiny nasal thing of his? Even Rod Stewart commented on it. I have a feeling the teenyboppers just ignore it.) He would have looked nice in his suit, at least ... if he hadn't had his hair in a freakin' OLIVE OYL BUN! Ye gods! (Okay, he finally demonstrated that it was a tiny little 'tail. But it looked like a bun. I kept looking for the hairnet to go with it.) I can't even dignify this performance with the term "karaoke." Ace the Nasal cannot leave this competition soon enough for me.
McPhee -- Holy guacamole. Well, she DID it -- what I've been looking for all these weeks -- she finally performed a song without pulling out the "Golly I'm Cute, Vote For Me" card. I have a feeling it was solely because she's been doing this song since she was ten and can recite the lyrics in her sleep, but ... nonetheless. A terrific performance. However, I'm going to be cynical and predict backsliding to her old ways next week, unless it's another song she knows in her sleep.
And just to compare votes vs. busy signals: I also cast 50 votes for Chris (14 busy signals) and ten for McPhee (three busy signals). Not exactly scientific but ya get what you pay for. :)
ROFLMAO! You have a way with words!
You know, if the Gerkhin wins this thing, she could be what makes AI jump the shark. I think there would be a lot of viewers who won't be back next season if she wins. (Or maybe that's just my own distaste talking .... :)
Yah, that was really something, wasn't it? I kept expecting a wardrobe malfunction, but I think there was some double-sided tape involved there....
LOL!!! Well heartburn IS a bit 'torchy' too!
Hearing Elliott's terrific 'It Had to be You', I was haunted by some cartoony version tickling my memory, and then WHAM suddenly envisioned drunken Myra from 'A League of Their Own', remember?
"It - haddah - beeee - YOU --- wunnnerful YOU --- it hadDA -- beeeee -- YOUUUUUU (as they drag her away)...
Elliott's was ever so much better! 0:^>
Excellent summary. I agree with your assessment, including the bottom three.
For Bo Bice fans.
Bo Bice Honored in Alabama Music Hall of Fame
http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2006/04/bo_bice_honored.html
American Idol Runner-Up, Bo Bice was recently honored in the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Museum with a special display of Bice's memorabilia. Hall of Fame Director, David Johnson, wanted to display some of Bice's stage outfits he wore in the American Idol competiton. Bice says he is excited and honored to be a part of the Hall of Fame and sent the clothing to be presented by his mother, Nancy Downes, and grandmother, Madge Schofield. Donated was the clothing he wore during his first appearance on American Idol.
These were made by his Grandmother, Granny Madge. Johnson says, "I'm excited to receive the memorabilia of Bo Bice and display these for the public to enjoy." The Alabama Music Hall of Fame was founded in 1987 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and draws thousands of tourists each year. Among it's inductees are Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Hank Willaims, Jr., Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and numerous other music acheivers.
With state funding recently being lowered, the Hall of Fame now depends largely on benefit concerts. Johnson says, "From performing to songwriting and from management to publishing, Alabamians have contributed in many ways to make the music industry what it is today. Bo Bice is a good example of this and we would like to get him here for a benefit concert."
(ie: Katherine)
Great observation. I'd forgotten about that suit once the singing began. People who like her like her sultry femininity (I just don't get it), and she wears a stark, black suit?
It wasn't fair not to show it. They showed Mandisa, full view, when she wore that horizontally striped circus tent.
Not showing the same full views of everyone is really not fair, if the reason is there are contestants they want to look better, IMO.
I know neither one of you get Rick and Bubba but on yesterday's show they spent an hour with Soul Patrollers..the soul Patrol kept calling in because they knew R & B were in the B'ham area. It was cool! They were from all over. One from Brazil (?, I think) called in. Rick then called Taylor's cell phone and his voice recording came on and they let the woman leave a message! :) Every one of the ones who called in had never watched AI until this year. They just happened to hear him in the audition round, loved him and started watching the show.
Book mark.
Overall rankings:
That is my assessment too. In that order.... liked your comments as well.:)
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