James Durbin: More Than Just an Idol
Umm, I just wanna share this article made by my brother. It's not like I'm a fan of James Durbin, my brother just wanted to spread this and it might be a little of help posting it here.
American Idol is a title. Yes, it is a big title. But James Durbin, one of the greatest music artists I have ever known showed a deeper meaning of not just being an American Idol, but also an inspiration to everybody who has a passion for music and to those who understands what he is fighting for. And that is, to do what your heart tells you to do. In his case, to push forward his type of music, particularly, Metal. From the first week of Season 10 up to the last week before he was voted off, he has been consistent on putting up a good show. He is just incredibly talented. Having a “big range” voice and deep sensibility as what Steven Tyler said during the audition, he never failed to execute an amazing performance in each week. Performing songs created by various well-known artists, he has been creative on not just his vocal renditions, but also his way of delivering them. Actually, from the moment I have seen Adam Lambert perform back in Season 8 and started to appreciate him and then eventually admired him also for his “big range” voice, I never thought and expected someone like James would appear. Or at least, not immediately like after two seasons. And without bias, I would say that James got a bigger range than Adam. Also, I would prefer James’ type of music better than Adam’s. But set aside genre and talk about the voice, performance, audience impact, consistency and the judges’ comments, James undoubtedly proved that he is something more special and has a better position of winning compared to the others. Like what the judges often say, he is just nailing it week after week to the point that he marked to all the viewers’ minds and more importantly, to the judges’ how amazing he really is. I also believe someone like him is really rare, especially these days that the Pop genre is sweeping away the floor of the music industry.
And so it appeared to everybody, to all the viewers that James could be the “one”. From the first weeks, he has been potentially the biggest threat to everybody in the game. And as weeks gone by, it got clearer and clearer that he should be eliminated in order for the others to possibly win. Even though he has Tourette’s syndrome and mild autism, he has pure talent that compensated for them well enough. Also, he can be seen being too emotional and crying sometimes. But this only added to his charisma and made his image as the unrivaled competitor. Another point is that James never received a standing ovation from the judges, although they never failed to give positive feedback on him in each and every week. My opinion on this is that they may have seen it from the start that he would “slay” every song he’s going to sing. That it would be a step on their pride if they’re going to stand up every time James would “kill” a song. It’s like there’s nothing new if he would have done a performance very well. Best example is when he sang “Heavy Metal”, accompanied with the legendary lead-guitarist Zack Wylde. Maybe they were so overwhelmed they just could not stand up.
And so the unexpected happened, James got eliminated. I actually did not expect it to be this early. I was really hoping for him to win or at least, he would be the runner up but not only the Top 4. What happened here could be, the earlier that James was eliminated, the earlier that most of the viewers realized that he already has a clear direction on his career. Maybe they may have wanted to give chance to the underdogs rather than to a clear winner. Anyway, he did not seem like a contestant. It was like he was a guest superstar on the show. And besides, in my opinion, it gives me a little corny feeling towards a season winner. Say for example, David Cook. When he was in the competition back in Season 7, I was eagerly following each and every of his performance in every week. But when he was declared the winner and the season was over, I was not that a fan anymore.
It was a sad moment when James got eliminated, especially for a fan like me. But I believe that together with passion and hard work, the supremacy of his talent would lead him to a bright future in the world of music as high as his voice can reach. Besides, what the judges would always tend to say, the real battle begins when it is over. American Idol is just a stepping stone and talent-wise, there is nothing more needed for him to prove. Maybe his “big voice” is just too much for the show. The real challenge is how he is going to influence more people, how deep would that influence be, and how long would that influence live.
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