American Idol...latest thoughts...
Last night on American Idol, the contestants performed #1 songs from Billboard. Miley Cyrus served as mentor to the group. A lot of people would argue that at 17 she may not exactly be the ideal candidate to serve as a mentor but in all fairness she is a successful musician and, let's face it, a good number of the candidates are around her age. I'm certain Aaron and Katie, for example, would be far more able to relate to her than a fifty year old music legend who has achieved the majority of their success prior to the invention of the CD.
My take on the performances (in order of performance):
Lee - I can say unabashedly that I can't remember Lee at all from qualifying but after the past two weeks he has really made a name for himself with some memorable performances. Last night he sang The Letter by The Boxtops, a song that I do enjoy. His take on it, although somewhat Vegas-y, was at least memorable and his vocals were spot on. II truly believe Lee is underrated and is one of the top five if not top three performers this season.
Paige - it didn't bode well for her when she sang Against All Odds. I loathe that song so it would take a miracle performance for me to like it. She bombed. She had zero personality and zero vocal range. I zoned out after the first minute of her progressively degrading performance. I have her in my bottom three.
Tim - singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love - yes he was horrible but unlike Paige, he was entertaining. He tried to dance, err, move around the stage, and interact with the audience but it was epic fail. Still his FAIL was so bad I had to stay up to watch it on the rebroadcast. It was so bad it was funny. He must stay around at least another week. Unlike Paige who bored me to tears at least I'd watch him perform to see how bad he can get. He's fun.
Aaron - again not another one of my favourite songs, I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing *yawn*, so basically I wasn't too enthusiastic. Further, the boy had laryngitis. This song was way too big for him. He played it down well enough but the powerful vocals are needed to really make this song work. He didn't do a bad job, he just didn't do as great a job as this song demands. Still, he was likeable and doesn't have a hideaous voice so I'd keep him around for another week.
Crystal - singing Joplin. Oh there's a surprise. Now I don't want to criticize her because anyone in their right mind has to admit she is the best of the lot by far but I do want to say that there is just something missing from her performance. Perhaps the best way to put it is that I'd listen to her music for hours but I don't think I'd ever go to one of her concerts.
Big Mike - when he sang that first line of When A Man Loves A Woman I truly expected it to be one of if not the best performances of the night. It wasn't. It was just mediocre. I love Big Mike. He's in my top five, period.
Andrew - BUTCHERED one of the classic songs of all time - I Heard it Through the Grapevine. As much as I despised Paige's performance, I hope Andrew goes home this week.
Katie - sang Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry EXACTLY like Fergie...okay well maybe not quite as good as Fergie but still a good job.
Casey - sang The Power of Love EXACTLY like Huey Lewis. Casey seems to have a knack for selecting songs that he CAN sing. I'll give him that credit. He was great but he just doesn't deliver more than what is required for him to get by. Too bad. Still, he's in my top three.
Didi - attempted to sing Linda Ronstadt's Your're No Good. And she wasn't...good, that is. I have her in the last spot of my bottom three.
Siobhan - sang one of my all time favourite songs, Superstition, by Stevie Wonder. She was good but did not blow me away. I actually think she is overrated. I'd probably keep her in my top five for now but just barely.
We'll see how the results goes tonight.
Thanks to last night's episode of LOST I will never be able to watch a Tenerife match without thinking of Richard Alpert. Of course it also reminded me of how much I'd like to visit the Canary Islands. BTW, I know a lot of Spanish LOST fans who probably loved that ep since no translation was required.
My take on the performances (in order of performance):
Lee - I can say unabashedly that I can't remember Lee at all from qualifying but after the past two weeks he has really made a name for himself with some memorable performances. Last night he sang The Letter by The Boxtops, a song that I do enjoy. His take on it, although somewhat Vegas-y, was at least memorable and his vocals were spot on. II truly believe Lee is underrated and is one of the top five if not top three performers this season.
Paige - it didn't bode well for her when she sang Against All Odds. I loathe that song so it would take a miracle performance for me to like it. She bombed. She had zero personality and zero vocal range. I zoned out after the first minute of her progressively degrading performance. I have her in my bottom three.
Tim - singing Crazy Little Thing Called Love - yes he was horrible but unlike Paige, he was entertaining. He tried to dance, err, move around the stage, and interact with the audience but it was epic fail. Still his FAIL was so bad I had to stay up to watch it on the rebroadcast. It was so bad it was funny. He must stay around at least another week. Unlike Paige who bored me to tears at least I'd watch him perform to see how bad he can get. He's fun.
Aaron - again not another one of my favourite songs, I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing *yawn*, so basically I wasn't too enthusiastic. Further, the boy had laryngitis. This song was way too big for him. He played it down well enough but the powerful vocals are needed to really make this song work. He didn't do a bad job, he just didn't do as great a job as this song demands. Still, he was likeable and doesn't have a hideaous voice so I'd keep him around for another week.
Crystal - singing Joplin. Oh there's a surprise. Now I don't want to criticize her because anyone in their right mind has to admit she is the best of the lot by far but I do want to say that there is just something missing from her performance. Perhaps the best way to put it is that I'd listen to her music for hours but I don't think I'd ever go to one of her concerts.
Big Mike - when he sang that first line of When A Man Loves A Woman I truly expected it to be one of if not the best performances of the night. It wasn't. It was just mediocre. I love Big Mike. He's in my top five, period.
Andrew - BUTCHERED one of the classic songs of all time - I Heard it Through the Grapevine. As much as I despised Paige's performance, I hope Andrew goes home this week.
Katie - sang Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry EXACTLY like Fergie...okay well maybe not quite as good as Fergie but still a good job.
Casey - sang The Power of Love EXACTLY like Huey Lewis. Casey seems to have a knack for selecting songs that he CAN sing. I'll give him that credit. He was great but he just doesn't deliver more than what is required for him to get by. Too bad. Still, he's in my top three.
Didi - attempted to sing Linda Ronstadt's Your're No Good. And she wasn't...good, that is. I have her in the last spot of my bottom three.
Siobhan - sang one of my all time favourite songs, Superstition, by Stevie Wonder. She was good but did not blow me away. I actually think she is overrated. I'd probably keep her in my top five for now but just barely.
We'll see how the results goes tonight.
Thanks to last night's episode of LOST I will never be able to watch a Tenerife match without thinking of Richard Alpert. Of course it also reminded me of how much I'd like to visit the Canary Islands. BTW, I know a lot of Spanish LOST fans who probably loved that ep since no translation was required.