Ameircan Idol running diary: 4/25
Here we go with the latest semi-live blog of “American Idol”. Looks like this week we have Andrea Bocelli. I’ve heard of him, but I’m not a big classical fan. Sounds like he’s got a great voice, though. And it’s a shame they didn’t mention that he’s blind, because people might wonder why he never opens his eyes. David Foster is the producer this week who’s telling the idols how much they suck before the performances. About time someone didn’t sugarcoat everything they do.
Katharine McPhee: “I Have Nothing”
I hate it when people do Whitney Houston songs because it’s so cliché, but she’s allowed. Unfortunately you’ve got to have a hell of a lower register for a song like this, and she’s a bit flat sometimes. On the bright side, she’s absolutely nailing the chorus. And the bridge is fantastic, making her dad cry again. All in all a little shaky, but the good parts were far more memorable than the bad parts. Randy of course can’t tolerate it when someone sings Whitney Houston, and he brings out the old “she’s one of the best singers in the known world” line. They’re all tearing her apart, and I don’t get it. I thought it was good.
Elliott Yamin: “A Song For You”
He’s been waiting his whole life to sing this song onstage, according to him, so hopefully he doesn’t screw it up. I don’t know what this song is. Let’s have a listen, shall we? Again, he’s taking a difficult song and making it look like it’s nothing. He really excels at doing these highly stylized, if sometimes little-known songs and just blowing them out of the water. I loved it. I may just have to check out more from this Donnie Hathaway guy. Randy didn’t like the arrangement because it was confusing, but it was freaking piano, and I really liked it. Paula is in tears and Simon is laughing at her. Hilarious. But they’re all showing Elliott love tonight, which makes me happy because he’s always been one of my favorites this year. In fact, if I could pick the winner myself, I’d pick Elliott.
Kellie Pickler: “Unchained Melody”
Listening to her is making me dumber. She says she’s doing the “Leann Rimes twist”, but there is no twist really. She does a carbon copy of the Righteous Brothers. But back to Kellie, if my prediction holds true, this song will kill her. The arrangement does her no favors, as it starts in the middle of the freaking first verse. Also she’s flat as a tire with a nail in it. Not to mention that David Foster mentioned in the pre-song vignette that if the song is done without passion, it’s very boring. We are seeing that his statement is absolutely true. I’m getting nothing here. That was horrendous. The judges are killing her, and rightfully so. Hopefully…hopefully people don’t vote for the poor little hick girl who got ripped by the judges. Because she should be finished. It was a nice run while it lasted, and she could be entertaining at times, but it should really be over now.
Paris Bennett: “The Way We Were”
Streisand? Seriously? The theme is love songs, and this is what we get? Ugh. But let’s see how it turns out before I get too harsh. She hasn’t even started yet.
Okay. Perhaps I was a bit rash. She’s in the lower range of her voice that I really enjoy with her. Maybe it’s not Streisand’s songs that bother me so much as it is Streisand. Imagine that. See, the difference between this and Kellie’s performance is all in the emotion. This girl is seventeen years old, and still manages a truckload more passion for the song than Pickler dreamed of. Pretty good, but not outstanding. Sounds like the judges feel the same way.
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A side note here…I’ve mentioned that I TiVo this show and skip through all the banter, but I catch a little of Simon and Ryan’s banter as I’m typing here. It’s stupid, and the first word that comes to mind is “catty”. Pretty ridiculous.
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Taylor Hicks: “Just Once”
Bocelli says he probably picked the best song for his voice, and I’m tending to agree. He started off a touch flat, but it looks like he’s pulling out of that. And the personality element with him is absolutely priceless. That and the fact that he absolutely nails every big part of the song makes this an enjoyable performance. That having been said, he was still a bit flat sometimes. Randy is thinking maybe it’s just him tonight, thinking that everyone sucks, and it is indeed just him. I don’t know where his ears are sometimes. Of course, now that Simon is agreeing, maybe it’s just me that thought it was a solid performance. Guess we’ll see. Actually no we won’t. No way people aren’t voting for this guy.
Chris Daughtry: “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman”
I’m not a huge Bryan Adams fan, but I like Chris. And it looks like they’re teaching
him the mechanics of singing in the vignette, which is helpful. Gotta love the two classical guitarists to start out the song, by the way. I don’t have too much to say here. He’s in tune the whole song, but the song itself doesn’t do too much for me. You know who does like the song, though? Women. And that’s the important part. He’s sailing this week.
Predictions:
Bottom three: Kellie, Paris, and Katharine. I would love it if Katharine wasn’t in the bottom three, but who else do I put here? Everyone is good enough at this point that (if the right person is eliminated tomorrow) the top five will be a total crapshoot.
Going home: Kellie. Honestly I fear that it will be Paris. I like her a lot sometimes and she does nothing for me at other times, and I don’t think she has the fan base that Pickler has. But I have to go with predicting Kellie out of principle. She was the only one that couldn’t be classified as “good” tonight, and she was far, far from good. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
Katharine McPhee: “I Have Nothing”
I hate it when people do Whitney Houston songs because it’s so cliché, but she’s allowed. Unfortunately you’ve got to have a hell of a lower register for a song like this, and she’s a bit flat sometimes. On the bright side, she’s absolutely nailing the chorus. And the bridge is fantastic, making her dad cry again. All in all a little shaky, but the good parts were far more memorable than the bad parts. Randy of course can’t tolerate it when someone sings Whitney Houston, and he brings out the old “she’s one of the best singers in the known world” line. They’re all tearing her apart, and I don’t get it. I thought it was good.
Elliott Yamin: “A Song For You”
He’s been waiting his whole life to sing this song onstage, according to him, so hopefully he doesn’t screw it up. I don’t know what this song is. Let’s have a listen, shall we? Again, he’s taking a difficult song and making it look like it’s nothing. He really excels at doing these highly stylized, if sometimes little-known songs and just blowing them out of the water. I loved it. I may just have to check out more from this Donnie Hathaway guy. Randy didn’t like the arrangement because it was confusing, but it was freaking piano, and I really liked it. Paula is in tears and Simon is laughing at her. Hilarious. But they’re all showing Elliott love tonight, which makes me happy because he’s always been one of my favorites this year. In fact, if I could pick the winner myself, I’d pick Elliott.
Kellie Pickler: “Unchained Melody”
Listening to her is making me dumber. She says she’s doing the “Leann Rimes twist”, but there is no twist really. She does a carbon copy of the Righteous Brothers. But back to Kellie, if my prediction holds true, this song will kill her. The arrangement does her no favors, as it starts in the middle of the freaking first verse. Also she’s flat as a tire with a nail in it. Not to mention that David Foster mentioned in the pre-song vignette that if the song is done without passion, it’s very boring. We are seeing that his statement is absolutely true. I’m getting nothing here. That was horrendous. The judges are killing her, and rightfully so. Hopefully…hopefully people don’t vote for the poor little hick girl who got ripped by the judges. Because she should be finished. It was a nice run while it lasted, and she could be entertaining at times, but it should really be over now.
Paris Bennett: “The Way We Were”
Streisand? Seriously? The theme is love songs, and this is what we get? Ugh. But let’s see how it turns out before I get too harsh. She hasn’t even started yet.
Okay. Perhaps I was a bit rash. She’s in the lower range of her voice that I really enjoy with her. Maybe it’s not Streisand’s songs that bother me so much as it is Streisand. Imagine that. See, the difference between this and Kellie’s performance is all in the emotion. This girl is seventeen years old, and still manages a truckload more passion for the song than Pickler dreamed of. Pretty good, but not outstanding. Sounds like the judges feel the same way.
-
A side note here…I’ve mentioned that I TiVo this show and skip through all the banter, but I catch a little of Simon and Ryan’s banter as I’m typing here. It’s stupid, and the first word that comes to mind is “catty”. Pretty ridiculous.
-
Taylor Hicks: “Just Once”
Bocelli says he probably picked the best song for his voice, and I’m tending to agree. He started off a touch flat, but it looks like he’s pulling out of that. And the personality element with him is absolutely priceless. That and the fact that he absolutely nails every big part of the song makes this an enjoyable performance. That having been said, he was still a bit flat sometimes. Randy is thinking maybe it’s just him tonight, thinking that everyone sucks, and it is indeed just him. I don’t know where his ears are sometimes. Of course, now that Simon is agreeing, maybe it’s just me that thought it was a solid performance. Guess we’ll see. Actually no we won’t. No way people aren’t voting for this guy.
Chris Daughtry: “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman”
I’m not a huge Bryan Adams fan, but I like Chris. And it looks like they’re teaching
him the mechanics of singing in the vignette, which is helpful. Gotta love the two classical guitarists to start out the song, by the way. I don’t have too much to say here. He’s in tune the whole song, but the song itself doesn’t do too much for me. You know who does like the song, though? Women. And that’s the important part. He’s sailing this week.
Predictions:
Bottom three: Kellie, Paris, and Katharine. I would love it if Katharine wasn’t in the bottom three, but who else do I put here? Everyone is good enough at this point that (if the right person is eliminated tomorrow) the top five will be a total crapshoot.
Going home: Kellie. Honestly I fear that it will be Paris. I like her a lot sometimes and she does nothing for me at other times, and I don’t think she has the fan base that Pickler has. But I have to go with predicting Kellie out of principle. She was the only one that couldn’t be classified as “good” tonight, and she was far, far from good. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
Tha Docta's two cents. | 10:22 PM
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