American Idol Running Diary: 5/9
Ah, Elvis week. This should be interesting. I’m expecting Chris’ healed vocal chords to help him have a good night, and Taylor will also excel. Note: Priscilla Presley is frighteningly plastic surgeried, as we found in the opening vignette.
Taylor Hicks: “Jailhouse Rock”
Pre: Should fit him pretty well; Tommy Motolla moved the key up half a step, which should really turn out to be a good idea.
During: What is with the hair? I hope everyone doesn’t dress retarded this week. Taylor sounds great, and his dancing is still pleasantly spastic. He lost his earpiece toward the end and still nailed the finish. Impressive.
Post: That was excellent. Hopefully the rest of the show measures up. His style fits Elvis very well. Simon called it a terrible impersonation of Elvis, but I thought it was good because he wasn’t trying to impersonate Elvis.
Chris Daughtry: “Suspicious Minds”
Pre: They’re talking about Chris’ “fan clubs”. This whole conversation is disturbing. I won’t go into detail. This song should be good for him because it’s not one that he has to belt out. He really does well when he just does clean vocals.
During: We’re rocking the hangover sunglasses tonight, and the backdrop is still red, although not on fire this week. That’s at least slightly more pleasant. This song is indeed good for his style, but honestly this has never been one of my favorites from Elvis.
Post: He did it well, but the song itself is just lackluster to me. Randy said the vocal wasn’t great, which I can’t understand. How a producer can be so wrong about pitch sometimes I will never know.
Elliott Yamin: “I Can Dream”
Pre: I don’t know this song, which makes me happy. The problem with songs like “Jailhouse Rock” is that they’re so totally associated with Elvis. This one shouldn’t have that problem.
During: This is great for him. The vibrato was a bit much in the beginning, but he’s totally killing it now. Fantastic. And the ending was absolutely perfect.
Post: Awesome again. Perhaps his best so far. If he can pull out another one like this, he could very well escape elimination this week. I really really liked that. Simon called it the best of the show so far, and I absolutely agree. The nervousness seems to be gone, and he’s picking up his game at the right time.
Katharine McPhee:
Pre: I’m hardly Mr. Blackwell, but her wardrobe has been awful. She could look so much better with better clothes. Anyway, this song should be really interesting. I would not have guessed she’d pick this song.
During: She’s really doing well with this one. Ohhhh! She forgot a lyric. That’s suicide in the early rounds, but she’s earned some points throughout the season, so I don’t it’ll be too bad.
Post: She showed a great range with that song, and I liked it a lot. Simon is saying it was “manic and shrieky”. I’m not sure I agree, but I can see where he’s coming from for sure. I say range, he says shrieks. Potaeto Potahto, if you will.
Taylor Hicks: “In the Ghetto”
Pre: He’s talking about a “magical golf cart ride” with Pricilla Presley. And it’s making me uncomfortable. I don’t know this song, but the title rules. Motolla is telling him to ditch the spaz dance for this one, which is a good idea now and then, like he did with the Beatles song last week.
During: He’s pulling this off well, but it’s hard for me to take a song with this title seriously. Especially with the background singers repeating “In the Ghettoooooo…”. But again, the vocals are solid.
Post: Meh. Pretty good, but honestly the way Motolla was talking, I was expecting more. I think I would have liked it better without the background lyrics. But that’s just one guy’s opinion.
Chris Daughtry: “A Little Less Conversation”
Pre: I dig this song. It’ll be very interesting to see how he pulls this off.
During: Ah, the white man’s overbite. We got a glimpse of it for the first time this season. Luckily Chris has a good lower range, because that’s all it is before the final hook. This is alright, but he’s trying to be too intense, and this isn’t a serious song (to me, anyway). Good ending, though. That wrapped it up well.
Post: Good stuff. Not great, but good. This is a good week. Paula thought it showed personality, and I thought the exact opposite. And Simon agrees with me.
Elliott Yamin: “Trouble”
Pre: Hmmmm. If he does this one well, it’ll do wonders for him. At least if this is the song I’m thinking of. It seems like more of a departure from his usual style, which he needs.
During: I like this a lot, but he should not be smiling during a song with the lyrics “I’m evil”. Oh, man. If he gets voted off this week after these two performances, I call shenanigans. This is great.
Post: Great, great choice. He really should not have smiled during it, and I think that would have helped, but he was perfect. He needed a huge week, and he totally pulled it out.
Katharine McPhee: “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
Pre: I think this is a mistake. This is a great song, but she’s got to make it sound original or it could be bad news for her. Please don’t make me think of UB40. I’m begging here.
During: Her voice is superb as always, but she’s over-enunciating. This song is about being weak. You’ve got to show that I think. No smiles. It’s about helplessness. She’s not showing that.
Post: She had some good runs in there, but she actually did have a couple of pitch problems this week. Also, the runs weren’t needed. The song should have been more simple and heartbreaking. I think her confidence was wavering, really. It seemed like she was throwing all the runs in there to make up for something when she didn’t need to.
Predictions:
Instead of the bottom three (since there’s only four left), I’ll just rank the contestants, with number four being my prediction to go home. Before this week I had Elliott on the bottom. Not so anymore. In fact, I had Katharine McPhee winning the thing last week, and this show totally flipped my rankings on their head. In any other week, Katharine would cruise through. But now that it’s down to a stellar final four, she’s going to have problems. Her only savior could be the sympathy vote, but honestly I don’t think she’s going to get it. Everyone is great at this point, and any one of these four could win in a season prior. But all of that is moot. Here are the rankings:
Elliott had a huge week when he needed it, and Katharine choked. That’s the harsh reality. It remains to be seen whether the voters will agree (or admit to the truth).
Taylor Hicks: “Jailhouse Rock”
Pre: Should fit him pretty well; Tommy Motolla moved the key up half a step, which should really turn out to be a good idea.
During: What is with the hair? I hope everyone doesn’t dress retarded this week. Taylor sounds great, and his dancing is still pleasantly spastic. He lost his earpiece toward the end and still nailed the finish. Impressive.
Post: That was excellent. Hopefully the rest of the show measures up. His style fits Elvis very well. Simon called it a terrible impersonation of Elvis, but I thought it was good because he wasn’t trying to impersonate Elvis.
Chris Daughtry: “Suspicious Minds”
Pre: They’re talking about Chris’ “fan clubs”. This whole conversation is disturbing. I won’t go into detail. This song should be good for him because it’s not one that he has to belt out. He really does well when he just does clean vocals.
During: We’re rocking the hangover sunglasses tonight, and the backdrop is still red, although not on fire this week. That’s at least slightly more pleasant. This song is indeed good for his style, but honestly this has never been one of my favorites from Elvis.
Post: He did it well, but the song itself is just lackluster to me. Randy said the vocal wasn’t great, which I can’t understand. How a producer can be so wrong about pitch sometimes I will never know.
Elliott Yamin: “I Can Dream”
Pre: I don’t know this song, which makes me happy. The problem with songs like “Jailhouse Rock” is that they’re so totally associated with Elvis. This one shouldn’t have that problem.
During: This is great for him. The vibrato was a bit much in the beginning, but he’s totally killing it now. Fantastic. And the ending was absolutely perfect.
Post: Awesome again. Perhaps his best so far. If he can pull out another one like this, he could very well escape elimination this week. I really really liked that. Simon called it the best of the show so far, and I absolutely agree. The nervousness seems to be gone, and he’s picking up his game at the right time.
Katharine McPhee:
Pre: I’m hardly Mr. Blackwell, but her wardrobe has been awful. She could look so much better with better clothes. Anyway, this song should be really interesting. I would not have guessed she’d pick this song.
During: She’s really doing well with this one. Ohhhh! She forgot a lyric. That’s suicide in the early rounds, but she’s earned some points throughout the season, so I don’t it’ll be too bad.
Post: She showed a great range with that song, and I liked it a lot. Simon is saying it was “manic and shrieky”. I’m not sure I agree, but I can see where he’s coming from for sure. I say range, he says shrieks. Potaeto Potahto, if you will.
Taylor Hicks: “In the Ghetto”
Pre: He’s talking about a “magical golf cart ride” with Pricilla Presley. And it’s making me uncomfortable. I don’t know this song, but the title rules. Motolla is telling him to ditch the spaz dance for this one, which is a good idea now and then, like he did with the Beatles song last week.
During: He’s pulling this off well, but it’s hard for me to take a song with this title seriously. Especially with the background singers repeating “In the Ghettoooooo…”. But again, the vocals are solid.
Post: Meh. Pretty good, but honestly the way Motolla was talking, I was expecting more. I think I would have liked it better without the background lyrics. But that’s just one guy’s opinion.
Chris Daughtry: “A Little Less Conversation”
Pre: I dig this song. It’ll be very interesting to see how he pulls this off.
During: Ah, the white man’s overbite. We got a glimpse of it for the first time this season. Luckily Chris has a good lower range, because that’s all it is before the final hook. This is alright, but he’s trying to be too intense, and this isn’t a serious song (to me, anyway). Good ending, though. That wrapped it up well.
Post: Good stuff. Not great, but good. This is a good week. Paula thought it showed personality, and I thought the exact opposite. And Simon agrees with me.
Elliott Yamin: “Trouble”
Pre: Hmmmm. If he does this one well, it’ll do wonders for him. At least if this is the song I’m thinking of. It seems like more of a departure from his usual style, which he needs.
During: I like this a lot, but he should not be smiling during a song with the lyrics “I’m evil”. Oh, man. If he gets voted off this week after these two performances, I call shenanigans. This is great.
Post: Great, great choice. He really should not have smiled during it, and I think that would have helped, but he was perfect. He needed a huge week, and he totally pulled it out.
Katharine McPhee: “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
Pre: I think this is a mistake. This is a great song, but she’s got to make it sound original or it could be bad news for her. Please don’t make me think of UB40. I’m begging here.
During: Her voice is superb as always, but she’s over-enunciating. This song is about being weak. You’ve got to show that I think. No smiles. It’s about helplessness. She’s not showing that.
Post: She had some good runs in there, but she actually did have a couple of pitch problems this week. Also, the runs weren’t needed. The song should have been more simple and heartbreaking. I think her confidence was wavering, really. It seemed like she was throwing all the runs in there to make up for something when she didn’t need to.
Predictions:
Instead of the bottom three (since there’s only four left), I’ll just rank the contestants, with number four being my prediction to go home. Before this week I had Elliott on the bottom. Not so anymore. In fact, I had Katharine McPhee winning the thing last week, and this show totally flipped my rankings on their head. In any other week, Katharine would cruise through. But now that it’s down to a stellar final four, she’s going to have problems. Her only savior could be the sympathy vote, but honestly I don’t think she’s going to get it. Everyone is great at this point, and any one of these four could win in a season prior. But all of that is moot. Here are the rankings:
- Taylor Hicks
- Elliott Yamin
- Chris Daughtry
- Katharine McPhee
Elliott had a huge week when he needed it, and Katharine choked. That’s the harsh reality. It remains to be seen whether the voters will agree (or admit to the truth).
Tha Docta's two cents. | 9:57 PM
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