| Tonight’s theme is Songs of the 21st Century. Wow. Now, here is an opportunity for the contestants to sing songs from the last six years. This is where I would expect to see the contestants jump on the wagon, pick a song that they loved and knew very well, and sing the song in a way that would blow the whole contest out of the water. I would loved to see one of them sing a song that would forever define American Idol Season 5. Singing Songs of the 21st Century very much created this chance. Who would seize the moment?
LISA singing “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson - You can say what you want, but Kelly Clarkson is a pretty awesome singer. And, I do mean awesome. So awesome, in fact, that no one can sing this song in a million years and do it justice. That being said, Lisa started out well. She had a nice tone at the beginning, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was when she modulated at the key change that the song was a bit out of her range. I heard her voice straining more than once. Lisa has continuously made the mistake of choosing songs that are too old for her, and she was unable to communicate the pain, anger, and anguish that just the words to this song demand. Going first may not be beneficial for her at all.
KELLIE singing “Suds in the Bucket” by Sara Evans - See, tonight I dozed off briefly, but I had the timer on the television set for 7:10 p.m. so that it would automatically come on and wake me up. Needless to say, this was the song I woke up to. For Kellie, whose personality has people over, this song was so very wrong. Though her voice isn’t the greatest, she has in the past sang that either enhanced her voice or allowed her to show her fun disposition. That was not the case tonight. Hopefully, her fans are forgiving, and she’ll make it through to next week.
ACE singing “Drops of Jupiter” by Train - . I always forget that no matter how long they’ve been doing this, the contestants are probably nervous every time they perform. I noticed just how badly Ace’s hand was shaking at the end of this song. I really wanted Ace to sing something by the Backstreet Boys or Boyz II Men or NSync, simply because that’s the kind of sound he has, and I think he would do well. However, I know that he could care less what I think. Anyway, Simon said that this song came across as a bit “karaoke,” but after the first two performances, while it wasn’t superb, it sounded pretty good. Ace is now taking me back to Week One when he sang “Father Figure.” His voice has a nice, smooth sound to it when he sings the right song. He’s got potential.
TAYLOR singing “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne - Loved the black jacket! Paired with his hair, that does amazing things for his look. When the camera first panned across Taylor from the back, it looked as though he had that harmonica. I started to get excited but...alas, tonight was not the night! Come ON! Stop teasing me! He’s got to play it at least once. Now Taylor has definitely got soul in his voice. It sounds so heartfelt. (Ahhh...there’s George Huff...another soulful one). I was not at all familiar with this song, but if Taylor made this kind of record, he’s got a fan in me. I could imagine him singing that to a sold-out house! Yeah!
Ryan, that was a good one. First time I saw Simon blush!
MANDISA singing “Wanna Praise You (Shackles)” by Mary Mary - Mandisa has a great voice, there’s no doubt about that, and Mary Mary just happens to be a favorite group of mine. Kudos to her for falling back to the genre where she got her start and rocking it out. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with singing a gospel song on the show. Case in point - Nadia Turner rocked the house with “The Power of Love” last season. But sometimes, the problem lies in the chance that you really can’t connect with the audience, especially if they are not familiar with the song. All that aside, the vocal was extremely good, and I have come to expect that from her every time.
CHRIS singing “What If” by Creed - Man, I LOVE Creed, and I am STILL a HUGE fan of CHRIS DAUGHTRY! Was that loud enough? Chris is a rocker. I understand and greatly appreciate that. His voice is...at this point, pleasantly undescribable. But, I can’t help but wonder how he would sound singing Michael McDonald or Lionel Richie. I think he would do exceptionally well. At the very end of this song, his voice was very flat.
KATHARINE singing “The Voice Within” by Christina Aguilera - Katharine’s voice is tight. There’s no denying that. But, I think that Christina Aguilera has such a distinct and amazing and awe-inspiring voice. She’s one of those artists that it’s best to stay away from because you’ll almost always come up lacking. It was pretty bad because Christina’s rendition was so well-sung and fresh in my mind, that I could still hear her over-powering Katharine. I caught it when Simon said “it was almost, almost as good as Christina.” I’ll take this performance, but I prefer her singing Barbra and Ella.
BUCKY singing “Real Good Man” by Tim McGraw - I just love Bucky’s down-to-earth way of talking. It’s comforting. And, you know what? I was loving Bucky tonight. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was in the bottom two last week, but he stepped up out of that pit tonight. You can certainly tell when the muscial style is one that he is comfortable with because he relaxes, sings better, and utilizes more of the stage. He had some new dance moves tonight, too.
PARIS singing “Work it Out” by Beyonce - Paris did Beyonce justice tonight, and I enjoyed it. I did, however, get the feeling that she was just performing - kind of like something you’d see at family gatherings or maybe something she’d do when she’s goofing off with her friends. Throughout the song, I just kept laughing and saying, “She’s so cute.” I guess that is just one of the downfalls of being so young. However, all of that aside, she did help to lift the mood a little bit tonight. Going next to last definitely may have worked in her favor.
ELLIOTT singing “I Don’t Wanna Be” by Gavin DeGraw - I worried a little bit when I saw the song because it seemed to be a bit outside of his vocal style, and like he said, my Bo Bice did it last year. However, I was surprised, and pleasantly so. Elliott jammed it out tonight, and I loved the arrangement. It was a little bit hip hop and a whole lot wonderful! My only criticism was that the dancing didn't look all that natural, kind of like he was counting beats. But, you know what? I didn't care. It’s going to be really hard for Elliott to do wrong in my eyes, especially since his voice is so phenomenal. I still look at him and am amazed every, single time at his vocal quality. Oh yeah, did I mention that I was also a fan of his?
So, tonight was slightly disappointing for me, and just when you think you can pick out the front-runners, someone else pops out of the wood work, so here are my vocal picks just based on tonight:
Top: Elliott, Katharine, and Taylor
Middle: Paris, Mandisa, Chris, and Bucky
Bottom: Kellie, Lisa, and Ace
My overall top 5 : Chris, Taylor, Mandisa, Katharine, and Elliott | |
I loved your review. I think you had a great point about people being nervous. I was also hoping that Ace would go with a Backstreet Boys song. It really would have helped him.
The more the merrier. I love having others to talk to, about AI... and to read their opinions.