Yay, a forum just for reviews! Greetings, friends! I'm Darci Monet , singer/songwriter/freelance writer and this is my weekly critique of the Idol contestants' performances. I don't bring up what I do for a living to make anyone feel inferior; rather just so you know where I get my opinion at all.
Well. Here goes nuttin, gang. Let's see just how bad this is gonna get. No, Ryan...we're NOT stoked. Really, we're not.
Bucky's up first with "Fat Bottomed Girls". It's probably the ONLY Queen song he could have chosen that had even a chance of working for him. And gee, what a surprise, he's sharp from the first word. I have nothing more to add about his off-key scratchiness; I won't beat a dead horse week after week after week. And even while his performance skills do grow every week, he still never exactly looks comfortable in his own skin, with his own lankiness. I'm not on Randy's page...it was blah at best. Sorry Bucky fans. He should have gone before the top twelve in this fat-bottomed-girl's opinion...and yet he's. still. here.
And now we've got Ace the boy-band-wannabe trying to rock it up. And as I suspected would happen, he doesn't have the breath control to sing this song, but his pitch is pretty good for a change. The arrangement was okay but the energy wasn't. This song engulfed him and squashed his pretty little butt right into the ground. And you know what it is? He didn't have the charisma required to pull that off. Freddie's command of the stage and the way he forced a song into submission with his vocals is something that's just not easily duplicated, if at all. I just don't think Ace could stand up to it.
I just don't know if I can even type the name of the next contestant and song. I've been dreading this all day. Okay Kellie. You did about a thousand times better than I ever anticipated you would. That said, you also skipped all the most difficult parts of the song and burnt yourself out by the time you reached the last couple of lines and gasped through them like you always do in songs where you have to sing with some balls. And you thought I wouldn't notice! I do appreciate that you didn't turn such an anthemic song into a country foot stomper though and thank you indeed for not grinning from ear to ear through your performance, which tells me you got the subject matter even if you don't get Simon's accent. Brownie points for looking like an actual rock chick tonight.
Now we've got Chris with "Innuendo", a song I'm not familiar with. Okay, I just know that no one's going to like this performance but me. I dug it. It was what contemporary rock should be...in-your-face, edgy, almost aggitating...I think it was a very good performance. Is it the most commercial song Queen ever put out and Chris' all time best vocal? Uh...no. But screw that once in awhile. If Chris felt like that song spoke to him and he can get that across to the audience, that's what really matters. So what if the song was INDULGENT, Simon? That's what REAL musicians do...we indulge in our love of music and not just the catchy stuff, but all its parts and counterparts, weird chord structures, unlikely melodies, ethereal lyrics, and on and on. Simon, being musically vacuous, wouldn't get that for one second.
Katharine, who swiped Mandisa's song before the girl's body even had time to cool, is singing "Who Wants To Live Forever" from Highlander. Likely a good choice on her part. Well, that was the first time I have ever FELT something from Katharine...AT LAST!...well, until she started belting and the switch that turns on her "look-how-pretty-I-am" mode got flipped. *sigh* Now...the vocals. Yes, she was pitchy throughout and she throatily blatted out the majority of the notes on those choruses instead of supporting properly and really using that diaphragm to power them out. But this, ladies and gents, is me being nitpicky. It was a good performance, anyway. Definitely the perfect type of song for her and definitely one of the better performances of the night. But I sure would have liked to have heard Mandisa try it...I think it would have been her "Summertime".
Here comes Elliott, who definitely has an option in radio if the whole AI thing doesn't work out! "Somebody To Love" should prove to be an excellent choice for him. Well, I'm slightly disappointed, only in that he sounded almost like an opera singer, a little too stiff vocally; I was wishing he'd have loosened up a bit in his vocal delivery. But man, he gets total kudos for choosing such a tough song to sing and he did a much more than respectable job of pulling it off. Would I have liked him to work the stage some more? Absolutely. But overall, I enjoy Elliott and his oh-so-pure vocals and his utter joy of singing.
Bring back the old Taylor. Aw MAN! What a bummer with the mic stand! BUT WHO CARES???? Man, THAT is the Taylor we've been missing for the last few weeks! He tore that up, threw it down, cleaned everyone's clocks and TOOK THEIR NAMES!!! And altogether now: SIMON'S AN ASS.That was the only star quality performance of the whole night, dude! In fact, I think that was probably the only star quality performance we've seen IN WEEKS. What more does that man want? *beating head against monitor*
And Paris is going to close out the evening. This better be good, cuz who would have wanted to follow that? She's going to be singing "The Show Must Go On", which makes me a little sad, as I still have a vivid picture of an emaciated Freddie from the video in my mind's eye. Okay, sound guy, please ease up the guitar in the background, WE CAN'T HEAR PARIS. And that was just alright . It started out great I thought (sorry Randy, you're wrong) and then it seemed to me to stagnate right where it was and go no further. Her "hey's", "yeah, yeah, yeahs" and gospel giggles weren't enough to bring the song to a climax. But again, kudos to her for performing it like she understood the material and with tons of energy and I thought tonight was the first time she really looked like a star. It's just the same issue I have with Paris each week...her vocals never quite live up to what I expect from her and what she's already proven she can do. That's not at all to say she sang poorly; she just didn't do enough for me.
Alright, so tonight wasn't the complete ulcer-inducing wash I was expecting. And thank the Maker for small favors in that regard. Tops for tonight was Taylor, light-years ahead of everyone else, with Katharine and Chris battling for second, I think. If there's any actual justice in the world though, Bucky, Ace and Kellie will be in the bottom three and any one of them sent home. I doubt highly that's how it will go, though.
Watcha say?
~Darci Monet
Professional vocalist/songwriter/freelance writer Visit my profile! "Any girl can be glamorous, all you have to do is stand still and look stupid." ~Hedy Lamarr
Well, at least we agree with Ace and Bucky in the bottom three. The third spot.... eh, I just don't know. I said Katharine, because her performance was boring compared to Kellie's. But, it really doesn't matter. I think that Ace, or Bucky, should leave tonight.
Great review, Darci.... as usual.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
I was surprised Bucky left last night...I thought we were going to be stuck with him for a few more weeks! I'm not exactly crying, though.
~Darci Monet
Professional vocalist/songwriter/freelance writer Visit my profile! "Any girl can be glamorous, all you have to do is stand still and look stupid." ~Hedy Lamarr
I thought for sure it would be Ace. Personally, I know they all are going but one at some point, so it was not that huge to me. I'm rooting for Taylor to take the crown.
Greetings, friends! I'm Darci Monet , singer/songwriter/freelance writer and this is my weekly critique of the Idol contestants' performances. I don't bring up what I do for a living to make anyone feel inferior; rather just so you know where I get my opinion at all. 
04-12-2006 05:43 AM
