One thing I’ll say about Blake - after seeing his homecoming video, I’ve decided that I truly like the guy. He didn’t seem overly ego-centric or overly humble or at all fake - just a nice guy who hit the big time and is having a gas. And the love he showed for his dad, and his willingness to hug him and give him a peck on the cheek in public just says something very good about his character. And notice that when he and Melinda were standing there, Blake called her a ‘machine’, and fully expected to go home. And to his credit, he actually looked a bit angry when Melinda got the book, as in, “Are you people deaf? She’s way better than I am!” He seemed truly upset that she was voted off. So… I like Blake.
Melinda should have won this thing. She’s maybe the best singer the show’s ever had (from what I’ve watched of it), and I disagree with those who say she has no emotion - she knows exactly how to sell a song. I’ll buy her CD, for sure. If there’s still room in the music business for a new Tina Turner, Melinda will do well. If not, well… She’s from Nashville, and there’s a big, big musical scene there. She’ll find a niche somewhere, now that people know who she is and what she can do. She won’t be flipping burgers in five years, that’s for sure.
But given that she didn’t win, I’m at least happy that the final two appear to be decent people. No head-cases or ego trips. Just a couple of young people having the time of their lives. So that’s cool.
It remains to be seen if Blake can put together a career with his talent. I agree that he’s not quite the singer the other two were, but I think he could easily put on the best stage show of the final three. And they can do magic in the studio to remove whatever imperfections he’s got. His voice is somewhat thin, so they’ll double-track it and put some backing vocals behind it. If he goes a little out of tune here and there, they’ll auto-tune it out of existence. So he can make a good sounding record, and put on a great show on tour. That could be big. So what remains is whether he can come up with an album of compelling songs that are both radio-friendly but don’t make him come off as a musical lightweight. He’s got to find a little more edge than he’s shown so far.
I don’t know about Jordin. Great singer, but aren’t there a million just like her? And her taste seems to be more towards older torch songs and power ballads. That puts her in some seriously tough company. I hate Celine Dion with a passion, but she can sing amazingly well. Put Jordin in the record bin with Celine, Mariah Carey, Beyonce’, Whitney, and the other pop divas, and does she really stand out? I don’t know. Unless she puts out a CD of stellar songs, I probably won’t listen to it.
