There was a rather Meatloaf-esque quality to Sundance there, hmm. Nice to see him redeem himself after weeks of suck, but with the intro video I don’t feel at all bad if America sends him back home to be with that baby.
Aw man…all I could think on that dedication was that Sundance knew he was VFTW and he just wanted to be home. But ya know what? That was enjoyable! Despite the hair that makes me ill.
Sundance’s voice reminded me of someone and I just figured out who – John Fogarty. i bet he can blow the doors off some CCR.
I’d pick Pedro and AJ to hit the bricks.
Nick Pedro is toast. I’m having a hard time deciding who else will go.
Was I too far from my TV or did Sundance’s kid look just like his daddy?
Yeup. I don’t know how his wife passed that head without turning herself inside out.
The rundown:
[ol]
[li]Chris S.[/li][li]Chris R.[/li][li]Blake[/li][li]Sundance[/li][li]Jared[/li][li]Phil[/li][li]Nick[/li][li]Brandon[/li][li]A.J.[/li][li]Sanjaya[/li][/ol]
Note to Jared: Dedicating Let’s Get It On to your mother is just fucking disturbing, dude.
OK, sorry, I’m doing this from notes because I started late (thank you, TiVo – 1½ hours, down to 42 minutes!). I didn’t listen to a lot of stuff the judges had to say, but what I did hear frightened me because I agreed with Randy a lot, which almost never happens, because I usually have no frakkin’ idea what the heck he’s talking about.
First, though, a question: What the crap? All the old songs this week? Did we time-travel to Vegas in 1962 over the weekend or something? I like them, don’t get me wrong, but … ?? I’m very confused. What is this show doing to me? I think 60 hours of “Idol” a week is giving me brain damage or something.
Anyway, here goes nothin’:
[ul]
[li]Phil - “Missing You” - Very adequate cover, from a man with a horrifyingly shiny alien head - seriously, I think he’s quite good, but I just can’t get past that dome of his. He should at least do something with those eyebrows if his head is going to be so big and glisteny.[/li][li]Jared - “Let’s Get It On” - Worst of the night, for me - I really like the suit he was wearing, but I think he was awfully flat, and I’m not really crazy about what he did to this poor Marvin Gaye song. As Simon is wont to say, this song is a little bit “big” for him.[/li][li]AJ - “Feelin’ Good” - I actually really liked this performance, but it left me a little bit shellshocked: why does he sound exactly like Tracey Chapman? I like Tracey Chapman, and I actually think this was a good performance, but it was weird somehow. Like, Peter Brady before his voice changed, or something.[/li][li]Sanjaya - “Steppin’ Out” - As Randy said, I thought this was very much like a high school talent show performance. I found the entire experience very strange, like he didn’t listen to the words he was singing. Wearing a hat doesn’t mean he’s “dressed up.” And I didn’t care for the ponytail, not one bit.[/li][li]Chris Sligh - “Trouble” - I don’t know this song, even though everyone is saying Taylor Hicks sang it last year. I don’t know if this was good or not. His voice is good, but his diction sounded lispy and mumbly to me. I would really love to hear Sligh sing “The Old Apartment” by BNL – he would rock the shit out of that, I think.[/li][li]Nick - “Fever” - One of my all-time favorite songs, and another good but confusing performance. I loved the smoky sound of his voice, but … look, I’m an alto, and I couldn’t sing that whole song in that key. I can’t even figure out what voice part that would be in choir. Tenor?[/li][li]Blake - “Virtual Insanity” - This Jamiroquai song is one I never thought I’d hear on “Idol.” Loved it. I have this song on my iPod, so I got a little thrill from that. His diction is very impressive – I understood every word, even though I’m not sure they were all exactly right – but I wonder: what is he doing here? I almost think he’s a ringer.[/li][li]Brandon - “Time After Time” - Such a very, very handsome young man, and I liked this performance a lot. I agree with him, that you don’t need to oversing a song to sound good. This is not the kind of showstopping number that gets you a lot of attention on this show, but I like things to be understated sometimes, so I approve.[/li][li]Chris R. - “Geek In The Pink” - Another song I have on my iPod ( I -heart- Jason Mraz!), and another unusual but good choice for this show. He definitely knows who his target voting demographic is, assuming that girls 14-29 have any idea what song that just was. (I almost didn’t, until the end.)[/li][li]Sundance - “Mustang Sally” - I thought the backup singers sounded better than Sundance, but I thought he was OK. Not sure whether he will be safe or not, but I thought he was better than at least two people tonight, so I guess we’ll see. I would really like to hear him do something even bigger, but I can’t at this very moment think of what.[/li][/ul]
Hmm … on review, it looks like I am getting a different read on a lot of these performances than the rest of you. Maybe I do have brain damage. But, at least I know how to spell “Jamiroquai” and “Jason Mraz.” I’ll take it. 
Not only that but Phil dedicated “I Ain’t Missin’ You At All” to the troops in Iraq. Way to support the team there, dude.
So, so true.
I liked almost everyone tonight. I don’t really like Chris Richardson, though I do like Jason Mraz. He should have gone for “The Remedy.”
I didn’t like AJ last week, but I did this week. I think everyone was greatly improved, except for Sanjaya. He was boring last week, and this week just seemed so timid and out of his league. I think he has potential, but he’s just coming off as too young.
I guess I don’t think Blake was improved because I really liked him last week and this week maybe a hair less. I don’t think I could tell the difference between Blake and Chris R. without nametags.
The song very much means the opposite.
Especially since she was there tonight.
Irrelevant.
Most of these boys need to learn how to get some pizzazz/oomph/feeling/soul/punch into their songs. Doesn’t matter if it’s a slow, sentimental ballad or a frenetic, screaming shouter, something has to show it’s being sung by a human, not a machine. Sanjaya, bless his heart, is the worst offender. He has one mode of expression: lullaby. And his tepid, soft, bland renditions do indeed tend to induce sleep. And I never expected to be bored by “Fever,” but Nick went beyond my expectations. :rolleyes:
This is probably a hijack but anyway, I found this list of the 12 most overdone songs on Idol. Do we agree or have others that should be on the list instead?
- ‘Open Arms’ by Journey
- ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder
- ‘Let’s Stay Together’ by Al Green
- ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by Queen
- ‘I’m Every Woman’ by Chaka Khan
- ‘One Last Cry’ by Brian McKnight
- ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ by R. Kelly
- ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ by Stevie Wonder
- ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ by Elton John
- ‘I Have Nothing’ by Whitney Houston
- ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers
- ‘Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)’ by Phil Collins
I think Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” should replace either “Superstition” or “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. After tonight, “Time After Time” may need a spot on the list too. And “Careless Whisper” may not quite be overdone, it’s more like it should never be done.
I’m going with Hal Briston’s list. I liked the top four a lot. The rest were just bland and forgettable, for the most part.
rockle: Yes, Taylor Hicks sang Ray LaMontagne’s song “Trouble” because that guy is one of his favorite singers. I have the CD it’s on. As I recall, T.H. sang it pretty well, but I liked Sligh’s version even more.
“Wiping your weepin’ eyes”.
Again, I’ll write this without reading the rest of the thread first, in order to keep my reactions honest and peer-pressure free.* Here are my initial reactions:
If I were the only one voting, Sanjaya and Brandon would be packing their toothbrushes. Sanjaya has a nice, soft, quiet voice, but Idol only respects belters; a singer with any other style has to have a whole lot more going for them to make it, and he’s just too young and soft. He has a lovely voice, but it’s just not AI material. Ditto Brandon, although he’s not near as naturally talented as Sanjaya. He was just simply bad tonight.
I liked Chris for the first time tonight, though I hate his hair and I hate his smarmy insincerity still. But I liked his performance tonight. Far as I can tell, the final three guys will be him, Sundance, and Blake. Chris Richardson did an OK job tonight, but his technique is extremely shallow, and I just don’t see him standing up to the weeks of style-jumping the winners will have to overcome. He’s got no diaphragm, he’s all nose; zero versatility. Sundance brang it, but he may face the same kind of versatility issues. Although he’s got stronger chops than Chris–granted, not saying much–so I see him doing better.
Blake’s technique is thin too, but he seems to own about 95% of the charisma this year. And anyone who can incorporate scatting–let alone an original form of scatting–into a top40 song without embarrassing himself has my respect. Now if a stylist could just free him from his Tiger Beat '97 rut, he’ll be the one to beat.
I actually liked Nick for the first time tonight, although his performance suggested more potential than it fulfilled. If I voted, though, I’d vote against him just for his eyebrow problem. He needs to stop with the tweezers.
AJ, Jared, and Phil all fell into the slough of the middle ground tonight; none of their performances have stuck with me at all, just 15 minutes or so after watching.
*Just as I did last week, but it still somehow got me into trouble. I guess I should read the thread first to know who it’s OK that I like or don’t like?
One of my alltime favorite videos, and I love Jamiroquai.
But Simon was not wrong: