What, no BNL. No Moxie Furvus? I’d pay money to see Chris S do King of Spain.
Blake Lewis did a great job with a Keane song. They do have more songs, of course, and there’s no reason why someone couldn’t take one on.
I wouldn’t mind hearing someone do a Damien Rice song. What the hell, one of U2’s power ballads as well.
** double-checking ** Yeah, Barenaked Ladies are there. They’re first on my list.
I keep telling you how old I am. My eyesight. . . not what it used to be.
Thanks, “and now I vacuum the turf at SkyDome” is stuck in my head…
As for another Canadian number: I know few (ok, maybe none) of the Idols rap, but I’d love to hear Blake let loose on Maestro Fresh Wes’ “Let Your Backbone Slide”.
Inspired by the Canadian idea…Would it be ratings poison to have a non-English song night? I mean, I’ve always been annoyed that Spanish-speaking idols can’t perform in Spanish, and even Canadian Idol singers aren’t allowed to sing in French. What about having an American Idol night where everyone has to perform in a second language? How do you think contestants would do if they had to sing in Spanish, French, or any other non-English language of their choice? Many pop singers attempt to gain popularity in other countries and markets by doing this, so I think it would be a valid challenge.
Seconded.
“Sound of Your Voice”, off the newer album, would be a good one to hear, too.
If we’re going with a Canada Night, why not some Great Big Sea? “The Night Pat Murphy Died” might not be typical Idol material, but I guarantee it’ll get the audience into it.
Ooooh, how bout an “Irish Drinking Song” night? I’d like to see those gospel-y singers try and tackle that!
Despite my best efforts to avoid doing so, I am now picturing Sanjaya singing Jordy’s early 90’s novelty song “Dur dur d’être bébé.”
Because, “It’s so tough to be a baby!”
Oh, great, now that’s all I’ll ever hear coming out of his mouth!
It’s ok, though. I don’t like him anyway.
I have always, always wished someone would/could sing Napoleon by Ani DiFranco…
Anything by Romeo Void, The Flying Lizards, Telex, or Lou Reed.
While I was driving into work this morning, my iPod played three show tunes in a row, and I had mental images of them being performed on “Idol” thusly: Jordin Sparks singing “On My Own” from Les Miz, then Brandon Rogers singing “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd, then Gina Glocksen singing “Not A Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along. (That last one is a song I most commonly associate with Bernadette Peters, and Gina is not exactly Bernadette Peters, but there is an edge to her a voice, a kind of lived-in earthiness, that could be very interesting to hear. Or else, it could be an aural train wreck. In my imagination, it sounded good.) *
Anyway … yeah, you’re not the only Broadway fangirl, I don’t think. I loooove Sondheim. He’s one of my favorite songwriters of any kind.
- I will give quadruple extra rockle bonus points to whoever even attempts “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway” from Spamalot.
That is sooo evil, because it’s perfect…
And Rockle, I like your Broadway style! Speaking of Sondheim, wouldn’t Leslie look cute as a button doing Little Red Riding Hood’s “I Know Things Now” from Into the Woods? And if only we could get Chris Sligh and Blake to do a funky version of “Agony” parts one and/or two…
I guess these songs are for male singes, with no particular specifics as to who should sing them:
XTC Mayor of Simpleton, Ten Feet Tall
Pearl Jam Footsteps, I Got Id, Betterman
Chili Peppers Under the Bridge
The Smiths There is a Light, This Charming Man
Live Iris
Barry Manilow Could it be Magic
Midnight Oil Forgotten Years
Heh. That would be funny.
I actually think “Betterman” could be done well by a woman, too.
Then they could bring down the house with “Drunk for a Week” by Spirit of the West. I don’t know if Americans know this song, or if they dance to it like we do, but that would be a hoot.
I would like to see a guy with a sweet, well-controlled voice do “Sara Smile.”
“I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You” would be a good choice for a guy, too, with a proper arrangement that brings in the small, pretty parts and the blow your hair back parts.
A girl with a small, pretty voice would do herself a favour if she sang something by the Cowboy Junkies or Alison Krauss (“Misguided Angel” or “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You”).
Amanda Marshall and Jann Arden would be good additions to the Canadian night, for the girls who want to sing power ballads but not Whitney or Celine (“Beautiful Goodbye” and “I Would Die For You” would probably be the best choices).
I don’t know if this is overdone or not (I don’t recall hearing it much), but a good classic that seems to be getting overlooked is “Tell It Like It Is.” The danger there is that it’s been covered by Aaron Neville AND Linda Ronstadt - you’re got some serious comparisons to live up to there.
With his hair and glasses, I keep hoping Chris Sligh will do a Weird Al Yankovic song. Put a Hawaiian shirt on him and different frames, and he could pass as an “early years” Al with some extra pounds.
It would be cool to hear the Shuggie Otis song “Strawberry Letter 23” done well on that show.
Maybe Procul Harem’s “Whiter Shade of Pale”. It should be closer to the Box Tops version though.
REM’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” would be interesting. It would be cool if done well, and a wonderful trainwreck if done badly. I bet Blake could do something cool with it.
I’d also like to hear Blake do “There She Goes” by The La’s. His charisma would work well with it and he seemed to do okay with high notes a couple of weeks ago.
Chris Sligh singing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”
A singer with a deeper voice doing The Church’s “Under the Milky Way”
It might be cool to hear Sundance singing “Keep On The Sunny Side” if he could manage to add some soul to it while keeping the bouncy melody.
The ultimate awesomeness would be someone singing a Smith’s song without diverging too much from Morissey’s singing style. I don’t know if it would earn them many votes but it would be hilarious. It would be total suckage if they sang a watered down version.
You don’t really want them to go there, do you? “And now - BIG FINISH!”
Ew.