Not entirely. From a purely objective, technical point of view, she is able to sing clean, on pitch notes, runs, scales, in regular time, or perfectly synchopated, as required by the particular song, better than anyone that has ever made the top 10 on American Idol.
Whether you personally like her singing better or worse than Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, etc., is a different question. She can sing songs they cannot sing, because they are not as good as she is.
I think Melinda goes to another place when she sings. If I’m right, then her startled reaction when the judges are making their comments is perfectly understandable. She’s not fully aware of what they heard, and can’t quite connect it with their remarks.
I could be wrong. But some people are like that, almost like they’re channeling their talent. And I do get that coming-back-to-reality vibe from her immediately after she sings.
That’s my take on her exactly. She’s technically good, but I find my mind (and ears) wandering when she’s performing because she never strays outside her established range.
OK, that’s mean, but it made me laugh.
My own impression is that she is genuinely humble, maybe even melancholy. I recall her saying that when she touches fingers on one hand, she must touch the fingers on the other hand for balance. I know exactly what that’s like, and it’s easy for a melancholy temperament to grow into full blown feelings of inferiority. The fact that she takes the criticism to heart and changes her mannerisms accordingly is just more of the exacting detail that she manages internally.
Clearly, if someone is intent on damning her, she’s damned either way: if she doesn’t change it continues to irritate, and if she does change she was just acting. Meanwhile, it’s entirely possible that she is both humble and willing to improve herself. That’s the one I’m going with because she’s given me no cause to think otherwise.
Faux humbleness bigs the hell out of me but I’m not getting it from her. At all. Talent and cockiness don’t always go hand in hand (not that I’m her biggest fan. Actually, I’m bored with the whole bunch.)
I’m going to miss Sanjaya. 
Seriously, I don’t see Melinda the way the OP does. I think she makes each song her own, and sings them exactly right. She’s the only one who, unerringly, has matched the tone to the lyrics of her song.
Don’t worry, she will go eventually. Jordin Sparks will win this time. You heard it here first.
The one I think is a total phony is LaKisha. She sneers whenever anyone offers even the slightest criticism of her, and cannot take any constructive advice from anyone. It’s clear she thinks she knows everything already and seems to have a sense of entitlement that she is truly not deserving of. Frankly, I don’t think she offers anything particularly unique – you can hear her equivalent in any good gospel venue in the country.
I think Melinda is genuine, and as Rilchiam says, she goes to another place when she sings. I’ve seen some wonderful musicians do that same thing – a couple of years ago, for example, we saw the old folksinger Odetta performing with Garrison Keillor. This frail, elderly woman had to be escorted on stage leaning heavily on her escort’s arm. Then she opened her mouth and sang, and this incredible huge voice and powerful presence just overwhelmed the entire theater. When she was done? In the blink of an eye, she turned back into a frail, elderly woman. Melinda does the same thing – she’s a completely different person when she sings. I personally believe that springs from deep talent.
I feel this way exactly.Except for the part of starting out liking her,I couldn’t stand her from the start.She is intensely boring.I also agree with the OP’s take on her being phony and I am glad Simon called her out on it.She is far and away the most irritating person I’ve ever seen on the show.I hate her.
Goes to show how hate can skew a point of view. Simon didn’t call her out on anything. He told her what he wanted from her, just like he does with the also-rans. Same same when he tells the lesser talent what they need to do: he’s giving them advice, not calling them out.
He told Melinda that her performance was “fantastic”. If the worst thing he can say about her is that she’s not a snotty bitch, I’d say that’s pretty damn good.
Ok,I am glad Simon mentioned it then.Doolittle’s reactions to the judges are silly and they need to stop.She probably got lots of votes because of it in the beginning but now is probably losing tons of votes from it, as people see it for what it is,BS.So good on Simon, that is excellent advice!
She also really,really needs to try a little variety, though I doubt she will because she isn’t able to sing a style other than what she has done that last eight or so weeks over and over and over.
Doolittle is a fitting name.
With all due respect, I think both your rationale and your assessments are, well… injudicious. I’m not sure what you mean when you say “style”, but if you mean that she doesn’t sound like Janis Joplin in one song and Karen Carpenter in another, then I’m not sure just how useful the observation is.
And if you wouldn’t mind one small suggestion, I would find your posts much easier to read if you would punctuate normally. Perhaps it is time to — how did you put it? — try a little variety, and write in a different style.
I don’t mind at all.I know puncuation and spelling are important here at the SDMB and I try to get it right,I really do. I usually read over all my posts a few times to try to get it right,but the puncuating bit leaves me confused at times.In my last post I think I see two errrors.Feel free to point out any mistakes and I will work on them.
I also had a question for you in this thread Hey Liberal! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board
I think by “style” he (or she) was referring to that of 1970s soul music with big voices. For the first several weeks of the competition, Melinda (and LaKisha) chose songs, regardless of genre, that were sung to the style. I mean, even during Gwen Stefani week, they each chose Donna Summer. It made me think conceptually more macro.
I am not sure what the show’s realistically trying to prove by having singers perform outside of their element. I mean, is it a reasonable thought that these individuals will ever have (or want) to do so? I don’t see Melinda releasing a country album anytime soon, just like when Josh Gracin sang Celebration and subsequently got voted off. Turns out he’s done very well for him self on the country-western circuit. He was set up to be improperly judged – just like many others before and after him. I’ve found that it makes me unfairly criticize the contestants who are forced to sing outside of boundaries of where they perform their best music.
That said…
Even if Melinda wins American Idol, do you really think teens and 20somethings are going to buy her music? Her genre of comfort appears to be a very small niche, and it’s evident that a lot of people think she’s very good at it. Her “style” caters to a much older audience.
If Melinda indeed appeals to a much older audience, I wonder what the demographics for AI are? It seems that the genres they choose mostly targets baby boomers, not teens.
Also, if you look at past winners, you’ll notice that all except Taylor sang in the big voice, long belting notes style. This is nothing new. Melinda fits that type to perfection, and IMO does it better than any who have gone before. She takes each genre they throw at her and finds a song that will highlight her strengths. She has done what the judges constantly harp on, picks the right song.
She also shows personality, the right attitude for a particular song, pacing is good and varied, and her rendition of covers bears her own stamp rather than a mere copycat version of who made the song famous.
As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan. But I’m a bit worried about her chances to win overall because it seems America loves an underdog, and Melinda has been on top from the beginning. I probably wouldn’t continue to watch this season if it weren’t for her. None of the others holds my attention except for Jordin.
Um, look at the record sales generated by American Idol winners here.
Clearly, it caters to Pop/Top40 music listeners. The crowds AI caters to: kids, young teens, baby-boomers. Who buys records? It’s not baby-boomers.
Actually, it is. With an annual spending power of $2 trillion (10 times the annual spending power of young adults), and representing 70 percent of the nation’s net worth — not to mention that we spend more than $29 billion each year on gifts (including CDs) for our grandchildren — it shouldn’t come as a surprise that boomers spend more money on music than any other demographic.
I don’t dislike her. I think she’s a very polished performer, head shoulders the best technical singer of the season and I think she’s going to win.
Her preferred taste in songs and genre is not mine and I wouldn’t buy her album, but I wouldn’t buy an album from anyone else who’s ever been on the show either.
My only criticism would be the same as Simon’s. The wide-eyed “little old me?” act is starting to look a little phony. I’m sure she’s a very nice person, but it’s beginning to look like she’s milking the humility a little bit. After a certain point it stops being believable. I doubt that she’s a monster behind the scenes but if she keeps trying to project a saintly demeanor, it’s only going to hurt her when some kind of bad story or cell-phone footage inevitably comes out showing her in a more human light.
I think Melinda may very well win this thing. But voting for her because she has the best voice and actually buying her album are two different things. I predict Melinda will go the way of Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard. I just don’t see her as someone who can churn out radio-friendly pop singles that teenagers want to buy and download.
At this point I’m kind of sick of the tongue-bathing she gets every week from the judges. I’m pulling for Jordin, who I think is much more marketable anyway.
IIRC and FWIW, Ruben Studdard was kind of similar… going to another place (thanks, Rilchiam) for the confident, big-voice performance, then looking altogether different back on Earth.
I’d describe Ruben’s re-entry as “deer-in-the-headlights” in contrast to Melinda’s “hope-I-did-okay”, but basically the same kind of thing.
Can’t get on board with the faux-modesty accusations, personally.