One of my friends here is a music lover with an almost encyclopediac knowledge of musical history, eclectic tastes, and an extensive collection of music. Usually he’s spot on when evaluating new bands or singers; he can pretty well determine their primary influences, their level of experience, whether the emotion that they convey is genuine or affected, skill levels, etc. Now, he’s not a professional music critic or anything, but for a layman, he’s the next best thing, IMO. I decided to show him two or three videos of each of the remaining singers to get his opinion. He hasn’t watched the show, though he knows the premise and he is familiar with INXS’s music and history. Here are his impressions:
On Marty:
(after watching Mr. Brightside) “Seems pretty decent but maybe a little uncomfortable without electric guitars and drums around him. He looks like he’s about to boil over into a rage, but on this song I think it works. His voice seems rough, like maybe he smokes a lot, but it does give the vocals some ‘edge.’ I would think that he would be more comfortable in something a little more like grunge rock.”
(After watching Don’t Change) “Don’t Change was one of my favorite INXS songs from their early years. He seems to be really straining his voice at times, and if I were INXS I’d worry about that a little bit. He still seems ready to boil over, and on this particular song it isn’t working as well. Makes me really miss Michael Hutchence. That guy was underrated, in my opinion.”
(After watching Trees) “Is this his original? I wouldn’t have expected something quite so pop radio friendly out of him, with his seething rage underlying his other performances. He still has it here and there, though. I keep expecting him to start screaming and slashing himself with razors while he’s singing. The song is catchy but to me it just sounds like a million other songs out there right now. There are some local bands here (in Minnesota) that have come up with comparable stuff, and they’re going nowhere fast. It’s kind of a throwaway tune on its own. Still, if he only had a very short time to come up with it, it’s pretty good.”
On MiG:
(After watching Oh Baby I Love Your Way) “He seems very confident and polished. He has a better vocal potential than Marty, but I think he lets his voice flit around too much for my taste. Has INXS ever done piano ballads? Kind of an odd song selection for this show, I think.”
(After watching Do or Die) “Hmm…the whole “castles in the sky” thing throws a red flag up for me. Too many cliches. In a way, that maybe suits him, though. Is he gay? Not saying that disrespectfully, but only that he is very comfortable with his feminine side, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was gay. I’m not crazy about this song, though.”
(After listening to MiG sing some INXS from the live radio show) “Ugh! Keep him away from INXS songs. Horrible. That’s American Idol reject quality. No thanks. Turn it off!”
On Suzie:
(After watching Start Me Up) “She sounds good. Best voice so far. Weird to hear this sung by a female, since there is a lot of testosterone imbedded in those lyrics. I kind of like her version; she has a good set of pipes.”
(After watching Soul Life) “It’s a fairly decent song, though she also falls into the excessive cliche trap with the lyrics a bit. Again she sings it very well. I would think that INXS probably wanted to hear something that would indicate how the singer would write or contribute to the writing of INXS songs, and this seems an odd way to go. Doesn’t quite mesh with INXS’ style, I think.”
(After watching Bitter Tears) “I actually like her version quite a bit. I like her cover of Bitter Tears better than Marty’s Don’t Change because she brings a greater range and quality of vocals to the song. It allows her to express a variety of emotions that I think Marty might have difficulty with because of his constantly angry approach.”
On JD:
(After watching Pretty Vegas and Money back to back.) “The first song reminds me of Listen Like Thieves era INXS. I think he got the idea right, made his original sound like something INXS would do. (After being informed that the basic track was an unfinished INXS track for the new album: “Well, that certainly helps, doesn’t it?”) He did a good job with Money as well. He seems to have everything a little too scripted as far as his between-song patter and his onstage antics. He could be a little more natural up there and still do well.”
(After watching Mystify) “He can definitely handle this song well. It could help him out in the long run, as far as influencing INXS’ decision.”
). His “dark” version of paint it black reminded me of something that could have been on a 80’s soundtrack (reminded me of “I Need a Hero” from Bonnie Tyler). He’s just too “soft” to be the singer for INXS.