Top 8 - Performance
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Ok - I'm not as late as I thought I would be. About 25 minutes. It's apparently Latin Night, and we start backstage with the Idols and all the makeup mirrors. Ryan's very besuitedness come out on the stage to the screaming, sign-waving fans. This is the show WE control, we are reminded. We are admonished to give it up for the band and for the judges. Paula looks pretty lucid this week. Yay!!
Jennifer Lopez, the very J-Lo, is apparently the guest coach tonight. Cool! I dig J-Lo. We are taken on a package tour of her storied career. She's Queen of the Bootie, giving up her rehearsal time to coach the top 8. She talks about the differences between the 8, their styles and "vibes". She talks about having to convey the emotion with Latin music It's a challenging genre - I know, from performing it. It's not for everyone. Follow over the click for the whole recap.
Melinda Doolittle is doing a song I do!! Sway!! It was originally covered by Dean Martin but jumped back up there with its cover by the Pussycat Dolls. It's one of my faves!! J-Lo recorded it - in Spanish. Melinda's excited. I don't know if I'll be able to sing it again if Melinda blows it away. Melinda has to channel her inner sexy to make this song work. She comes out in a black dress - she looks pretty. She's good through the first abbreviated verse and bridge/chorus. She sounds great but it's not a pipes kind of song. She gets a few appropriate power notes in there, but probably not enough to show off her voice. She takes the key change and handles it nicely - it's a squirelly change. I like her look and her phrasing. It's a good performance - not a blow-you-away one, but very good. A.
Randy: He finds the genres interesting. Another solid performance. Not her best, but solid.
Paula: Very sultry, very smooth. She looks lovely and appreciated the subtlety.
Simon: He didn't like it. That song is all about personality, and she appeared much older than she is, and she appeared very lounge/cabaret. He liked the end, but he thought it was lazy and wooden. He thinks she's better than that.
Melinda's happy because she thought Simon really wanted to say something bad and he got the chance (nicely handled by Melinda!). 1-866-IDOLS01 or text 5701. I'll vote for her tonight.
Interesting - as we go to break, we are informed Lakisha is up next. Divas out of the gate.
We're back, and Lakisha Jones gets a viewer question. Q: What made you try out for the show? A: She wanted to provide a better life for her daughter. Short and simple. She's with J-Lo, and we learn Lakisha can't really pronounce Spanish words and can't dance Latin. So J-Lo's schooling her. It's funny. She's singing Congo, the Gloria Estefan dance classic. The band sounds great. Lakisha's dressed for the song. The girls are out in force, of course - she's singing well and moving well. This is a great song coice, because she's singing well and it's an energetic, fun, recognizable song. She's playing the song pretty straight vocally. Again, she doesn't really have a chance to showcase her formidable pipes. Overall, it's a very good performance. She gets an A.
Randy: Randy loved that she was having a good time and she made it her own. It was hot.
Paula: Lakisha looks lovely, but she didn't feel it like Randy did. She thought it was safe.
Simon: Lakisha doesn't agree with Paula, but Simon does. It's not a singer's song.
Well I liked it, and I liked it just marginally better than Melinda's performance. 1-866-IDOLS02 or text 5702.
Another break and then we'll see Chris Richardson.
And we're back! We are reminded about "Idol Gives Back" and it's growing by the week in scope and starpower. J-Lo's with Chris, and he's singing Smooth, the smash Santana comeback hit. J-Lo's giving Spanish lessons again and she moves the key up a whole step (wow!). And here's Chris on stage with a guitar player and a percussion. He starts out in the low part and let me say - this is a VERY difficult song to sing. It's range is all over the place. Chris looks like he's concentrating a bit, but he sounds good. He changes is a bit but not too much. I like the higher parts much better than the lower register. He knocks the chorus off and does it well. He adds some runs in there - just a bit too much - but good. Another A.
Randy: He was worried about the song but he did a very cool job.
Paula: It was a hot performance.
Simon: Not the best vocal he's heard, but he preferred it to the first two because it was more contemporary. It was a good performance.
1-866-IDOLS03 or text 5703. ANOTHER commercial break - after are Haley and Phil.
And we're back, and Ryan's with the judges, who are out from behind the desk. Haley Scarnato is singing Turn the Beat Around (OH MY GOD). J-Lo seems to think Haley needs rhythmic help. Blake comes in to beatbox. Haley's in SHORT shorts but the boobs are not the central focus of the outfit. Haley dances. Haley starts out in the middle part of the harmony - I expected to hear the high part. It wasn't bad - a little weak. She's in the verse. She does the rhythmic stuff passably well, but runs out of breath which affects her pitch. It's all over the place, and she's literally being drowned out by the band. Now she's shaking and jiggling. This wasn't bad, but it was sloppy vocally. B-.
Randy: Really karaoke for him tonight. He didn't get it at all. Any bar.
Paula: Not a singer's song, but fun and she had fun up there.
Simon: He thinks she has a good tactic - wear the least amount of clothes as possible because she can't do well vocally because there's much better singers and all she can do is have fun. He couldn't understand her - the vocals were rushed.
Simon speaks truth again. Ryan gives her a chance to respond to Simon and she goes diplomatic. Probably smart. 1-866-IDOLS04 or text 5704.
We move right to Phil Stacey, who is singing Maria Maria. J-Lo is listening to him, and this weirds Phil out. He's a bit starstruck. Phil will get to showcase his voice on this one - he gave J-Lo goosebumps. Phil's wearing a hat, which is smart I think. He starts out soft and his voice is really quite perfect for this song. He sounds great. He goes through the first verse and goes to the bridge/chorus. Did I mention that he sounds great? I mean, really great. This is a totally challenging song rhythmically and vocally and Phil is knocking it back so far. He gets just a tiny bit screamy in a later part, but overall I really, really liked this. A.
Randy: He doesn't know if it was his best - he didn't feel the passion - but he has a great upper range.
Paula: Vocally she thought it was a really good vocal.
Simon: Phil's a nice guy, but he didn't find any originality - he thought it was lifeless and flat.
Why do the judges hate Phil?? He was my best performance so far tonight. 1-866-IDOLS05 or text 5705.
Jordin Sparks is up next and she gets a viewer question: If you were in charge of choosing next week's theme, what would it be? A: She would do 80's music because she loves it. She's with J-Lo. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You is her choice. J-Lo thinks she has a sweet voice. She gives dancing lessons again. Jordin looks pretty, though not very Latin-y. She handles the first verse very well, and she's into the chorus - but like the other two big-voiced girls, this isn't really a singer's song. For the first time, I don't really like Jordin's tone - it's a little thin and shrill in parts and she hits a really, really flat note that she adjust to the proper place. Ouch. She ends it by taking it way up and changing the song appropriately, which helps the performance a lot. B+.
Randy: Of course he loves her because she's 17 and has the yo factor.
Paula: Loves that she's authentic. She's adorable.
Simon: It was an OK performance. Nothing stunning, and he hasn't seen a progression tonight.
1-866-IDOLS06 or text 5706.
Blake Lewis - doing I Need to Know, by Marc Anthony (J-Lo's hubby FYI). J-Lo wants him to feel the emotion and get into the passion of the song. Blake's out on the stage - he always look the part. I like this song, by the way, and in a weird way, it suits Blake's voice. His vocal is good through the first verse and chorus. He has some moves thrown in there but so much that it distracts. Second verse is good as well. Overall I think this is one of my favorite Blake performance. A.
Randy: Best song choice of the night. Hot performance.
Paula: Very smart performance. Captured who he is.
Simon: Best choice of song, best performance so far.
1-866-IDOLS07 or text 5707.
Break, then Sanjaya. Ugh.
Sanajaya Malakar chose Besseme Mucho. Oh God. J-Lo really liked it. It's a good choice for him. So here's Sanjaya, sitting on stage. He's bcut his hair and he almost looks Hispanic. He singing more strongly than usual. He makes lovey eyes at the camera. He sounds better than he usually sounds, but the song isn't really that challenging. This is, without a doubt, the BEST he's done by a long shot.
Randy: He thinks he's smart and thought it was really good.
Paula: Very very nice.
Simon: couldn't understand a word of it, sang like a 14 year old, and it wasn't horrible.
1-866-IDOLS08 or text 5708.
I'm revamping my final rankings:
Blake Lewis
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Melinda Doolittle
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks
Sanjaya Malakar
Haley Scarnato
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Performance, Top 8
posted by RenaRF @ 7:25 PM,
1 Comments:
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At 11:14 AM,
SuperflyTNTdaShizzle said...
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I'm usually right with you but I've got to disagree tonight. Not on everything of course. Melinda was good, (I think you do it with better energy), Melinda's problem is that she has been SO good every week that the one week when she's just very good it's a let down. And I agree on Blake. Probably his best week. I think a big problem overall tonight was that most of these songs weren't really great vocal showcases, Blake's being the exception and he pulled it off. Haley got completely lost in the band, (on the other hand she's better looking than Antonella Barba, but what was up with that hair? Kelly did that same look last year and it didn't work for her either). Phil was Phil, not awful, but bland. He still struggles on the low parts and screams on the high parts. He just didn't really register, I was more interested in hearing the guitarist crew up his part. Probably Jordin's worst week. She was shrill and all over the place. Chris is where I disagree the most. He was way off on the low parts, oversang the high parts, instead of hitting notes he would slide into them, but the main thing is his tone. He was in full billygoat mode. I went back and listened again after reading your review and it was worse the second time, especially when I closed my eyes and just listened. I think he's safe because he's liked and because he picked a popular song, (and Haley was worse). The biggest suprise of the evening was Sanjaya. By far his best, of course he picked a very easy song, but one that was good for him. I was really disappointed though, I really hoped he would do "Shake Your Bon-Bon" in full on William Hung mode.
my order:
Blake
Melinda
Lakisha
Sanjaya
Phil
Jordin
Chris
Haley