Top 6 Perform - But I'll be late with the recap.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Well, my slavedriving husband nee bandleader is cracking the whip on rehearsals again tonight. I had hoped we would get through everything quickly, but no luck. So, recap willt be late but it will be tonight!
Ok. 9:30pm Eastern and I'm sitting down to watch. Here we go! It's six again this week, but we'll be eliminating two tomorrow night. Tonight is Bon Jovi night, and somehow since we're eliminating two, Ryan states that the pressure is doubled (not sure I get the math on that). AH - Taylor is BACK in the AI intro (he was gone for at least a week, hat tip to MJ's readers for catching that). We see Gina Glocksen in the audience. Ryan forgot to fall onto a razor today. Last week raised almost $70M. We re-meet the judges for the upteenth time. Simon's sporting a tan. Follow me over the click for the rest of the recap.
We get the Bon Jovi tribute package. Wow - did they have some HAIR in the 80s! I had hair like that at one point. Gotta say - I like John better with the flatter hair. The Idols meet John and his keyboard dude, and we learn his kids love American Idol. John thinks the singers have to bring a sincerity in their delivery - they have to make it their own. John looks good, by the way. Better looking as he gets older, no doubt.
Phil Stacey is in the bad first slot. He'll sing Blaze of Glory. Probably a good choice - John was knocked out by him. Phil starts out in the audience. No hat tonight, but his jacket is WAY cool. He starts out flawlessly. His vocal is really really good. He looks comfortable - I think the performance aspect of this song, so far, is as good as the singing of it. And let me tell you - this is a TOUGH song to sing, male or female. I just hope the lyrics aren't prophetic! He gets a solid A.
Randy: He's happy for Phil. It was his best performance ever on the show. It was the bomb.
Paula: Best opening they've had all season long.
Simon: He thought it was ok (lots of booing). He didn't hear authenticity - in the middle he thought he was like a bad actor playing a role. He doesn't think he's done enough to last next week.
I'm not feeling Simon here. I thought it was absolutely magnificent. 1-866-IDOLS01 or 07 or text 5701.
Commercial, then Jordin.
Back - we see Gina. Jordin Sparks is nervous meeting John Bon Jovi. She's singing Living on a Prayer - we think that perhaps John's not all that sold on Jordin. Hm. He's finding other notes for her, and that's a good idea. She has to sound good with whatever she does. Jordin's got rocker hair tonight. She's on stage with two low-slung guitar players. She has some fun red streaks in her hair. I thought the first verse was ok - I'm not sure I like the changes. She's doing what she does, though - she's pulling just flat on some of the notes in the lower register. She's much better in the chorus, I'll say that absolutely. She performs this well with the other two dudes on stage - she works them well. But again - she pulls flat and it makes me crazy. She took a key change and now she's screaming the chorus. Overall, I'm completely underwhelmed by this. C.
Randy: This was interesting for him - he knows it was tough for her. The verses were rough, he said. She agrees. It wasn't her best.
Paula: She gives credit because Jordin went for it.
Simon: He didn't like the look (but Randy did). He thought the singing was out of control, verging on shrieking at times (finally, Simon gives her a fair review). It was "terrible" he says. I agree.
Jordin was nervous about rock week. She's glad she was here for it. 1-866-IDOLS02 or 08 or text to 5702.
Back from commercial, and we're getting ready for Lakisha Jones. She makes a joke about the camera getting her "slim side". Hah. She gets a question about what kind of training she had - none. She learned in church. She is now with John, and she admits she's never listened to him. She's singing This Ain't a Love Song. John explains the sentiment to her. John really liked her. She starts out behind the mic stand. I don't know this song, and I have to say - this look she's got is not the best for her. The verse goes really really low but she handles it better (e.g., in tune) than Jordin. I think the chorus undersells her natural ability but she's in tune and she seems more engaged from a performance perspective this week. She takes a key change and she gets to go to a power note, and one that fits with the song. Overall, I thought this was very good. A-.
Randy: He thinks she's back this week. He thought the start was a bit rough, but she sold him midway through to the end.
Paula: She thought it was good.
Simon: He could actually kiss her after that (and she comes down and gets a kiss on the lips from Simon! Ha!). "You were so good", he tells her. She rose to the challenge and absolutely nailed it. And Simon likes her lips (oooh - little creepy eyeplay there).
I liked her, but I liked Phil better. 1-866-IDOLS03 or 09 or text to 5703.
Back from commercial, and Ryan's with the judges. Blake Lewis is up next, singing You Give Love a Bad Name. He's with John, who thinks Blaks is doing "an adventurous rendition". John tells the camera that Blake has to sell a version of a song that a lot of people know and "don't want messed with" (people, John? Or you?). Blake knows he's taking a risk on it. John's not sold - he thinks Blake is rolling the dice. Blake dyed his hair, and he starts off best boxing. The percussionist is on stage with Blake. He's definitely changed the feel of the song. He beat boxes in this one. His vocal is ok - it's a little flat in spots. He plays the chorus pretty straight and true to the original. Now we're into the beat-boxing/percussion call-response. I actually kind of liked that. It's not singing, but he's smart - because this genre and Bon Jovi's song do NOT suit his voice and never will. He gets a B+ (gotta knock him down on the vocal - it was only ok) for knowing his strengths and weaknesses and giving a performance that maximized the former and minimized the latter.
Randy: Blake gets the award for the most original version. He thought it was hot.
Paula: She acknowledges the risk - she thought it was amazing.
Simon: He thinks half of the people hated it and half loved it - he thought it was the right thing to do.
1-866-IDOLS04 or 10 or text to 5704.
Ugh. We're back with Chris Richardson. I can hear the nasal now on those high notes - ugh. Chris doesn't like being called "Justin Timberlake" by Ryan. He gets a viewer question - what does he do before he walks out on the stage? Just have fun. Chris is doing Dead or Alive. I can tell from the rehearsal that I'm going to hate it. Chris didn't know the words in rehearsal and he was appropriately contrite. Chris starts out. The very beginning of the first verse is is decent. I think this is REALLY high, frankly, and he's pulling just flat on the highest notes. I don't like his phrasing and interpretation, but so far it's not nasal. This is a ballsy song for him to do, because even he mentioned Chris Daughtry doing it last season, and he is not nearly as good as Chris D. was. But he's not hideously awful and he's pretty much sticking to the original version. He's shouty at the end, and he does NOT find the "blues" note Jon BJ referenced, but I liked him slightly better than Jordin this week. Only slightly. B-
Randy: He thought Chris did his thing. He liked it.
Paula: She liked it, too. Good job, she says.
Simon: He thinks Chris did as much as he could possibly do with the song, but he's not sure if Chris will survive another week.
1-866-IDOLS05 or 11 or text to 5705.
And we close the show with a pro talking to pro. Melinda Doolittle is with John. She admits right out that she's bad at rock. John says he can teach her. She's singing Have a Nice Day. John knew Melinda would bring soul to the song - he said she nailed it. She's on stage with another low-slung guitar player. She starts out and I have to say - she's discovered her edge in this first verse. She sounds a little reminiscent of Tina Turner at the beginning. She's got TONS of attitude during this song and it fits the song perfectly. Need I say that her vocal is absolutely perfect? Not a bad note yet in the competition. This song, again, is not different but I really admire the way she brought rock to herself so she could credibly pull this off. She gets, again, an A.
Randy: Great performance again.
Paula: She loved it.
Simon: He thought it was like a young Tina Turner and vocally it was in a different league than everyone else tonight (duh).
1-866-IDOLS06 or 12 or text 5706.
OMG. MUST I have my American Idol experience ruined by an address from George Bush, a man who has done NOTHING to honor his commitments made at the G-8 summit to end extreme poverty in Africa? What a hypocrite. Ooops - did I say that out loud?
Here are my final rankings:
Melinda Doolittle
Phil Stacey
Lakisha Jones
Blake Lewis
Chris Richardson
Jordin Sparks
Let me say - I thought Melinda, Phil and Lakisha were WAY better vocally than anyone else tonight. Blake gets pulled up from where his vocal should have put him by his creativity and performance skills. Chris did better than I thought he would, though it's still substantially below the other four imo. And Jordin? I don't get it. Last week, I thought, was flat through the verse and screamed in the chorus. This week was flat in the verse, shrieky in the chorus, and totally uncontrolled. She had a GREAT night during country week - but she is WAY oversold by the judges as far as I'm concerned. Just my $.02, and it's my blog, so I can say what I want. ;-) See you tomorrow for predictions and results, and thanks for reading!
Labels: American Idol, Finals, Performance, Top 6
posted by RenaRF @ 6:47 PM,
2 Comments:
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At 1:28 PM,
SuperflyTNTdaShizzle said...
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Ok, let's try this again! I got home from pool late, stayed up later to watch AI and then stayed up another 1/2 hour to respond. when I hit submit it all disappeared! AAGGGHHH!!!!
First of all, when I heard it was Bon Jovi I really dreaded this week. I really don't dig Bon Jovi. That guy wouldn't know a groove if it bit him in the ass. The only reason I would ever play any Bon Jovi would because it was all I had and I needed to crank it up to block out some Def Leppard. Honestly the first thing that came to mind was, "I'm gonna have to listen to Phil sing 'Blaze of Glory', Chris 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and Jordin 'Living On A Prayer'". I didn't have a clue what the others would do and it turns out I thought they were better. Here's my rundown.
Phil: I'll admit it's hard to judge this one because I really don't like the song. He sounded ok, a little shouty but it's a shouty song. Basically I've heard this at karaoke a hundred times and he pretty much sounds like most of those guys. not bad, but not an Idol performance.
Jordin: Of the big Bon Jovi hits I actually find this one more listenable than the others, but not the way Jordin did it. I actually thought it might be a good choice for her. Wrong! all over the place in the verses and out of control and screachy in the chorus. I also hated the look, the hair was cool but the outfit was awful.
Lakisha: I didn't know the song. Bon Jovi said it was a soul singers song. It's not, it's just another run-of-the-mill power ballad. I thought Lakisha did a decent job, not earth-shaking but her best in a few weeks.
Blake: I'm giving Blake the thumbs up and agreeing with Simon on this one. It was a risk and the vocal wasn't strong, but at least he made in interesting. Once again, just after the open beat-boxing and before the chorus, he sounded just like The Cure. Is there some kind of music he can do without making it sound like '80s Britpop?
Chris: There's one Bon Jovi song I dislike even more than 'Balze of Glory' and I knew chris would sing it. I've got to give him props. He picked a song I already hate and made it worse. I've heard this one a million times at karaoke and most times were better.
Melinda: Once again I didn't know the song. Apparently it's a newer one and I liked it better than the others. But maybe that's just because Melinda BLEW IT OUT! Not only was she vocally head and shoulders better than anyone else, she's also the best performer. For someeone that seems so humble and un-starlike off stage she knows what to do when she's on-stage. She seems to capture the heart and attitude of anything she sings. And once again she looked great. It looks like maybe she's lost some weight and her hair style and clothes lately have helped cover her lack of a neck. I think I'm starting to get a thing for her, Melinda was kind of sexy tonight.
My order:
Melinda
Lakisha
Blake
Phil
Chris
Jordin
For the two weeks I think Chris & Jordin should go, but because of them being pimped so much last week and Lakisha being so bad, I think she and Phil are probably in real danger too. -
At 1:31 PM,
SuperflyTNTdaShizzle said...
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Oops, I shoulda have proof read BEFORE I submitted, (my post that is, I never submit elsewhere), I see I misspelled a song name in Chris's post. That would make it my memoirs rather than a Bon Jovi song.