As the New York Yankees great catcher Yogi Berra used to say: "It's deja vu all over again." Tonight, America's viewing public went hook, line and sinker for mainstream appeal over true artistry and voted Lee DeWyze as this year's American Idol winner, leaving a much more talented artist, Crystal Bowersox, as runnerup in this year's finale, which also was Idol judge Simon Cowell's swan song.
The end result was similar to last year when vocal dynamo Adam Lambert lost to an affable but marginally talented Kris Allen, who tonight faithfully delivered his bland single "The Truth," despite host Ryan Seacrest's gaffe of talking over the song's intro.
The entire two-hour show was a virtual train wreck of a bad variety show, with this year's contestants coming together on a number of hokey hit-song medleys with - and of - artists from the '70s and '80s. Everyone tried to hit their notes and conjure up some energy and honesty on the pre-arranged, corny sing-alongs. But for the most part, with the exception of Aaron Kelly's and Siobhan Magnus' teaming on the Bee Gee classic "How Deep Is Your Love?", everything felt contrived and simply fell flat.
Highlights were great performances from Bowersox on Alanis Morissette's "Ironic," and "You Oughta Know," the latter, on which Alanis joined Bowersox. Which reminds us? When is Alanis going to team up again with songwriter/producer Glen Ballard and put out another album chock-full of alt-rock hit singles? The music industry and buying public are crying for real artistry and material of Alanis' ilk. Hopefully, she has another great album in her head - if not in the works.
Vocal wunderkind Christina Aguilera, America's Sweetheart Carrie Underwood and the ever-sexy Janet Jackson all delivered exceptionally strong performances tonight, while artists such as Barry & Robin Gibb (from the Bee Gees), Hall & Oates, Chicago and Joe Cocker, singing their past hits with Idol contestants, sadly reminded us of how great their material still is, but how time and nature have seriously decimated their performance and vocal skills.
Aguilera delivered a flawless solo performance on her ballad "You Lost Me," and while her amazing vocals were undoubtedly the best of the evening, that song simply is not a hit single. It has a beautiful melodic verse, but an ambiguous structure and a totally forgettable chorus. That song once again underscores how frequently, great and even highly successful singers are not so great at selecting or writing their own material.
Other solid performances of the evening included Casey James and Poison's Bret Michael's teaming up on that band's hit single, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," and Michael McDonald joining Big Mike Lynche on a soulful rendition of the Doobie Brothers' "Taking It To The Streets."
Underwood sounded great and looked wonderful on her sassy latest single, "Undo It," co-written by Idol judge Kara Dio Guardi, causing me to make a mental note: this is the first quality song attributed to Dio Guardi's writing or co-writing that we've heard on AI in ages. Maybe ever.
In another misstep of the evening, AI's producers turned Alice Cooper's timeless anti-establishment rock anthem "School's Out" into one more dumbed-down, pablum sing-along. And when old Alice him/herself wandered out on stage in full rock attire - heavy makeup and leather pants - it once again painfully illustrated how Idol's middle-of-the-road producers consistently butcher rock 'n roll music, every time they try to get near or interpret it.
We wish Simon Cowell well in his new endeavors. He truly was the only Idol judge with anything close to solid judgment in rating performances, but more importantly, in matching songs and genres appropriately with Idol's contestants - over the years.
And to winner Lee DeWyze, we congratulate him and offer this advice. 1) Get to a vocal coach, fast and work, work, work on your pitch and breathing. 2) Please, please convince your producers NOT to release the U2 classic "Beautiful Day" as your first single. One, the song was written/sung by and for a tenor - and you're a baritone. Two, Bono has pretty much done all that can be done with this song. You can't improve on perfection. And, three, find a song that is more in your vocal range and style; your first single should be memorable, not a bad karaoke rendering.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
American Idol Judges Handicap Bowersox, Kill James with Bad Song Choices
Tonight we got to see which American Idol judges deserve to keep their jobs. Unfortunately, the only one who does, is the one who will be leaving at the end of this season.
Simon Cowell did Lee DeWyze a great favor by picking Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah" for Lee to sing. Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres had good intentions in selecting "Baby, I'm Amazed" for Crystal Bowersox, but the end result wasn't all that good.
And shame on Randy Jackson and Kara Dio Guardi for sticking Casey James with a lousy, mediocre song like John Mayer's "Daughters," which may have a nice lyrical sentiment, but all the dramatic build of a shotgunned quail. For an intents and purposes, "Daughters" essentially killed James' chances of making it to the final round.
Bowersox is a much better singer and performer than DeWyze. However, Lee benefited tonight by singing two songs that were much easier to sing than Crystal's version of Paul McCartney's octave-jumping "Baby, I'm Amazed." Lee sounded great on the verse of "Simple Man," but as usual, got way off pitch in the chorus. He delivered probably his best vocal of the season on the Cohen classic "Hallelujah," but butchered the last few musical notes of the song. The tempo on "Come to My Window," was way too fast and Crystal had trouble keeping up with it, but still turned in a decent performance.
But singing McCartney, come on! Ellen DeGeneres actually did her a disfavor. As good as Crystal is, that song is out of her comfort zone - and her vocal range. It's a vocal zone few Idol contestants ever could reach - in fact the only one that comes to mind is Adam Lambert. Here's the bitter truth. Bowersox is a true performer in the old singer-songwriter tradition of the 1960s and '70s. She has great pitch, feel and intonation, but not always the best sense in choosing her material.
Lee has this great alt-rock sound in his baritone range, but is pitchy as hell when he tries to get into his head voice and above. EVERYONE seems to ignore that fact. If Lee wins Idol this year and gets to a decent vocal coach, he will become a platinum recording star. At least he's not some mediocre talent like Taylor Hicks. But he simply doesn't have the artistic chops or tonality that Crystal has.
Considering how many young girls vote and re-vote and re-vote on Idol, Lee has the inside track to win - although if this were truly a TALENT COMPETITION and not a popularity contest, Crystal would win hands down. As for Casey, bad song choices, mediocre performances tonight. And Kara and Randy did him no favors at all by picking the wimpy John Mayer tune which basically has a throw-away chorus.
Tonight, Kara and Randy pretty much wrote Casey's obituary for this year's competition, although both are too stupid to know it - and probably too vain to admit it. All in all, it looks like Lee will be going to the finals with Crystal. And she'd better be loaded for bear and make much smarter material choices, or the tween vote will put Lee over the top in the final round. Again, stupid judges making stupid songs choices. And, the people taking the blame for those bad choices and suffering the consequences, unfortunately, were the singers.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Simon Cowell did Lee DeWyze a great favor by picking Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah" for Lee to sing. Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres had good intentions in selecting "Baby, I'm Amazed" for Crystal Bowersox, but the end result wasn't all that good.
And shame on Randy Jackson and Kara Dio Guardi for sticking Casey James with a lousy, mediocre song like John Mayer's "Daughters," which may have a nice lyrical sentiment, but all the dramatic build of a shotgunned quail. For an intents and purposes, "Daughters" essentially killed James' chances of making it to the final round.
Bowersox is a much better singer and performer than DeWyze. However, Lee benefited tonight by singing two songs that were much easier to sing than Crystal's version of Paul McCartney's octave-jumping "Baby, I'm Amazed." Lee sounded great on the verse of "Simple Man," but as usual, got way off pitch in the chorus. He delivered probably his best vocal of the season on the Cohen classic "Hallelujah," but butchered the last few musical notes of the song. The tempo on "Come to My Window," was way too fast and Crystal had trouble keeping up with it, but still turned in a decent performance.
But singing McCartney, come on! Ellen DeGeneres actually did her a disfavor. As good as Crystal is, that song is out of her comfort zone - and her vocal range. It's a vocal zone few Idol contestants ever could reach - in fact the only one that comes to mind is Adam Lambert. Here's the bitter truth. Bowersox is a true performer in the old singer-songwriter tradition of the 1960s and '70s. She has great pitch, feel and intonation, but not always the best sense in choosing her material.
Lee has this great alt-rock sound in his baritone range, but is pitchy as hell when he tries to get into his head voice and above. EVERYONE seems to ignore that fact. If Lee wins Idol this year and gets to a decent vocal coach, he will become a platinum recording star. At least he's not some mediocre talent like Taylor Hicks. But he simply doesn't have the artistic chops or tonality that Crystal has.
Considering how many young girls vote and re-vote and re-vote on Idol, Lee has the inside track to win - although if this were truly a TALENT COMPETITION and not a popularity contest, Crystal would win hands down. As for Casey, bad song choices, mediocre performances tonight. And Kara and Randy did him no favors at all by picking the wimpy John Mayer tune which basically has a throw-away chorus.
Tonight, Kara and Randy pretty much wrote Casey's obituary for this year's competition, although both are too stupid to know it - and probably too vain to admit it. All in all, it looks like Lee will be going to the finals with Crystal. And she'd better be loaded for bear and make much smarter material choices, or the tween vote will put Lee over the top in the final round. Again, stupid judges making stupid songs choices. And, the people taking the blame for those bad choices and suffering the consequences, unfortunately, were the singers.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Big Mike Lynche Exits Idol with 'Will You Be There?'
And then there were three. American Idol fans for once got it right and voted Casey James, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox into the final three, while sending home soul singer Big Mike Lynche, who sang an uninspired version of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There?" from the movie "Free Willy," during Tuesday night's movie theme song competition.
The night opened with season No. 3 winner Fantasia singing her new single "Bittersweet" from her first album in three years, followed later in the show with strong performances by Chris Daughtry on his new single "September," while perennial rockers Bon Jovi introduced their latest single "Superman Tonight."
Daughtry sounded vocally great on his emotional mid-tempo ballad, which has a guitar intro reminescent of the Christopher Cross' hit from the 1980s, "Sailin'." Bon Jovi blended several musical styles with their single, opening it with an alt-rock guitar riff, but delivering a more-or-less pop-rock verse and chorus melody on a tune that lyrically touches the fabric of country music or a novelty song.
The Fantasia single, despite a good lyrical concept, felt cliched, hackneyed and tired, as so many of her past songs have been. Her career has been seriously hampered by poor and mediocre material and "Bittersweet" doesn't give us a lot of hope that her new album will be any better. It would be a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong. It also would be great to hear Fantasia sing a great song, with an exceptional melody and lyric that she didn't feel compelled to oversing.
In evaluating the three guest performers' new singles, Daughtry had the best vocal and most emotional melody, even though the song lyrically is sentimental but not particularly unique or memorable. The Bon Jovi single come easily come across as corny if Jon and Ritchie didn't sing it with such darn sincere conviction.
The Daughtry and Bon Jovi singles both underscore artists who understand who they are, where they are in their respective careers - and what their audiences expect from them - however predictable or formulaic, while the Fantasia single emphasizes an artist still searching for her identify - and a hit signature song.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
The night opened with season No. 3 winner Fantasia singing her new single "Bittersweet" from her first album in three years, followed later in the show with strong performances by Chris Daughtry on his new single "September," while perennial rockers Bon Jovi introduced their latest single "Superman Tonight."
Daughtry sounded vocally great on his emotional mid-tempo ballad, which has a guitar intro reminescent of the Christopher Cross' hit from the 1980s, "Sailin'." Bon Jovi blended several musical styles with their single, opening it with an alt-rock guitar riff, but delivering a more-or-less pop-rock verse and chorus melody on a tune that lyrically touches the fabric of country music or a novelty song.
The Fantasia single, despite a good lyrical concept, felt cliched, hackneyed and tired, as so many of her past songs have been. Her career has been seriously hampered by poor and mediocre material and "Bittersweet" doesn't give us a lot of hope that her new album will be any better. It would be a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong. It also would be great to hear Fantasia sing a great song, with an exceptional melody and lyric that she didn't feel compelled to oversing.
In evaluating the three guest performers' new singles, Daughtry had the best vocal and most emotional melody, even though the song lyrically is sentimental but not particularly unique or memorable. The Bon Jovi single come easily come across as corny if Jon and Ritchie didn't sing it with such darn sincere conviction.
The Daughtry and Bon Jovi singles both underscore artists who understand who they are, where they are in their respective careers - and what their audiences expect from them - however predictable or formulaic, while the Fantasia single emphasizes an artist still searching for her identify - and a hit signature song.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
American Idol Misses 'Big Picture' as Contestants Turn in More Weak Performances
It may have been Movie Theme night on American Idol, but both the show's producers and its remaining four contestants clearly missed the "big picture" as the "Final Four" delivered some mediocre and ho-hum performances trying to interpret songs from classic and famous movies. One more example of how Idol's contrived "theme nights" don't work well for either the contestants or the show's massive audience.
The highlight of the night was Crystal Bowersox who burned up the stage on Kenny Loggins' "I'm All Right," from "Caddyshack." Second-best showing of the night was Casey James' understated but charming delivery of "Mrs. Robinson" from "The Graduate," followed by an in-tune but uninspired "Will You Be There," from "Free Willy" by Big Mike Lynche - followed in quality or lack thereof, by a very pitchy "Kiss From a Rose," from "Batman Forever" by Lee DeWyze.
DeWyze picked the most memorable but most difficult melody of the evening to sing - and didn't do much more than a mediocre job of navigating the difficult melodic twists, turns, jumps and dives of Seal's intricate classic. He and Bowersox accounted for themselves somewhat better on the melodic "Falling Slowly" from "Once," but at times their attempts at tight harmony just didn't come together.
Big Mike and James joined guitars and vocal forces on Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman," from the movie "Don Juan DeMarco," but the pair looked and sounded uncomfortable in their forced duet.
Based on tonight's showing, we predict that Bowersox will be safe - since both her solo and duet performances were the strongest of the evening. We think Big Mike and DeWyze should be in the Bottom Two, but based on the fans' constant lack of taste and discernment, probably will send James and Lynche to the Bottom Two.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
The highlight of the night was Crystal Bowersox who burned up the stage on Kenny Loggins' "I'm All Right," from "Caddyshack." Second-best showing of the night was Casey James' understated but charming delivery of "Mrs. Robinson" from "The Graduate," followed by an in-tune but uninspired "Will You Be There," from "Free Willy" by Big Mike Lynche - followed in quality or lack thereof, by a very pitchy "Kiss From a Rose," from "Batman Forever" by Lee DeWyze.
DeWyze picked the most memorable but most difficult melody of the evening to sing - and didn't do much more than a mediocre job of navigating the difficult melodic twists, turns, jumps and dives of Seal's intricate classic. He and Bowersox accounted for themselves somewhat better on the melodic "Falling Slowly" from "Once," but at times their attempts at tight harmony just didn't come together.
Big Mike and James joined guitars and vocal forces on Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman," from the movie "Don Juan DeMarco," but the pair looked and sounded uncomfortable in their forced duet.
Based on tonight's showing, we predict that Bowersox will be safe - since both her solo and duet performances were the strongest of the evening. We think Big Mike and DeWyze should be in the Bottom Two, but based on the fans' constant lack of taste and discernment, probably will send James and Lynche to the Bottom Two.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Aaron Kelly Says Goodbye to American Idol: Now His Real Career Begins
Aaron Kelly, at 17, the youngest of American Idol's "Final Five," got sent home tonight by fans' votes. But there was not only great tonality and feel in his farewell rendition of Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon," there was power, grit and a sense of determination in his voice that suggest we haven't heard the last of this talented young man.
Here in The A& R Room, we feel that by finishing in Idol's 2010 Top Five, enough intellingent industry folks and fans have heard and recognized Kelly's talent to nurture and support it. It will only be a matter of time before a smart record executive launches Aaron's "real career" in a genre that is relevant to today's music scene. And, that won't be singing insipid show tunes or moldy oldies. It will be a solid career singing songs of today - in either the pop-country or pop-R&B-soul genre.
Advancing to the "Final Four," were Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox, Casey James and Big Mike Lynche, with DeWyze being the first to be declared "safe" by host Ryan Seacrest. DeWyze definitely had the strongest performance on Tuesday night with "That's Life," followed by Kelly, Lynche, Bowersox and James - in terms of singing in key and interpreting what may be called "classic," but are mostly boring songs from a bygone era.
Mentor Harry Connick, Jr., while paying props to Ole Blue Eyes in his arrangements and piano accompliment Tuesday night for the contestants, pulled a major left, but smart turn by not performing any Sinatra songs at all in his solo featured performance. Instead, Connick delivered a spot-on Sinatra vocal imitation on the beautiful Lennon & McCartney classic "And I Love Her." And, while Connick emulated Sinatra's vocal approach to the Tee, he delivered his vocals out of the corner of his mouth in the inimitable style of another great saloon singer, Mel Torme. By adapting the Beatles' classic to a jazz and Big Band arrangement, Connick showed how timeless the Lennon & McCartney song is. But by choosing not to perform a Sinatra classic himself, Connick may have inadvertently underscored how antiquated and irrelevant most of Sinatra's classics are to today's music scene - and to Idol's young performers.
In a painful display of simply lousy music and grotesque theater, Lady Gaga unviewed her new single "Alejandro," mumbling a melody reminiscent of a Madonna 1980s album cut, while half-naked male dancers cavorted around in high-waisted boy girdles. Her proclivity for high camp tonight bordered on self-parody. Gaga's fishnet costume and theatrics and her transgender-looking dancers conjured up the image of comedian Will Farrell in drag, slithering around in a Gaga impression - turning suggestive S&M into a laughable SNL skit.
While Gaga is undeniably a commercial suggest, her immemorable dance music and contrived attempts at being outrageous - are only stark reminders of how gullible and susceptible a non-discerning public has become to pretentious performance art, "in" trends and bad music. Today's buying public is all too willing to accept bad writing and grotesque performance as "high art." While Gaga has a decent voice and some menial keyboard skills, she is so focused on being "outside," that any talent she actually may possess is being highly eclipsed by her bad theater, poor songwriting and repetitive, overblown productions.
And Gaga hit record or not, Idol's producers ought to be horse-whipped - or at least heavily fined by the FCC for bad taste, for dragging Gaga's horrid music and insincere, artless performance into American Primetime TV.
And by having young singers stumble and falter with Sinatra's songs - a genre that has nothing to do with any of the young performers' talents, genres or career aspirations, one has to ask the questions: Is anyone at American Idol even slightly in touch with the American audience or really care about giving contestants songs to sing that will enhance their careers? Or has Idol completely become a TV ratings and advertising cash cow that cares nothing about finding and nurturing real and talented singing artists?
While AI fans have had a bad and deserved reputation for picking "safe" and conservative performers over more alternative ones in the past, such as Adam Lambert or Chris Daughtry, by spotlighting Gaga tonight, the show went 180 degrees in a misguided and tasteless direction. And tonight, Idol sank to a new low in entertainment values and musical relevance.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Here in The A& R Room, we feel that by finishing in Idol's 2010 Top Five, enough intellingent industry folks and fans have heard and recognized Kelly's talent to nurture and support it. It will only be a matter of time before a smart record executive launches Aaron's "real career" in a genre that is relevant to today's music scene. And, that won't be singing insipid show tunes or moldy oldies. It will be a solid career singing songs of today - in either the pop-country or pop-R&B-soul genre.
Advancing to the "Final Four," were Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox, Casey James and Big Mike Lynche, with DeWyze being the first to be declared "safe" by host Ryan Seacrest. DeWyze definitely had the strongest performance on Tuesday night with "That's Life," followed by Kelly, Lynche, Bowersox and James - in terms of singing in key and interpreting what may be called "classic," but are mostly boring songs from a bygone era.
Mentor Harry Connick, Jr., while paying props to Ole Blue Eyes in his arrangements and piano accompliment Tuesday night for the contestants, pulled a major left, but smart turn by not performing any Sinatra songs at all in his solo featured performance. Instead, Connick delivered a spot-on Sinatra vocal imitation on the beautiful Lennon & McCartney classic "And I Love Her." And, while Connick emulated Sinatra's vocal approach to the Tee, he delivered his vocals out of the corner of his mouth in the inimitable style of another great saloon singer, Mel Torme. By adapting the Beatles' classic to a jazz and Big Band arrangement, Connick showed how timeless the Lennon & McCartney song is. But by choosing not to perform a Sinatra classic himself, Connick may have inadvertently underscored how antiquated and irrelevant most of Sinatra's classics are to today's music scene - and to Idol's young performers.
In a painful display of simply lousy music and grotesque theater, Lady Gaga unviewed her new single "Alejandro," mumbling a melody reminiscent of a Madonna 1980s album cut, while half-naked male dancers cavorted around in high-waisted boy girdles. Her proclivity for high camp tonight bordered on self-parody. Gaga's fishnet costume and theatrics and her transgender-looking dancers conjured up the image of comedian Will Farrell in drag, slithering around in a Gaga impression - turning suggestive S&M into a laughable SNL skit.
While Gaga is undeniably a commercial suggest, her immemorable dance music and contrived attempts at being outrageous - are only stark reminders of how gullible and susceptible a non-discerning public has become to pretentious performance art, "in" trends and bad music. Today's buying public is all too willing to accept bad writing and grotesque performance as "high art." While Gaga has a decent voice and some menial keyboard skills, she is so focused on being "outside," that any talent she actually may possess is being highly eclipsed by her bad theater, poor songwriting and repetitive, overblown productions.
And Gaga hit record or not, Idol's producers ought to be horse-whipped - or at least heavily fined by the FCC for bad taste, for dragging Gaga's horrid music and insincere, artless performance into American Primetime TV.
And by having young singers stumble and falter with Sinatra's songs - a genre that has nothing to do with any of the young performers' talents, genres or career aspirations, one has to ask the questions: Is anyone at American Idol even slightly in touch with the American audience or really care about giving contestants songs to sing that will enhance their careers? Or has Idol completely become a TV ratings and advertising cash cow that cares nothing about finding and nurturing real and talented singing artists?
While AI fans have had a bad and deserved reputation for picking "safe" and conservative performers over more alternative ones in the past, such as Adam Lambert or Chris Daughtry, by spotlighting Gaga tonight, the show went 180 degrees in a misguided and tasteless direction. And tonight, Idol sank to a new low in entertainment values and musical relevance.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
American Idol is 'AI: 'Absolutely Irrelevant' Making 'Brat Pack' Sing Sinatra
American Idol or "AI" again tonight showed it is fast-becoming even more "Absolutely Irrelevant" to today's music scene - by forcing its final five contestants to sing Frank Sinatra standards that the young singers could neither relate to or sing.
Lee DeWyze fared the best of the five, turning in a vocally growlly and stylistically somewhat relevant version of the Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon classic "That's Life." Meanwhile, young Aaron Kelly opened the show with a solid "Fly Me to the Moon," but was criticized by judges Kara Dio Guardi and Simon Cowell for not having the Sinatra "swagger" in his vocal tone and stage presence. Right! Expect a 17-year-old kid to emulate the voice, attitude and presence of one of the world's most-legendary, chain-smoking and scotch-swilling saloon singers.
Big Mike Lynche had the third-best performance of the evening with the Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields standard "The Way You Look Tonight," but once again over-used his vibrato - which was totally in keeping with the misguided evening: Lynche's performance and tonight's songs were both about 50 years out of style.
Come on, now. Many of Sinatra's songs were written in the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s. So, how in the hell can Idol's producers and judges expect kids younger than 30 years of age to relate to them. Idol, get real! Most people under the age of 60 can't relate to "Big Band" music. So why, in the late rounds of what is supposed to be a singing competition of CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND MUSIC, is Idol making its young contestants sing songs that are older than most of their parents?
For the second week, Crystal Bowersox made a terrible song selection with "Summer Wind," and as judge Ellen DeGeneres correctly called it: "swallowed the words on half of the first verse." Which illustrates another issue that no one is addressing. Sinatra really wasn't so much a great singer as a great stylist - almost a "reader" of lyrics. He had a limited vocal range of about an octave and a third. And his pitch wasn't really all that accurate. But with great vocal diction, his trademark lit cigarette in one hand and a microphone in the other, he was the epitome of '40s and '50s cool. But like having Idol's contestants sing Elvis songs, having them try to interpret Sinatra is just as problematic. And pointless. Sound too much like Frank or Elvis and you're a second-class impersonator. Sound nothing like them and you're "not interpreting or representing" those legendary performers or their songs well, according to the judges.
It's about time someone had the guts to tell the show's producers and judges: "Stop criticizing kids for looking and sounding awkward singing songs that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with today's music. And, butchering songs that were forced upon them and should have nothing to do with them being judged as competent or relevant singers.
Casey James also looked and sounded completely lost on Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies." And, having Harry Connick, Jr. serve as the contestants' mentor, music scorer and piano accompanist, only made things feel even more dated and irrelevant. Connick is a great piano player and decent vocal stylist. But, his musical strengths and tastes are steeped in Big Band, jazz and New Orleans Dixieland music. True to his heritage and roots, Connick and some of his sidemen turned in solid jazz arrangements and performances. But this only made the music sound older. And, it made it virtually impossible for the kids to turn one of Sinatra's classics "sideways" with an alt-rock or hip-hop treatment - or some other musically current adaptation.
By trying to pay homage to Sinatra tonight, both American Idol and Connick made a mockery of Ole Blue Eyes' work. And they put five young singers in a nearly impossible situation: trying to make the Brat Pack interpret songs from the catalog of the "King of the Rat Pack."
Based on tonight's showing, Casey, Crystal and Big Mike should be in the bottom three. But with the voting as screwy as Idol's continuing insistence to make kids sing songs from eras that are a long-time dead and gone, who knows who will be sent home this week?
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Lee DeWyze fared the best of the five, turning in a vocally growlly and stylistically somewhat relevant version of the Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon classic "That's Life." Meanwhile, young Aaron Kelly opened the show with a solid "Fly Me to the Moon," but was criticized by judges Kara Dio Guardi and Simon Cowell for not having the Sinatra "swagger" in his vocal tone and stage presence. Right! Expect a 17-year-old kid to emulate the voice, attitude and presence of one of the world's most-legendary, chain-smoking and scotch-swilling saloon singers.
Big Mike Lynche had the third-best performance of the evening with the Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields standard "The Way You Look Tonight," but once again over-used his vibrato - which was totally in keeping with the misguided evening: Lynche's performance and tonight's songs were both about 50 years out of style.
Come on, now. Many of Sinatra's songs were written in the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s. So, how in the hell can Idol's producers and judges expect kids younger than 30 years of age to relate to them. Idol, get real! Most people under the age of 60 can't relate to "Big Band" music. So why, in the late rounds of what is supposed to be a singing competition of CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS AND MUSIC, is Idol making its young contestants sing songs that are older than most of their parents?
For the second week, Crystal Bowersox made a terrible song selection with "Summer Wind," and as judge Ellen DeGeneres correctly called it: "swallowed the words on half of the first verse." Which illustrates another issue that no one is addressing. Sinatra really wasn't so much a great singer as a great stylist - almost a "reader" of lyrics. He had a limited vocal range of about an octave and a third. And his pitch wasn't really all that accurate. But with great vocal diction, his trademark lit cigarette in one hand and a microphone in the other, he was the epitome of '40s and '50s cool. But like having Idol's contestants sing Elvis songs, having them try to interpret Sinatra is just as problematic. And pointless. Sound too much like Frank or Elvis and you're a second-class impersonator. Sound nothing like them and you're "not interpreting or representing" those legendary performers or their songs well, according to the judges.
It's about time someone had the guts to tell the show's producers and judges: "Stop criticizing kids for looking and sounding awkward singing songs that, quite frankly, have nothing to do with today's music. And, butchering songs that were forced upon them and should have nothing to do with them being judged as competent or relevant singers.
Casey James also looked and sounded completely lost on Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies." And, having Harry Connick, Jr. serve as the contestants' mentor, music scorer and piano accompanist, only made things feel even more dated and irrelevant. Connick is a great piano player and decent vocal stylist. But, his musical strengths and tastes are steeped in Big Band, jazz and New Orleans Dixieland music. True to his heritage and roots, Connick and some of his sidemen turned in solid jazz arrangements and performances. But this only made the music sound older. And, it made it virtually impossible for the kids to turn one of Sinatra's classics "sideways" with an alt-rock or hip-hop treatment - or some other musically current adaptation.
By trying to pay homage to Sinatra tonight, both American Idol and Connick made a mockery of Ole Blue Eyes' work. And they put five young singers in a nearly impossible situation: trying to make the Brat Pack interpret songs from the catalog of the "King of the Rat Pack."
Based on tonight's showing, Casey, Crystal and Big Mike should be in the bottom three. But with the voting as screwy as Idol's continuing insistence to make kids sing songs from eras that are a long-time dead and gone, who knows who will be sent home this week?
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
'Any Man of Mine' Is Siobhan Magnus' Swan Song on American Idol
Just as we predicted after her unsettling Tuesday night performance, Siobhan Magnus' rendition of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine," proved to be her swan song, as she was voted off American Idol's competition last night.
Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Aaron Kelly were the only contestants judged "safe" by voters, while Casey James and Big Mike Lynche joined Siobhan in the bottom three, before she eventually got the boot.
Crystal was lucky not to finish in the bottom three, after a lackluster performance of "No One Needs to Know," on Tuesday night, as the field of contestants each adapted and performed a song from Twain's country-pop song catalog.
We disagree with the American public's vote tally that put James in the bottom three: his performance of "Don't" was his best of the season, followed by a very strong but sensitive showing by young Aaron Kelly on "You've Got a Way." Big Mike turned in a decent but predictably vibrato-exaggerated performance of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing." Meanwhile, Lee picked the best song from Twain's repertoire - her pop classic "Still the One" - but despite his nice styling of that song, we were bothered by his continuing pitch problems.
Next week, we think it's time for Aaron to step up and show he can vocally deliver and capture an audience with an up-tempo tune, while Casey needs to remain unfazed by this week's vote - and continue to deliver progressively strong vocal performances in his Huey Lewis meets Southern rocker tradition.
While we believe that Lee has a vocal style that is both commercial and contemporary, it's high time that he and the AI judges honestly address his persistent and distracting pitch issues. If not, even if he wins the contest, his unlucky producer will have to seriously auto-tune everything he sings in-studio. And that won't address the pitch issues he will continue to have in his live shows - much like Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers and other young artists whose singing chops are very weak and artistically unsatisfying. Lee's strength is that he has a highly identifiable voice and an alt-rock, singer-songwriter style that are well-defined and relevant to today's market. He just has problems hitting and sustaining pitch when he pushes his voice into its higher register.
We still believe the competition is Crystal's to lose. But she needs to stay away from weak material like Twain's "No One Needs to Know," avoid the contemporary-country genre like the plague - and continue to play to her strengths as a folk-blues-rocker ala Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt.
And that's our view from The A & R Room.
Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Aaron Kelly were the only contestants judged "safe" by voters, while Casey James and Big Mike Lynche joined Siobhan in the bottom three, before she eventually got the boot.
Crystal was lucky not to finish in the bottom three, after a lackluster performance of "No One Needs to Know," on Tuesday night, as the field of contestants each adapted and performed a song from Twain's country-pop song catalog.
We disagree with the American public's vote tally that put James in the bottom three: his performance of "Don't" was his best of the season, followed by a very strong but sensitive showing by young Aaron Kelly on "You've Got a Way." Big Mike turned in a decent but predictably vibrato-exaggerated performance of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing." Meanwhile, Lee picked the best song from Twain's repertoire - her pop classic "Still the One" - but despite his nice styling of that song, we were bothered by his continuing pitch problems.
Next week, we think it's time for Aaron to step up and show he can vocally deliver and capture an audience with an up-tempo tune, while Casey needs to remain unfazed by this week's vote - and continue to deliver progressively strong vocal performances in his Huey Lewis meets Southern rocker tradition.
While we believe that Lee has a vocal style that is both commercial and contemporary, it's high time that he and the AI judges honestly address his persistent and distracting pitch issues. If not, even if he wins the contest, his unlucky producer will have to seriously auto-tune everything he sings in-studio. And that won't address the pitch issues he will continue to have in his live shows - much like Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers and other young artists whose singing chops are very weak and artistically unsatisfying. Lee's strength is that he has a highly identifiable voice and an alt-rock, singer-songwriter style that are well-defined and relevant to today's market. He just has problems hitting and sustaining pitch when he pushes his voice into its higher register.
We still believe the competition is Crystal's to lose. But she needs to stay away from weak material like Twain's "No One Needs to Know," avoid the contemporary-country genre like the plague - and continue to play to her strengths as a folk-blues-rocker ala Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt.
And that's our view from The A & R Room.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Casey James, Aaron Kelly Shine with Shania's Tunes on 'Idol'
Casey James tonight regained credibility and momentum as a real contender to win this season's American Idol competition, with a fresh and highly stylized interpretation of Shania Twain's "Don't," while 17-year-old Aaron Kelly showed off his sensitivity and Country chops with Twain's "You've Got a Way," while delivering the second-strongest of the evening's six performances.
Lee DeWyze showed his smarts by picking the best song in Twain's entire catalogue, with an interesting, if pitchy alt-rock version of her wonderful pop classic "You're Still the One." While DeWyze has a great alt-rock vocal sound, he is frequently flat and sharp in pitch, a fact that the Idol judges steadfastly refuse to address.
Crystal Bowersox had her weakest performance of the competition with a straight-ahead and plodding traditional Country version of "No One Needs to Know," which judge Simon Cowell correctly identified as one of Twain's weakest - and not very memorable songs.
Big Mike Lynche brought tears to mentor Twain's eyes with an over-sung version of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing," while Siobhan Magnus resorted to some powerful but predictable screams at the end of Twain's boring country traditional tune, "Any Man of Mine," with the judges about equally split on whether her finale was artistically exciting - or just another display of her usual vocal histrionics.
At this point, we believe Casey, Aaron and Lee turned in the strongest performances of the night, followed by Big Mike, Crystal and Siobhan, respectively. We think it's time for Siobhan to hit the road, since her only really powerful and commercially artistic performance of this season, was her version of the Stones' "Paint It Black" several weeks ago.
And that's our view from The A And R Room.
Lee DeWyze showed his smarts by picking the best song in Twain's entire catalogue, with an interesting, if pitchy alt-rock version of her wonderful pop classic "You're Still the One." While DeWyze has a great alt-rock vocal sound, he is frequently flat and sharp in pitch, a fact that the Idol judges steadfastly refuse to address.
Crystal Bowersox had her weakest performance of the competition with a straight-ahead and plodding traditional Country version of "No One Needs to Know," which judge Simon Cowell correctly identified as one of Twain's weakest - and not very memorable songs.
Big Mike Lynche brought tears to mentor Twain's eyes with an over-sung version of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing," while Siobhan Magnus resorted to some powerful but predictable screams at the end of Twain's boring country traditional tune, "Any Man of Mine," with the judges about equally split on whether her finale was artistically exciting - or just another display of her usual vocal histrionics.
At this point, we believe Casey, Aaron and Lee turned in the strongest performances of the night, followed by Big Mike, Crystal and Siobhan, respectively. We think it's time for Siobhan to hit the road, since her only really powerful and commercially artistic performance of this season, was her version of the Stones' "Paint It Black" several weeks ago.
And that's our view from The A And R Room.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
'Momma 'Sox' Shows She's Ready to Win Idol with 'People Get Ready'
Crystal Bowersox left the comfort of her six-string to deliver an emotional "People Get Ready" tonight to showcase why she is the odd's-on favorite to win this year's American Idol, as she sparkled in competition featuring Idol's final seven contestants.
On a night on which contestants were asked to perform inspirational songs, and the young contestants were mentored by R&B superstar Alicia Keys, only Bowersox and young Aaron Kelly showed wisdom in song selection and delivered anything close to inspirational performances.
Kelly sang a spot-on interpretation of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly." Meanwhile, Teflon Tim Urban came through with a relatively in-tune but uninspired version of the Goo Goo Dolls' "Better Days," Siobhan Magnus completely missed the mark with a flat and banal performance of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey classic "When You Believe," and Big Mike Lynche accompanied himself on acoustic guitar on a passable but boring version of "The Hero."
Two other yawn-inspiring performances were delivered by Casey James with Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop (Thinkin' About Tomorrow)," while Lee DeWyze sang an uneven and pitchy version of the Simon and Garfunkel masterpiece "The Boxer."
At this rate, it looks like barring an unforeseen injury, sickness or Act of God, Bowersox is almost a certain shoo-in to win this year's competition. Part of our rationale for this prediction is that Bowersox is a consummate performer and truly ready to become a recording star. Our other reason we believe she will win is because the Idol field this year is extremely weak.
And that's our view from The A & R Room.
On a night on which contestants were asked to perform inspirational songs, and the young contestants were mentored by R&B superstar Alicia Keys, only Bowersox and young Aaron Kelly showed wisdom in song selection and delivered anything close to inspirational performances.
Kelly sang a spot-on interpretation of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly." Meanwhile, Teflon Tim Urban came through with a relatively in-tune but uninspired version of the Goo Goo Dolls' "Better Days," Siobhan Magnus completely missed the mark with a flat and banal performance of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey classic "When You Believe," and Big Mike Lynche accompanied himself on acoustic guitar on a passable but boring version of "The Hero."
Two other yawn-inspiring performances were delivered by Casey James with Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop (Thinkin' About Tomorrow)," while Lee DeWyze sang an uneven and pitchy version of the Simon and Garfunkel masterpiece "The Boxer."
At this rate, it looks like barring an unforeseen injury, sickness or Act of God, Bowersox is almost a certain shoo-in to win this year's competition. Part of our rationale for this prediction is that Bowersox is a consummate performer and truly ready to become a recording star. Our other reason we believe she will win is because the Idol field this year is extremely weak.
And that's our view from The A & R Room.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Teflon Tim Escapes Again, Idol Fans Send Katie, Andrew Home
American Idol's fans got it half right tonight, sending home Andrew Garcia after a woeful rendition of Elvis' "Hound Dog," Tuesday night. However, they screwed up mightily by sending home Katie Stevens who delivered a strong "Baby, What Ya Want Me To Do," when, instead it should have been the lacklustre Tim Urban getting the boot for his limp and mumbled version of "Can't Help Falling In Love."
Once again, Idol displayed the banality of pubescent young girls who apparently kept Urban in the competition despite his lack of singing talent. Of course, Urban also had the "X" factor working for him, a subversive Blogsite that early this season identified him as the least-talented Idol performer and vowed to "stuff the ballot" to keep him on the show as long as possible, ala Sanjaya Malakar.
Tonight's voting results also demonstrated again why Idol needs to eliminate multi-texting and limit voting to one text per phone number, per show. The only one benefiting from this voting abuse, besides Urban, is AT&T, which keeps racking up the minutes of network usage and revenues.
If Urban goes on to win this competition, no one in the music industry will ever take this show seriously again.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Once again, Idol displayed the banality of pubescent young girls who apparently kept Urban in the competition despite his lack of singing talent. Of course, Urban also had the "X" factor working for him, a subversive Blogsite that early this season identified him as the least-talented Idol performer and vowed to "stuff the ballot" to keep him on the show as long as possible, ala Sanjaya Malakar.
Tonight's voting results also demonstrated again why Idol needs to eliminate multi-texting and limit voting to one text per phone number, per show. The only one benefiting from this voting abuse, besides Urban, is AT&T, which keeps racking up the minutes of network usage and revenues.
If Urban goes on to win this competition, no one in the music industry will ever take this show seriously again.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Elvis Rolls Over in His Grave While American Idol Singers Butcher His Songs
With the exception of strong and memorable performances by Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeDwyze, Elvis was surely rolling over in his grave as the majority of American Idol's final nine singers completely butchered songs from "The King's" catalogue tonight.
Bowersox opened the show with a spot-on rocking version of Elvis' gospel "Saved," while DeWyze stepped into a growly and soulful version of "A Little Less Conversation."
With those exceptions, the show dragged and sagged as Tim Urban mumbled his way through "Can't Help Falling in Love," Aaron Kelly stumbled through "Blue Suede Shoes," Siobhan Magnus completely destroyed the melody and flow of "Suspicious Minds," and Casey James delivered a throw-away and hardly recognizable reading of "Lawdy Miss Claudy."
The only other performances that rang with any resonance and honesty were Katie Stevens powerful, if predictable delivery of "Baby, What Do Ya Want Me To Do?" and big Mike Lynche, who came through with a soulful if abbreviated reading of "In the Ghetto."
Tonight's show further demonstated the banality and futility of Idol's having young singers trying to interpret songs from catalogues that they're removed from by four to five generations. While I appreciate Simon's lack of tact in criticizing most of tonight's performances, a great deal of blame has to go to the show's producers who insist on these pointless "theme nights" in which young singers are asked to perform songs in genres and from time periods that they cannot relate to, and which have no relevance to today's music scene.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Bowersox opened the show with a spot-on rocking version of Elvis' gospel "Saved," while DeWyze stepped into a growly and soulful version of "A Little Less Conversation."
With those exceptions, the show dragged and sagged as Tim Urban mumbled his way through "Can't Help Falling in Love," Aaron Kelly stumbled through "Blue Suede Shoes," Siobhan Magnus completely destroyed the melody and flow of "Suspicious Minds," and Casey James delivered a throw-away and hardly recognizable reading of "Lawdy Miss Claudy."
The only other performances that rang with any resonance and honesty were Katie Stevens powerful, if predictable delivery of "Baby, What Do Ya Want Me To Do?" and big Mike Lynche, who came through with a soulful if abbreviated reading of "In the Ghetto."
Tonight's show further demonstated the banality and futility of Idol's having young singers trying to interpret songs from catalogues that they're removed from by four to five generations. While I appreciate Simon's lack of tact in criticizing most of tonight's performances, a great deal of blame has to go to the show's producers who insist on these pointless "theme nights" in which young singers are asked to perform songs in genres and from time periods that they cannot relate to, and which have no relevance to today's music scene.
And that's our view from The A&R Room.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
'Big Mike' Gets Saved by American Idol Judges
After finishing last among the Bottom Three, along with Andrew Garcia and Aaron Kelly, "Big Mike" Lynche earned a charitable and unanimous reprieve from the American Idol judges - to escape elimination in the AI competition tonight.
Proving once again that AI is first and foremost a popularity contest and not a true singing competition, American voters unbelievably let two far worse singers survive. Both Garcia, who on Monday night sang a rather dull Big Band-Stray Cats version of the Lennon-McCartney classic "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Teflon Tim" Urban, who managed to make it through an uninspired rendition of "All My Lovin'." deserved to be sent home ahead of "Big Mike." However, Big Mike fell into disfavor on Monday night by delivering an over-wrought rendition of "Eleanor Rigby."
Lee DeWyze also deserved to be in the Bottom Three tonight, after delivering a pitchy reading of "Hey Jude," on Monday, inexplicably accompanied by a kilt-wearing bagpiper.
Casey James turned in the strongest performance of the week with a poignant reading of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He was closely followed with a rousing rendition of "Come Together" by Crystal Bowersox and an uplifting interpretation of McCartney's pop-anthem "Let It Be" by Katie Stevens.
Two usual strong performers in the AI field had off-nights Monday, with Aaron Kelly looking and sounding a bit lost on "The Long and Winding Road," and Siobhan Magnus playing it a little too safe on a very timid version of "Across the Universe."
While we guessed that the judges would not let "Big Mike" go home early, the reality is that, considering how the AI demographics are skewed to pubescent female and predominantly white Middle America, his chances of surviving and winning the competition are slim to none.
We still think that Crystal, Casey and Aaron are still the class of this year's talent crop, but that Siobhan remains a wild card, who on a given night, is capable of delivering an inspired performance to tilt the voting her way.
And that's our view from the A&R Room.
Proving once again that AI is first and foremost a popularity contest and not a true singing competition, American voters unbelievably let two far worse singers survive. Both Garcia, who on Monday night sang a rather dull Big Band-Stray Cats version of the Lennon-McCartney classic "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Teflon Tim" Urban, who managed to make it through an uninspired rendition of "All My Lovin'." deserved to be sent home ahead of "Big Mike." However, Big Mike fell into disfavor on Monday night by delivering an over-wrought rendition of "Eleanor Rigby."
Lee DeWyze also deserved to be in the Bottom Three tonight, after delivering a pitchy reading of "Hey Jude," on Monday, inexplicably accompanied by a kilt-wearing bagpiper.
Casey James turned in the strongest performance of the week with a poignant reading of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He was closely followed with a rousing rendition of "Come Together" by Crystal Bowersox and an uplifting interpretation of McCartney's pop-anthem "Let It Be" by Katie Stevens.
Two usual strong performers in the AI field had off-nights Monday, with Aaron Kelly looking and sounding a bit lost on "The Long and Winding Road," and Siobhan Magnus playing it a little too safe on a very timid version of "Across the Universe."
While we guessed that the judges would not let "Big Mike" go home early, the reality is that, considering how the AI demographics are skewed to pubescent female and predominantly white Middle America, his chances of surviving and winning the competition are slim to none.
We still think that Crystal, Casey and Aaron are still the class of this year's talent crop, but that Siobhan remains a wild card, who on a given night, is capable of delivering an inspired performance to tilt the voting her way.
And that's our view from the A&R Room.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
'Will You Ever Win?' AI Judges Say 'No," to Didi Who Exits With 'Rhiannon'
No big surprise on American Idol tonight. Didi Bonami got the boot after Katie Stevens and Tim Urban landed with her in the Bottom Three. However, Katie got the "safe" nod from host Ryan Seacrest and Tim inexplicably escaped elimination again, despite a soul-less performance Tuesday night of the Anita Baker classic "Sweet Love."
While departing Didi was more of a vocal stylist than a real singer, she demonstrated where her musical appeal and modest abilities lie with a solid reading of the Fleetwood Mac tune "Rhiannon," an ode to an ancient Welsh witch, according to its author and original singer, Steve Nicks.
This leaves a field of nine survivors. Just by shear diminishing numbers, Tim has to be the next under-singer to go - barring a flood of texts from his field of pubescent supporters. He also could be kept alive due to the efforts of a subversive Website whose bloggers are determined to keep him on the show as long as painfully possible, ala Sanjaya Malakar (as their designated pick as "worst singer among this year's AI finalists").
That Website underscores the banality of American Idol. It is more of a teen popularity contest than a true vocal competition. This year, it's become tunelessly clear that the judges picked far too many kids with marginal or no musical talent. However, some will keep hanging on way past the point of pain, due to the perverted voting texts of young fans with little or no musical tastes. Or in the case of that one screwy Blogsite - due to the efforts of some discerning wiseacres who are determined to lampoon American Idol down to its last round of competition.
Among tonight's survivors, the best singers are, Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Aaron Kelly, Casey James and Big Mike Lynche, respectively.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
While departing Didi was more of a vocal stylist than a real singer, she demonstrated where her musical appeal and modest abilities lie with a solid reading of the Fleetwood Mac tune "Rhiannon," an ode to an ancient Welsh witch, according to its author and original singer, Steve Nicks.
This leaves a field of nine survivors. Just by shear diminishing numbers, Tim has to be the next under-singer to go - barring a flood of texts from his field of pubescent supporters. He also could be kept alive due to the efforts of a subversive Website whose bloggers are determined to keep him on the show as long as painfully possible, ala Sanjaya Malakar (as their designated pick as "worst singer among this year's AI finalists").
That Website underscores the banality of American Idol. It is more of a teen popularity contest than a true vocal competition. This year, it's become tunelessly clear that the judges picked far too many kids with marginal or no musical talent. However, some will keep hanging on way past the point of pain, due to the perverted voting texts of young fans with little or no musical tastes. Or in the case of that one screwy Blogsite - due to the efforts of some discerning wiseacres who are determined to lampoon American Idol down to its last round of competition.
Among tonight's survivors, the best singers are, Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Aaron Kelly, Casey James and Big Mike Lynche, respectively.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Bowersox, Dewyze Rock 'Soul Night' on American Idol
Crystal Bowersox traded in her Berkinstocks for stilettos and her six-string for a piano, delivering a show-stopping rendition of the Jim Weatherly-penned Gladys Knight classic "Midnight Train to Georgia," while Lee Dewyze power-shifted his raspy baritone into high gear on an up-tempo adaptation of the Cornelius Brothers' "Treat Her Like a Lady," highlighting several strong vocal performances among American Idol's Top 10 finalists tonight.
Not far behind was Southern-rocker Casey Jones, who showed off Clapton-like guitar and vocal riffs on a blue-eyed-soul reading of the Sam & Dave classic "Hold On, I'm Coming," while Big Mike Lynche finally graduated from karoke-school oversinging and posturing with a sensitive reading of India Arie's "Ready for Love," and young Aaron Kelly sparkled on Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine."
Katie Stevens delivered a competent "Chain of Fools," but once again, let her poor choice of songs stunt her artistic growth and sense of direction - no one is ever going to confuse her version of the soul classic to Aretha's.
Biggest disappointment of the night was an off-key and uncertain performance of the Chaka Khan jewel "Through the Fire," by Siobhan Magnus, who, since her powerful and innovative version of the Stones' "Paint It Black" several shows ago, seems to have lost her way amid a couple of weak R&B song deliveries. Siobhan belongs in alt-rock, ala Alanis, but just hasn't seemed to figure it out yet.
Stumbling through predictably weak performances were: Tim Urban with a surprisingly on-key - but woefully soul-less version of Anita Baker's "Sweet Love," Didi Bonami's butchering of the Motown chestnut "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?," and Andrew Garcia's Dave Matthews-like rendering of Chris Brown's "Forever."
R&B heartthrob and superstar recording artist Usher showed class and sensitivity in his guidance to contestants in their preparatory work - handing down smart stage-presence tips and singing subtleties to his young minions - with wisdom, kindness and clarity.
Once again, Simon and Kara argued whether young Katie's singing career belongs in country-pop (Simon's assertion), while Kara and Randy agreed that her strongest suit is in R&B-pop.
The AI show tonight had some redemptive qualities: it was much better than last week's competition, when it seemed only about two singers rightfully deserved to be in the entire competition. Based on tonight's show, Didi deserves to be the next AI finalist to get the door - closely followed by Tim and Andrew.
And that's our view from the "A&R Room."
Not far behind was Southern-rocker Casey Jones, who showed off Clapton-like guitar and vocal riffs on a blue-eyed-soul reading of the Sam & Dave classic "Hold On, I'm Coming," while Big Mike Lynche finally graduated from karoke-school oversinging and posturing with a sensitive reading of India Arie's "Ready for Love," and young Aaron Kelly sparkled on Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine."
Katie Stevens delivered a competent "Chain of Fools," but once again, let her poor choice of songs stunt her artistic growth and sense of direction - no one is ever going to confuse her version of the soul classic to Aretha's.
Biggest disappointment of the night was an off-key and uncertain performance of the Chaka Khan jewel "Through the Fire," by Siobhan Magnus, who, since her powerful and innovative version of the Stones' "Paint It Black" several shows ago, seems to have lost her way amid a couple of weak R&B song deliveries. Siobhan belongs in alt-rock, ala Alanis, but just hasn't seemed to figure it out yet.
Stumbling through predictably weak performances were: Tim Urban with a surprisingly on-key - but woefully soul-less version of Anita Baker's "Sweet Love," Didi Bonami's butchering of the Motown chestnut "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?," and Andrew Garcia's Dave Matthews-like rendering of Chris Brown's "Forever."
R&B heartthrob and superstar recording artist Usher showed class and sensitivity in his guidance to contestants in their preparatory work - handing down smart stage-presence tips and singing subtleties to his young minions - with wisdom, kindness and clarity.
Once again, Simon and Kara argued whether young Katie's singing career belongs in country-pop (Simon's assertion), while Kara and Randy agreed that her strongest suit is in R&B-pop.
The AI show tonight had some redemptive qualities: it was much better than last week's competition, when it seemed only about two singers rightfully deserved to be in the entire competition. Based on tonight's show, Didi deserves to be the next AI finalist to get the door - closely followed by Tim and Andrew.
And that's our view from the "A&R Room."
AI Judges Need to Assume Responsbility for Having 'Wooden Ears'
This posting is for the American Idol results of March 24, 2010. By now the AI judges have to be taking some responsibility - and should be feeling some no small amount of guilt - for picking so many kids who have so little or no musical talent.
The fact that Tim Urban survived the cut and made the "Top 10," is really a joke. Admittedly, Paige Miles went from bad to worse - and completely lost her confidence - but she still has one of the best voices in the competition. Certainly, Tim, on his best day, has no clue of how to sing, interpret or deliver a song on stage.
Andrew Garcia and Didi are another couple of "weak sisters," that never should have been selected by the AI judges. Both have poor pitch, little vocal strength and really no concept of who they are as singers.
After Sibhan did a great job on "Paint It Black," she did another soul tune which shows she doesn't understand that her strengths and any potential career lie in alt-rock.
Katie Stevens, while a cutie, is a "babe in the woods," and needed another year of vocal practice before trying to become an American Idol.
For my money, the best artists of this season remain Crystal Bowersox, who is sounding and looking more and more like a reincarnation of Janis, - and young Aaron Kelly, who I believe is destined for greatness as a C&W superstar.
The only thing that was remotely "honest" about tonight's show, was the judges' new-found and overall sharpening criticism of the contestants' performances and talent. Maybe they're really starting to face the fact that they selected a number of kids whose time would be better spent pursuing academic studies - and not music.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your comments.
The fact that Tim Urban survived the cut and made the "Top 10," is really a joke. Admittedly, Paige Miles went from bad to worse - and completely lost her confidence - but she still has one of the best voices in the competition. Certainly, Tim, on his best day, has no clue of how to sing, interpret or deliver a song on stage.
Andrew Garcia and Didi are another couple of "weak sisters," that never should have been selected by the AI judges. Both have poor pitch, little vocal strength and really no concept of who they are as singers.
After Sibhan did a great job on "Paint It Black," she did another soul tune which shows she doesn't understand that her strengths and any potential career lie in alt-rock.
Katie Stevens, while a cutie, is a "babe in the woods," and needed another year of vocal practice before trying to become an American Idol.
For my money, the best artists of this season remain Crystal Bowersox, who is sounding and looking more and more like a reincarnation of Janis, - and young Aaron Kelly, who I believe is destined for greatness as a C&W superstar.
The only thing that was remotely "honest" about tonight's show, was the judges' new-found and overall sharpening criticism of the contestants' performances and talent. Maybe they're really starting to face the fact that they selected a number of kids whose time would be better spent pursuing academic studies - and not music.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your comments.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
'Tuneless Tim:' Dodges Bullet with 'Stoned' Version of 'Under My Thumb'
American Idol fans once again demonstrated their stupidity and lack of musical taste by not booting Tim Urban off the March 17 show. Urban not only cannot sing, he has no stage presence and apparently no clue that his ill-advised reggae rendition of the Stones' "Under My Thumb," would have been high-camp theater - if Tim were smart enough to be in on the joke.
Talk about emasculating a song! Tim turned one of the nastiest male chauvenistic songs of all time into a campfire sing-along ditty for nerds. It's a crime how Idol judges blow smoke up some dumb kid's butt and let him demonstrate his lack of musical acuity in front of millions of people - for his 15 minutes of fleeting and unforgiving fame/infamy. Someone should just be kind and tell the kid the truth: Tim, unless you learn how to play your guitar better or learn how to engineer, you have absolutely no future in music.
And while I didn't lose any sleep over Lacey Brown getting the boot for her limp version of "Ruby Tuesday,"
it was a crime that Paige Miles was in last night's bottom three. It's true that she butchered Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" last week. But this week, despite suffering from laryngitis, Paige delivered a strong Tina Turner-esque version of "Honkytonk Women." I think Paige should stay in this blusey-rock genre, because her voice is highly identifiable in that genre, but loses its distinctive quality in R&B pop, where she sounds like a hundred other singers. But this girl, flat out has the best voice and pitch of anyone in the contest. She just hasn't been too smart in her song selection.
Also, despite his transgender mangling of "Weinie in a Bottle" and complete misinterpretation of the Stones "Gimme Shelter," Andrew Garcia somehow escaped the bottom three - where he rightfully belonged with Tim, Lacey and Big Mike. Or, with Tim, Lacey and Didi.
Siobhan Magnus showed she is a force to be reckoned with - with her dramatic, show-stopping delivery of "Paint it Black," demonstrating an artistry reminiscent of Annie Lennox at the top of her game. Siobhan also was one of the few singers who showed an understanding of any of the Stones' songs - most of which were written 40 years before any of the AI singers were born.
My early-on favorites to win the AI title are: Siobhan in the women's category - and young Aaron in the men's, closely followed by Casey and Lee, in that order.
But considering that Idol fans are predominantly prepubescent girls, driven by their hormones and not any semblence of musical understanding or taste, they could pick Casey, Lee or God forbid, Big Mike as this year's winner.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Talk about emasculating a song! Tim turned one of the nastiest male chauvenistic songs of all time into a campfire sing-along ditty for nerds. It's a crime how Idol judges blow smoke up some dumb kid's butt and let him demonstrate his lack of musical acuity in front of millions of people - for his 15 minutes of fleeting and unforgiving fame/infamy. Someone should just be kind and tell the kid the truth: Tim, unless you learn how to play your guitar better or learn how to engineer, you have absolutely no future in music.
And while I didn't lose any sleep over Lacey Brown getting the boot for her limp version of "Ruby Tuesday,"
it was a crime that Paige Miles was in last night's bottom three. It's true that she butchered Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" last week. But this week, despite suffering from laryngitis, Paige delivered a strong Tina Turner-esque version of "Honkytonk Women." I think Paige should stay in this blusey-rock genre, because her voice is highly identifiable in that genre, but loses its distinctive quality in R&B pop, where she sounds like a hundred other singers. But this girl, flat out has the best voice and pitch of anyone in the contest. She just hasn't been too smart in her song selection.
Also, despite his transgender mangling of "Weinie in a Bottle" and complete misinterpretation of the Stones "Gimme Shelter," Andrew Garcia somehow escaped the bottom three - where he rightfully belonged with Tim, Lacey and Big Mike. Or, with Tim, Lacey and Didi.
Siobhan Magnus showed she is a force to be reckoned with - with her dramatic, show-stopping delivery of "Paint it Black," demonstrating an artistry reminiscent of Annie Lennox at the top of her game. Siobhan also was one of the few singers who showed an understanding of any of the Stones' songs - most of which were written 40 years before any of the AI singers were born.
My early-on favorites to win the AI title are: Siobhan in the women's category - and young Aaron in the men's, closely followed by Casey and Lee, in that order.
But considering that Idol fans are predominantly prepubescent girls, driven by their hormones and not any semblence of musical understanding or taste, they could pick Casey, Lee or God forbid, Big Mike as this year's winner.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Except for Magnus, AI Singers Show Generation Gap on Stones' Songs
Tonight's (March 16, 2010) show was very interesting. In another American Idol oxymoronic exercise, we saw a group of kids try to sing songs from the Rolling Stones' catalog, most of which was written 40 years before any of them were born. And, it was apparent that some of the singers had no idea what the songs were about. However, a few "old souls" really connected and KILLED with their renditions.
Let's Critique the Women First:
The star of the night was Siobhan Magnus, who chose the perfect song for her voice. She came ready to rock, dressed in black and true to the essence of the song, she "Painted It Black." What can I say? The arrangement with only strings and her voice at the top of the song was brilliant. And when the rhythm section kicked in, she kicked out all the stops. While her vocals wasn't perfectly in tune, so what? That was a rock 'n roll performance worthy of Annie Lennox at the top of her game. It was a captivating and passionate performance in rock by a promising and innovative young artist.. She nailed it! If Siobhan can continue to select material that is SOOO right for her, she definitely will challenge Crystal Bowersox as the best female singer in the competition.
Speaking of Crystal: She seemed a little subdued and off her game with her delivery of "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Still, this lady can really sing, play her axe and perform, so I'll give her the third-best female performance of the night.
Second place among the women had to go to Paige Miles, who, despite a bad case of laryngitis, delivered a powerful, soulful and rockin' version of "Honky Tonk Women," with fresh lyrics geared to the female viewpoint. I heartily disagree with Simon who dissed her performance. I think Paige could be a modern-day version of Tina Turner. When she sings rock, her voice takes on a certain edge and panache that distinguishes her from a lot of generic-sounding female soul singers. Keep rockin' girl!
Katie Stevens had some good moments in "Wild Horses," that kind of reminded me of a young Linda Ronstadt. But Katie comes across as very young, very protected and a bit too innocent to be singing the Stones. Still, a good effort.
The next best effort among the ladies was Didi Benami with "Play With Fire." This is one of the Stones' early songs and it really doesn't have much of a melody. But Didi doesn't have a big voice and she did some nice things with the song, knowing her limits as a vocalist.
The worst female performance of the night was Lacey Brown's version of "Ruby Tuesday," and with her rushed chorus tag delivery of "Still I'm gonna miss you," proved to be prophetic....she didn't connect with the song or her audience on any level. Look for her to be the next female to be cut from the cast.
Now the guys:
For best male performance of the night, and second of all, behind Siobhan, was Aaron Kelly's tender, poignant but powerful interpretation of "Angie." For once I agree with something Randy said. He sounds like a young Gary Levox from Rascal Flats, only less nasal. And, yes, he does have a touch of pop Justin Timberlake in his voice as well, but I think his future lies in Country. The kid is only 16 and as his voice matures, he will be AMAZING! Great performance!
Almost in a tie with Aaron was a surprisingly bluesy and gritty version of the Bobby Womack-written chestnut "It's All Over Now." by Casey James. Casey tonight showed some depth that has been missing from his earlier performances. He showed tonight that he's got some grit and guitar chops. He really belongs in this genre...and his slide guitar playing was a nice surprise.
Third best male performance was by Lee Dewyze who gets props for a solid performance of "Beast of Burden," although it didn't rock much and felt more like an AAA acoustic singer-songwriter treatment. Still, this was Lee's best vocal performance yet, in terms of good pitch, feel and power. I'm starting to think tonight's style may be his best suit acoustic singer/songwriter - and not an anguished electrified alt-rocker.
Fourth best vocal performance in the men's category was by Big Mike. He was basically in tune, but when I'm not looking at him and hear his voice, I see a 5-foot-two-inch guy who weighs 120 soaking wet, and not the big pumped-up dude we see on stage. There's nothing basically wrong with his performance tonight, I just can't see anyone dropping 25 bucks to go see him perform live. I don't see a star in Big Mike, or a singing career.
In the "interesting" but strange category was Andrew Garcia, who clearly didn't understand, interpret or deliver the anti-war chorus message of the Stones' lyric in "Gimme Shelter." Contrary to Randy's constant yapping about "pitch problems," Andy's voice was strong and reasonably on pitch. But the arrangement and vocal delivery killed all essence of what the song is about and where it's coming from...another CLASSIC BAD example of AI having kids singing songs in the wrong genre - and songs they "just don't get."
The worst performance of the night, and one of the worst I've ever heard anywhere, was Tim Urban's ill-advised attempt to turn "Under My Thumb" into a happy reggae sing-song. This is one of Jagger's and Richard's most condescendingly biting and chauvenistic lyric ever - and Tim neutered the song on every level. Tim is my hand's-down pick to be the next among the final 12 contestants to get axed.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
Let's Critique the Women First:
The star of the night was Siobhan Magnus, who chose the perfect song for her voice. She came ready to rock, dressed in black and true to the essence of the song, she "Painted It Black." What can I say? The arrangement with only strings and her voice at the top of the song was brilliant. And when the rhythm section kicked in, she kicked out all the stops. While her vocals wasn't perfectly in tune, so what? That was a rock 'n roll performance worthy of Annie Lennox at the top of her game. It was a captivating and passionate performance in rock by a promising and innovative young artist.. She nailed it! If Siobhan can continue to select material that is SOOO right for her, she definitely will challenge Crystal Bowersox as the best female singer in the competition.
Speaking of Crystal: She seemed a little subdued and off her game with her delivery of "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Still, this lady can really sing, play her axe and perform, so I'll give her the third-best female performance of the night.
Second place among the women had to go to Paige Miles, who, despite a bad case of laryngitis, delivered a powerful, soulful and rockin' version of "Honky Tonk Women," with fresh lyrics geared to the female viewpoint. I heartily disagree with Simon who dissed her performance. I think Paige could be a modern-day version of Tina Turner. When she sings rock, her voice takes on a certain edge and panache that distinguishes her from a lot of generic-sounding female soul singers. Keep rockin' girl!
Katie Stevens had some good moments in "Wild Horses," that kind of reminded me of a young Linda Ronstadt. But Katie comes across as very young, very protected and a bit too innocent to be singing the Stones. Still, a good effort.
The next best effort among the ladies was Didi Benami with "Play With Fire." This is one of the Stones' early songs and it really doesn't have much of a melody. But Didi doesn't have a big voice and she did some nice things with the song, knowing her limits as a vocalist.
The worst female performance of the night was Lacey Brown's version of "Ruby Tuesday," and with her rushed chorus tag delivery of "Still I'm gonna miss you," proved to be prophetic....she didn't connect with the song or her audience on any level. Look for her to be the next female to be cut from the cast.
Now the guys:
For best male performance of the night, and second of all, behind Siobhan, was Aaron Kelly's tender, poignant but powerful interpretation of "Angie." For once I agree with something Randy said. He sounds like a young Gary Levox from Rascal Flats, only less nasal. And, yes, he does have a touch of pop Justin Timberlake in his voice as well, but I think his future lies in Country. The kid is only 16 and as his voice matures, he will be AMAZING! Great performance!
Almost in a tie with Aaron was a surprisingly bluesy and gritty version of the Bobby Womack-written chestnut "It's All Over Now." by Casey James. Casey tonight showed some depth that has been missing from his earlier performances. He showed tonight that he's got some grit and guitar chops. He really belongs in this genre...and his slide guitar playing was a nice surprise.
Third best male performance was by Lee Dewyze who gets props for a solid performance of "Beast of Burden," although it didn't rock much and felt more like an AAA acoustic singer-songwriter treatment. Still, this was Lee's best vocal performance yet, in terms of good pitch, feel and power. I'm starting to think tonight's style may be his best suit acoustic singer/songwriter - and not an anguished electrified alt-rocker.
Fourth best vocal performance in the men's category was by Big Mike. He was basically in tune, but when I'm not looking at him and hear his voice, I see a 5-foot-two-inch guy who weighs 120 soaking wet, and not the big pumped-up dude we see on stage. There's nothing basically wrong with his performance tonight, I just can't see anyone dropping 25 bucks to go see him perform live. I don't see a star in Big Mike, or a singing career.
In the "interesting" but strange category was Andrew Garcia, who clearly didn't understand, interpret or deliver the anti-war chorus message of the Stones' lyric in "Gimme Shelter." Contrary to Randy's constant yapping about "pitch problems," Andy's voice was strong and reasonably on pitch. But the arrangement and vocal delivery killed all essence of what the song is about and where it's coming from...another CLASSIC BAD example of AI having kids singing songs in the wrong genre - and songs they "just don't get."
The worst performance of the night, and one of the worst I've ever heard anywhere, was Tim Urban's ill-advised attempt to turn "Under My Thumb" into a happy reggae sing-song. This is one of Jagger's and Richard's most condescendingly biting and chauvenistic lyric ever - and Tim neutered the song on every level. Tim is my hand's-down pick to be the next among the final 12 contestants to get axed.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
Monday, March 15, 2010
Katelyn Epperly, Lily Scott Bite the Dust on American Idol
Sorry to see Katelyn Epperly go, but it really wasn't a big surprise, given her bad song selection for the March 11, 2010 American Idol competition.
Glad to see Lily Scott get sacked. She was so caught up in her posing, she never sang one song in tune during all her auditions and performances. When she said "I guess I don't know what the American public wants," she was honest, for once. What they want, girl, is someone real. Someone who sings in tune and doesn't substitute posing for vocal ability.
In the men's competition, it didn't surprise me to see Alex and Todrick get axed. Alex had no voice or stage presence at all. Todrick is just too Broadway....way over the top for pop music...unless he reinvents himself into a male version of Lady Gaga.
I predict the next ones to get cut will be:
Women's competition: Lacey Brown. Men's competition: Andrew Garcia.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
Glad to see Lily Scott get sacked. She was so caught up in her posing, she never sang one song in tune during all her auditions and performances. When she said "I guess I don't know what the American public wants," she was honest, for once. What they want, girl, is someone real. Someone who sings in tune and doesn't substitute posing for vocal ability.
In the men's competition, it didn't surprise me to see Alex and Todrick get axed. Alex had no voice or stage presence at all. Todrick is just too Broadway....way over the top for pop music...unless he reinvents himself into a male version of Lady Gaga.
I predict the next ones to get cut will be:
Women's competition: Lacey Brown. Men's competition: Andrew Garcia.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room."
Crystal, Lee, Casey & Aaron Seem the 'Class' of Idol Lineup
Catching up on American Idol. This is the men's competition on March 10, 2010.
Lee Dewyze. Okay, this tune "Fireflies" didn't kill me. Here's the deal with Lee. He looks like an alt-rock recording star. And he sounds like one in his lower and middle singing registers. But when he tries to get into his head voice, his pitch and phrasing get pretty shaky. Still, he's got to be among the top three male singers in this year's AI competition.
Alex Lambert....he's definitely no "Adam" Lambert. Okay, this kid looks like a modern-day version of Peter Noone from "Herman's Hermits." He has ABSOLUTELY NO stage presence and not much of a voice. Here's another example of Idol's judges picking a likeable kid with very little musical singing ability. This should get him knocked out of the competition.
Tim Urban. Okay, I haven't liked anything this kid has sung - up 'til now. By singing the Leonard Cohen classic, he shows he might have a future in the folk-rock genre ala a modern-day Neil Diamond. Still needs to work on his voice and phrasing.
Andrew Garcia. "Weinie in a Bottle." What is a dude doing singing a song that is a stone-chick song? This was a train wreck. He ought to get dumped. Too bad, cos he has some talent, although not much judgment in picking songs.
Casey Jones. Nice looking dude. Looks like a rock star. Sings like somebody at a Holiday Inn karoke contest. He really needs to get to a vocal coach and get some diaphramatic support training. Still, his looks and affable personality probably will keep him in the competition.
Aaron Kelly. Okay, this kid is not as polished as Crystal in the women's competition, but pound for pound, is at least the second-best potential artist in the entire contest. His version wasn't "pitch perfect," but it reeked of honesty and feeling. I think this kid is destined for stardom as a Country singer, although he also could go pop.
Todrick Hall. I stand corrected from my earlier assessment of Todd. He's a dancer, and maybe a Broadway singer, but certainly not a pop or contemporary R&B singer. He is just too dramatic to take seriously.
Big Mike Lynche. The AI judges loved his version of the Maxwell song. I didn't love the original and I didn't like Mike's version. He may be a nice guy, but there's something strange about a pumped-up dude singing in a chick's range. There's something about this dude that just doesn't ring true for me. I don't see a real singing career in the works for Big Mike, although Aaron Neville, who has a similar high weird voice pulled it off. But I don't think Big Mike will make it more than two more rounds.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Lee Dewyze. Okay, this tune "Fireflies" didn't kill me. Here's the deal with Lee. He looks like an alt-rock recording star. And he sounds like one in his lower and middle singing registers. But when he tries to get into his head voice, his pitch and phrasing get pretty shaky. Still, he's got to be among the top three male singers in this year's AI competition.
Alex Lambert....he's definitely no "Adam" Lambert. Okay, this kid looks like a modern-day version of Peter Noone from "Herman's Hermits." He has ABSOLUTELY NO stage presence and not much of a voice. Here's another example of Idol's judges picking a likeable kid with very little musical singing ability. This should get him knocked out of the competition.
Tim Urban. Okay, I haven't liked anything this kid has sung - up 'til now. By singing the Leonard Cohen classic, he shows he might have a future in the folk-rock genre ala a modern-day Neil Diamond. Still needs to work on his voice and phrasing.
Andrew Garcia. "Weinie in a Bottle." What is a dude doing singing a song that is a stone-chick song? This was a train wreck. He ought to get dumped. Too bad, cos he has some talent, although not much judgment in picking songs.
Casey Jones. Nice looking dude. Looks like a rock star. Sings like somebody at a Holiday Inn karoke contest. He really needs to get to a vocal coach and get some diaphramatic support training. Still, his looks and affable personality probably will keep him in the competition.
Aaron Kelly. Okay, this kid is not as polished as Crystal in the women's competition, but pound for pound, is at least the second-best potential artist in the entire contest. His version wasn't "pitch perfect," but it reeked of honesty and feeling. I think this kid is destined for stardom as a Country singer, although he also could go pop.
Todrick Hall. I stand corrected from my earlier assessment of Todd. He's a dancer, and maybe a Broadway singer, but certainly not a pop or contemporary R&B singer. He is just too dramatic to take seriously.
Big Mike Lynche. The AI judges loved his version of the Maxwell song. I didn't love the original and I didn't like Mike's version. He may be a nice guy, but there's something strange about a pumped-up dude singing in a chick's range. There's something about this dude that just doesn't ring true for me. I don't see a real singing career in the works for Big Mike, although Aaron Neville, who has a similar high weird voice pulled it off. But I don't think Big Mike will make it more than two more rounds.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Crystal Outshines the Other Ladies in AI Competition
Okay, catching up on my "American Idol" thoughts. This is for the March 9, women's competition:
Siobahn Magnus did an interesting version of the old Animals' chestnut "The House of the Rising Sun." She should be among the final 16.
Up 'til now, I haven't really dug Lacey Brown, but I thought her take on Belinda Carlisle's "I Was Made for You," was well-suited to her light voice, but interesting phrasing. Still not sold on her as a singer.
Katelyn Epperly did herself a great disservice by singing the old Carole King song "I Feel the Earth Move." Song is too old. Katelyn probably blew her chances to stay in the competition. It's a shame. Nice voice, but really bad choice of song. And this girl needs to spend a summer in L.A. or NYC learning how to be hip, if that's teachable or learnable.
Didi Benami: OK, this is the best performance of the evening, so far. Nice reading of the Fleetwood Mac tune. This is the first performance of Didi that I've liked. Should get her into the next level.
Paige Miles. Talk about a crappy song selection. Her version of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," was a diasaster. Paige has a strong voice, but no artistic direction....and apparently no common sense in picking material. This bomb may get her dropped.
Lily Scott. Okay, so I saw this girl posing at Guitar Center and it really turned me off. But not as bad as her horrific butchering of Patsy's classic. Lily has yet to hit a note on pitch. She slides every freaking note she sings. She has absolutely no talent for singing Country, and apparently no respect for the original artist. I hope she gets dumped before the next round.
Crystal Bowersox: Okay, this girl is the REAL DEAL! I've loved everything she's done to date, including the Alanis tune that Simon dissed. Crystal killed "Turn My Back Around" and made me forget how good the original version was. Crystal is MY FAVORITE LADY in the AI competition.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Siobahn Magnus did an interesting version of the old Animals' chestnut "The House of the Rising Sun." She should be among the final 16.
Up 'til now, I haven't really dug Lacey Brown, but I thought her take on Belinda Carlisle's "I Was Made for You," was well-suited to her light voice, but interesting phrasing. Still not sold on her as a singer.
Katelyn Epperly did herself a great disservice by singing the old Carole King song "I Feel the Earth Move." Song is too old. Katelyn probably blew her chances to stay in the competition. It's a shame. Nice voice, but really bad choice of song. And this girl needs to spend a summer in L.A. or NYC learning how to be hip, if that's teachable or learnable.
Didi Benami: OK, this is the best performance of the evening, so far. Nice reading of the Fleetwood Mac tune. This is the first performance of Didi that I've liked. Should get her into the next level.
Paige Miles. Talk about a crappy song selection. Her version of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," was a diasaster. Paige has a strong voice, but no artistic direction....and apparently no common sense in picking material. This bomb may get her dropped.
Lily Scott. Okay, so I saw this girl posing at Guitar Center and it really turned me off. But not as bad as her horrific butchering of Patsy's classic. Lily has yet to hit a note on pitch. She slides every freaking note she sings. She has absolutely no talent for singing Country, and apparently no respect for the original artist. I hope she gets dumped before the next round.
Crystal Bowersox: Okay, this girl is the REAL DEAL! I've loved everything she's done to date, including the Alanis tune that Simon dissed. Crystal killed "Turn My Back Around" and made me forget how good the original version was. Crystal is MY FAVORITE LADY in the AI competition.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cleaning out the Garbage on American Idol
Well, four completely out-of-their-league singers bit the dust tonight on American Idol:
In the men's group, the losers were: John Park, a nice young man who should buy a restaurant and sing karaoke to his captive customers; and Jermaine Sellers, who might have a career singing R&B-jazz - if he takes some vocal lessons and learns how to get some diaphramatic suppport and mid-range vocal strength (not all songs are written to be sung in falsetto.)
In the women's group, Michelle Delamor is a beautiful girl with a voice made for sign language; while Haeley Vaughn is SOOO young and could be developed, with some great vocal coaching - say from the likes of a Ron Anderson or Nancy Badger. While Haeley's butchering of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was a vocal mess, it did show that the young girl has some interesting Indie instincts, which can be developed, with the right guidance.
AI is really an A&R train wreck. It's a TV variety show like Star Search that panders to tone-deaf adolscents with a heavy bias toward middle of the road singers - or else Adam Lambert and Daughtry both would have won their competitions, hand's down. Another screwy thing about Idol is that it has aspiring lead singers being asked to sing harmony (like studio veterans) and sing songs completely out of their genre. And while some of the judges are nice people, (Simon not included) none of them, especially Randy who always makes comments about pitch, but does a poor job of hearing it.
Here's the Women's scoop from the A&R Room. Crystal is a ready-to-record star in the making. She looks a bit wan; we hope she doesn't have a serious illness. Katelyn Epperly has a strong voice and a great pure tone, but is really "square" and needs to get hip fast. Lily looks like an alt-artist, but I'd like to hear more singing from her and see a lot less posing. Paige has a pretty strong voice, but no sense of artistic direction. Katie's singing career is in Broadway show tunes (if she studies hard) and not in pop music.
Siobahn has an interesting voice and look, but is weird - sometimes interesting and sometimes just OFF.
At this point, the only ones who've shown good instincts for choosing songs that fit them are: Crystal (a 10), Katelyn (a 9 for the Coldplay tune) and Lily (7.5).
Next week, I'll give you the lowdown on the guys. Stay tuned.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
In the men's group, the losers were: John Park, a nice young man who should buy a restaurant and sing karaoke to his captive customers; and Jermaine Sellers, who might have a career singing R&B-jazz - if he takes some vocal lessons and learns how to get some diaphramatic suppport and mid-range vocal strength (not all songs are written to be sung in falsetto.)
In the women's group, Michelle Delamor is a beautiful girl with a voice made for sign language; while Haeley Vaughn is SOOO young and could be developed, with some great vocal coaching - say from the likes of a Ron Anderson or Nancy Badger. While Haeley's butchering of The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was a vocal mess, it did show that the young girl has some interesting Indie instincts, which can be developed, with the right guidance.
AI is really an A&R train wreck. It's a TV variety show like Star Search that panders to tone-deaf adolscents with a heavy bias toward middle of the road singers - or else Adam Lambert and Daughtry both would have won their competitions, hand's down. Another screwy thing about Idol is that it has aspiring lead singers being asked to sing harmony (like studio veterans) and sing songs completely out of their genre. And while some of the judges are nice people, (Simon not included) none of them, especially Randy who always makes comments about pitch, but does a poor job of hearing it.
Here's the Women's scoop from the A&R Room. Crystal is a ready-to-record star in the making. She looks a bit wan; we hope she doesn't have a serious illness. Katelyn Epperly has a strong voice and a great pure tone, but is really "square" and needs to get hip fast. Lily looks like an alt-artist, but I'd like to hear more singing from her and see a lot less posing. Paige has a pretty strong voice, but no sense of artistic direction. Katie's singing career is in Broadway show tunes (if she studies hard) and not in pop music.
Siobahn has an interesting voice and look, but is weird - sometimes interesting and sometimes just OFF.
At this point, the only ones who've shown good instincts for choosing songs that fit them are: Crystal (a 10), Katelyn (a 9 for the Coldplay tune) and Lily (7.5).
Next week, I'll give you the lowdown on the guys. Stay tuned.
And that's our view from "The A&R Room." We welcome your thoughts.
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