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."