I haven't posted here before, but here's a list of one person's opinions.
Chris - 'What a Wonderful World'
Chris picked the easiest song - 'What a Wonderful World' is harmonically and melodically much simpler than most songs considered standards; it is probably a standard simply by virtue of Armstrong's sublime version. Chris had the benefit of low expectations. Much like George Bush in a debate, he simply has to get through the thing in order for it to be considered a smashing success. He didn't hit any particularly bad notes - the song was, after all, written for a 67-year-old in poor health, and doesn't require much of a range. Chris showed his usual querulous voice and uncontrolled vibrato, and his interpretation was limited to looking slightly less angry than usual. But he didn't put the song across in any kind of a fashion, he didn't show the joy that this song conveys. I found it funny - this very angry person with short-man's complex singing about how wonderful the world is, clutching the mic like a drowning man, while his while his face is longing to contort itself back into alt-rock angst (or 'heavy metal', as Grandpa Rod called it).
The judges of course said it was marvelous. I don't understand why. Chris is unsaleable, I think. There has never been an alternative rock solo singer. You have to be part of a band. And you have to write songs. I don't get this whole AI-rocker thing - rock stars are cool, and AI is by definition not cool. There are so many people who can sing as well as Chris in this idiom (I played in and recorded rock bands for years). What differentiates them from each other, and determines who make it and who doesn't, is not the quality of the vocals, but the quality of the songs that the band writes.
Paris - 'These Foolish Things'
This was an excellent performance. A few minor pitch problems but otherwise really excellent. Often, she sounds a lot like Billie (her 'Take Five' audition) but here she sounded a little more like Ella - she had a little of the bell-like quality that gave Ella the most beautiful *sounding* voice ever. Hard to say anything except 'well done' to this. Contrasting this to Chris, it's obvious that Paris can actually sing and Chris is simply a hack. Paris can sing with a clear, straight voice and open up the vibrato, close it down, and it's all under control. These are the kind of techniques that only she and Katherine (and perhaps Elliot) have, and they're the ones that differentiate a professional from an amateur.
Taylor - 'You Send Me'
I was once watching Taylor, and my wife walked in. I said 'look, Father Ted's on American Idol'. My wife said 'Don't be stupid. Father Ted dances much better than that.' And he did, on the Elvis impersonation episode.
Taylor really isn't bad. He is an excellent musician, and a good entertainer. He knows how to build a song up and down. Unfortunately, he just wasn't blessed with the kind of raw instrument that some of the others were. His voice, in isolation from the performance, just isn't that round and doesn't have that much character. Compare his version of 'Taking it to the Streets' with Michael McDonald's (whose perpetually tortured tone was responsible for the artistic demise and commercial success of the Doobies). McDonald has a richness to his voice, overtones and harmonics that Taylor just doesn't have. It's not his fault, and it's not something he can do anything about.
Anyway, this song isn't a standard. It's a soul classic, but not a standard. Taylor did it pretty well, the way Taylor does things. He's going to win AI running away. he's not a great singer, but he fakes it well.
Elliot - 'It Had to Be You'
Very good. It's obvious he has an affinity for this type of music. Elliot has the best sounding voice in the competition in terms of richness and pure quality. He has good control, as well, but a couple of others have more. Sometimes his vibrato gets out of control and he gives the impression that the song is getting away from him. I get the impression that he's had less training than a lot of others and he could be really, really good with time.
Unfortunately, while this was a very good performance, it was slightly understated and artistic, something to avoid with AI, where you've got 2 minutes to wow the audience with something as dramatic as you can. If in doubt, go over the top. While this would have been a great performance in the context of someone performing multiple songs in a complete performance, I'm not sure it was the right thing here. And Elliot suffers from great expectations - we expected him to do well here, and I'm not sure that simply providing us with excellent intonation and control, good interpretation, musicality etc is enough to save Elliot, while the likes of Chris and Kellie simply have to avoid falling on their faces.
Kellie - 'Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered'
The intro was interesting. Rod's always looking for a new ex-wife and it looks like he might have found one. Kellie found a way to make a highly suggestive malapropism, as usual. When I first saw Kellie, I thought that she was either as dumb as rocks, or as smart as Sacha Cohen, the guy who plays Ali G. I'm leaning towards the latter, now. I don't think that there's anything wrong with being a fake - that's what a performer is supposed to be.
Kellie had very low expectations and managed to not meet them. Interestingly, it was bad in ways I didn't expect. It wasn't that pitchy to me - there was one egregiously flat note she pulled up from. She was pulling away from the piano at the start. Like we've seen a couple of times before, she can't wait for this thing to be over. The pianist could follow her when solo at the beginning, but once the band came in the bandleader couldn't keep them up with her, and rather than try and risk the band looking bad, he elected to wave bye-bye to Kellie as she disappeared over the hill. At one time a band could have followed her, but that's not something people do anymore because nearly everything is done to electronic cues. That's absolutely no excuse for Kellie, though.
My theory is that she simply doesn't understand this music enough to realise that she's out of sync with the arrangement. Like many this week, 'Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered' is a more complex song than it sounds (7b9's and dim's all over the place, and that lovely Dmmaj7/Dm7/Dm6 run). I don't think that she has a good enough ear to hear where she was wrong.
The judges, of course, as they always do for her, said 'wrong song'. It was, in that it wasn't 'Twinkle twinkle little star' or 'suds in the bucket'. But every time she screws up, it's the song's fault.
Ace - 'That's All'
According to this week's lascivious geriatric croaker offering advice, Ace did the song even better than Rod. Well, if he couldn't better Rod's anodyne versions of the standards then he shouldn't be here. I don't believe that anyone buying Rod's jazz-lite albums can have ever been exposed to anyone else doing these songs.
Ace, surprisingly, wasn't too bad. His pitching was better than usual. He has two main faults - he is too nasal for part of his range, and he completely goes out of control at the lower part of his range. Both of these problems are because he can't support his chest voice properly. This guy basically has never learned to sing properly, and that's a problem for him. If I was recording Ace I would either use a different microphone or EQ curve to try to minimize the nasal quality.
But this week wasn't bad at all by his standards. I expect him to go home after this.
Katharine - 'Someone to Watch Over Me'
I must admit, I am at a complete loss to understand how anyone could disagree that she was the best singer in the competition this year. She has perfect control. Sometimes she goes a little screechy at the top, but she certainly didn't this week. This is a very, very difficult song (Gershwin makes Rodgers and Hart seem as simple as 'Suds in the bucket'
that she performed absolutely perfectly. It was as good a performance as some of Clay Aitkin's, previously the gold standard for perfect execution on AI. I was almost tempted to vote. This girl has everything - it was a great performance of a great song by any standards. A great way to round off what was clearly the best week this season.
In order: 1. Katherine 2. Paris 3. Elliot (gap) 4. Taylor (gap) 5. Ace 6. Chris 7. Kellie
Who should go: Kellie Who will go: Ace
