In 1964 the Beatles had their first #1 hit on the American charts. They dominated the charts for the next 6 years until they broke up in 1970. Their arrival paved the way for numerous other British acts to enjoy huge success here in the states. One of them was a band led by Peter Noone, Herman's Hermits, who had two big #1 hits during this time. Do you remember Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter? It spent three weeks at the top in 1965. That same year they topped the charts again with Henry The 8th, I Am. Peter worked with the five remaining boys to help them get their act together to sing music from the 60's British Invasion. The six girl finalists had the privelege of working with Lulu. She made her mark on the music scene with the theme song from the film, To Sir With Love. It spent five weeks at #1 in 1967. Here's what the contestants gave us:
The Exciters had one hit song in 1963 called Tell Him. Haley Scarnato had a lot to prove tonight as she performed this sassy single. Last week she forgot the lyrics, but this time around she managed to get every word out. And she did it while balancing in four inch high heels. She worked her way through the audience in an effort to express her confident intentions to stick around for as long as she can. If her vocals don't convince you to vote for her, she also gave people the chance to consider the rest of her assets. She must have been cold in those go-go pants and that halter top.
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying was a top 5 song for Gerry And The Pacemakers in 1964. It's a sweet and simple ballad and tonight Chris Richardson, once again, wanted to let his voice take center stage. No room for distracting dance moves tonight. He sat center stage with accoustic guitar accompaniment and gave a very straightforward vocal interpretation. This allowed him to let his tenor voice show through as he skillfully slid into a smooth falsetto in just the right places.
Stephanie Edwards chose to sing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me that Dusty Springfield took to #4 in 1966. It's a dramatic love song that packs an emotional punch. Stephanie played it very well with the perfect outfit including some hot high heeled boots that Dusty would have worn herself. Her voice was just as good as it has been every week, but it didn't necessarily jump out and grab you like it should have.
The Time Of The Season was a hit in 1969 for The Zombies after they had already broken up. It's a psychedelic, lava lamp, mind trip just perfect for Blake Lewis to ressurrect. He brought his beat box to the performance in all the right places. Blake is doing something on the American Idol stage that we have never seen before. He is making these classic jams sound fresh, young and contempory. He is completely at ease on stage and looks like a seasoned professional. He's so much more than a gimmick - his singing voice is really good.
Shirley Bassey is the queen of Bond Theme songs. She's recorded three of them including Diamonds Are Forever. LaKisha Jones must have studied Shirley's version very closely as her rendition was almost a note for note imitation. But given Ms. Bassey's amazing range, that can only be taken as a huge compliment. LaKisha is a very capable singer. Her only shortcoming is going to be her stage presence. Good thing she has the rest of the competition to prove herself as an all-around performer.
Tobacco Road hit the top 20 hit for the Nashville Teens in 1964. It was there one and only chart success. Phil Stacey took this relatively obscure song and worked the stage and audience like he was begging to not be in the bottom three again. The good news is that it sounded like it could be a hit on the current country charts. It was just right for his limited vocal range and he had just the perfect amount of energy and enthusiasm to maybe save himself for another week.
Young Jordin Sparks is living up to my expectations. Just as I had hoped, she is raising the bar each week and getting even better and better. She selected the heartbreaking ballad I Who Have Nothing to show that she is ready to take her place in the finals. While it's been recorded by many artists, Tom Jones is the only one to edge into the top 20. Jordin could easily surpass that if she released her powerful vocal extravaganza for a new generation.
Sanjaya Malakar has decided to give in and admit that he doesn't belong in the competition any longer. Awkward doesn't begin to describe his feeble attempt at singing the party anthem You Really Got Me. Even though it was only a top 10 hit for the Kinks in 1964, this is the kind of song that has truly withstood the test of time. I'm not sure if it will survive the damage that Sanjaya has done to it. Can this song ever be cool again? It was wrong. Just WRONG! Since he wasn't sent home last week like he should have, he showed up tonight and did what he had to do....
No other act could compete with the Beatles during than the British Invasion better than the Rolling Stones. One of their 8 #1 songs was Paint It Black which held on to the top spot for 2 weeks in 1966. Gina Glockson fully morphed into a total rock chick with this performance. She wore the leather and chains, but in the process of transforming she forgot about singing better than the others. This song is not meant to be a vocal showcase and she doesn't have the dynamic style of Mick Jagger to make it work. She may have had fun pretending to be a rock star, but the performance was a mess.
The Zombies only had three chart hits and Chris Sligh selected another one of them. She's Not There was their biggest hit peaking at #2 in 1964. It's a great song, but it was a huge risk to draw comparisons to Blake Lewis. While Blake rejuvinated his song, Chris merely sang his. His voice is good, but his performance style was seriously lacking. He can walk through the audience all he wants and swing the microphone stand around, but it's just not gonna make up for what he simply doesn't have: Stage Presence.
The movie version of Oliver! won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1969. One of the songs from it is As Long As He Needs Me. Every week Melinda Doolittle has demonstrated that she is a great singer. Even more than that, she has the ability to really convey the meaning and the story in the lyrics that she sings. But, Melinda has some obstacles that she must overcome. She seems wholly disinterested in sounding or appearing young, fresh or contemporary. Time after time she selects an old people song and sings it like an old people song. At least she does it well, I guess...
This season there is no clear front-runner and any one of these finalists could be at risk. Each week on results night, we could be faced with some big surprises. It seems like each contestant is simply going to be lucky if their fan club remembers to call in and vote for them and keep them safe. So it's gonna be hard to predict the bottom three, but I think Sanjaya will be joined on stage with Phil and Gina. The unluckiest of them all will be Gina.
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