The night that American Idol Gives Back is finally here. Ryan has talked about it for weeks when every call you make to vote for your favorite finalist will turn into a donation to fight poverty world wide. To go along with the charitable theme of the evening, the top 6 were instructed to pick an inspirational song to perform tonight.
Chris Richardson decided to sing the song that swept the Grammy Awards in 1996, Eric Clapton's Change The World. It won both Record and Song of The Year and hit the top 5 on the charts. This is an understated ballad with wonderful lyrics. Eric Clapton conveyed the power of the song with the kind of subtlety and style that comes with maturity and life experience. We learned last week that Chris is not a storyteller who can grasp the substance in every word. He tried too hard with this attempt and went for power instead of inspiration. Sadly, his voice isn't good for power either.
It looks like Melinda Doolittle decided to take the week off. She has already proven herself as an extremely talented vocal dynamo and last week she freshened up her look with a fun and sassy hair-do. Apparently, she feels she's already won the Miss American Idol crown so she can just phone it in from now on. She chose a minor hit from 2001, Faith Hill's There Will Come A Day. Melinda knows she has a better voice than Faith, so improving on the original was an easy task. She didn't even try to raise the stakes beyond that.
Week after week Blake Lewis has shown us that he is a very talented young man. His voice is a wonderfully smooth tenor. He has the look and the vibe that is hip and cool. He glides across the stage with confidence dancing perfectly to the rhythm. In fact, he has so much rhythm that it can't be contained so it bursts out of him in the form of syncopated beat box percussion. But tonight, Blake sat center stage and let the song and the inspirational lyrics take all the focus. Every fluid syllable was filled with the sincere integrity that only a true story teller can communicate. It brought tears to your eyes to absorb Imagine (John Lennon #3 in 1971) as it resonated from Blake's lips.
Season Three Miss American Idol, Fantasia, took I Believe to #1 in 2004. Last week LaKisha Jones performed a song made famous by another Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, so her selection of Fantasia is clearly her statement to the world, "ANYTHING THEY CAN DO, I CAN DO BETTER!" LaKisha looked great on stage and I applaud her bold choices. She sounded very good as well. I'm not sure if I'm convinced that she has the undeniable winning star quality that Fantasia and Carrie have, but I'm glad we get to see her try every week.
Phil Stacey has been taking the week off from the beginning. He hasn't proven himself vocally, he hasn't freshened up his look, he's been in the bottom three every week and yet he's still here. He chose a very drab song by Garth Brooks and made it sound even more drab. Even his loud screaming notes sounded drab when he was supposedly going for passionate inspiration.
The only hit version of You'll Never Walk Alone was in 1964 when Patti Labelle took it to #34. It's from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel and Jordin Sparks made it sound hip and cool for a new generation. To do this song right, one must have exceptional vocal abilities and Jordin showed hers off like she could easily take the crown away from anyone who thinks they already have it. She makes it look easy as she simply opens her mouth and the beautiful tones just flutter out on the wings of butterfies. She provided a truly inspirational final performance for the evening.
I said it last week and I've been given no reason not to say it again. It's a no-brainer that Phil and Chris should be the lowest vote getters. It's a tough call regarding who should go home first, since I don't think either one of them is worthy to be in the top 5. If we get a bottom three this week, I fear that LaKisha could be there with the bad boys. It would be a crime for either Blake or Jordin to be low vote getters so I won't even mention the possibility of that happening. My prediction is that LaKisha, Phil and Chris will be the bottom three and Chris will be going home.
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