The Top 3 finalists will each perform three times tonight: 1. Their own personal song choice 2. a song selected by music producer Jimmy Iovine 3. a song selected by the judges. Pop music superstar Beyonce helped them work on their own personal choices:
Lonestar spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2000 with Amazed. Beyonce thought this song would allow Scotty McCreery to show more of his vocal range so he went for it full force. But even with throwing in some higher notes this song didn't feel like a natural fit for his style and personality.
Faith Hill had a hit in 1993 with Wild One and Lauren Alaina did her best to get over her nervous nature and sing her little heart out. Even Beyonce could notice that she is surrounded by uncertainty every time she tries to sing. She was doing her best to let go, but it came off as strained and screaming in a few places.
Led Zeppelin included What Is and What Should Never Be on their 1969 epic album Led Zeppelin II. Beyonce was very generous in praising the courage of Haley Reinhart for making this selection. Haley has many of the qualities necessary to be a star, including courage, but the fact remains that all the guts in the world isn't going to make up for the lack of talent. She is just a kid getting up there on stage and play acting.
Jimmy selected Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not by Thompson Square for Scotty. One of the best things to be said about an Idol finalist is that he sang the song better than the original and once again, that can not be said about Scotty's rendition. It was good, but it didn't come close to the fun and frolic to be found in the one we can see on CMT any time we want.
Jimmy selected If I Die Young by The Band Perry for Lauren. This one got close to being better than the original from the vocal range stand point, but it fell short in the area of emotional connection. In addition, her performances are always marred by her lack of confidence.
Jimmy selected Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac for Haley. Along with her lack of talent this performance showcased her complete lack of an interesting personality. Stevie Nicks is an iconic persona where Haley is just a mess.
The judges selected the Kenny Rogers #5 hit from 1979, She Believes In Me, for Scotty. He's such a good kid with a full deep bass that sounds pure and clean. It would be nice if he had some personality traits with some energy or a performance style that was interesting, but he's so bland. He did a very good job with the song, but he has no texture to his voice to really make it special.
The judges selected the 2000 Grammy winner for Best Country Song, I Hope You Dance, for Lauren. She's a really sweet girl that would be lots of fun to go shopping at the mall with, but she has zero stage presence. Even when she hits a few nice notes she still appears scared and unsure of herself. This truly is one of the best songs ever and Lauren was just going through the motions.
The judges selected Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know for Haley. This song let her scream her heart out and it didn't matter that she has no talent. I didn't think it was possible, but Haley's version was even more dreadful than the awful original.
Now more than ever I am convinced that Haley is only on the show this season because of some high powered connection that bought her this opportunity. I can't even begin to be able to predict which two will make it to the finals as none of these three have completely won me over. So I'm just going go with the boy and girl next door team of Scotty and Lauren making it through and predicting that Haley will finally be taken out of the running. But what do I know??????
Showing posts with label Alanis Morisette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alanis Morisette. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
And the new American Idol is......
Season Nine is coming to an end tonight and in two hours the new American Idol will be revealed, but there's a whole party to be had leading up to that announcement. The top 12 got things started dressed in their prep school uniforms to rock it out with Alice Cooper and his top 10 hit from 1972, School's Out.
Last year at this time Adam Lambert was all over the media on magazine covers and websites as the clear front runner to win the season eight Miss American Idol crown, but in a shocking twist the title ended up going to pretty boy with no personality, Kris Allen. His first single, Live Like We're Dying, was a modest hit that failed to crack the top 10 so I'm sure there's hope that by performing his second single, The Truth, in front of millions of people tonight might make it into a hit.
The Bee Gees spent three weeks at #1 in 1977 with How Deep Is Your Love from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Siobhan Magnus has the voice and the personality that should have gotten her farther in the competition, but instead of being in the finals she had to sing this adult contemporary slow jam with the tiny little pixie, Aaron Kelly. Thankfully, the surviving members, Barry and Robin Gibb, appeared on stage to sing along with them.
The Doobie Brothers, lead by Michael McDonald, took Takin It To The Streets up to #13 in 1976 and he was joined on stage with finalist Michael Lynche. The judges wisely used the save to get Michael all the way up to the final four and earn him this chance to perform with a music industry great.
The top six girls sang a medley of Christina Aguilera hits including Beautiful and Fighter. The winner of the 1999 Grammy for Best New Artist has a new album, Bionic, coming out June 8th so she appeared tonight to debut a new song for the fans. Rather than doing her uptempo dance jam, Not Myself Tonight, she went for an intense ballad that showed off her big voice.
The top six boys sang a medley of Hall & Oates hits including the #1 smash hits I Can't Go For That and Maneater. The most successful duo of all time on the Billboard HOT 100 charts showed up in the flesh to make our dreams come true.
Crystal Bowersox put in the performances necessary all season to show that she is vocally talented and has the performance skills to be a very worthy Miss American Idol winner. She graced the stage to sing the Alanis Morisette song, Ironic, that peaked at #4 in 1996. Crystal sounded much better than the original and she continued to outsing the real Alanis who showed up to sing You Ought To Know along with her.
The Supreme Miss American Idol, season four winner Carrie Underwood has gone on to sell millions of albums, top the charts and win numerous awards including the 2006 Grammy for Best New Artist and the ACM Entertainer of the Year two years in a row. Tonight she came back to the American Idol stage to sing the latest single from her smash third album. After making huge hits out of Cowboy Casanova and Temporary Home, Undo It is sure to race up to the top of the country chart.
Bret Michaels and Poison took Every Rose Has Its Thorn to #1 in 1988 and he was joined on stage with this year's 2nd runner up, Casey James to make his "look at me, I'm a live and well" reappearance to the world.
Both Crystal and Lee went to their first American Idol audition in Chicago and Lee is actually from the Chicago suburb, Mount Prospect. So it's quite fitting that the legendary classic rock super group of the same name would be here tonight to sing with Lee. This was the perfect fit for Lee because with the huge horn section you could hardly hear his weak vocals at all.
In honor of this being the last night on American Idol for Simon Cowell, former judge Paula Abdul came back to make a loopy speech in his tribute. It was kinda nice to see her, but it was also pretty awkward. And then things turned around when the parade of Miss American Idol winners started with Season One Winner Kelly Clarkson singing an inspirational ballad. She was joined by Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and Kris Allen. For some reason David Cook couldn't make it, but the season seven 1st runner up David Archuleta lead the pack of other former finalists who filled the stage in appreciation of Simon.
How do you follow such a jam packed stage full of stars? With superstar Janet Jackson of course! She started with a medley of Again and Trust In Me and then shouted "Gimme a beat" and launched into her classic pop jam, Nasty.
With just minutes remaining until one of them is crowned the new Miss American Idol, Crystal and Lee sang a rousing version of With A Little Help From My Friends along with Joe Cocker.
And then the announcement was made. The golden envelope was opened to reveal that the Season Nine Miss American Idol is ... Lee DeWyze!
Crystal was robbed just like Adam Lambert was. I guess we have the American Idol voters to thank for this musical embarrassment.
Last year at this time Adam Lambert was all over the media on magazine covers and websites as the clear front runner to win the season eight Miss American Idol crown, but in a shocking twist the title ended up going to pretty boy with no personality, Kris Allen. His first single, Live Like We're Dying, was a modest hit that failed to crack the top 10 so I'm sure there's hope that by performing his second single, The Truth, in front of millions of people tonight might make it into a hit.
The Bee Gees spent three weeks at #1 in 1977 with How Deep Is Your Love from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Siobhan Magnus has the voice and the personality that should have gotten her farther in the competition, but instead of being in the finals she had to sing this adult contemporary slow jam with the tiny little pixie, Aaron Kelly. Thankfully, the surviving members, Barry and Robin Gibb, appeared on stage to sing along with them.
The Doobie Brothers, lead by Michael McDonald, took Takin It To The Streets up to #13 in 1976 and he was joined on stage with finalist Michael Lynche. The judges wisely used the save to get Michael all the way up to the final four and earn him this chance to perform with a music industry great.
The top six girls sang a medley of Christina Aguilera hits including Beautiful and Fighter. The winner of the 1999 Grammy for Best New Artist has a new album, Bionic, coming out June 8th so she appeared tonight to debut a new song for the fans. Rather than doing her uptempo dance jam, Not Myself Tonight, she went for an intense ballad that showed off her big voice.
The top six boys sang a medley of Hall & Oates hits including the #1 smash hits I Can't Go For That and Maneater. The most successful duo of all time on the Billboard HOT 100 charts showed up in the flesh to make our dreams come true.
Crystal Bowersox put in the performances necessary all season to show that she is vocally talented and has the performance skills to be a very worthy Miss American Idol winner. She graced the stage to sing the Alanis Morisette song, Ironic, that peaked at #4 in 1996. Crystal sounded much better than the original and she continued to outsing the real Alanis who showed up to sing You Ought To Know along with her.
The Supreme Miss American Idol, season four winner Carrie Underwood has gone on to sell millions of albums, top the charts and win numerous awards including the 2006 Grammy for Best New Artist and the ACM Entertainer of the Year two years in a row. Tonight she came back to the American Idol stage to sing the latest single from her smash third album. After making huge hits out of Cowboy Casanova and Temporary Home, Undo It is sure to race up to the top of the country chart.
Bret Michaels and Poison took Every Rose Has Its Thorn to #1 in 1988 and he was joined on stage with this year's 2nd runner up, Casey James to make his "look at me, I'm a live and well" reappearance to the world.
Both Crystal and Lee went to their first American Idol audition in Chicago and Lee is actually from the Chicago suburb, Mount Prospect. So it's quite fitting that the legendary classic rock super group of the same name would be here tonight to sing with Lee. This was the perfect fit for Lee because with the huge horn section you could hardly hear his weak vocals at all.
In honor of this being the last night on American Idol for Simon Cowell, former judge Paula Abdul came back to make a loopy speech in his tribute. It was kinda nice to see her, but it was also pretty awkward. And then things turned around when the parade of Miss American Idol winners started with Season One Winner Kelly Clarkson singing an inspirational ballad. She was joined by Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and Kris Allen. For some reason David Cook couldn't make it, but the season seven 1st runner up David Archuleta lead the pack of other former finalists who filled the stage in appreciation of Simon.
How do you follow such a jam packed stage full of stars? With superstar Janet Jackson of course! She started with a medley of Again and Trust In Me and then shouted "Gimme a beat" and launched into her classic pop jam, Nasty.
With just minutes remaining until one of them is crowned the new Miss American Idol, Crystal and Lee sang a rousing version of With A Little Help From My Friends along with Joe Cocker.
And then the announcement was made. The golden envelope was opened to reveal that the Season Nine Miss American Idol is ... Lee DeWyze!
Crystal was robbed just like Adam Lambert was. I guess we have the American Idol voters to thank for this musical embarrassment.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Top 12 girls take their first shot...
This is the girls first chance to impress us and try and get our votes. They can choose any song they want that appeared on the Billboard charts so they have no excuse for getting stuck with the wrong song....
Paige Miles is 24 and she decided to sing All Right Now that hit #4 in 1970 for the one hit wonder band, Free. Paige did not do anything special with this rock anthem and she too should end up being a one hit wonder.
Ashley Rodriguez is 22 and she decided to sing Happy that is the first single from the second album by Leona Lewis. This single fizzled on the Billboard HOT 100 failing to match the success of her first breakthrough hit Bleeding Love. Ashley's version ended up fizzling also....
Janell Wheeler is 24 and she decided to sing What About Love that hit #10 in 1985 for the queens of Rock and Roll, Heart. Lead singer Ann Wilson has the best female voice in the history of classic rock and Janell did not come close to being comparable.
Lilly Scott is 20 and she decided to sing Fixing a Hole that was an album track on the Beatles amazing release Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Lilly failed to do anything amazing with this tepid rendition.
Katelyn Epperly is 19 and she decided to sing Oh! Darling that charted for Robin Gibb in 1978 when the Bee Gees made a movie of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. That movie was quickly forgotten and so too will be Katelyn.
Haeley Vaughn is 16 and she decided to sing I Want To Hold Your Hand that was the Beatles first #1 hit back in 1964. She was very brave and got out there with her acoustic guitar and did a very unique arrangement of the song. It wasn't flawless, but it was memorable.
Lacey Brown is 24 and she decided to sing Landslide that became a hit for Fleetwood Mac when they released their live album The Dance in 1997. Lacey is not going to be able to make a hit out of this lifeless performance.
Michelle Delamor is 22 and she decided to sing Fallin that hit #1 for 6 weeks by Alicia Keys in 2001. Michelle was easily a stand out from the competition so far as she was able to perform this song with confidence and great vocal talent.
Didi Benami is 23 and she decided to sing Way I Am from indie singer songwriter chick Ingrid Michaelson. Didi is a very down to earth folk singer type and should fit right in singing at your local coffee shop.
Siobhan Magnus is 19 and she decided to sing Wicked Game that Chris Isaak took to #6 in 1991. It started off pretty shaky but this song allowed Siobhan to show off her impressive vocal range in the end.
Crystal Bowersox is 24 and she decided to sing Hand in my Pocket that was an airplay hit by Alanis Morissette in 1996. Playing both her guitar and a harmonica Crystal demonstrated what this song could have sounded like if it were sung by someone who actually has talent. Great job!
Katie Stevens is 17 and she decided to sing Feelin Good by Michael Buble. Katie clearly has a very good voice, but this big band style song wasn't the best choice to highlight her youthful energy.
It was a night where the girls failed to blow me away. It's possible that Michelle Delamor, Crystal Bowersox and Katie Stevens could be secure in their safety at coming back for another chance next week. But seriously, any one of the 12 could be at risk of going home. I'm going to predict that Paige Miles and Janell Wheeler will be sent packing....
Paige Miles is 24 and she decided to sing All Right Now that hit #4 in 1970 for the one hit wonder band, Free. Paige did not do anything special with this rock anthem and she too should end up being a one hit wonder.
Ashley Rodriguez is 22 and she decided to sing Happy that is the first single from the second album by Leona Lewis. This single fizzled on the Billboard HOT 100 failing to match the success of her first breakthrough hit Bleeding Love. Ashley's version ended up fizzling also....
Janell Wheeler is 24 and she decided to sing What About Love that hit #10 in 1985 for the queens of Rock and Roll, Heart. Lead singer Ann Wilson has the best female voice in the history of classic rock and Janell did not come close to being comparable.
Lilly Scott is 20 and she decided to sing Fixing a Hole that was an album track on the Beatles amazing release Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Lilly failed to do anything amazing with this tepid rendition.
Katelyn Epperly is 19 and she decided to sing Oh! Darling that charted for Robin Gibb in 1978 when the Bee Gees made a movie of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. That movie was quickly forgotten and so too will be Katelyn.
Haeley Vaughn is 16 and she decided to sing I Want To Hold Your Hand that was the Beatles first #1 hit back in 1964. She was very brave and got out there with her acoustic guitar and did a very unique arrangement of the song. It wasn't flawless, but it was memorable.
Lacey Brown is 24 and she decided to sing Landslide that became a hit for Fleetwood Mac when they released their live album The Dance in 1997. Lacey is not going to be able to make a hit out of this lifeless performance.
Michelle Delamor is 22 and she decided to sing Fallin that hit #1 for 6 weeks by Alicia Keys in 2001. Michelle was easily a stand out from the competition so far as she was able to perform this song with confidence and great vocal talent.
Didi Benami is 23 and she decided to sing Way I Am from indie singer songwriter chick Ingrid Michaelson. Didi is a very down to earth folk singer type and should fit right in singing at your local coffee shop.
Siobhan Magnus is 19 and she decided to sing Wicked Game that Chris Isaak took to #6 in 1991. It started off pretty shaky but this song allowed Siobhan to show off her impressive vocal range in the end.
Crystal Bowersox is 24 and she decided to sing Hand in my Pocket that was an airplay hit by Alanis Morissette in 1996. Playing both her guitar and a harmonica Crystal demonstrated what this song could have sounded like if it were sung by someone who actually has talent. Great job!
Katie Stevens is 17 and she decided to sing Feelin Good by Michael Buble. Katie clearly has a very good voice, but this big band style song wasn't the best choice to highlight her youthful energy.
It was a night where the girls failed to blow me away. It's possible that Michelle Delamor, Crystal Bowersox and Katie Stevens could be secure in their safety at coming back for another chance next week. But seriously, any one of the 12 could be at risk of going home. I'm going to predict that Paige Miles and Janell Wheeler will be sent packing....
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