The Top 4 finalists will all sing two songs each. The 1st one will be anything of their own choosing and the 2nd will be a song from a one hit wonder.
Celine Dion spent four weeks at #1 in 1994 with The Power Love. Amber Holcomb completely radiated star quality with her flawless interpretation of this song. She looked beautiful in a sleek jumpsuit and sounded amazing. Wonderful!
Drake is a current hitmaker on the charts and Candice Glover used her outstanding voice to re-imagine one of his hits and make it her own. She has the ability to quite literally sing anything and be vocally impressive.
Kree Harrison, unlike the other finalists still left in the competition, hasn't grown very much. She started out good, but she is still stuck at the same place. Where the others have evolved and stepped up their range and performance style, Kree is the same old boring performer who is stagnating with her blank expressionless style.
Jessie J is another current hitmaker serving up a range of ballads and dance songs. Angie Miller is also an artist who is capable of delivering a broad range of musical styles. The song Who You Are was the perfect choice to represent the kind of artist Angie can be. Her musicianship at the piano was fantastic and her vocals were heartfelt and powerful.
Kree and Amber paired up for a duet on Adele's Rumor Has It and they both sounded very good. Amber easily has a more commanding stage presence than Kree. Then Candice and Angie showed them how it's done with their version of Rihanna's Stay. They are both better singers than Rihanna, so this was much more dramatic and powerful than the original.
Richard Harris is an accomplished actor who was a one hit wonder in 1968 with MacArthur Park that later become a huge disco smash by Donna Summer. Amber Holcomb demonstrated more of her start quality with this vocal tour de force. She looked and sounded confident and current even singing this song that is 45 years old!
Samantha Sang hit #3 with her one and only hit Emotion in 1978. Candice Glover did her best to inject some new life into this song with some strong vocals, but she is starting to settle into a smooth jazz groove. We know she is good, but she has to be careful not to coast.
In 1967 Procol Harum hit #5 with A Whiter Shade Of Pale. Kree Harrison got up there and served up another shade of boring. Her vocals are simply good, but they aren't distinctive and unique enough that will set her apart from the pack of other artists out there. And to make it worse, she has no personality to speak of.
We have to go all the way back to 1955 to find the one hit by Julie London that peaked at #9, Cry Me A River. Angie Miller exuded classic beauty and style with a lush and lovely rendition of this timeless song. Her vocal range was the most dynamic and impressive that it has ever been. She sounded crystal clear and totally pure.
This is an outstanding top four, but the one who is out of her league is Kree Harrison. She was already in the bottom two last week, and this week she should be coming to the end of her journey.
Showing posts with label Donna Summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Donna Summer. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
The Results - DIVAS
This is the first time in 12 Seasons of American Idol that the Top 5 finalists have all been girls. And on top of that, they are all very talented.
The Top 5 girls opened the show with a Disco Diva medley of some classics from the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. They started with Last Dance, Heaven Knows, Dim All The Lights and closed with She Works Hard For The Money. They all did a great job.
Also adding to the Diva theme of the week was the surprise appearance from former American Idol judge and hit maker, Paula Abdul. She showed her appreciation and support for Candice who had just done a wonderful job with her interpretation of Paula's first #1 song, Straight Up.
The Season 2 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Clay Aiken, came back to the Idol stage to talk about the success of his charity, The National Inclusion Project, as well as remind us all that he is still one of the best vocalists to ever graduate from the competition. He performed an outstanding rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water just like he did way back then during his time on the show.
The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, has a new album coming out next week and she came back to perform the first single, Lose To Win. She tore the house down with her unique and passionate R&B style and impressive vocals.
It was then revealed that Kree and Janelle were the two lowest vote getters. When Janelle had to sing for her life she performed her amazing take on You Keep Me Hanging On, but it wasn't enough to convince the judges to use their save.
Unfortunately, I got my prediction wrong this week. It's sad to see the vibrant, likable and bubbly Janelle be eliminated while the drab and bland Kree is coming back for another chance.
The Top 5 girls opened the show with a Disco Diva medley of some classics from the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. They started with Last Dance, Heaven Knows, Dim All The Lights and closed with She Works Hard For The Money. They all did a great job.
Also adding to the Diva theme of the week was the surprise appearance from former American Idol judge and hit maker, Paula Abdul. She showed her appreciation and support for Candice who had just done a wonderful job with her interpretation of Paula's first #1 song, Straight Up.
The Season 2 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Clay Aiken, came back to the Idol stage to talk about the success of his charity, The National Inclusion Project, as well as remind us all that he is still one of the best vocalists to ever graduate from the competition. He performed an outstanding rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water just like he did way back then during his time on the show.
The Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, has a new album coming out next week and she came back to perform the first single, Lose To Win. She tore the house down with her unique and passionate R&B style and impressive vocals.
It was then revealed that Kree and Janelle were the two lowest vote getters. When Janelle had to sing for her life she performed her amazing take on You Keep Me Hanging On, but it wasn't enough to convince the judges to use their save.
Unfortunately, I got my prediction wrong this week. It's sad to see the vibrant, likable and bubbly Janelle be eliminated while the drab and bland Kree is coming back for another chance.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Top 7 sing DISCO!!!
With no celebrity mentor to introduce and seemingly in an effort to try and get all the performances done on time the disco party got started immediately:
Lil Rounds has an outstanding voice and a great look and style. Every week she has demonstrated that she has a natural vocal talent. Unfortunately, she has not found a way to showcase that talent with her unique and personal stamp. Tonight she sang the anthem I'm Every Woman, that Chaka Khan took to #21 in 1978 and Lil once again transformed herself into just another disco diva rather than a spotlight superstar. And I didn't put this prediction in writing, but at the lunch table last Thursday I successfully predicted her song selection for tonight's theme!
While the disco era had already reached its end at the start of the 1980's, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, was still having big hits like She Works Hard For The Money that hit #3 in 1983. Kris Allen sat with his guitar and rearranged this song into a Latin flavored festival of fun. This risky interpretation totally worked. He showed that he isn't going to be lazy and rely on his good looks to coast through the competition. Even though he doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, he's showing off that he does have some impressive talent behind that pretty face.
Earth Wind and Fire took September to #8 in 1978. What a nightmare that Danny Gokey decided to take on this fantastic song and add his dreadful vocals to it. Making it even worse was having to watch the awkward and clumsy train wreck happen on stage as he fumbled from one side to the other.
In 1979 when Donna Summer spent three weeks at #1 with Hot Stuff, it was always regarded as her successful fusion of rock and disco. Alison Iraheta took that hard rock spirit one step further and blew the roof off the American Idol stage. She stayed true to her personal style and showed off her great raspy vocals while dressed in a fabulous glittery ensemble.
Yvonne Elliman's version of If I Can't Have You, that spent one week at #1 in 1978 came from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that completely defined the disco era. Adam Lambert threw the original BeeGees production out the window and gave us yet another outstanding and exceptional performance. He stood in a spotlight center stage and performed it as a vulnerable ballad. Every lyric was an expression of raw emotion. Every note was clear and pure. And to top off all of that, he looked incredibly handsome and polished like an American Idol winner.
Matt Giraud was the lowest vote getter last week and he shouldn't even be here tonight. But since the judges had some kind of aneurysm and decided to save him we had to suffer through his sloppy version of the BeeGees huge smash, Stayin Alive, that spent four weeks at #1 in 1977. His vocals were just as flat and bland as we would expect them to be. His dance moves were silly and unoriginal. Matt has already peaked in this competition. He has nothing new or interesting to show us.
Donna Summer hit #2 in 1979 with Dim All The Lights. Anoop Desai completely butchered the arrangement of the song by slowing it down from the uptempo original. His vocals were done as though he was singing a lullaby. Anoop once again showed that he has absolutely no stage presence whatsoever. This was just as bland and boring as usual. Not even his pink sweater could save the audience from falling asleep.
Where are the judges coming from as they continue to shower praise on Danny Gokey and save Matt Giraud? Who do they think is going to buy their albums? Don't they remember Taylor Hicks? The best performances of the night came from Allison and Kris while Adam is continuing his rise apart from all of the others. That leaves Danny, Matt and Anoop who are repeatedly failing to impress me. Sadly, Lil also seems to be using up her chances not to her advantage. My prediction for the bottom three is Matt, Anoop and Lil. With two people going home this week, it should be Matt and Anoop.
Lil Rounds has an outstanding voice and a great look and style. Every week she has demonstrated that she has a natural vocal talent. Unfortunately, she has not found a way to showcase that talent with her unique and personal stamp. Tonight she sang the anthem I'm Every Woman, that Chaka Khan took to #21 in 1978 and Lil once again transformed herself into just another disco diva rather than a spotlight superstar. And I didn't put this prediction in writing, but at the lunch table last Thursday I successfully predicted her song selection for tonight's theme!
While the disco era had already reached its end at the start of the 1980's, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, was still having big hits like She Works Hard For The Money that hit #3 in 1983. Kris Allen sat with his guitar and rearranged this song into a Latin flavored festival of fun. This risky interpretation totally worked. He showed that he isn't going to be lazy and rely on his good looks to coast through the competition. Even though he doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, he's showing off that he does have some impressive talent behind that pretty face.
Earth Wind and Fire took September to #8 in 1978. What a nightmare that Danny Gokey decided to take on this fantastic song and add his dreadful vocals to it. Making it even worse was having to watch the awkward and clumsy train wreck happen on stage as he fumbled from one side to the other.
In 1979 when Donna Summer spent three weeks at #1 with Hot Stuff, it was always regarded as her successful fusion of rock and disco. Alison Iraheta took that hard rock spirit one step further and blew the roof off the American Idol stage. She stayed true to her personal style and showed off her great raspy vocals while dressed in a fabulous glittery ensemble.
Yvonne Elliman's version of If I Can't Have You, that spent one week at #1 in 1978 came from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that completely defined the disco era. Adam Lambert threw the original BeeGees production out the window and gave us yet another outstanding and exceptional performance. He stood in a spotlight center stage and performed it as a vulnerable ballad. Every lyric was an expression of raw emotion. Every note was clear and pure. And to top off all of that, he looked incredibly handsome and polished like an American Idol winner.
Matt Giraud was the lowest vote getter last week and he shouldn't even be here tonight. But since the judges had some kind of aneurysm and decided to save him we had to suffer through his sloppy version of the BeeGees huge smash, Stayin Alive, that spent four weeks at #1 in 1977. His vocals were just as flat and bland as we would expect them to be. His dance moves were silly and unoriginal. Matt has already peaked in this competition. He has nothing new or interesting to show us.
Donna Summer hit #2 in 1979 with Dim All The Lights. Anoop Desai completely butchered the arrangement of the song by slowing it down from the uptempo original. His vocals were done as though he was singing a lullaby. Anoop once again showed that he has absolutely no stage presence whatsoever. This was just as bland and boring as usual. Not even his pink sweater could save the audience from falling asleep.
Where are the judges coming from as they continue to shower praise on Danny Gokey and save Matt Giraud? Who do they think is going to buy their albums? Don't they remember Taylor Hicks? The best performances of the night came from Allison and Kris while Adam is continuing his rise apart from all of the others. That leaves Danny, Matt and Anoop who are repeatedly failing to impress me. Sadly, Lil also seems to be using up her chances not to her advantage. My prediction for the bottom three is Matt, Anoop and Lil. With two people going home this week, it should be Matt and Anoop.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
And the Season 7 American Idol is....
Here we are: Two hours of fun and entertainment until the crowning of the Season 7 Miss American Idol. It all started out with a preview of this year's American Idol tour as the top 12 finalists were reunited in a high energy performance of the top 5 smash from 1970 by Rare Earth, Get Ready. Then those other 10 finalists were dismissed so the fans could see the Davids come together for a great duet. You wouldn't think that their distinct styles would blend well together, but it turned out to be quite harmonious.
Mike Myers has officially crossed the line into being totally weird as his shameless promotion for the Love Guru was just plain creepy. Thankfully it was followed a very cool performance with Seal and this year's second runner up, Syesha Mercado of his hit Waiting For You. As we have come to expect, Syesha looked and sounded great. Then, on the other side of the coin, we were forced to endure Jason Castro mumble his way through Hallelujah again. Honestly, once was enough.
The top 6 girls: Kristy Lee Cook, Amanda Overmyer, Ramiele Malubay, Carly Smithson, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado joined together to bring to life an exciting Donna Summer medley including She Works Hard For The Money and the #1 smash, Hot Stuff. It was fun to see the Queen of Disco herself take the stage and sing her latest release before launching into the Oscar winning Best Original Song, Last Dance.
At the beginning of this season when we first saw the top 24, it is quite likely that many fans selected Carly Smithson and Michael Johns as front-runners to make it here to the finals. It was quite a surprise when they both got sent home way too early. For a a nice little consolation prize these two very talented singers had the chance to sing a duet in front of this huge audience. They gave a bouncy big band arrangement of a song by the Box Tops that spent four weeks at #1 in 1967, The Letter. Just a taste of what could have been....
The top 6 guys: David Hernandez, Chikezie, Michael Johns, Jason Castro and our top finalists, David Cook and David Archuleta joined forces to give us a Bryan Adams medley consisting of Summer of '69 and his #1 hit Heaven. This Canadian rocker came out to sing his latest jam and then wrapped things up with his hit Somebody.
This may come as a surprise to you, but one of the most recognized hits from ZZ Top, Sharp Dressed Man, was never released as a single and therefore, it never hit the Billboard HOT 100. Even so, it was still a nice sizzling opportunity for David Cook to rock out with the bearded guitar heroes. Much less sizzling was Brooke White sitting barefoot and strumming her guitar with Graham Nash. While the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young top 20 hit from 1970, Teach Your Children is a classic song, this duet was just as drab as everything else Brooke gave us all season. The show needed a huge injection of youthful exuberance after this and no one does it better than THE JONAHS BROTHERS!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! They were right there singing their hit SOS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
One Republic recently peaked at #2 earlier this year with their smooth synth pop song, Apologize. It was the perfect contemporary hit to match with David Archuleta's pure, sweet, sincere and earnest voice. The show is more than half over and there have been no appearances by any former American Idols! How can that be? Just when we thought Ruben's (Season 2 Miss American Idol) song last night was all we were going to get, the reigning queen, Season 6 Miss American Jordin Sparks came out on stage in glittering high heels and a spangled gold dress to sing her newest single, One Step At A Time. Her first single, Tattoo peaked at #8 and her latest, No Air is still in the the top 5 after peaking at #3. Who says the Idols aren't as successful as they used to be!
As if Jordin wasn't enough, the Idol alumni doesn't get any better than the Supreme Miss American Idol from Season Four, Carrie Underwood. She looked absolutely stunning as she belted out her new single, Last Name. Her stylist deserves an award. I mean seriously, her hair, that dress, her legs, her shoes - FLAWLESS! Carrie is just plain HOT! And the song is the catchiest thing ever. It started out, "hey cutie where are you from?" then in turned into - Oh NO what have I done!
The top 12 gave us one last medley of George Michael hits including, Faith, Father Figure and Freedom 90 before George graced the stage to sing his #1 smash that Carrie Underwood did so well on Idol Gives Back, Praying For Time.
Two hours of great entertainment flew by and it was finally time to give the Season 7 Miss American Idol crown to one of the Davids. The envelope was opened and David Archuleta had to step aside and give congratulations to this years winner - DAVID COOK! The rocker was brought to tears as he thanked his brother for encouraging him to give this a shot. He made it all the way to this night of having the glitter fall around him as he sang The Time Of My Life.
Mike Myers has officially crossed the line into being totally weird as his shameless promotion for the Love Guru was just plain creepy. Thankfully it was followed a very cool performance with Seal and this year's second runner up, Syesha Mercado of his hit Waiting For You. As we have come to expect, Syesha looked and sounded great. Then, on the other side of the coin, we were forced to endure Jason Castro mumble his way through Hallelujah again. Honestly, once was enough.
The top 6 girls: Kristy Lee Cook, Amanda Overmyer, Ramiele Malubay, Carly Smithson, Brooke White and Syesha Mercado joined together to bring to life an exciting Donna Summer medley including She Works Hard For The Money and the #1 smash, Hot Stuff. It was fun to see the Queen of Disco herself take the stage and sing her latest release before launching into the Oscar winning Best Original Song, Last Dance.
At the beginning of this season when we first saw the top 24, it is quite likely that many fans selected Carly Smithson and Michael Johns as front-runners to make it here to the finals. It was quite a surprise when they both got sent home way too early. For a a nice little consolation prize these two very talented singers had the chance to sing a duet in front of this huge audience. They gave a bouncy big band arrangement of a song by the Box Tops that spent four weeks at #1 in 1967, The Letter. Just a taste of what could have been....
The top 6 guys: David Hernandez, Chikezie, Michael Johns, Jason Castro and our top finalists, David Cook and David Archuleta joined forces to give us a Bryan Adams medley consisting of Summer of '69 and his #1 hit Heaven. This Canadian rocker came out to sing his latest jam and then wrapped things up with his hit Somebody.
This may come as a surprise to you, but one of the most recognized hits from ZZ Top, Sharp Dressed Man, was never released as a single and therefore, it never hit the Billboard HOT 100. Even so, it was still a nice sizzling opportunity for David Cook to rock out with the bearded guitar heroes. Much less sizzling was Brooke White sitting barefoot and strumming her guitar with Graham Nash. While the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young top 20 hit from 1970, Teach Your Children is a classic song, this duet was just as drab as everything else Brooke gave us all season. The show needed a huge injection of youthful exuberance after this and no one does it better than THE JONAHS BROTHERS!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! They were right there singing their hit SOS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
One Republic recently peaked at #2 earlier this year with their smooth synth pop song, Apologize. It was the perfect contemporary hit to match with David Archuleta's pure, sweet, sincere and earnest voice. The show is more than half over and there have been no appearances by any former American Idols! How can that be? Just when we thought Ruben's (Season 2 Miss American Idol) song last night was all we were going to get, the reigning queen, Season 6 Miss American Jordin Sparks came out on stage in glittering high heels and a spangled gold dress to sing her newest single, One Step At A Time. Her first single, Tattoo peaked at #8 and her latest, No Air is still in the the top 5 after peaking at #3. Who says the Idols aren't as successful as they used to be!
As if Jordin wasn't enough, the Idol alumni doesn't get any better than the Supreme Miss American Idol from Season Four, Carrie Underwood. She looked absolutely stunning as she belted out her new single, Last Name. Her stylist deserves an award. I mean seriously, her hair, that dress, her legs, her shoes - FLAWLESS! Carrie is just plain HOT! And the song is the catchiest thing ever. It started out, "hey cutie where are you from?" then in turned into - Oh NO what have I done!
The top 12 gave us one last medley of George Michael hits including, Faith, Father Figure and Freedom 90 before George graced the stage to sing his #1 smash that Carrie Underwood did so well on Idol Gives Back, Praying For Time.
Two hours of great entertainment flew by and it was finally time to give the Season 7 Miss American Idol crown to one of the Davids. The envelope was opened and David Archuleta had to step aside and give congratulations to this years winner - DAVID COOK! The rocker was brought to tears as he thanked his brother for encouraging him to give this a shot. He made it all the way to this night of having the glitter fall around him as he sang The Time Of My Life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)