The Top 10 finalists must select a song that was performed by a previous American Idol winner:
Curtis Finch Jr. selected the winning single from the Season 3 Miss American Idol winner, Fantasia, that hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2004. I Believe is a wonderful R and B Gospel, anthem that Fantasia truly soared, but Curtis simply does not have the same impressive range. It fell a little flat in comparison.
Janelle Arthur selected a song that Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, performed once. Gone by Montgomery Gentry allowed Janelle to strut around the stage and belt out some aggressive and strong vocals. She definitely showed more style and personality that Scotty ever did.
Devin Velez selected the song Temporary Home that hit #1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart in 2010 by the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood. He has a very nice voice, but where Carrie made it into an emotional showcase with her outstanding vocal range, it sort of just fizzled with Devin. This shouldn't hurt him too much for now, but he needs to really make more stand out choices in the future.
Angie Miller selected a song that Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson performed. I Surrender by Celine Dion truly highlighted the fact the Angie is the front runner in the Season 12 competition. She looks fantastic on stage and her vocal range is pure, powerful and effortless. Genuinely wonderful!
Paul Jolley selected another song that Scotty McCreery did once. This time it was the Billboard HOT 100 #1 hit from 2001, Amazed by Lonestar. Paul provided a toned down tender vocal that illustrated his range and abilities. He's a good guy and very talented.
Candice Glover selected a song that the Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, totally took through the roof, I Who Have Nothing. Candice was able to take this very challenging song and tear another hole through the roof. This girl knows how to take command of the stage and sing!
Lazaro Arbos selected the title track from Kelly Clarkson's huge hit album, Breakaway. He completely immersed himself in the lyrics expressing all the vulnerability and raw emotion in him. Lazaro is an absolutely charming and sincere presence on the stage and it comes through in everything he does. He can do no wrong.
Kree Harrison selected a song that Carrie Underwood performed. Cryin by Roy Orbison is an emotional and vocal rollercoaster that Kree merely performed going through the motions. While her voice sounds strained at times it is pretty good, but she completely lacks any personality, stage presence or style. She's a nice, frumpy girl but she is completely forgettable compared to Janelle, Angie and Candice.
Burnell Taylor selected the winning single from the Season 2 Miss American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard, that peaked at #2 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2003. Flying Without Wings is a simple little inspirational ballad and, to be blunt, Burnell did nothing with the song. It actually sounded like he was straining to hit most of the notes.
Amber Holcomb selected the winning single from the Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, that hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 2002. A Moment Like This set the standard and as Amber stood center stage and belted it out with her joy and enthusiasm she easily lived up to that standard.
The girls did a great job tonight so none of them will be in my prediction for the bottom three vote getters of the week. The three boys who will be at risk of going home are Curtis Finch Jr., Devin Velez and Burnell Taylor. I think Curtis will be the one going home.
Showing posts with label Lonestar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lonestar. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Top 12 girls take their first shot...
Tonight we get to know what the top 12 girls can really do - they can pick any song they want to present themselves to America for the first time:
The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood had a huge hit in 2009 with Cowboy Casanova that went on to win the CMT Video of the Year. Chelsea Sorrell has a very nice girl next door look and can also sing pretty well, but she doesn't even come close to how outstanding Carrie is.
Heart took What About Love to #10 in 1985. Erika Van Pelt went through the motions and did an acceptable version of the song.
Adele included One and Only on her 2012 Grammy winning Album of the Year 21. Jen Hirsh tried to make this wonderful song her own, but she ended up missing the mark.
Otis Redding took Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay to #1 in 1968. Brielle Von Hugel genuinely thinks that she is a bluesy, soulful rocker chick but it wasn't convincing from this performance at all.
Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson included Feeling Good on her 2011 album I Remember Me. Hallie Day provided a very classy and powerful vocal interpretation of this inspirational anthem. Very good.
One of Rod Stewart's earliest hits was Stay With Me in 1972. Skylar Laine was totally on fire as she served up a very convincing rendition complete with a sparkling short dress and moves to impress.
Lonestar to Amazed to #1 in 2001. Baylie Brown is an exceptionally beautiful young woman. Her looks are simply stunning and she dazzled in a lovely long gown. I don't even remember if she sang....
Christina Aguilera performed Reflections on the soundtrack to the Disney animated film, Mulan. Holly Cavanagh may appear to be small and meek, but when she opens her mouth to sing she is a giant of epic proportions. This is a song with many big notes and she was able to rise to the challenge with ease.
Eurythmics took Sweet Dreams to #1 in 1983. Haley Johnsen was totally an alterna-goth-rock grrrrrl out there showing off for the crowd. It was kinda good, but mostly all over the place.
Go Light Your World was just an all around wrong song to be performed tonight. Shannon Magrane clearly has no interest in being a real life mainstream pop superstar.
Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson performed the song Love You I Do in the film, DreamGirls. Jessica Sanchez rose above all of the competition with her completely excellent version of this song. She has everything it takes to be the next American Idol from her exceptional vocal range to her commanding stage presence.
Adele's One and Only was already performed tonight, but this time Elise Testone got it right. She sat at the piano and truly brought the song to life with her thoughtful vocal interpretation.
Now it's up to America to vote and you can go online to support your favorites at http://www.americanidol.com/.
My top 5 will be: Hallie Day, Skylar Laine, Hollie Cavanagh, Jessica Sanchez, and Elise Testone.
And Jessica Sanchez is my early favorite. :)
The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood had a huge hit in 2009 with Cowboy Casanova that went on to win the CMT Video of the Year. Chelsea Sorrell has a very nice girl next door look and can also sing pretty well, but she doesn't even come close to how outstanding Carrie is.
Heart took What About Love to #10 in 1985. Erika Van Pelt went through the motions and did an acceptable version of the song.
Adele included One and Only on her 2012 Grammy winning Album of the Year 21. Jen Hirsh tried to make this wonderful song her own, but she ended up missing the mark.
Otis Redding took Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay to #1 in 1968. Brielle Von Hugel genuinely thinks that she is a bluesy, soulful rocker chick but it wasn't convincing from this performance at all.
Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson included Feeling Good on her 2011 album I Remember Me. Hallie Day provided a very classy and powerful vocal interpretation of this inspirational anthem. Very good.
One of Rod Stewart's earliest hits was Stay With Me in 1972. Skylar Laine was totally on fire as she served up a very convincing rendition complete with a sparkling short dress and moves to impress.
Lonestar to Amazed to #1 in 2001. Baylie Brown is an exceptionally beautiful young woman. Her looks are simply stunning and she dazzled in a lovely long gown. I don't even remember if she sang....
Christina Aguilera performed Reflections on the soundtrack to the Disney animated film, Mulan. Holly Cavanagh may appear to be small and meek, but when she opens her mouth to sing she is a giant of epic proportions. This is a song with many big notes and she was able to rise to the challenge with ease.
Eurythmics took Sweet Dreams to #1 in 1983. Haley Johnsen was totally an alterna-goth-rock grrrrrl out there showing off for the crowd. It was kinda good, but mostly all over the place.
Go Light Your World was just an all around wrong song to be performed tonight. Shannon Magrane clearly has no interest in being a real life mainstream pop superstar.
Season 3 Miss American Idol finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson performed the song Love You I Do in the film, DreamGirls. Jessica Sanchez rose above all of the competition with her completely excellent version of this song. She has everything it takes to be the next American Idol from her exceptional vocal range to her commanding stage presence.
Adele's One and Only was already performed tonight, but this time Elise Testone got it right. She sat at the piano and truly brought the song to life with her thoughtful vocal interpretation.
Now it's up to America to vote and you can go online to support your favorites at http://www.americanidol.com/.
My top 5 will be: Hallie Day, Skylar Laine, Hollie Cavanagh, Jessica Sanchez, and Elise Testone.
And Jessica Sanchez is my early favorite. :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Top 3 Perform
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??????
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??????
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Top 8 boys...
And now it's time for the boys to lip-sync for their lives!!!! Seriously, it probably would sound better if they would lip sync, but here's what they decided to sing....
Owl City just hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 at the end of 2009 with Fireflies. Lee Dewyze did what he's going to do for the rest of the season and he played guitar and sang it with his typical rock guy raspy voice.
Alex Lambert has completely transformed into some one completely different from the timid creature who showed up two weeks ago. His performance of Trouble was confident and strong, yet he still has room to grow if he can start relaxing and having a good time.
Jeff Buckley died way too young in 1997 and never had a chance to see how beloved his version of Hallelujah would become. Tim Urban has also shown very impressive growth as he was able to tackle this classic with pure vocals and emotional depth.
Her first single, Genie In A Bottle, hit #1 for five weeks in 1999 and led to Christina Aguilera winning the Grammy for Best New Artist. Andrew Garcia hoped to recreate the magic by re-imagining this pop nugget in his own special way. It might not have been special enough.
Keith Urban is one of the most popular country artists around so Casey James had some big boots to fill by trying to cover him. Casey may have just exposed that he is coasting on looks and charisma with this bland performance.
Aaron Kelly took on a lovely country ballad from Lonestar and he did his best to prove he can belt out the big notes. After a shaky start, for the most part he was successful. He's good, but he still has room to grow and get better.
Queen hit #13 in 1977 with Somebody To Love and you could tell that Todrick Hall sincerely believes that he's got what it takes to cover this anthem. While he's no showman like Freddie Mercury, he very clearly showed that he's a real performer with stage presence and talent.
In 2002 Maxwell hit the charts with This Woman's Work and Michael Lynche slipped into his falsetto to breathe new life into this song. He just stepped up to the front of the pack with this extremely good vocal performance.
I am very happy to report that the boys far exceeded my low expectations this week. They all stepped up to show that they really want to be here so the prediction of who is going home is going to be difficult. I think it may end up being Andrew Garcia and Todrick Hall who get the lowest number of votes and end up going home.
Owl City just hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 at the end of 2009 with Fireflies. Lee Dewyze did what he's going to do for the rest of the season and he played guitar and sang it with his typical rock guy raspy voice.
Alex Lambert has completely transformed into some one completely different from the timid creature who showed up two weeks ago. His performance of Trouble was confident and strong, yet he still has room to grow if he can start relaxing and having a good time.
Jeff Buckley died way too young in 1997 and never had a chance to see how beloved his version of Hallelujah would become. Tim Urban has also shown very impressive growth as he was able to tackle this classic with pure vocals and emotional depth.
Her first single, Genie In A Bottle, hit #1 for five weeks in 1999 and led to Christina Aguilera winning the Grammy for Best New Artist. Andrew Garcia hoped to recreate the magic by re-imagining this pop nugget in his own special way. It might not have been special enough.
Keith Urban is one of the most popular country artists around so Casey James had some big boots to fill by trying to cover him. Casey may have just exposed that he is coasting on looks and charisma with this bland performance.
Aaron Kelly took on a lovely country ballad from Lonestar and he did his best to prove he can belt out the big notes. After a shaky start, for the most part he was successful. He's good, but he still has room to grow and get better.
Queen hit #13 in 1977 with Somebody To Love and you could tell that Todrick Hall sincerely believes that he's got what it takes to cover this anthem. While he's no showman like Freddie Mercury, he very clearly showed that he's a real performer with stage presence and talent.
In 2002 Maxwell hit the charts with This Woman's Work and Michael Lynche slipped into his falsetto to breathe new life into this song. He just stepped up to the front of the pack with this extremely good vocal performance.
I am very happy to report that the boys far exceeded my low expectations this week. They all stepped up to show that they really want to be here so the prediction of who is going home is going to be difficult. I think it may end up being Andrew Garcia and Todrick Hall who get the lowest number of votes and end up going home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)