SPIRITS MOVE ME EVERY TIME I'M NEAR YOU: I love Barry Manilow week on American Idol, I really do. It's the one week of the season when AI turns into America's Next Top Model or Project Runway and we really get to see the learning and improving process in action. Last season, Barry week was actually the week in which Barry Manilow songs were performed, and he personally selected the appropriate song for each performer. This time, with the '50s as theme, Barry was the show's perfect vocal coach, arranging and re-arranging and coaxing the best from everyone. And once again, Barry week proved to be the week in which we saw the best performances of the season.
Is there any doubt as to who should go home this week? Nearly everyone brought their A game -- even Kevin the outclassed, who delivered a perfectly sweet and lovely performance. After a couple of messy weeks, Kellie delivered a personal best with a song that I predicted a week ago she'd be singing for 50s night. Paris was finally Parislike again, Ace was suitably Acey (although his schtick is starting to wear a little thin for me), and Katharine and Mandisa were just brilliant. Despite the fact that I continue not to get Elliott, this week's performance was quite lovely. Taylor's song choice was questionable, but are his fans really going to desert him now, in his hour of need? Unlikely.
So who's it going to be? I think there are two candidates, but only one who really should go home. Lisa's effort to bring the cute felt a little fake, especially with the big performances delivered by her fellow ladies onstage. But it was Bucky who fell short this week -- fun song choice from an enjoyability standpoint, disastrous one from a singing competition standpoint. (The same could be said for Taylor, but I think Taylor's got a much broader fan base and a heck of a lot of goodwill built up.)
A final note on Daughtry: what I find most interesting about him is that he seems to know much more about music than the other competitors. Not necessarily music theory or the nuances of technical vocal performance, but about the universe of songs and what he should be singing to best showcase his talents. Unlike the crop of 16 year olds year in and year out who say things like "oh, I was born 35 years after the fifties ended and so I just picked a song that sounded pretty," I get the sense that Daughtry is very knowledgeable and smart when it comes to picking songs.
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