I'M ASKING HIM TO CHANGE HIS WAYS: It's Sing Whatever The Hell You Want (Again) Week on Idol, and Kim and I are here.
Adam: I had a weird feeling at the end of tonight's Idol, Kim. Everyone was more-or-less competent, except for a few ill-advised notes from Casey perhaps, but the overall effect of the show was so dispiriting. It felt like a karaoke night, with no one singing with particular passion, or a song that was particularly meaningful to the singer, and certainly without any of the kind of personal artistry we've come to expect on the show in recent years. Really, Kim, is there a great contemporary artist coming from this?
Kim: You know my views on the show, Adam. The point isn’t to find a great contemporary artist. It’s to sell music on iTunes, and commercial time on Fox. From that standpoint, I think this is a pretty successful season. There isn’t a frontrunner (or even an obvious final 3), and the number of people who are truly outclassed by their fellow competitors is pretty small for a final 9. But you’re right: when the most creative thing that happens on rock-and-roll night is that Casey sings with a stand-up bass, it’s clear that the addition of the professional producers has taken away both the need and the opportunity for the contestants to innovate. There were plenty of performances that I enjoyed tonight (and only a few that I hated), but none that really sent me over the moon.
Adam: And over the moon is where I'd rather be, but Casey's now too scared to do anything risky, and after Naima's ouster I think the rest of them are as well.
There were some enjoyable performances tonight. I liked 95% of James's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" -- until he decided he had to remind us of his range at the end, it was a nice, heartfelt job. Lauren Alaina has done and can do no wrong in my book, and Paul McDonald is the one person we've got this season who really knows how to entertain a crowd. No, I don't know that he interpreted "Folsom County Blues" faithfully, and that was an awfully long instrumental break in the performance, but, hell, I still liked it.
Kim: I was amused by the shiny happy version of "Folsom Prison Blues" more than I was entertained by it. Paul McDonald cannot sing a song without smiling. I was actually pretty underwhelmed by Lauren’s “Natural Woman.” I couldn’t get over the unflattering outfit that Gwen Stefani put her in, but even when I got over that distraction, her performance just seemed oddly flat. The one who really made me angry tonight was Scotty. Running around smirking at the camera and wiggling your hands to an Elvis song doesn’t make you a rocker, and I was genuinely offended that the judges praised his performance as removing him from the realm of one-trick ponies. And from the “damning with faint praise” category, even Stefano was vaguely tolerable tonight.
On the more favorable side: my two favorite voices left in the competition belong to Haley and James. Neither of them quite got where I wanted them to go, but their voices just make me happy. I was hoping that James would have a “Mad World” moment tonight, but I think this is a situation where his earnestness stood in his way a little bit. He’s just not the conscious showman that Adam Lambert is (fiery piano notwithstanding), and he needs a little bit more self-awareness. He doesn’t need to be Lambert (and I love that he’s not), but he could use a little more David Cook in his head. As for Haley – the last 30 seconds of her performance made me wish she’d dialed down the growling by 20% so that we could hear more of the colors in her voice. She’s got a serious, serious instrument, and if she could figure out how to be a little more likeable, she’d have some potential.
Adam: Just to backtrack a second: I'm not saying Lauren outclassed Kelly Clarkson's version of "Natural Woman." I'm just saying I liked her fine. The problem with this season is that with all of this season's singers, except Jacob (on range) and Casey (on weirdness potential), we know pretty much how they're going to approach each song, each week. I don't much see the point in judging Pia or Scotty anymore; they do what they do, and if you like it there's more. (I don't, so I'm bored.) And this is where Simon Cowell's really missed -- he would be pushing these kids harder. Instead, complacency has set in. Really: three will.i.am appearances in one season?
So, who goes home tonight? I agree with Fienberg that it feels like it's Stefano's time, but I don't believe Casey did anything to keep himself away from danger either. What looked like a promising season may be headed for Scotty/Pia final. God help us all.
Kim: Tonight really, really made me miss Simon. I enjoy JLo and Tyler, but I wish Simon was in the third seat to keep everyone honest. I think Stefano needs to go home.
Maybe the judges should be forced to put some wagers on how this will all end. Maybe then they won't be so convinced that it's a nine-way tie and everyone is perfect each week and would actually offer some critiques.
ReplyDeleteJames is growing on me. I think it's a good thing that he's not the conscious showman that Lambert was; it makes his performances seem less artificial. The shriek at the end was gratuitous -- but, by the same token, that was the point in the recorded song where Clapton's guitar began to wail, and unfortunately, thanks to Idol time constraints, the version last night was cut off just where it should have started to build to a crescendo, and where the shriek would have been more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteScotty proved he's no Elvis, and Paul proved he's no Johnny Cash. (He did seem pretarnaturally happy to be in jail. (Is a happy shiny version of "Folsom Prison Blues" more or less acceptable than a happy shiny version of "Livin for the City"?)
I think Adam's assessment is spot on: Nothing sucked, and nothing awed.
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison
ReplyDeleteGrinning from ear to ear
I spend my time here flossin'
Dull teeth is what I fear
I nearly herniated myself laughing at Paul's performance. I guess I'm glad that he didn't do a shiny happy version of Cocaine Blues, though.
ReplyDeleteEarlier in the season I was so appreciative of the lack of meanness with the judges. Now I miss Simon terribly. Everybody is great, everything is beautiful. These people ALL need somebody to scare the crap out of them.
I'd disagree with the notion there isn't a frontrunner. I think Scott's the clear favorite right now, with Pia the biggest threat to him. And I think they're also the only two contestants who could end up being marketable after the show. You know the AI producers see dollar signs whenever they find any country artist with even a modest level of talent. And I think Pia has at least some potential in the pop world. She's absolutely gorgeous and has a great voice, so I could see her getting a bunch of the media attention that escaped Lee DeWyze and Kris Allen the last two years. If she's given an album that has radio-friendly songs that aren't all ballads, she could have some success (though I think Scott's clearly the most marketable of them all based on AI's track record with country artists).
ReplyDeleteAnd why have there been so many reports about how these new judges have invigorated the show? J-Lo at least occasionally provides some constructive suggestions, but Steven Tyler and Randy add nothing at all. I guess the only good part of this is it clearly puts the results in the public's hands, since the judges clearly aren't going to offer any hints about which contestants need to get sent home each week.
I've been disappointed in Steven Tyler's critiques (or lack thereof), but he's still more entertaining than any other judge, past or present. Who else would talk about the "second-prettiest bust I've kissed today" -- and get away with it? Or tell Lauren that one day she'll be so successful that she can afford the rest of her dress? I mean, the guy obviously just doesn't care what comes out of his mouth, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know himself what he's going to say until after he says it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem. Steven's crazy comments and eternally upbeat judging makes him the new Paula. J-Lo's constructive comments and relatively recent industry background make her a better version of Kara, minus the ridiculous cougar references. But there's no new Simon to offer blunt remarks when someone hasn't performed well. And if the judges aren't going to criticize, why even have them in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI find that I don't have all that much to say. Jacob and Stefano were by far the weakest. I'm bored by Pia, who from what I can tell, only likes diva songs that enable her to plant the feet and do the Idol-big-note-stance. Paul, on the other hand, has great taste in songs, but grinned through Folson.Prison.Blues. WTH? I kind of feel like we've seen all that Paul can do.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, it seems to have been a big mush of fine-to-good. I might have put Lauren higher than some of the others---I like her voice, and I feel like she was making vocal choices that made her version different from the originals (Aretha and Carole King), as well as the prominent Idol comparator (Kelly Clarkson). But really? It's all fine but not exactly exciting.
I'd like to see at least three guys go before we lose any of the women: Jacob, Stefano, and Paul.
Did Jacob actually say that if he gets kicked off it won't be because he sings bad but will be because the audience couldn't look at themselves in the mirror??
ReplyDeleteIs that as n<span>arcissistic and </span>offensive as it sounded to me?
Think I enjoyed a few performances more than others (Casey, Scotty, Paul), but for the most part, everything's been covered above. At some level, I tend to turn off the analysis when watching because, really, it's a popularity contest, not a singing competition no matter how many times Randy tells us.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, yeah, the judges aren't doing anything to push the contestants or even critique what they do so they can get better and they're depending too much on Iovine and his producer posse. The stuff might sound great on iTunes, but the voting comes from the shows.
Overall, not bored yet, but I was hoping for more. We've had much worse seasons.
Guessing bottom three as Stefano (who should've embraced his Inner Michael Bolton and dirtied it up), Jacob (performance too precious and insert Shawn Stockman commentary from S1 of the Sing Off), and Haley (based on going early and too much growling) with Stefano going home.
Yes. Yes, it is.
ReplyDelete