...in a race to the finish line
The top 12 female contestants on last night's American Idol sung some of the worst songs I have ever heard. I say this not only about American Idol song choices, I mean worst songs I have heard anywhere.
Last night's American Idol was the first show for fans voting to send their favorite through to the next week's show. I am uncertain as to how that was even possible.
Every song was slow, boring, and most of the contestants did not sound very good singing them. Whoever gets to stay next week should seriously think about their song choice for upcoming performances.
I cannot blame the contestants entirely. Every year I try to figure out how much experience the American Idol vocal coaches have on American Idol. Every week, you hear at least one of the judges say, "that was the wrong song", "that song was too safe for you", or my personal favorite, "that song was terrible". I am not so sure about the second one, but the other two definitely describe what I heard last night. Was I watching American Idol or attending a wake?
The girls picked a song from something called the Hot 100 Chart. When I first heard this, I thought it would be like a billboard chart hit, a current song, which I never like because I do not follow much of today's music. After last night, I think maybe they should have picked something I never heard of, because I did not understand why the girls picked any of those songs.
I stated yesterday that going into last night's show; I had my favorites picked out. I still think these same girls have the best voices, but I worry that one or two of them might go home tomorrow night.
Paige Miles started the show with "All Right Now". I do not remember hearing her sing during the previous weeks of the American Idol auditions. After last night, I wish I never had. Her voice was all over the place, and she seemed too nervous, even for this show. She actually appeared petrified and I think her performance showed that. The judges told her that she pulled it off. Kara went so far as to say she "slayed" it. If that means she killed her chances of coming back next week, then Kara was right. Simon told her she had the 'best' voice. I thought to myself, if that was the best, I was in for a very long two hours.
Ashley Rodriguez is one I did not thing should make it to the top 24, and her performance of a song called "Happy" by Leona Leeis, the girl Simon 'discovered'. I discovered it was a terrible song and did not make me like Ashley any more than I did during the auditions. I will give her this much, however; at least I understood the words she was singing, unlike when I hear Leona sing. To me, it sounds as though she is singing in a foreign language, but that is not relevant to Ashley's performance. I have to say, the same as Elaine did on Seinfeld once that I am, "Not a fan of the yelling". Ashley yelled through part of the song and for me that is not singing. If you cannot reach a note in a song without yelling, do not sing that song. Kara mumbled something about Ashley having some nice moments but apparently nice does not mean good.
Janell Wheeler sang a song by Heart, called "What About Love". I say, "What about singing?" "What about singing as if you actually wanted to stay on the show and become the next American Idol". The girls of Heart have powerful voices, voices that can reach the back of a stage without a microphone and without shouting. Janell's voice had no heart and I had no idea why I finally agreed with something Kara said, which was that the song was "way too big". Yes, it certainly was. Ellen said a few nice things to be nice, and Simon told her she was off key, and I think he was being "way too nice."
Lilly Scott-Finally, one of my favorites' turn to perform and she did not disappoint me. I did not like the Beatles' song, "Fixin' the Hole", that she performed, but it did not matter to me. I think her voice sounded just as good as it did when I picked her as a favorite and I finally someone delivered and showed us why she was a finalist on American Idol. I hope that Lilly will appeal to the young viewers and will go far in the competition this year. Simon agreed with me that she was the best so far and for the second time I agreed with Kara, who also like Lilly's performance. Ryan kidded with Lilly saying that she had body moves similar to those that Kara has. I did not get that, but I do wonder what that annoying side-to-side "you go girl" thing is Kara does with her head.
Katelyn Epperly, the girl with the hair as I call her, performed another Beatles' song whose title escapes me. It does not really matter because while Katelyn sang, I was looking for a way out. I did not like the 'uh uh uh' and 'ah ah ah' thing she did with voice. It reminded me of Led Zepplin's "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, you don't have to go" song. I disagree and think Katelyn does have to go. Ellen said her performance sounded pushed or forced, the new Idol word this year, apparently. However I thought her performance was 'eh', and extremely annoying.
Haeley Vaughn is only sixteen years old, and she was one of my favorites going into tonight's performance show. She performed the Beatles' hit, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", and unfortunately, I wanted to hold my ears. I really liked this girl and I thought she was going to be different and special this year. I think the song's arrangement was horrible and slow, and I think the key Haeley sung it in, was too high. I also thought the judges' comments were harsher than they had been on the previous girls, which I did not think Haeley deserved. I still like her and hope that she learns from this experience and improves, if voted through to next week's show. Simon fell back on his old, 'horrible', mess, etc.' and Kara said she was trying to make up for what she did not have. If she did not have whatever it is they thought she should have, according to Kara, why did she vote Haeley into the top 12? Haeley's performance, for me, was still not as bad as Katelyn's, despite what the judges thought.
Lacey Brown is the girl who did not make it through to the top 24 last season, because the judges decided to go with Megan, the pretty blond with the tattoo and quirky voice that I loved, instead. After Lacey's performance last night, they should have gone with someone else again. I think this may well have been the absolute worst of the night. She sang the song, "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks. While I have always been the one who said that Stevie Nicks' voice sometimes sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me, I think Lacey's rendition of the song was even more chilling. She sang through her nose the whole time, trying to imitate Stevie Nicks. It was painful for me. Kara said forced again, but why would she force herself to sound that bad? Did she want to go home already? Randy said it was terrible and Simon said it was indulgent. Not knowing what he meant, I fail to see why Lacey indulged herself into giving one of the worst performances I have seen on a premiere show for American Idol contestants, since Sanjaya.
Michelle Delamor is another girl I do not recall seeing during the auditioning process. I liked her performance and I think she sounded better than Alicia Keys, singing the song "Fallen". The background singers and the music, was loud, and drowned out Michelle's voice a couple of times, I thought. After the judges fell over themselves sucking up to the original singer, by saying Michelle was nowhere near as good, they babbled on about the technical and commercial aspects, which to me, has nothing to do with a singing competition. I think they did not give Michelle the praise she deserved.
Didi Benami is another girl I liked and I hoped that she would be better than most of the girls were who went before her, but it was another boring, slow song, called "The Way I Am," a song I had never heard before. I love Didi's voice and I am glad this was not the first time I heard her sing. The judges said it was pitchy and one of them, I forget which one, mumbled something about how Didi needed to stand out, do something memorable, or some nonsense. What did they want her to do, bare her butt and hang from the ceiling as Pink did on the awards show a few weeks back? Even that would not have helped the dreary song Didi picked to sing. I still like her, though even if the judges did not. She was one of the better ones last night, in my opinion and I am not sure what the judges heard.
Siobhan Magnus was also one of my favorites going into the show, and she still is after last night's performance. She sung "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak, and I thought she sounded great. The song was a dark, haunting song, which I agreed with the judges on, but I do not think that took away from Siobhan's voice at all. I think she hit all the notes perfectly and I think she has a powerful voice which may not match her little girl looks, but I do not know why that should matter, or why the judges felt they needed to point that out to her. Kara said she sounded 'nasally' which I did not hear at all. Randy liked her and Simon thought she was quirky. She was quirky and good, for me, deserves to go through without question.
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