|
|
We’ll Be the Judge of That! – American Idol 9, March 16by Foxes On Idol Judging Staff -- 03/17/2010
View Printable version of this article The finals of American Idol 9 have begun! By now you’ve read Jenn’s recap (and you might have even seen her livetweeting the show!), so you can know what Randy, Ellen, Kara, Simon, and Jenn had to say. But what do our judges – Tyler Sandersfeld, Preston Collier Orr, and David Bloomberg – have to say? Michael Lynche, "Miss You" Tyler: These past three weeks, Michael has shown he knows which songs to pick. His use of the story with his wife and newborn daughter showed again this week. While this wasn't his best vocal, he still successfully put enough R&B spin on the song to keep himself strong. Simon was right about the corny dancing, but other than that, Big Mike still proved to be a frontrunner. 8. Preston: Michael’s certainly a showman, isn’t he? He does have an excellent stage presence, but his movements come across as too showy and a little too far on the musical theatre side. I appreciated the diversity he attempted to bring to his tone at the beginning, and his frequent inclusion of a rather nice falsetto was a wise choice. Still, he didn’t continue to bring that through the rest of the performance, resulting in a vocal that was slightly one-note. I like the guy a lot, but I can’t help but think he’d be an early casualty in any other season. David: Right off the bat, it was clear that Big Mike was not going to sit back and give us a karaoke version of The Rolling Stones. He put his own definite twist on “Miss You” without ruining the song. Indeed, I think he made it current to the point that it could be released to the radio today! Mike sang the heck out of that song and moved around the stage like he was born to be there. What a way to start the finals! Didi Benami, "Play With Fire" Tyler: I'm not very familiar with this song, so was it supposed to sound like Didi's timing was off? Apart from that, Didi finally got to show off her big voice with a good song choice. This was her best performance so far by far, and it firmly planted her back in the running for me. 7.5. Preston: The beginning of the performance displayed excellent vocal control, and her focus and facial expressions were rather powerful. She made perfect vocal choices, and I think Kara nailed it with her commentary which complimented Didi’s intensity in contrast to the sweetness and rawness of her natural voice. She made great recoveries with her slip-ups, and the darkness of the performance was absolutely mesmerizing. Crystal and Siobhan may be perceived as frontrunners at this point, but Didi, in my eyes, is the real threat to win the Season 9 crown. David: Hmmm. While I really liked the way Big Mike changed up his Stones song just a few moments prior, I was not so happy with what Didi did to hers. It was just… boring. I mean, Didi’s voice was good and all, but I practically dozed off. It was a terrible thing to do to a Rolling Stones song. Yawn. I obviously was just not on the same page as the on-site judges – or Preston, for that matter! 
Casey James, "It's All Over Now" Tyler: As I have said in weeks past, I would like to see Casey do well on both guitar and vocals in the same performance. This week, he got close. The guitar work was solid and the vocal was solid. The overall effect, on the other hand, made me think a simply above average bar band invaded the stage. Certainly not terrible, but not good enough to become a hit-maker. 7. Preston: I loved the bluesy turn that Casey took with this performance, displaying a soulful rasp that totally captured the essence of the song. In particular, the clear power he summoned on the lyrics “tables turn” was undeniable. Unfortunately, his lower notes aren’t always perfectly in tune, and he didn’t build to the climactic ending that I think the performance needed. I don’t think he has anything to worry about, though; he’s got the goods to go very far in this competition. David: I wasn’t really sure what to think about Casey’s performance… and even as I think about it more, I’m still not sure. Once again, he did a good job on the guitar – but this isn’t Guitar Idol. I wasn’t impressed with the vocals or the performance overall. Wow, I really was watching a different show than the first three on-site judges! Dang. Lacey Brown, "Ruby Tuesday" Tyler: As soon as I heard the song title, I got hungry for overpriced hamburgers. It would give me an excuse to not hear another Lacey Brown disaster. It wasn't a disaster, but it was very strange. Sitting down on the edge of the stage while the song picked up? Not a wise decision. It was vocally okay, but that's about it. 6. Preston: I liked the strings at the beginning, as it fit the vibe of Lacey’s style quite well. Vocally, she needs more technical work; there’s a serious lack of support and connection to her air, resulting in off-key singing and a lack of the potential power in her voice. I wonder if her voice and style just aren’t strong enough for the big stage, but I think she can make decisions to make it work, because parts of her voice are really quite stunning. Her voice was open and resonant – and there was a lot of voice there – but there was also some vocal decay. 
David: There was something… just… off about this performance. The best I can explain it is that Lacey’s voice just didn’t go along well with the violins. It just seemed out of place. Or maybe her voice was flat. It was hard for me to figure out exactly what the problem was, but I know there was a problem here and I did not like the performance at all. I like what Ellen noted about how Lacey was moving around during the slow part of the song and then sitting when the song hit its peak. Lacey could be in danger. Andrew Garcia, "Gimme Shelter" Tyler: Remember when The Clark Brothers owned this song on The Next Great American Band? Of course not, since I was the only person who watched that show. That's lucky for Andrew, since no one other than I can compare the two performances. While The Clark Brothers toned down the music and turned up the vocals with an interesting interpretation, Andrew did exactly the opposite. The result was a poorly sung attempt of a suddenly meaningless song. 4. Preston: From the start, Andrew was far more in tune than he has been since Hollywood week (no, Randy, he wasn’t that pitchy throughout), and his voice in the verses was rather raspy and hip. For some reason, though, his belt/power notes almost always turn flat; if he would incorporate more vibrato into his tone and release some excess facial tension, he’d have something to work with. As it stands, his performances are very uneven, and he could use a little more attention to technical details to smooth them out. 1 2 3 Next-->View Printable version of this article
| Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook! On Twitter, get up to the minute notifications on article postings and other reality TV news. And become a fan on Facebook, join discussions, and more! |
and 
and you can also 
