Well, wonder of wonders, it looks like we’ve got at least two more weeks of this show. Last week, Irene Cara managed to debut her all-girl group and win the week despite singing about as well as Mikelah Gordon on American Idol 4. This week, who is doing this for shits and giggles, and who is using this as a comeback platform?
Vernon Kay is back, and let us know that the online voters thought that Irene Cara winning was a crock, and that Howard Jones should’ve won. Can’t argue with that.
Our first artist is…
Greg Kihn
Signature Hit: The Breakup Song
Others: (Our Love’s In) Jeopardy
Random Notes: Greg is currently a morning DJ in San Jose. His other hit is better known for getting parodied by “Weird” Al Yankovic as “I Lost On Jeopardy”.
I just had one of those “Hey I know that song” moments after hearing this. But not in a good way. I recall really hating this song. Then again, I liked Culture Club and Glass Tiger, so what do I know, really? Greg’s covering Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, which I’m sure his sister stations play to death (he works for ClearChannel) because it “sounds” like a Hot AC song. I’m just saying.
Club Nouveau
Signature Hit: Lean On Me
Others: Apparently, 3 other songs from the same album
Random Notes: The group was one of the first signings by Benny Medina, before he got rich producing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Speaking of getting rich, I suppose Bill Withers feels great every time he gets a royalty check for this song.
After Irene Cara bastardized her song last week, Club Nouveau shows her how to properly modernize a song. That’s not to say that it was good – the harmony was off more than the Spice Girls when they first started singing live, but they didn’t try to hide the shortcomings with unnecessary runs.
By coincidence, Vernon asks the group if Bill Withers thanks them for remaking the song. Club Nouveau is going to be covering “Thank You” by Dido later. Glass Tiger, Billy Vera and Thelma Houston are coming up after the
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We’re back, and it’s time to head north of the border with
Glass Tiger
Signature Hit: Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone
Others: Thin Red Line, Someday, My Song, My Town (with Rod Stewart), Watching Worlds Crumble
Random Notes: Suffered the indignity of losing “Best New Artist” Grammy to Bruce Hornsby. It’s debatable whether that’s worse than losing to Hootie, but it’s a close call either way. Anyways, these guys have done pretty well for themselves in Canada, and still tour regularly. And showing that the NBC website monkeys do about as much research as I do, they call “My Town” a “hard-rocker”. Believe me, it’s anything but.
It’s apparently audience participation night, as like Club Nouveau, Glass Tiger gets the crowd into things. Really good performance, but what do expect when the band still does gigs? Lead singer Alan Frew lets us know that Glass Tiger will be doing “Everything You Want” by Vertical Horizon.
Up next…
Billy Vera
Signature Hit: At This Moment
Others: Storybook Children (with Judy Clay)
Random Notes: Billy’s apparently been around the music biz since 1965. Long, long time. He’s written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton and Ricky Nelson, but he’s probably best remembered because his song was used on Family Ties. On a more recent front, he’s the guy that sings the theme song to The King of Queens.
Billy gives us a smooth performance, and I like how the crowd does the cheering on cue during the pause at the end. He’ll be singing “True” by Ryan Cabrera later. Geez, Billy, couldn’t you choose something GOOD?
Thelma Houston is up after the
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We’re back, and our final performer is
Thelma Houston
Signature Hit: Don’t Leave Me This Way
Others: Don’t Leave Me Baby, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, I Can’t Go On Living Without Your Love, I’m Here Again
Random Notes: Somehow went from soul singer to disco diva, earning a Grammy along the way for “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. Thelma still does performances, presumably on the casino circuit that older artists seem to frequent.
Damn, she’s still got a killer voice, and she looks like she’s having a great time. Idol singers could probably learn a lot from how she projects. She’s going to be singing “Falling” by Alicia Keys.
The cover songs are coming up after the
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We’re back, and it’s time to see what the artists have been up to.
As noted before, Greg is now a DJ in the Bay Area.
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
The first half makes me depressed, which I suppose works seeing as it’s a depressing song. It’s also a little flat. I like how they sped it up at the end though. 7.5/10
Club Nouveau is now just chillin’ at home.
“Thank You”
I like the R&B vibe the rhythm gives off, but again, the harmony isn’t really there. It doesn’t really stand out for me. 6/10
Glass Tiger will be next after the
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Glass Tiger is just hanging out in Ontario. Wife, kids, etc.
“Everything You Want”
Well, the song fits the group perfectly. Unfortunately the song doesn’t have the upbeat tone that you need to win the audience over. Still, it was better than Club Nouveau. 7/10
Billy Vera does voiceover work nowadays.
“True”
Nope, this song still sucks. Good try though, Billy. 4/10
Thelma Houston likes to hike and take care of her grandkids.
“Falling”
Wow. I think she did this better than Alicia Keys. This really suited her voice, with the way you need to project the notes. Best performance of the night. 8.5/10
So, yeah, I think Thelma’s winning. Am I right? We’ll find out after the
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We’re back, and yep, Thelma Houston wins. Her charity is Minority Awareness.
Next week, the season finale!! Tentatively we’ve got Animotion, Juice Newton, Missing Persons and Shannon. We may still be unlucky and get the Baha Men. But for now, here’s Thelma Houston singing us out.
