Last Wednesday Ryan let us know that this week’s theme is “Songs of the 21st Century”, so that got me thinking as to how to play to the strengths and weaknesses of the ten competitors:
Paris Bennett – I think she’ll do something upbeat, but what, I’ve no idea. I’ll go out on a limb and say Mary J. Blige.
Bucky Covington – I dunno, something country? Bucky’s done an ok job outside of his comfort zone, so he’s due for something inside it.
Chris Daughtry – It would be so easy for Chris to go right back to his emo roots and sing the same type song he’s done 4 out of the last five weeks.
Taylor Hicks – I’m not a big advocate of “cheating” in order to get a favourable song, but with Taylor there’s one song that would work very well for him. Obscure (in America) BritPop band Toploader did a fun cover of Van Morrison’s “Dancing in the Moonlight”, and I guarantee that if Taylor were to sing this, it’d be gold.
Mandisa – Mandisa can probably sing anything. She’s mixed it up so much that I have no idea what she’ll pull out of her hat. I”m guessing that she’ll go upbeat, but with what is anybody’s guess.
Katherine McPhee – I keep thinking that Joss Stone would be perfect for Katherine. It’s risky, since Stone is, in a word, awesome, but it’s challenging and if you nail it, you’re putting yourself that much higher above the other competitors. Alternatively, “My Immortal” would be a great choice, but I don’t think that that’s her thing.
Kellie Pickler – The big online debate is whether Kellie is actually that stupid or she’s playing a game with the voters. You’ve probably heard this argument before with Jessica Simpson, and we’ve seen WWE’s Maria playing dumb. Of course, only one of the two is acting. I mention Jessica Simpson because Kellie would be well served trying to sing Jessica. Mind you, she’ll probably try to cover Jessica’s gawd-awful cover of MY favourite song, Robbie Williams’ “Angels”, so we’ll see how that goes.
Lisa Taylor – Lisa hasn’t really shown us much personality despite singing songs LOADED with it, so I’d expect her to fall back on an R&B ballad to try and get her back into the competition.
Elliot Yamin – For some reason I see Elliot singing “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5. He’s not exactly emo, but it’s got a jazzy feel and it fits perfectly in his range.
Ace Young – If Ace has a strength, it’s singing high. So probably something like Jamiroquai or Justin Timberlake would be in his comfort zone. Of course, since this is Ace, it will probably suck any way you slice it.
Regardless of what I think, it’s likely that we’ll get a lot of ballads – it’s the common fallback for competitors who want to “show off” their singing ability and are afraid to tackle something upbeat.
Opening Credits.
Ryan Seacrest is here. We’re really rushed tonight, so he introduces the theme – Songs of the 21st Century, and here are the judges, Zan, Jayna and Gleek. And once again, I leave it as an exercise for you, the reader, to determine which one is which. Like I said, we’re rushed, so here’s out first contestant – Lisa Tucker, singing Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You”.
Finally, Lisa shows some emotion, which is great seeing as she hasn’t done so since… maybe ever. And it’s unfortunate that she’s really flat tonight. It’s an admirable effort, but she falls short tonight.
Randy – It was really just aiight for me.
Simon – The truth is that the song was too big for your voice, and there were parts that were somewhat painful. It didn’t work.
Rating: 3/10
Paris and Ace are up after the
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Yes, Ryan said Paris was next, but it’s actually Kellie Pickler that’s up now. She’s singing “Suds in the Bucket” by Sara Evans, which I’ve never heard of.
Totally in her comfort zone, and as such, she does really well. It doesn’t really do it for me, but good enough for government work, I guess.
Randy – I’m puzzled by the song choice. It wasn’t exciting enough for your voice.
Paula – It didn’t show your range, it didn’t show your personality.
Simon – There are thousands and thousands of songs to choose some, and you choose some gimmicky, rodeo-ey song.
Rating: 4.5/10
Ace Young is showing a rock edge. He’s singing “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. And the very fact that he thinks is rock tells you everything that’s wrong about Ace.
OK, this is one song I may never be able to listen to again without listening to Ace’s butchering of it. I’ve no idea what was with the nasally voice – was it always like that? Ace gets nothing from me and will like it.
Randy – Once again, completely the wrong song for you and you didn’t sing it well.
Simon – I actually thought it was quite karaoke.
Rating: 0/10
We’re getting Taylor and ManDiva (Ryan’s words, not mine) after the
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Taylor Hicks has a 10-year old fan with fake-powdered hair, meaning that he’s got the creepiest young fan since that kid who dressed like Morimoto. He’s singing “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne.
Another obscure song, but the difference is that Taylor shows some soul when singing it, and it’s a more challenging song than Kellie’s. I still don’t think it’s outstanding, but it’s the best so far.
Randy – That song was closer to what you would make, but once again it was aiight for me.
Simon – I quite like the song, I thought it was an excellent vocal. The only slight problem I have is the styling – it’s very Clay Aiken.
Rating: 6/10
Mandisa “Wanna Praise You” Mary Mary
So yeah, she did a great job, as usual, but there was more shouting than I’m used to hearing from Mandisa. Perfect song for her though – uptempo, lots of energy, and undoubtedly Mandisa-ish. But three out of five singers have stayed in their comfort zone – actually, more like their comfort closet – and it puzzles me.
Randy – There’s no question that you can definitely sing, but the song choices tonight – I don’t quite get it.
Simon – I thought it was a bit indulgent. I just didn’t get that. Not for me.
Rating: 6.5/10
The two other frontrunners are up after the
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Chris Daughtry worships Live, but he’s singing “What If” by Creed.
Wow, that’s a lot of shouting. Posing, energy, but not a good song choice. Almost Rock Star-ish, but it’s Creed, COME ON.
Randy – It wasn’t your best vocal tonight.
Simon – I thought it was indulgent, but you’ve got to show a different side of you. It stands out, but you can’t keep doing this week after week after week.
Rating: 4.5/10
Katherine McPhee loves X-Tina, and so she’ll sing “The Voice Within”.
Well, for once Kat didn’t dress like she was pregnant. Sadly, she dressed like she was 40. Vocally, it’s the best so far, and she’s working on playing to the audience, but it was too much of an impersonation and not enough of Kat making it her own..
Randy – You sang it kinda just like the record. You didn’t bring anything new to it.
Simon – I think it was the best tonight, and it was almost as good as Christina.
Rating: 6/10
Paris (this time for sure!) and Bucky are coming up, but first, an
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Bucky Covington is singing Tim McGraw’s “Real Good Man” because he likes the song.
It’s a much better choice of country song than Kellie, and it’s done well for the genre, so I can’t knock it. Call me crazy, but I think that Bucky’s getting better as time goes on.
Randy – It’s definitely the right kinda of song for you.
Simon – I thought it was okay. I think it’s very unimpressive tonight.
Rating: 5/10
Paris Bennett is singing “Work It Out” by Beyonce because she gets to act seventeen for once.
Paris has watched way too much of Beyonce, because that was a GREAT impersonation of her. Unfortunately, that’s all it was – nothing original. Wow, what a crappy week so far.
Randy – That was fearless, that was da bomb. You worked it out tonight.
Simon – I thought it was precocious, it’s like a little girl pretending to be Beyoncé.
THANK YOU, SIMON.
Rating: 6/10
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Elliott Yamin is hoping to bring a soul vibe to Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be”, because Bo Bice rocked it out last week.
Interesting rearrangement of the song – I think it worked, but I’m still trying to figure that out. It plays well to Elliott’s strengths, and connects with the audience, but the dancing? Beyond bad.
Randy – I wasn’t sure about the arrangement, but America, this boy can sing.
Simon – Great song, terrible arrangement, great vocals but the dancing was hideous.
Rating: 7/10
Time to recap the singers, promises of Shakira’s butt (and Shakira) tomorrow and time to start voting.
