|
With one song being chosen by the American Idol judges, one by thecontestant, and one by Jimmy Iovine , the audience would be given a glimpse into the breadth of eachcontestant; in theory. After banging on the "song choice"drum since the beginning of the season, one would expect thejudges/mentor to select brilliant and insightful songs, capable oflaunching an American Idol contestant into the stratosphere ofgreatness. Unfortunately, out of their six song assignments, onlyone resulted in an Idol moment; the rest either hindered or harmedthe contestants, proving that song selection, though critical, issomething of an art form that even the American Idol experts do notexcel in. RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about American Idol? Take thequiz Joshua Ledet: Joshua kicked off the show with a song selected by the judges.With Etta Jame's "I'd Rather go Blind," Joshua delivereda rousing performance that atrophied into his trademark"enthusiasm" in the last 1/3 of the song. It was a goodsong for Joshua but it failed to demonstrate anything viewershaven't seen from him before. Guess what? The judges loved it.Guess what else? They gave him a standing ovation. Let's hope thefinale gives us something a little less predictable. B+ For his second song, Joshua chose, "Imagine" by John Lennon . This song did what the judges' song did not, it showed a different,more controlled, side of Joshua. It was the only personal songselection of the night that really worked despite the somewhatterrible musical arrangement that gave the song an old-fashionedlounge-y feel. Randy Jackson spoke for all of the judges when he called the performance"brilliant." A- Jimmy Iovine picked the Mary J. Blige song, "No More Drama," for Joshua. He reasoned thatJoshua did such a great job with, "It's a Man's World"last week that he wanted to give him another song that he couldreally let loose in. In other words, he wanted Joshua to do what hedoes every week, only this time to excess. Joshua gave Jimmy whathe was asking for but it was over-the-top. (Despite Steven Tyler 's efforts to brainwash me into thinking "over-the-top"is a good thing, I hold steadfast in my belief that the term doesindeed have a negative connotation.) If Simon Cowell were there he would have labeled the performance "indulgentrubbish." So much for Jimmy's vow to do everything he could toadvance Josh's career. C Jessica Sanchez: If any contestant stood to benefit from well-chosen songs it was Jessica Sanchez . Despite an avid (and after reading some of the reader comments,some might say rabid) fan-base, Jessica had an opportunity toappeal to a more youthful demographic with a well-chosen, youngersong; something that Jimmy Iovine said she needed to do weeks ago.So what did the judges do? They chose the Mariah Carey song, "My All," for Jessica. Watching Jessica standingin her evening gown, singing another diva song about how she'd giveeverything just to have her man's body next to hers again was notthe youthful exuberance she needed. It was, once again, likewatching an episode of "Toddlers in Tiaras." But Stevenslyly suggested America was looking at the next Idol winner, and Ryan Seacrest called him out on it. B- Jessica opted for Aerosmith 's "Don't Want to Miss a Thing," for her second song.Steven gave Jessica a standing ovation after her performance andthough they remained seated, the others praised Jessica'sperformance. It was another missed opportunity for Jessica -especially since she sounded somewhat sharp throughout and hervoice cracked on the last "big" note. B Jimmy Iovine had the right idea with his song choice, unfortunatelyhis logic was a bit flawed. Jimmy, obviously a religious reader ofthis column, knew that Jessica really needed to tap into a youngerdemographic. But since Jessica has such a big fan base ofseemingly older individuals, he wanted to find a way to deliver aperformance that both could appreciate. To this end he chose the Jackson 5 version of "I'll be There," reasoning that since Michael Jackson sang it at 12, younger people would like it and because it was athrowback, it would appeal to older audiences. The only problem isthat the younger audience Iovine was hoping to appeal to, probablyonly recognize the song as a Mariah Carey song. Oops. Come onjudges! If you're intent on linking her with Mariah Carey why notgive her Carey's early and youthful hit, "Someday?" Randysaid Jessica failed to have a moment finally a voice of reason! B- Phillip Phillips : The judges assigned Phillip the song, "Beggin'" byMadcon. Norwegians were likely delighted with the song assignmentthough many Americans were left scratching their heads. The song,Steven reasoned, was going to force Phillip to sing the melody.Being unfamiliar with the song, its tough to say if Phillip stuckto the melody but judging from Jennifer Lopez 's comments, he did not. So much for that plan. B With a wasted first-round opportunity, Phillip really needed toassert himself in the second round. Unfortunately, Phillip chose Matchbox 20 's, "Disease," managing to completely underwhelm theentire Northern Hemisphere in one fell swoop. In fact, Phillip wasso underwhelming that the camera man seemed to forget that he wasthe contestant and focused on the female saxophone player for themajority of the performance. The judges all agreed that theperformance just wasn't enough especially at this level of thecompetition. C After the questionable results of Jimmy's song choices for theother two contestants, Phillip's last chance at wowing Americaseemed dubious at best. Jimmy selected Bob Seger 's "We've Got Tonight," reasoning that it may appeal toboth male and female viewers. With this song selection, Jimmyearned his weight in gold and Phillip likely earned his way intothe finale, if not all the way to the end. It was a tender,captivating vocal by Phillip. He stayed true to the melody of thesong, delivering his best performance of the season. It was thekind of moment every one of the contestants needed but only oneachieved. A+ Predictions: Before Phillip's final performance, the task of making predictionsweighed heavily. After, "We've Got Tonight," the jobbecame 50 percent easier. Phillip is definitely making it into thefinal two, which leaves Jessica and Joshua. Of these two, Joshuadeserves to advance, not because he is a better singer thanJessica, but because he is a better performer than Jessica. WillAmerican Idol voters agree? Who do you think deserves to be in the final two? Share yourthoughts in the comments. On a side note: This could be the last American Idol finale for notjust Ryan Seacrest but also for Jennifer Lopez, who reportedly can't find time in her very busy schedule to squeeze in the $20 million per yeargig that single-handedly revitalized her career. Whether a couplemore million can help to free up her dance card remains to be seen. RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about American Idol? Take thequiz. I am an expert from homedecorationsupplier.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Removable Wall Stickers , Designer Wall Clocks, Wall Flower Stickers,and more.
Related Articles -
China Removable Wall Stickers, Designer Wall Clocks,
|
