AI - Week5

Last night's show was miles better than last week's.
Of course, they had a whole decade of diverse music to
choose a song from instead of just one artist's
catalog. The theme was "The '50's". Barry Manilow
acted as mentor/coach/arranger and was excellent. He
actually gave the kids constructive criticism and
showed them ways to improve instead of just being a
talking head like so many of these "Guest" coaches
are.

Everyone sounded great last night - highlights for me
were:

Chris: Chris took Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line" and
perked it up with a alt rock styling. I think he
forgot to say that he got the arrangement from the
band Live. That aside, it was a pretty good rendition
of a song that everyone knows - he's going to make a
really good alt rock band lead singer someday. I'm
still not sure that AI is the best place for him, he
should already be signed and recording. Anyway,
excellent as usual.

Mandisa: She sang Dinah Washington's "I Don't Hurt
Anymore" and did a great job. She does have a bottom
to her range and that song showed it to us but that
was OK, her upper range is so fabulous it's something
she can generally work around. Great Job.

Katharine: Katharine sang Ella Fitzgerald's "Come
Rain or Come Shine" which is such a cool song.
Katharine, as usual, was really good. She is
consistent each week and it seems to come so naturally
to her. She's an amazing girl with an amazing voice.

Paris: Paris sang Peggy Lee's "Fever". OK, I usually
sort of like Paris but I'm beginning to be over her.
She sounded like a girl trying to sing a woman's song,
which is exactly what she is and what she did. I'm
not saying it was bad, it wasn't. But she doesn't
have the experience to draw on to give the song the
expressiveness it needs. She also does not have good
breath control in her lower register or when she's not
singing glory notes - she doesn't manipulate her words
and her breathing but, again, that's from her tender
age. When she grows up I think she'll be an amazing
singer.

Lisa: So non-memorable I can't think of the song, but
she sounded and dressed like she was performing at a
high school talent show. Seriously. Ok, the song was
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love" which has been covered a
gazillion times and was boring.

Taylor: Who? Even worse than usual. I'm ignoring
him. Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" - terrible choice
with limited actual singing. Any other of Buddy's
songs would have made a better choice.

Kevin: Oh, Lord, he did an adequate job last night
with "When I Fall In Love" so I'm pretty sure he's not
going anywhere. Good grief, I'm so looking forward to
his departure so I don't have to look at his owl face
and listen to his lisp anymore. Deer in the
headlights. And his little "I haven't fallen in love
yet, but when I do it will be forever" speech which
the little girls at home loved, I'm sure, will keep
him here another week.

Ace: Ace sang "In the Still of the Night", with a
subtle jazzier tempo added - personally, I like it
unmessed with. He did an OK job - the problem with
him is that he really does not have the range and the
vocal tone of some of the others. But he does have
rabid fans so he's not going anywhere soon. I could
have done without the falsetto at the end.

Kellie: Kellie went back to her best type of song
this week - she chose Patsy Cline's "Walking After
Midnight". It fit into the country/pop genre that
Kellie so excels at and she did a great job. She
could have cut down on the make-up, though. It was
applied pretty heavily and she should toss the trowel
in the can. But great song choice and great
rendition. It's not easy to take on Patsy Cline and
still sound good.

Bucky!: Buddy Holly's "Oh, Boy" did not showcase him at all. And,
he had the added disadvantage of being sandwiched
between Mandisa's and Paris' performances. I fear for
him. But I still adore his sweet self.

Elliott: "Teach Me Tonight" which was a song I was/am
totally unfamiliar with. It was a really difficult
song to sing, with lots of key changes and strange
vocal runs, but it sounded great. The problem with
Elliott is that he's been portrayed in a pretty bland
way so there's really nothing but his voice keeping
him here.

Favorites: Mandisa, Katharine, Chris

Should go: Kevin

Will Go: Lisa (or perhaps Bucky!, sob.)