What a night! They finally found a niche where every
contentant actually sounds good and it made for a very
enjoyable show. Classic American Standards, "The
American Songbook", whatever you want to call it, was
an excellent theme choice. And, I enjoyed Rod
Stewart. He brought his family along, he seemed very
casual and entertaining with the kids, and I'm looking
forward to seeing him perform tonight.
There were a couple of mildly-sucky performances (I'm
looking at you Kellie and Ace), but if it had been a
regular mostly-sucky show they would not stand out -
as it is the show was so good, even minor mistakes
stand out in my mind.
Anyway, here goes:
Chris: Chris led off with "What A Wonderful World."
The song is way too familiar because so many people
have sung it, including George Huff in Season 3(?) and
George's version was smokier and more soulful. Chris
did a fine job, though, of toning down his usual
scream-style and just sat back and sang the song. I
still like the tone of his voice which was showcased
by this lovely song. Randy and Paula loved it, Simon
took credit for it (by encouraging him several times
to change his style). For his part, Chris looked
pretty comfortable, he was sans eye makeup and the
beard. I enjoyed it very much. He's not going
anywhere tonight, even though he had the disadvantage
of being up first.
Paris: OK, let me say this first - Paris sang
"Foolish Things", which is right on track with her
audition pieces which got her here in the first place.
This kind of jazz singing agrees with Paris' voice
and she should stick with it whenever she can. But
she needs to relax. In this song, her phrasing was
affected and it was disconcerting in a few spots.
However, beyond the singing is the issue I have with
Paris, which is the fact that she feels she must play
dress-up each week. Last week the Dominatrix-Paris
sang Queen. This week Real Estate Barbie-Paris sang
jazz. She was in a coral business suit, unfortunately
two sizes too big for her, and her hair was slicked
back into a Barbie-tail. It's like Halloween around
Paris every week. But, I don't think she's going into
the bottom 3 this week.
Taylor: Apparently SNL or MadTV parodied Taylor this
past weekend, because he and Ryan were talking about
it. Taylor thought it was pretty cool - I'd rather
think he'd be embarrassed when they showed how weird
and affected he is. Maybe he's just confident, I
don't know. I hate the mannerisms but I have to admit
that they seem genuine and he doesn't put them "on"
so, in that respect, I have to give him credit for
staying true to himself, as trite as that sounds.
So, he did sing. He sang "You Send Me", and he's no
Sam Cooke, but it was all right. Rod had encouraged
him to move on the stage (me: "no, no") and "perform
the song." Taylor was OK and pretty soulful, then got
spazzy toward the end. I hated that, but most people
appear to like it. blech. Simon: "It started and I
thought "lame cabaret", then "Magic!" Black magic,
maybe. I'm sure he's safe tonight, but he's in my
bottom 3.
Elliott: First things first - Elliott SMILED during
his performance! He actually seemed to have fun and
did not look like a nervous cat. He sang "It Had To
Be You" in his, per Rod, "wonderful blue-eyed soul
voice." It was, too. He was warm and his tone was
wonderful. Simon said it "lacked a degree of
personality" and I do not agree. For some reason,
Simon has never liked Elliott enough to want to keep
him around and is always pushing to get rid of him.
Personally, I think Elliott's is the clearest,
cleanest, most effortless and best voice on AI this
season. He's just not the one Simon wants to win.
Kellie: Pickler screwed up badly this week. She sang
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and, yikes, it
was terrible. It started out sweetly but she got a
full beat ahead of the music and couldn't seem to
correct herself. She was obviously pitchy and ended
up unhappy with her own performance. She has this way
of saying "I'm sawry" that makes people want to
forgive her and vote for her so she's probably in the
bottom three but not out tonight. "When all else fails
you gotta have great shoes." That could save her - she
looked good. At least she knew she "butchered" the
song - she could hear it herself.
Ace: I don't get the Ace-pimping. The judges are so
not willing to be honest about Ace's singing. It
reminds me very much of season 1 and poor old Justin
who they maneuvered to be kept in till the end because
they wanted to be sure that Kelly Clarkson won (don't
get me wrong - Kelly deserved to win. I think they
just wanted to make sure she did). Ace sang "That's
All". He was dressed like a Las Vegas blackjack
dealer, in a black suit and slicked-back ponytailed
hair and was not at all good. In fact, it was a bit
of a mess: weak in places, strong in others, nasally,
and messy. Yet they keep pimping him. I don't get
it. Ace will be in the bottom 3 this week.
Katharine: Kat sang "Someone To Watch Over Me." She
was amazingly lovely and her voice was intensely
beautiful for this song. Her phrasing was gorgeous.
I have two bones to pick with her: Her upper register
is a bit screechy and she sings like she's in the
drama club - all smiley and conscious of the camera.
The director doesn't help - he insists on getting the
camera right up into her face. I think he's in love
with her. She's not going anywhere. Simon agreed
with me - she "made the others sound like good
amateurs. She sounded like a returning pro." I'm not
so sure I'd go that far, but she sounded damned good.
My bottom 3: Ace, Taylor and Kellie
Going tonight: probably Ace.
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