AI 9 4-27-10 Country Barely Impresses

We have a paint salesman, a high school student, a glass blower, a mother, a father, and a construction worker. These six lives have been changed forever but only one can take the title. This is AMERICAN IDOL!

There was a total of 45 million dollars raised from “Idol Gives Back”. Hell Simon’s salary alone is 50 million a season and with him leaving Fox should be able to contribute quite a bit to up this amount because after all it is for charity.

The songbook of Shania Twain is the theme and Shania is the guest mentor. I do like Shania and I think she did an admirable job in mentoring because while not successful it appeared tonight the contestants were trying to win. She was at least able to put a fire in them.

The show moved along at a quick pace, which is a good thing, but there was still too much frivolous filler including Ryan, the judges, and some of the discussion with the contestants. My position remains the contestants should have more time to sing to allow for better arrangements and selection of the portions of the song to perform.

Let us move on to providing comments about the performances.

Lee Dewyze – “You’re Still the One”

While I believe, Lee was making an effort I just did not enjoy this near as much as the judges did. I thought the beginning was rough and he started flat. Lee’s control over his lower register was not strong. Lee could not hit the right notes either. The chorus had some improvement but still was flat. Lee’s enunciation sucked as well. I thought the entire performance seemed rushed. My real problem with the performance is Lee is still stiff and while he smiled he was not sell the message of the song. This is a love song after all, where was the love and tenderness. I also hated he could not give up the guitar as a crutch.

Randy – This is one of my favorite songs and I was a little worried at first and you did start out pitchy but by the middle, you found your sweet spot and made it your own.

Ellen – You did better than a good job because you always make every song your own, it was like your version. You could not look cuter. All aboard the Shania “Twain”.

Kara – Look how far you have because you sounded relevant and current. This is a love song and you may not have related to that part but you smiled at a couple of points so you were feeling it. Good job.

Simon – I agree with everyone. This was a perfect song. You made some weird faces.

Michael Lynche – “It only hurts when I’m breathing”

Michael had impeccable vocals and the falsetto ending was beautiful yet the entire performance left me cold. The performance simply did not move me. I found the entire performance to be forced with little or no emotional connection. I hate to borrow from the judges but this was just too old-fashioned.

Randy – You have found your niche on the show, you are in your zone as an artist. Great job.

Ellen – I was a tiny bit nervous about this but this felt like a Luther Vandross performance. You followed Shania’s advice. This was beautiful.

Kara – You always come from a place where the song relates to you. I appreciate your use of the original melody and you changed it enough without ruining it.

Simon – I did hear the Luther-ness of the performance, however, I thought it was a bit “wet”. It was as if you were acting out the words as if you were in a musical. This was just “a little bit girly.”

Casey James – “Don’t”

I was laughing when Casey said he chose a singing song. I agree Casey shows some sincerity yet the performance still fell flat for me. It seemed like the key was too high for him making a lot of the vocal sound strained. I was also disappointed Casey could not give up the guitar for an entire song. Casey is a brilliant guitar player but he cannot both play the guitar and sing at the same time.

Randy – This was the best Casey James performance ever, nice job.

Ellen – This was a great song and this was a beautiful performance. This was your best performance to date.

Kara – True artists show everything and you did that. You were raw and vulnerable and if you keep this up you will be at the front of this competition.

Simon – You received a much needed wake-up call last week. I agree with Randy that this was probably your best performance so far. You need to kiss this person behind me (you cannot even remember her name Simon).

Crystal Bowersox – “No one needs to know”

There was something a little off about this performance. The song was a little slow to start and there were some breath support issues as well. I really enjoyed the blue grassy arrangement and Crystal rallied by the end but this was not a stellar performance. I still enjoyed the entire performance and Crystal having an off moment is still better than the entire other contestants put together.

Randy – I liked the arrangement but it was not my favorite performance. I like the changes you made and appreciate the most country version so far this evening.

Ellen – There is nothing you cannot do. You have a great voice. This was not my favorite performance but that is like asking, “Which is my least favorite color of the rainbow.”

Kara – It is impossible for you not to be good. It was believable. You are still amazing.
Simon – The surprise is we do not like Crystal this week. I found the performance limp. This is like a coffee shop who hires a band, which the customers really do not want to hear while sipping their lattes. There was no connection and it was forgettable.

Aaron Kelly – “You got away”

I do not feel this was the proper song for Aaron especially since he has to change the words. I hated the entire performance. There were some very sharp notes throughout the entire song and he lacked breath support to reach the high notes. Aaron’s enunciation fell apart at the end as well. This was just a glorified high school variety show performance.

Randy – This is definitely your wheelhouse (WTF?). You did a good job.

Ellen – It is going to be a tough week because everyone is doing well. I think you showed a lot of maturity.

Kara – I agree with Ellen because it was as if Aaron felt the words. I noticed you changed one of lines from “when we make love and then we had a vague inappropriate discussion as to whether or not Aaron might have had sex.

Simon – You struggled the past couple of weeks but tonight you were like a different artist. This is the kind of record you should make. This felt sincere and believable. You did very well tonight.

Siobhan Magnus – “Any man of mine”

The vocals started out kind of rough but clearly, Siobhan was having fun and was really interacting with the audience. I did think though when she went out into the audience the vocals fell apart because of a breath control issue. The performance overall was fun to watch.

Randy – I loved it, especially the punk-country thing you have going on.
Ellen – What a way to pull the Shania “Twain” into the station. Fantastic.

Kara – Guess who is back.

Simon – I really liked the song but the screaming at the end was as if you were giving birth. If we had heard that note in isolation, it would have been disturbing.

The best I can say is the evening was not a total train wreck I was expecting but I still do not believe it was stellar. On the other hand, I did not want to turn off the sound so I have to consider this the best evening of the season so far.

I personally think the judges were full of it last night but some of the praise they gave to some and not to others might affect the results.

Predicting the bottom three is problematic. I am afraid Crystal is in trouble because of the judge’s comments but I cannot imagine this season without her. My prediction for the bottom three is “Big Mike”, Aaron and Lee.

I believe “Big Mike” is going home this week.

Until tomorrow…