Drew's Reviews - American Idol 6 - May 15, 2007
by DREW B
If there was ever any doubt that LaKisha should not have been the one to go home last week, I would say that last night answered that. The songs of all three finalists in round one last night were worse than EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE WE EVER SAW LAKISHA DO -- yes, even the awful "Jesus Take the Wheel" and "Believe". Most of LaKisha's performances throughout the season were better than each and every performance last night. LaKisha outclasses Blake and Jordin at least as much as Tamyra outclassed Nikki or LaToya outclassed Jasmine or Boomie outclassed everybody else. And she's more outstanding than Melinda, too, if not as solidly consistent. I hope that in the mythology of Idol, what happened to LaKisha is seen as the robbery it was...
Jordin - Round 1 - What? This blink-and-you-miss-it performance wasn't worth the effort. Bad song choice, bad arrangement, badly sung (very shaky). Next?
Blake - Round 1 - It wasn't horrible. Blake's voice sounded more resonant than usual, and he brought an interesting and distinctive sound to the song. What he didn't bring, though, is any passion. I think this song requires passion -- else the "I won't share you with another man" line makes no sense. Then again, I don't think Blake has ever brought passion to a song (passion for the emotional life portrayed there -- I do believe he has passion for the intellectual exercise of the music). What people are calling "contemporary" about him, I think, is his bemused, detached, unemotional style. That's not for me. And I hated the way he changed the phrasing. Blake should have learned something from Sligh...
Melinda - Round 1 - After watching Blake and Jordin, I thought Round 1 would be an easy win for Melinda. I was shocked when she turned in her worst, pitchiest vocal performance ever. I had no idea that Melinda was capable of being so off-key! Most of the time, she caught herself and corrected pretty well, but there was one sustained note near the end that was such a clunker, and I watched her eyes fill with panic when she couldn't get off of it! I respect that she has a good ear and knows when she screws up. I don't respect that the judges either don't hear or don't admit that they hear "pitchiness" to the extreme.
Round 1 rankings:
1. Blake (by default)
2. Jordin
3. Melinda (made my ears bleed)
Jordin - Round 2 - Total karaoke, but decent vocally (not easy to do with Donna Summer). I don't think she understands the song, but she faked it okay. Add to that the fact that I just like the song, and Jordin came off decently.
Blake - Round 2 - I hate this song. I hate Maroon 5's version and I hate Blake's version. I like Blake's version a little more because the beatboxing was at least a splash of something interesting. This did not showcase good singing, but that is to be expecting -- there is no good singing in the original, either.
Melinda - Round 2 - This song had no melody and I had a hard time figuring it out. I thought it was a bad choice for her, in that it showed nothing new (we've seen this side of her before) and it doesn't showcase her singing. Meh.
Round 2 rankings:
1. Jordin (more for the song than the singer)
2. Melinda
3. Blake
Jordin - Round 3 - I thought she looked like Oprah during this one. Well, if Oprah OD'd on human growth hormone... There is no denying that Jordin sounds great on this song. In fact, I think it was easily the best vocal of the night. However, it was still a disappointment, in that she didn't do it as well as the first time (remember, Jordin, you have to plant your feet and stand still or you go downhill).
Blake - Round 3 - Who knew that the Big Butts that Sir Mixalot likes includes Blake's? I would have rather seen him do that song in the competition than the one he chose. And why did he get to do a new song while Jordin and Melinda reprised old ones? Weird. I don't know this song and it was hard for me to figure out/evaluate Blake. The verses were okay, but the chorus SUUUUUCKED. I think that was the song, not Blake, but I'm not so sure...
Melinda - Round 3 - In light of the fact that the producers had chosen the "Nutbush" song for her, this was a bad choice. It showcases exactly the same side. I would have preferred if she had reprised "Sway", saying that it was the one performance that Simon didn't like, and she wanted to change that... This performance was way, way worse than the first time she did it. She lost her diction in the first half so we lost all the lyrics. That's the whole POINT of the song! I did think the interaction with the background singers was cool.
Round 3 rankings:
1. Jordin (even though it was worst than last time)
2. Melinda
3. Blake
All songs rankings:
1. Jordin - Round 3
2. Melinda - Round 3
3. Blake - Round 1
4. Jordin - Round 2
5. Melinda - Round 2
6. Blake - Round 3
7. Blake - Round 2
8. Jordin - Round 1
9. Melinda - Round 1
Overall rankings (and I'm very sad to report this):
1. Jordin (I still want her to go home)
2. Blake
3. Melinda (she had the only truly BAD vocal, and her others weren't good enough to redeem it. She had by far the most challenging song, so it's not entirely her fault, but that's the way the cookie crumbles).
If there was ever any doubt that LaKisha should not have been the one to go home last week, I would say that last night answered that. The songs of all three finalists in round one last night were worse than EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE WE EVER SAW LAKISHA DO -- yes, even the awful "Jesus Take the Wheel" and "Believe". Most of LaKisha's performances throughout the season were better than each and every performance last night. LaKisha outclasses Blake and Jordin at least as much as Tamyra outclassed Nikki or LaToya outclassed Jasmine or Boomie outclassed everybody else. And she's more outstanding than Melinda, too, if not as solidly consistent. I hope that in the mythology of Idol, what happened to LaKisha is seen as the robbery it was...
Jordin - Round 1 - What? This blink-and-you-miss-it performance wasn't worth the effort. Bad song choice, bad arrangement, badly sung (very shaky). Next?
Blake - Round 1 - It wasn't horrible. Blake's voice sounded more resonant than usual, and he brought an interesting and distinctive sound to the song. What he didn't bring, though, is any passion. I think this song requires passion -- else the "I won't share you with another man" line makes no sense. Then again, I don't think Blake has ever brought passion to a song (passion for the emotional life portrayed there -- I do believe he has passion for the intellectual exercise of the music). What people are calling "contemporary" about him, I think, is his bemused, detached, unemotional style. That's not for me. And I hated the way he changed the phrasing. Blake should have learned something from Sligh...
Melinda - Round 1 - After watching Blake and Jordin, I thought Round 1 would be an easy win for Melinda. I was shocked when she turned in her worst, pitchiest vocal performance ever. I had no idea that Melinda was capable of being so off-key! Most of the time, she caught herself and corrected pretty well, but there was one sustained note near the end that was such a clunker, and I watched her eyes fill with panic when she couldn't get off of it! I respect that she has a good ear and knows when she screws up. I don't respect that the judges either don't hear or don't admit that they hear "pitchiness" to the extreme.
Round 1 rankings:
1. Blake (by default)
2. Jordin
3. Melinda (made my ears bleed)
Jordin - Round 2 - Total karaoke, but decent vocally (not easy to do with Donna Summer). I don't think she understands the song, but she faked it okay. Add to that the fact that I just like the song, and Jordin came off decently.
Blake - Round 2 - I hate this song. I hate Maroon 5's version and I hate Blake's version. I like Blake's version a little more because the beatboxing was at least a splash of something interesting. This did not showcase good singing, but that is to be expecting -- there is no good singing in the original, either.
Melinda - Round 2 - This song had no melody and I had a hard time figuring it out. I thought it was a bad choice for her, in that it showed nothing new (we've seen this side of her before) and it doesn't showcase her singing. Meh.
Round 2 rankings:
1. Jordin (more for the song than the singer)
2. Melinda
3. Blake
Jordin - Round 3 - I thought she looked like Oprah during this one. Well, if Oprah OD'd on human growth hormone... There is no denying that Jordin sounds great on this song. In fact, I think it was easily the best vocal of the night. However, it was still a disappointment, in that she didn't do it as well as the first time (remember, Jordin, you have to plant your feet and stand still or you go downhill).
Blake - Round 3 - Who knew that the Big Butts that Sir Mixalot likes includes Blake's? I would have rather seen him do that song in the competition than the one he chose. And why did he get to do a new song while Jordin and Melinda reprised old ones? Weird. I don't know this song and it was hard for me to figure out/evaluate Blake. The verses were okay, but the chorus SUUUUUCKED. I think that was the song, not Blake, but I'm not so sure...
Melinda - Round 3 - In light of the fact that the producers had chosen the "Nutbush" song for her, this was a bad choice. It showcases exactly the same side. I would have preferred if she had reprised "Sway", saying that it was the one performance that Simon didn't like, and she wanted to change that... This performance was way, way worse than the first time she did it. She lost her diction in the first half so we lost all the lyrics. That's the whole POINT of the song! I did think the interaction with the background singers was cool.
Round 3 rankings:
1. Jordin (even though it was worst than last time)
2. Melinda
3. Blake
All songs rankings:
1. Jordin - Round 3
2. Melinda - Round 3
3. Blake - Round 1
4. Jordin - Round 2
5. Melinda - Round 2
6. Blake - Round 3
7. Blake - Round 2
8. Jordin - Round 1
9. Melinda - Round 1
Overall rankings (and I'm very sad to report this):
1. Jordin (I still want her to go home)
2. Blake
3. Melinda (she had the only truly BAD vocal, and her others weren't good enough to redeem it. She had by far the most challenging song, so it's not entirely her fault, but that's the way the cookie crumbles).
posted by AMAI at 5/16/2007 01:40:00 PM
4 Comments:
Umm what show did you watch? I realise that you are a Lakisha fan but sorry she was/is not in Melinda's class. Melinda's worst performance is still much better than Lakisha's best and I was a Lakisha fan.
OMG! I thought Melinda was the best by far!
I think you need to watch and listen to it again. I've got it on Tivo if you need it!
Are you sure you watch American Idol???? or maybe something wrong with your ear!
I totally agree with you about Lakisha, Drew! That girl was ROBBED! I wanted a Melinda/Jordin final 2, but I agree that both girls have had much better days. Your recaps are always great. Keep it up!
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