Official AI 2006 Thread

[NYKeys]

Don't want to spoil nothing but that performance was royal worthy of The COLOR Purple. .....LOL

[daBowsa]

I afraid to admit it, but I didn't think the performances tonight were half bad! Especially compared to the all-cast numbers of previous years, all the singers sounded fairly strong - even Chicken Little!

 

Bucky sounded good, Kellie and Melissa looked good - everyone seems to have worked at performing during their time "off" and actually improved.

 

The special guests were a nice touch. Ok, Dionne Warwick is getting old, but that's fine. I was impressed by how polished Carrie Underwood has become in a year!

[Dave Pierce]

I don't know, the "guy medly" was pretty awful. I've seen more bar bands that I'd like to admit cover "Taking Care of Business". Often with drunk musicians, hired guns, and little or no rehearsal. Often (ahem) with me as the keyboard hired gun.

 

That was quite possibly the worst cover of that tune I've ever heard.

 

Prince, OTOH, was mesmerizing as always.

 

Taylor has a great career in front of him, I can't wait to see what he does. Hopefully he'll get some better songwriting than that first single.

 

Paris could do great things too. And Chris will obviously be fronting some hard rock band before long.

 

Kat -- I don't know. She's got a marvelous voice, but she doesn't seem to be much of a performer. Maybe if she can get away from the cheesy AI pressure cooker she'll do better.

 

I can't recall her name at the moment, but the girl with the musical theatre experience -- she should go do Broadway. She could be a big star there. Her voice is perfect for Broadway, she's got the experience, and -- assuming other people have better memories than mine -- her name could be a bit of an extra draw for the producers.

 

The rest of them, well, it's hard to imagine anything all that exciting from them outside of the AI world.

 

--Dave

[Dave Pierce]

Lisa, that's her name. Tucker, is it?

 

--Dave

[Dave The Rave]

Lisa Tucker - that's her - she's already been on Broadway from what I understand, in the musical "The Lion King". She's good, and only 17 years old I understand (was 16 when she started on the AI gig).

 

:DTR

[daBowsa]

Ok, you may be right about "Takin' Care of Business" - I only caught the end of that medley, but eveything was in tune and I actually heard harmony parts, so thats something.

 

My disclaimer is that I Wednesday night is Lost night for me, so I was really only flipping back to AI on the commercials.

 

Now that was a season finale! But that's for a different thread...

[RABid]

Harold won Top Chef.

[Dreamer]

http://www.corriere.it/Media/Foto/2006/05_Maggio/25/IDOL.jpg

[Eric VB]

Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

I don't know, the "guy medly" was pretty awful.

Go back and listen to season one's finale and you'll understand why we thought last night was a huge improvement.

Hopefully he'll get some better songwriting than that first single.

IMO, there are two things that hold Idol back: songs allowed during the contest and the awful songwriting for the winner. It took five seasons before a Beatles song was heard on the show; pathetic. And all the winner songs are the cheesiest pop fluff with sugar sprinkles you can find.

 

The rest of them, well, it's hard to imagine anything all that exciting from them outside of the AI world.

I thought Mandisa showed that she still has a great voice last night, dare I say it better than others who finished ahead of her. For a singing competition she should have placed higher, but let's face it, being an Idol is also about being able to be successfully marketed. She has two choices: change her image or do studio-only work. I don't know if her ego would get in the way of her just being a voice on radio commercials without getting any recognition/fame from it.

[Griffinator]

Highlights from last night's show?

 

1) Prince - hasn't lost a thing. Who needs an AI to spoil his execution?! My man, what in the hell were you thinking even taking a hiatus in the first place?

 

2) Clay taking over on "Sun" - watching that kid melt into a puddle was worth the door charge! Not to mention, that was easily the best version of that song I've heard since John did the original.

 

3) Chris with Live - I'm not a huge fan of Live, but that was a really nicely executed bit. Chris is going to be something really special if he can get a decent band around him - I'm thinking a Fuel-esque heavy rock act would suit him beautifully.

 

Lowlights?

 

1) Kat/Meatloaf - Sorry, meat, you're still a great showman, but that vocal performance was one step short of absolutely dismal. And Kat just didn't seem to recognize the modus operandi of a male/female response duet - look at the other singer, not the crowd!

 

2) Dion Warwick - woman, you were a miserable old bitch 5 years ago when I saw you in AC at a show I (thankfully) got comped. Now, you're a miserable old bitch who can't sing anymore, and you're releasing a new album?! God help us!

 

3) Eliot and Mary J doing "One" - Oh, My, God, I've never heard such a beautiful song so thoroughly butchered by excessively bombastic singing! To further the damage, Blige acted like Yamin wasn't even on the stage once he introduced her and completely took over the song. Nearly every note coming out of that woman's mouth made me cringe. 20 seconds into her caterwalling, I was on ESPN watching the commercials and waiting for the Sox-Yankees to resume.

 

Overall, it wasn't a bad show - and the best stage performer definitely won!

[daBowsa]

Originally posted by Griffinator:

3) Eliot and Mary J doing "One" - Oh, My, God, I've never heard such a beautiful song so thoroughly butchered by excessively bombastic singing! To further the damage, Blige acted like Yamin wasn't even on the stage once he introduced her and completely took over the song. Nearly every note coming out of that woman's mouth made me cringe.

Agreed - she did the same thing at an award show...when she joined U2! The look on Bono's face ("Can you believe she's going there with that line?") was priceless.

 

I thought Yamin was respectful of her and did a decent job laying down some counter-melody-type runs and didn't try to "top" her in any way. The funniest was as they cut to commercial Mary had turned a sprinted off stage while Eliott was left by himself not knowing where to turn.

 

I like Eliott - seems like a straight up humble guy to me.

[meccajay]

-Mandisa rocked!

-Bucky was much improved.

-The Paris/Al Jarreau pairing was very nice.

-His royal purpleness owned. I Like the new girls too! Are they twins?

-Loved the Bachrach medley.

-Pickler eating snails w/ Wolfgang Puck was funny! I guess the AI producers read my post about a reality show with her in Europe ordering at a nice restaurant.

-Elliot & Mary J....hmm. This was trouble.. I would have put Taylor with Mary J Blige, and Elliot with Tony Braxton or Dionne Warwick. Elliott was struggling for dear life trying to keep up with Mary. At one point it seemed she was encouraging him by putting her arm around him, as if to say- "C'mon, let's get it going..this is your moment!!" Didn't matter.

No, I don't expect Elliott to be Bono. I realize most amatuer and many pro singers cannot hold there own onstage with Mary, but dude, you've got to have your own presence! America now realizes Elliott is destined for studio work or cruise ships....with softer duets.

-Clay Aiken's hair...WTF?!!! Is he now styled by Steve Nash's barber?

-I've never ever really noticed Seacrest's work before. Good job last night dude. Hey, what ever happened to his cohost from season 1?

-Broke Note Cowboys was good fun. They seemed to be on a revenge mission regard there performance. Sounded good. Not great, but good enough for Vegas maybe....maybe.

-Carrie Underwood sounded crisp as always. Don't know what to think of that scowl she was wearing when Taylor won.

-McPhee and Meat Loaf was just ok for me.

-Clarkson with her success, appears to have moved on.

-Um, where's Ruben?

-Thought about Mario Vazquez jumping ship. Is he regretting this or does Clive really have his back?

 

Not a good show, but a GREAT show last night. I ended up having to tape Lost to watch later.

[soundscape]

Originally posted by RicBassGuy:

And all the winner songs are the cheesiest pop fluff with sugar sprinkles you can find.

What's wrong with sugar sprinkles? Are songs supposed to taste bad?

 

Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" was co-written by Jorgen Elofsson, who has written plenty of solid pop tracks; it still sounded like a design-by-committee track though!

[RABid]

Im sure Live was there with Chris because millions of viewers can increase CD and concert ticket sales. They made the most of it.

 

Im sure Mary J there because millions of viewers can increase CD and concert ticket sales. She had no desire to share the stage with Elliott and did nothing to make me want to buy her music or see her in concert.

 

While channel surfing I totally missed Clay. I wonder if Kelly is out of her contract now? No Ruben? No Fantasia?

 

Carrie sounds really good though the song last night did not showcase her voice. The writing for her CD is much better than it has been for the other Idols.

 

Donnie and Al sounded very good for their age. Some singers know how to adjust as their voices fade a bit. The only bad part was the end when Donnie sang.

 

Like others mentioned, I was really surprised to hear decent harmony during the songs. In past years those Idol Melodies have been horrible. No bad is a big improvement.

 

Did anyone else watch Top Chef?

 

Robert

[daBowsa]

No, I don't get Bravo but I do like the cooking reality shows! Hell's Kitchen is coming back, but my favorite was the PBS one - "Cooking Under Fire" I think?

[EscapeRocks]

I'm not sure what it was, but I like Taylor from the very first audition.

 

I think perhaps it is because he appears to be genuine. Like many of us who also play in bar bands, etc.. he truly feels and loves music.

 

I was happy to see him win.

 

I like all of last night's show, with the exception of Blige. The other "stars" who sang with the Idols had the respect going both ways. She just compeltely blew off Elliott.

 

My favorite pure vocalist of this season was Mandisa. When she had the right song, her pipes gave me chills.

 

Katherine is also a very good singer. I think what I didn't like about here, at this point, was she seemd a little stiff and unsure. Taylor just loves to perform and just looks totally comfortable on stage.

 

 

I love seeing the purple one. He never dissapoints.

 

One thing that struck me about this season, compared to years past, is more of the "top 12" could actually sing. If you listened closely on some of the numbers the last few weeks, you could hear good harmonizing.

[Mark Zeger]

Originally posted by Rabid:

Did anyone else watch Top Chef?

I watched "Lost".

 

My family has been watching "Top Chef" all season but I figured on catching a second run of the finale. Harold earned the win. He has all the required techinical and conceptual cooking skills, won his share of weekly challenges, and has good managerial skills and likeable qualities that you need to lead a kitchen staff in a restaurant. Good for him.

 

Tiffani seemed to be an excellent cook with clever ideas (ex. duck with fig stuffed gnocchi) but couldn't compensate for being a world class PITA.

[Eric VB]

Don't they only bring back the previous Idol every time? I didn't expect to see Kelly, Ruben or Fantasia there. Or even the Pop Idol winner they had for Kelly's triumphant moment. In fact, I hope I never hear that guy sing another note for the rest of my life.

 

[According to the radio this morning, Kelly is trying to leave her indentured servitude Idol past behind her. Now that she's no longer contractually obligated to them, she doesn't want anything to do with them.]

 

The songwriting sounds like it was almost an afterthought. Ok, you do have to work with the top two finalists' ranges, and you don't know who they are until six days before the next show. You've got to write something quickly to give the performers time to practice it. Or do you work on something more general -- maybe two, a guy's song and a girl's song -- with limited range and just transpose as necessary?

 

Yeah, kind of hard circumstances to work under. I think they'd do better auditioning thousands of songs written by a variety of songwriters, and as the time comes narrow it down to the right song. Their Idol Underground thing doesn't quite do this, as that's geared more towards original bands than singer/songwriters. They'd never use a band song to showcase an Idol because it's the wrong format for the show.

 

Honoring Burt is a fine thing. He's accomplished a lot more than many songwriters. My problem is that his stuff is too mellow and out of touch with today's audience. (Sorry, personal bias showing: easy listening puts me to sleep.) Are they trying to find a fresh take on "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" to get more revenue out of that catalog? I just don't see that happening. Great guy, great writer, but please don't have another Bacharach night on Idol to play homage to him yet again. His last hit was an '86 Patti LaBelle/Michael McDonald effort (according to Wikipedia). Like his work, it's been done; time to move on.

[soundscape]

Originally posted by RicBassGuy:

[According to the radio this morning, Kelly is trying to leave her indentured servitude Idol past behind her. Now that she's no longer contractually obligated to them, she doesn't want anything to do with them.]

So she should; the last thing a winner needs is the perpetual label "Idol winner" every time someone speaks of them, instead of being a star in their own right.

 

The songwriting sounds like it was almost an afterthought. Ok, you do have to work with the top two finalists' ranges, and you don't know who they are until six days before the next show. You've got to write something quickly to give the performers time to practice it. Or do you work on something more general -- maybe two, a guy's song and a girl's song -- with limited range and just transpose as necessary?

Thinking about it, perhaps the problem is that a songwriter isn't going to give their best material away for an Idol winner.

 

 

Honoring Burt is a fine thing. He's accomplished a lot more than many songwriters. My problem is that his stuff is too mellow and out of touch with today's audience. (Sorry, personal bias showing: easy listening puts me to sleep.) Are they trying to find a fresh take on "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" to get more revenue out of that catalog? I just don't see that happening. Great guy, great writer, but please don't have another Bacharach night on Idol to play homage to him yet again. His last hit was an '86 Patti LaBelle/Michael McDonald effort (according to Wikipedia). Like his work, it's been done; time to move on.

Wait a minute; didn't you say "It took five seasons before a Beatles song was heard on the show; pathetic" in your last post--when was their last hit?

 

I agree that his stuff is not suitable for hits today (though a new album, "At This Time," was released last year), but then again, he's reached the highest levels of songwriting craft and should be held up as an example, IMO.

[Mr. Nightime]

I read that they record final songs for at least the top 3, that way they have more time to get the song ready.

 

I agree completely the Meat Loaf SUCKED!! I know these people were trying to jumpstart their careers, but Meat Loaf succeeded in totally burying his.

 

I will never buy a Mary J. Blige song ever after the disrespect she had for Elloit. And as my wife said, what was up with those glasses?

[Eric VB]

Originally posted by soundscape:

Wait a minute; didn't you say "It took five seasons before a Beatles song was heard on the show; pathetic" in your last post--when was their last hit?

Right. Probably didn't help to put those two thoughts in the same post.

 

Every season the judges slam the contestants for poor song choice. Then they give them a '60s theme and nobody does a #1 hit by the Beatles. That's where I was going with that.

 

I assume it's much easier to get the rights for songs in the parent company's catalog than to persuade Sir Paul (or other rights holders).

[soundscape]

Originally posted by RicBassGuy:

Every season the judges slam the contestants for poor song choice. Then they give them a '60s theme and nobody does a #1 hit by the Beatles. That's where I was going with that.

Gotcha. Yeah, I agree, Beatles would be a better choice than Bacharach.

[Eric VB]

Originally posted by Mr. Nightime:

I agree completely the Meat Loaf SUCKED!!

Well, I agree that the song had a rough start. And as someone else said, Kat didn't always play her part right, either.

 

Still, there were moments when I saw more raw emotion in that performance than just about anything I've seen on Idol. Too often the contestants just have a vacant stare and you wonder if they even know what they're singing about. If the singer doesn't feel anything, how is his/her audience supposed to react?

 

(Granted, at times you had to wonder if Meatloaf was the proverbial guy who "lives in a van down by the river", made famous by Chris Farley of SNL.)

 

People can even ruin sex by only going through the motions.

 

I would have rather heard "Paradise By The Dashboad Light" though.

[daBowsa]

I heard on the radio that Nick Lachey wrote Kat's song.

[soundscape]

Originally posted by daBowsa:

I heard on the radio that Nick Lachey wrote Kat's song.

Is this it?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Destiny

 

""My Destiny" is a song written for Katharine McPhee and written by Harry Sommerdahl, Hanne Sorvaag and Tim Baxter."

[daBowsa]

Wow. Now we have 3 people to blame.

[meccajay]

Originally posted by Mr. Nightime:

I will never buy a Mary J. Blige song ever after the disrespect she had for Elloit. And as my wife said, what was up with those glasses?

Glasses aside, I really think folks are going overboard with the Mary J hate today.. Considering that 99% of the non-love is coming from this forum and not others Ive seen, I'll try to expand upon her performance a lil.

 

Not as an apologist, but just for the sake of understanding and discussion, there are a couple things you should understand about what you saw...

*While I explain, Keep in mind you DID see Mary J put her arm around Elliott for encouragement during the performance.

 

Ok, Ive been watching Mary J on TV for the last 12-15 years. What I can tell you from seeing her so much, is that Mary J didn't disrespect Elliot last night. At least not on purpose. Mary was just being Mary. Mary is a fireball of emotion on stage. She gets wound up in a song, and just exlodes her performance out...rendition and nuance be damned.

 

It comes down to whether or not you can keep up. Eliiott could not. The song may not have dictated he should have to, I understand that, but Mary J is not about to slow herself down to compensate. She's just gonna frieght train ahead. You have to have a performance personality or significant stage presence to duet with her.

 

Upthread I credited Bono with being able to "hang" with her. I think the reason this is true is not because Bono is a great singer. It's because Bono doesn't have to be. Bono has presence...a LOT of presence! Mary J's energy kinda bonded with Bono's stage presence and his cool. It worked. not the song rendition, but the overall performance.

 

Similarly, think of the times you saw Stevie Ray Vaughn on TV in the 80's. I remember a few of the tribute's to so and so jam sessions, were they'd pair Stevie, BB King, Albert Collins, and other blues greats together. Stevie would wipe the floor with most of them. NOT because he was being rude. Stevie worshipped these cats! Afterward, he's have this look like "I'm sorry Albert Collins, I really didn't mean to blow you offstage"...too bad, happened anyway.

The other thing I remember of those shows is that BB King always held his own. Not because he could match notes, but because BB has presence!! His was larger than Stevie's was, and he just let Stevie be Stevie. In that light, Mary was just Mary.

 

Also, I'm SURE weve discussed on this very thread before that Elliott was a very good singer that most of us would love to record and work with, but had zero stage presence and personality. It was his achillies heal. Ok, if we know that, what do you think went through Mary's mind at rehearsals all week?? Boredom.

 

I'm sure by show night she was just feeling like I like this nice kid and all, but I'm just gonna have to sing this song and do what I do.

Saying all that she still put her arm around the kid to get him jump started, but he wasn't up to the performance part of it yet. I'm sure 3 years from now that scene would look different. I'm also sure a Chris, Taylor, or a Bo Bice, would have stepped up much better.

 

For now, I'll still say the best bet for Elliott was for the producers to realize what they've seen from him all year and move him over to the Toni Braxton duet. Elliot was very good in his solo performance BTW.

[Griffinator]

Jay - I still stick by my assertion that Blige absolutely crucified that song. Her bombastic, over-the-top vocal took a very delicate, passionate ballad and turned it into a burlesque show swing.

 

Eliot was probably more completely stunned by what she was doing to the song than he was overwhelmed by her performing. The look on his face as he stood there, mic at his chest, was more like "well what the hell am I supposed to do here?"

[soundscape]

Originally posted by daBowsa:

Originally posted by soundscape:

""My Destiny" is a song written for Katharine McPhee and written by Harry Sommerdahl, Hanne Sorvaag and Tim Baxter."

Wow. Now we have 3 people to blame.

It's a lot better than, say "Control Myself" (LL Cool J & Jennifer Lopez; recent iTunes US Top 100 songs #1.)

 

(I'm not saying it's good enough. Just that at least, damnit, it's a song!)

[daBowsa]

Originally posted by soundscape:

It's a lot better than, say "Control Myself" (LL Cool J & Jennifer Lopez; recent iTunes US Top 100 songs #1.)

 

(I'm not saying it's good enough. Just that at least, damnit, it's a song!)

Yeah, and I guess we do have to blame the delivery somewhat! I mean there are alot of songs we know that have not-the-greatest lyrics, but the singer turns them into a song.

 

A skilled vocalist can transcend the words and turn the voice into an instrument that produces music. I don't think either of them did that, resulting in the criticism of lyrics.

 

How about Prince's lyrics? I couldn't tell you a one of them - I was listening to him, not the words.