It was the worst of times, it was the best of times, in tonight's Tale of Two Rounds. Well, OK, maybe not the worst of times -- no one tonight was truly awful -- but again, no one was able to put together two terrific performances. We did, however, get one terrific performance from some of our singers tonight.
The rundown:
Round One was, for the most part, a round of bland competence.
Taylor, "Jailhouse Rock" -- It is rather an obvious choice for him, and it was a perfectly pleasant performance. But there's nothing surprising or original about it, and Taylor himself has probably forgotten it already.
Chris, "Suspicious Minds" -- Something of a surprise choice. With no rock screamers available to him, Chris's track record led me to expect one of the sappy ballads, so it was nice to hear him choose something uptempo. Like Taylor before him, it was a competent performance, but not an interesting one, and Chris is hurt by the fact that the song doesn't condense well; all of its drama is in the build.
Elliott, "If I Can Dream" -- Very Vegas lounge act. Not that this is necessarily inappropriate for late Elvis, and if you like that sort of thing, it was reasonably well done, but he's not going to win this competition by turning himself into Wayne Newton.
Katharine, "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" -- There's a dropped lyric midway through, which she covers fairly well, and she throws in some vocal runs at the end that are neither necessary or appropriate to the style. But on the whole, this is lots of fun, and Katharine pulls off the rock'n'roll chick better than I'd have expected. Best of a weak round.
Things start to look a lot better in Round Two:
Taylor, "In the Ghetto" -- Absolutely the right song for him. Beautifully sung, and he's physically more restrained than usual without looking paralyzed by fear as he did during "Something" last week. There's a lovely falsetto note in the middle that I don't think we've heard from him before.
Elliott, "Trouble" -- Holy crap, where has this guy been hiding? This is exciting, passionate, and riveting. He even pulls off the "I'm evil" line without inducing too many giggles (unlike Carrie a year ago).
Chris, "A Little Less Conversation" -- I like the lower register of his voice, which we don't get to hear very often, and the transition to the higher octave at the end is really effective. Those last few notes of rocker shouting at the end don't work at all, though, and he looks silly carrying the entire mike stand into the audience with him.
Katharine, "Can't Help Falling In Love" -- I love her voice; I hate her instincts. This is so overly melodramatic and theatrical -- the same words that keep coming up when I talk about Katharine -- and on the heels of three very good performances, it may be the final nail in her coffin.
For the night, it's Elliott (!?!), Taylor, Chris, and Katharine.
For the season, it's Chris, Taylor, Katharine, and Elliott.
I still think Elliott is the most deserving of being booted, but I think Katharine has probably sung her last.
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