A day late due to being ill last night, and our second batch of wannabes aren't offering much to make me feel better. It's a night in which no one seems to be shooting any higher than "meh," and most of them are failing to reach that level.
The rundown:
Jasmine, "Love Song" -- Well, the last note was pretty. The rest was a collection of pitch problems and wretched enunciation; if I hadn't known the song was called "Love Song," I'm not sure I'd have understood any of what she was saying. Lovely girl, and not without charisma, but this isn't a performance to move her on.
Matt G, "Viva la Vida" -- The core of the sound disappears when he sings quietly, and everything gets very breathy. His falsetto isn't pretty to hear (or to see, for that matter; it scrunches up his face even worse than his usual squint). And as the judges note, it's an odd song choice for the his voice.
Jeanine, "This Love" -- Odd song choices seem to be a theme so far; she gives the chorus a slight smoothness that could be very effective elsewhere, but here only serves to flatten the song and rob of its punch. And she's working awfully hard for the mediocre results she's getting.
Nick, "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going" -- You know, at least it took a few weeks before Sanjaya started milking his own ineptness for votes; this guy is an insincere buffoon going in. "Norman" certainly doesn't deserve to be kept around, and his presence is an insult to all of the contestants who were cut without getting this far. The biggest shame of it all is that I think Nick might actually be able to sing.
Allison, "Alone" -- Finally, someone chooses the right song. She's not going to make anyone forget Ann Wilson, but it's a fairly good performance, and she goes from quiet to belt with relative grace and ease. She's rough around the edges, but when the night is going this badly, this might get her through to the finals.
Kris, "Man in the Mirror" -- Pleasant, in a bland karaoke kinda way. There's nothing glaringly wrong with it, and there are occasional hints that he's capable of something better. He looks awkward as hell, though, leaping about the stage and pumping his fist, and needs to tone that stuff way down. (The judges are far kinder to him than he deserves.)
Megan, "Put Your Records On" -- I hear a lot of Corinne Bailey Rae in the performance, and I'm not sure whether that's because Megan's imitating her or because the song is so quirky in its rhythms and melodies that there's no other way to approach it. She's got a pretty voice, though like Kris, she will need a lot of work on stage presence; watching those arms churning at her side is a little scary.
Matt B, "If You Could Only See" -- Working a little bit of the Chris Daughtry vibe, to moderately good effect. He doesn't ever deliver the real rock belt that the song seems to be building to, and that lack of power will likely hurt him in the long run if he survives.
Jesse, "Bette Davis Eyes" -- Maybe it's just bad eye makeup, but she looks terribly pained when she sings. It's a harmless, competent performance, but it never becomes anything more than that.
Kai, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" -- There's far too much vibrato in the money note at the end, but otherwise this isn't bad. The biggest problem is just that the original is such a classic that nearly anyone who does it can't help but instantly pale in comparison.
Mishavonna, "Drops of Jupiter" -- Hate the song, which is the sort of pretentious twaddle that stoned 19-year-olds think is really deep. As for the performance, it's yet another in the evening's long parade of minimally competent, adequate, unexciting songs.
Adam, "Satisfaction" -- Well, those years in musical theater have paid off; he certainly knows how to command a stage. Yes, he is, as the taped intro had suggested, a bit too big and theatrical, but it's a solid performance, and he should easily go through to the finals.
Deserving the top three spots: Adam, Allison, Megan.
Deserving of a second chance on Wild Card Night: If I'm feeling generous, Mishavonna, Matt B, and Kai, but only if I'm feeling generous.
No comments:
Post a Comment