American Idol: The Top Ten, or You’re the Voice (Of Theme Park Psychobabble Hell)
March 26th, 2008 | 5:30 pm est |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ramiele: Ramiele looked hella cute and sang just fine in a song that fit her better than “I Should Have Known Better,” or maybe any other tune she’s sung since that first week. Too bad that it was Heart’s “Alone,” which will always be compared to Carrie’s showcase and maybe even Carly’s audition this year. It’s an overplayed song often destined to be oversung, something Ramiele managed to avoid, but she didn’t surprise, which meant that her familiar song choice turns her forgettable. If only this girl knew music outside of American Idol, she could be a force.
Jason: That freshman year of college, it was hard not to be charmed by the crunchy hippie that sits around in the dorm lounge strumming his acoustic, alternating “Redemption Song” with “Driver 8”… or at least for that first week when everything related to college seemed exciting and new. Once midterms roll around, that shtick isn’t as endearing, especially as that hippie does the same thing on every song, strumming madly while singing sweetly and bugging his eyes out. You hear it in passing once again then have an urge to retire to your dorm room to play something, anything that isn’t quite so drippy… possibly Sonic Youth, but maybe even Something/Anything, as Todd singing “This is for the girls that just couldn’t see/That my only sin was being me” is far more macho than anything Jason Castro does.
Syesha: What a disappointment to realize that all Syesha wants to do is belt out drama like Whitney. Randy, that connoisseur of all things big, falls for it, but even though Syesha was perfectly good singing it out, she follows the blueprint so closely she’s perfectly forgettable.
Chikezie: After a couple of weeks of being surprisingly nutzo, Chikeze slips into his Luther comfort zone and immediately becomes a little bit dull all over again. Knowing that he is genuinely an inventive musician and a good singer (and if the packages count for anything, a sweet guy), it’s easier to take this untimely regression but it’s hard not to wish he worked his weird alchemy on some other ‘85 hit.
Brooke: A very nice, perhaps a shade too Tori, arrangement of “Every Breath You Take” gets needlessly puffed up by a passable but too Vegasy band arrangement at the bridge. Brooke sounds great through it all — and she still sounds like one of only three contestants that knows what she’s about while also sounding reasonably modern (the others being Jason Castro and, sadly, David Cook) — but she’s unfortunately not quite in control of her gifts as she should be, sometimes picking the wrong songs or doing the right songs not quite as well as she could. All the same, she shines brighter than most on this big stage.
Michael Johns: As the only contestant born in the ‘70s (he’s 11 years older than baby David!), Michael is blessed by the ability to swipe from the classic rock songbook and swipe he does, picking the classic Queen pair of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Michael does a smash-up job with them although he sings them utterly without camp, which is kind of his signature: he’s earnest, he means it man, and if he has something he knows by heart — and isn’t nonsensically truncated like “A Day in the Life” — he can pull of a triple, maybe even an in-the-park home run, even if he doesn’t quite hit it out of the park.
Carly: Only last night did it occur to me just how weird it is to have a woman married to the Illustrated Man — and who for all the world looks like she has a portrait of Amy Winehouse inked on her own arm — be so desperate to win American Idol. Carly does indeed look like the kind of girl that would be married to the guy that owns the tattoo shop, but she unfailingly picks the big, big songs that are heard only in mainstream outlets, not tattoo parlors, and I’d bet anything that ink keeps some voters away. Also, the disconnect between her excellent vocals and shifting image once again serves as a reminder of how her label couldn’t market her; she’s turning into a walking illustration of how the record industry sometimes just can’t get it right.
David A: What fresh hell was this? In the only performance this season that I’ve had to watch twice to marvel at it, David A chooses, of all songs you’ve never ever ever heard from 1990, a song called “You’re My Voice,” which happened to be on a 1990 David Foster album — remember him, he played with Katharine McPhee a couple weeks back — but, more importantly, is inane motivational psychobabble that could possibly be inspirational, you’d just never could tell from the maddeningly vague lyrics. The melody is as elusive as the words but David A sang the hell out of it, in a pretty unsettling telethon way. Once he was done, he thought he nailed it, smiling and muttering “It’s a great song,” oblivious to the dumbstruck Randy and Paula. And then Simon unleashed, first with his standard (yet always accurate) “It was like a theme park” dagger, which didn’t really cut, so the wily Brit plunged a sword right through David’s heart by saying he’d be “amazed if you chose the song yourself,” a shockingly forthright acknowledgment of the rumors that little David has been stage-managed by his domineering dad since the days of Star Search. It hits David so hard he almost buckles, so you feel bad for the kid — because he’s, you know, a kid that has been running this silly game for his entire life — but then you go back and check out the performance and sit awestruck at how horrible, clueless, and completely divorced from reality this thing is. It does have two things going for it, though: first, it’s the only song performed this night that feels like it was excavated from the singer’s birth year and, second, it has the distinction of being the worst song ever heard on this show.
Kristy Lee: Only in a show where David A’s dad picks “You’re My Voice” could Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” not be a shoo-in for the worst song on the show, and while I still hate this song with the passion that I did back in 1984, where it rivaled “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” as the song that threw me into silent fits of rage, I kinda love Kristy Lee Cook for being sharp and cynical enough to pull this card from her sleeve, as it guarantees at least two, maybe three, more weeks on the show. How good a move was this? So good that Simon acknowledged its brilliance (even if he’s wrong on the brilliance of the song), and those rare words of praise made Kristy Lee positively beam with delight… not just because he acknowledged she sang well, the best she has, but because she schemed and it paid off. She’s a girl after his own heart.
David C: So David C can photocopy a Chris Cornell dirge interpretation of “Billie Jean” and be called “brave,” perhaps the “most original” singer on the show “ever”? Even though the show acknowledged that the “arrangement” belonged to another singer? Guess that just means that most of the audience probably can’t tell Chris Cornell from Kady Malloy, or Chris Daughtry, the singer David C wants to both be and beat, as if Idol was an Oedipal saga. Sure, maybe he can win — his “braveness” can fool the audience and the judges, as can his icky doe-eyed attempt to suppress his inner smugness — but this phony still seems like a creation confined to the television. Then again, if the prize is collaborations with Chad Kroeger, who can say you really won at all?
Matt Collar
The “rockers” staked their claim last night on Idol. Both Michael Johns and David Cook delivered good performances that should easily carry them for another week if not longer. That said, I’m still not very interested in either of these guys. Cook is the more interesting of the two, but his whole “Watch me do an R&B song in post-grunge style” is at best an effective gimmick and at worst a move most bands don’t have to make until they’ve hit the Vegas/Branson circuit.
In some ways, I preferred Jason Castro’s laid-back flamenco-folk version of “Fragile.” Sure, his singing was slight and his guitar strumming was ragged, but in that same sense he reminded me of an indie-rock Caetano Veloso or at least Manu Chao meets Ryan Cabrera.
I felt bad that Brooke flubbed her intro and I think that made the rest of her performance seem rushed. I would like to think she has good public support, but I just can’t gauge whether or not she and even Carly are garnering much populist excitement. Speaking of Carly, I thought she was phenomenal again, but I still felt a bit of an emotional distance from her performance. With just OK singers like Cook stepping up his conceptual game and throwing himself into each song, I dunno if Carly’s technical prowess and obvious vocal guts will carry her to the finals.
Andrew Leahey
David Cook David Cook David Cook. Whether or not you approve of his hairdo or supposed smugness, the guy is by far the strongest performer at the moment. While the other David continues to stumble over anything that isn’t teen-approved cotton candy, Cook is a model for consistency, having turned in the longest-running streak of solid performances this year. He seems to be a very polarizing contestant — you either love him or you hate him, basically, and I’m possibly one of the only AMGers who falls into the former camp — but you just can’t deny the strength of his “Billie Jean” performance. Yes, it borrowed from the Chris Cornell version, but remember how Chris Daughtry modeled his rendition of “I Walk the Line” after a cover by Live? So who’s cooler, Chris Cornell or Ed Kowalczyk? (Hint: the cooler person does not sing the phrase “her placenta falls to the floor” in his biggest single.)
Since I’m currently very happy due to A) the sunny weather; B) David Cook’s high notes; and C) my impending lunch of tasty Thai takeout, I’m reluctant to write anything truly negative about the other contestants. So while I have a hard time believing that the 29-year-old Michael Johns will remain relevant to American Idol’s young demographic for any considerable length of time (and definitely not after the next season launches in early 2009), I do think he did a passable Queen medley. And while Kristy Lee Cook didn’t exactly bring the house down last night, she deserves to make it through to next week’s round, if only because the Dolly Parton songbook will allow her to finally (finally!!!) show off her country artistry. The same semi-enthusiasm goes for Chikezie and Syesha, although Chik would definitely be in trouble if Ramiele weren’t around (and she won’t be around for much longer). Who knows what happened to the solid performer who belted out a Dusty Springfield song several weeks ago, but she’s long since been replaced by a karaoke singer who gets her threads from the mismatched bin at American Apparel and delivers every ballad with the same sap as the Spice Girls’ “2 Become 1.” Was that mean? Maybe it’s time for my Thai food.
who gives a fuck? have any real music fans ever seen this show? you guys seriously damage your credibility every time you blog about this waste- whether they are direct orders from managing editors or not.
Do you REALLY think anyone cares about American Idle anymore. Forget it. It’s over.
Haters of this AmIdol blog are so silly. Sure, if someone around you keeps blabbering on about something you don’t want to hear, you tell them to shut up. But to take the time to write negatively about something you voluntarily read, gimme a break.
Out of curiosity STE, what do you think would be a great song choice for Ramiele? For me, the only person I can see myself catching at a live concert would be Michael Johns. His anthemic rock songs are getting a bit tiresome.. but overall I prefer his voice over all the others.
simon is not always right. he is often wrong.. and yes i would say since it is the nr 1 show, lots of people care. i mainly tune in to watch Paula haha
AI is what it is, a hugely commercial talent show. I only watch it due to the chance of hearing something different and unique. If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have heard a few really good performances over the past few weeks.So just watch the performance night not the hokey-karaoke-Disney-meets-Up With People voting night. (between the group performances and hackneyed “stars” trying to make a comeback it will have you reaching for the Benadryl to sleep until the awful aftertaste of those performances goes away.)
Having said that, I didn’t connect Chris Cornell’s version of Billy Jean so David Cook’s performance caught my ear. But I kept thinking during the performance that it sound alot like someone I’ve seen before. (Now I remember)
Michael Johns is no Freddie Mercury and I still don’t understand the judges devotion week after week. He’s at the top of my list to be gone. The performance was over the top and he doesn’t have the chops to hit the big notes.
Ramielle, cute as she is and from my own backyard, we haven’t heard from her what she showed being capable of a long time ago. Sadly that little spinner will be gone soon.
Brooke just keeps carrying on that Carly Simon persona which ain’t a bad thing but it ain’t good enough to win it. She should last another round or two.
Jason “wow don’t I look really baked” Castro looked absolutely stoned to the bejeebus during the post performance cool off. He couldn’t seem to concentrate and was giving this look like hey buds this 420 was for you. Ain’t it cool I’m stoned on American Idol. Or maybe I was vibing off my personal 420. But I liked the performance nonetheless. It’s good to have somebody represent the jamband crowd.
Syesha’s pre-performance video gave me the heebie jeebies. While she had a big performance all I could hear in the background was Bobby Brown calling her name. (see previous comment)
Carly had a decent performance but I’m tired of the song. Poor choice for her.
David “I do what daddy says” Archuleta had a good performance but I kept wracking my brain trying to place the song so that I got too distracted. But he’ll smoothly go through for the next couple of weeks unless he has a meltdown.
Chikezie “the big easy” had a solid performance but it was a little too throwback after his prior interesting performances. It’ll be interesting to see what he does with next week’s choices.
Last and close to the least Kristie Lee. I’m with STE on this one. I hate that song but it will get her the vote from the “We voted for Bush” crowd. I think Simon’s comment was geared to that very subject, not that he liked the song. He’s too smart to put down a smarmy pseudo-patriotic-redneck number for fear of alienating his target market.
I won’t watch tonight I’ll just see the results on the web tomorrow.
I like the AmIdol blog. Nonfans don’t have to read it. I agree, Simon’s opinion isn’t always right, and sometimes I find it perplexing. Ramiele was clearly way offkey. Judging from her face, she knew it too when she braced herself for an onslaught from Simon. Actually, no one really blew me away last night, but I’ll see it through to the end.
Ramiele needs pop songs that aren’t too upbeat for her to still belt out, and don’t sound too mature. Here’s a bubblicious pop song for Ramiele that I think is from the same year as Heart’s “Alone” — The Jets “You Got It All”. Get those strings going instead of the 80s synths. Perfect.
I wonder if Brooke knows “Every Breath you take” is about a stalker - key line “Since you’re gone”.
She sang it like a love song, rather than a dark song about obsession.
Yeah its funny how many people think “every breath you take” is a love song. Its popular at weddings too! Sting wrote it about himself didn’t he, after he broke up with his wife.
Once a song is released to the public, its meaning is no longer decided by the writer. It is decided by the listener, so if people think Every Breath You Take is a love song (for them), then that is what it is at that time and in those ears. The best songs are never clear cut and unambiguous.
That said, I wish Brooke kept it to just the piano instead of adding the band. The band ruined it. But I think she is the most talented musician of the bunch this year.
Well, Mr. Erlewine would really be spot on if he got David Cook right (ya what Leahey said) and especially if he had noticed that Ramiele can’t sing. She shouldn’t even have made the top 24 and it’s debatable whether she should have made it even to Hollywood. If only this girl knew music period he must have meant to say. Even then she would be no force because she doesn’t even have much of a range or voice. She thinks singing is something you do with your voice and she does it like a technical exercise (without much technical skill) while having no idea at all what music really is. She thinks that to give an emotional performance you have to be emotional and loving the song while singing it. That don’t get it done. Empty karaoke performances are all she is capable of. I think perhaps there’s a bit of a cultural disadvantage at the root of all this. Cute? Hell yeah! Stunning! But a singer? We should refer to her as Ramaya Malukar. The judges on AI are good and she’s managed to fool them all, not to mention the American public, so I guess he needn’t feel too bad. Cook for the win! (and I don’t even like modern rock or grunge or whatever it’s called.)
Yeah This season 7 is not the best AI we’ve seen. Not because there are bad singers, but the best singers of this season don’t really seem turn up the emotional expression dial to even anything close to 93 per cent. Although there have been a couple of performances where they did grab attention. Most weeks though the best singers still seem to be holding back. They just don’t get the polish to a high sheen that we’ve seen in the past. Anyway I love this blog, and love reading what all the AMGer’s have to say each week about the Idol performances.
Please go back to the roundtable format.
Please go back to the roundtable format.
Please go back to the roundtable format.
That is all.
Rich FTW.
Hi Rich,
Thanks for sharing your passion for the roundtable Idol format. We like the roundtables too, but they take longer — like, a LOT longer — to format than this style of post, which allows us to share our thoughts about the show and get the discussion going among readers faster. We’ll try to squeeze in some roundtables before the season ends. And of course, thanks for reading!
Right on, Rich! It’s good to know that we’ll be getting a couple of rountables before the end of the season, so thanks for that info, Heather.
Now my take:
Yes, Kristie was “clever” as Simon said, I’ll give her that. (Not to mention I was very impressed with Simon’s thinly-veiled cynicism in his critique, as it was spot on!) Nonetheless, I felt completely nauseous during her performance, due to its pandering populism.
Chikeze (sp?) really disappointed me with his performance, but he still did not deserve the boot. Said boot should’ve been “awarded” to Ramiele (again, sp?) for her clueless “Alone” performance. However, I do not entirely blame Chikeze. I really loved his performances on the Beatles nights and his treatment of Ray Charles via Hathaway’s “I Believe To My Soul”. (Side note: isn’t it odd that they credit Chris Cornell’s arrangement of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” but only credit the COVER singer of “Soul”? Just an observation…) However, he was lambasted by a clueless Simon (”Bad harp playing?” This is probably from a man who’s never listened to any harmonica but Stevie Wonder’s, so that’s understandable. He didn’t even realize that ‘I Should’ve Known Better’’s harp was SUPPOSED to be played open-chord!!!) for being “brave” while David Cook was praised AS “brave” - for lifting a cover version!!
Bah! I still watch it, though. It’s the TV equivalent of crack!
FYI Stephen. The song David A sang is actually called ‘You’re the Voice’ and it was originally sung by John Farnham. ‘You’re the Voice’ is a song written by Andy Qunta, Keith Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson for John Farnham, which he recorded in 1985 for his sixteenth album Whispering Jack (first released 1986). The song was awarded the 1987 Aria Award for “Single of the Year”. The song was one of the biggest hits of the year in Australia, topping the singles chart there for many weeks. It is also one of Farnham’s biggest international successes, reaching number 6 in the United Kingdom.
Each of the composers is a legend in their own right. Andy Qunta and Chris Thompson worked with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Maggie Ryder has worked with the likes of Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox and Freddie Mercury and keith Reid wrote all the lyrics for every Procul Harum song that wasn’t a cover. So your assessment of the song and its lyrics leaves something to be desired.
I’ve never heard of David Foster and can’t imagine comparing him to a great singer like John Farnham.
You can view the original song here, the way it should be sung.
http://www.nme.com/video/id/99P7TTvpO1g/search/voice
Richard Marx credits John Farnham with being one of the major influences on his career.
http://www.nme.com/video/id/cGYxwt1yZAI/search/John+Farnham/offset/80
They sang a duet together here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdtR2By_m_U
David A just chose a song that was too big for him.
Dear Stephen Thomas Erlewine,
people like Tommy Lee Jones can get away with it ’cause they’re cool or as serial killers do to separate them from those with the same first and last names. But for most, using you full name makes you look like a pretentious git who missed out on landing the role of a smartassed brat in an early 90’s sitcom.
Why have I come out swinging, it’s because of your diatribe over the song “Your the voice”. Now I think David A’s version of it was average, but for you come this crap as to say the song itself is one of the worst ever heard is just puerile. This is the same song that when sung good and may I add FULLY ( not this 110 second crap) by John Farnham for his 1986 album Whispering Jack was able to propel it to sales over 1 million copies in a country (Australia) that had a population of just 16 million. Within a year of it’s release in 1987, 1 in every 16 Australians had a copy.
You can’t give me one example that’s had anywhere near the per capita sales in America as that. Not even Michael Jackson’s Thriller could claim at any point to be owned by 1/16th of the population. evne today we know that half the copies sold are repeat customers going from vinyl to CD or CD to MP3.
As for your buzzwords to describe the lyrics “psychobabble”, “maddeningly vague”, you fail to actually give examples of the lyrics to prove your point. And where exactly is the standard in the validty of lyrics anyway? I just came from a site where over 1200 people for the last 5 years have waffled on about the meaning of the lyrics to Nirvana’s “Smells like teen spirit” with still no universal agreement amomg them. So what was your point again?
Interesting that nobody’s mentioned Carly’s appalling finish on Total Eclipse of the Heart - easily the worst note we’ve heard in the competition so far. She’s a good singer, but to appropriate one of Simon’s favourite remarks, she’s nowhere near as good as she thinks she is.
Brooke might not have been at her best this week, but she remains the only contestant that I think could conceivably put out a focused, mature album.
All of you need to go watch Hot Rod starring Andy Samberg. Only then will any of you truly apreciate “You’re My Voice”
About John Farnham’s ‘You’re the voice’…
Is it any wonder why it’s unheard of in the US???? I did a quick search on the internet and this is what I found:
It would seem that the song was released in 1986 (expect the US) and did well worldwide… #1 in some countries.
Looking at US Billboard’s hot 100, they say it peaked at #82 in early 1990 and spent a total of 8 weeks on their charts. Why did they wait 4 years for the US release??????
You might wonder what was at the top of the US charts late 1989 and early 1990? Milli Vanelli (WTF were they thinking), Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Michael Bolton (again WTF) and get this, Paula Abdul!!! Kind of ironic…
IMO, the song suffered in the US because after listening to the video (thanks Anne) it does sound slightly dated comparing 1990 to 1986 standards … especially the instruments. The bagpipes probably didn’t help it either.
A killer song that deserved a better faith in the US but at least wasn’t totally ignored elsewhere.
My take of David’s version of it on AI? He did a pretty good job. He definitely gets high marks for not attempting yet another version of Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, or the like.
shame nobody was born in 1988 (like me)…would have liked a version of “Lyrics of Fury” by Eric B & Rakim :P