BlogHer - American Idol Recap: The Top 9: Swinging with the one and only Tony Bennett - Comments

I agree

Cordaville — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 17:05:21 -0500

Of all the folks I know over the age of 13, my mother is the only one who is not ready for Sanjaya to leave. Please Mom! It's getting old fast for me. What we did agree on was the fact that Phil should have left. I really wish he did.

Hey Meghan...loves me the Patty Griffin too

Elisa Camahort — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:26:00 -0500

In fact she's coming to town this summer, so I'm all queued up to buy tix the minute they go on sale next week.

I actually don't mind Haley's voice...she is just a really really unseasoned performer. I will say that the last couple of years it seems like they've ended up with a nicer bunch of contestants. Barring the scary Scott Savols, there have been many fewer diva explosions all over the stage. Which I appreciate.

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

"Poor creepy Phil" Oh my

Meghan — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:21:23 -0500

"Poor creepy Phil" Oh my God. I feel so bad for him because I am sure he's a very nice person but he looks like a serial killer! And ZERO stage presence. I do appreciate his vocals, just not his performance per se.

Great wrtie up. I agree with most, but I do have a soft spot for Jordin. I just like her voice, and like to watch her perform. She has a Disney princess thing going on, but it seems sincere..

Melinda can't be beat though. She is light years better than everyone.

Hailey's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me, as are her performances. Again, I am sure she's a great person, but I don't like watching her AT ALL.

None of them compare to Patty Griffin who I saw in concert 2 weeks ago!!! Hope all is well with you! Great re-cap.

(p.s. I was sad to see Gina go. I would have sent Hailey packing but these things aren't up to me).

It is on, Jenny!

Elisa Camahort — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:14:26 -0500

So, we agree on both the should-be and will-be bottom 3, but disagree on who exactly will be sent home (unfairly early, due to the Sanjaya trance America is in.)

A few more hours and we'll know.

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

My Mini Recap

Jenny Horton — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 16:09:17 -0500

ha ha I agree w/ the bling shirt. wtf? *I* would wear a shirt like that! Was I the only one that though Paula wasn't pulling off the mismatched patterns/colors very well? And Simon's shirt had me thinking he was trying to show some cleavage...wtf? ha ha

Now to the contestants...

Blake~I was a little disappointed. I expecte so much more from him last night just do to the fact that the style of music fit him better than any other contestant. Still TOTALLY my fav and still TOTALLY staying!

Phil~The whole time he was singing I couldn't help looking at his huge egg shaped head! He sang good but my god he needs hair or a hat or needs to have his ears pinned back. He looks ridiculous!

Melinda~Def American Idol material. I have a feeling she might win it....

Chris~Still not a fav of mine and towards the end I kept thinking he was singing a country song...weird.

Jordin~I usually am so impressed with her singing but yeah, like you said...what was she thinking? I kept getting the impression that she was hella nervous????

Gina~Not my fav performance and I felt like "is she trying to do a Sanjaya with that hair?" I just felt it wasn't appropriate for the song. I also thought last night "she's going home"

Sanjaya~I was actually impressed with his performance. Without the outrageous hairstyle, he was actually pretty good. I laughed when he said "I just want to show people I can actually sing." ha ha He's prolly safe another week.

Haley~Good singer but she needs to cover up so ppl will stop thinking naughty things about her and actually LISTEN to her. Thanks Haley...show guys exactly what we spend our entire lives NOT wanting them to do "look at us instead of listen to us." She DOES have great legs though.

LeKeisha~For some reason I'm just not that excited to see her sing anymore. I almost turned the channel when it was her turn to sing....She just doesn't have that "wow" about her when she first started.

My Bottom 3:
Sanjaya - duh
Phil - creepy
Haley - grow up

But it'll prolly be:
Phil
Haley
Gina - going home

I just love you

Mir Kamin — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:24:44 -0500

You had me at the bit about Simon's shirt, but by the time I got to to "Sanjaya has a deal with the devil" I sort of wanted to buy you something sparkly.

I thought Sanjaya's performance was his worst ever (timing as well as notes were off), and as Simon says, Haley has great legs. Oh, and creepy Phil. Lord. Is it because he's bald? Or because he's just plain creepy?

Spot on as usual, Elisa. Love reading your recaps.

--
Mir from WCS
(BlogHer Mommy & Family contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Having it all with less: Want Not

American Idol Recap: The Top 9: Swinging with the one and only Tony Bennett

Elisa Camahort — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:26:47 -0500

Taking a side trip to the lounge, the cabaret and the pageant...

Last night on American idol Tony bennett was the contstants' "mentor." Tony Bennett is the man, and I'll tell you why. Because he sings with heart and always focuses on respect for the song and specific interpretation of the lyrics. Watch him sing "Fly Me to the Moon" and you'll be asking yourself why you ever thought that was a cheesy lounge song instead of the most touching love song ever written.

Some of these contestants could take a lesson from him. Well, in fact they DID take a lesson from him, but it didn't help them all.

First I must digress and comment on three completely superficial things:

1. Was Ryan dressing like Regis Philbin on purpose? is he hoping for yet another gig, co-hosting with Kelly Ripa?

2. Randy was a bit blinged out with that shirt, and it was distracting me. My eyes, my EYES!!!

3. Simon wasn't wearing black or grey, but rather a light colored shirt with a plunging neckline. I guess he was feeling fresh and springy.

On to the singing...

1. Blake sang "Mack the Knife" (from the musical Threepenny Opera, by Kurt Weill, and popularized by Bobby Darin)

Tony advised Blake to slow down the tempo and that mack the Knife was sort of the gansta of his era, pre-rap. Blake took Tony's advice, but could have taken it further. Now, the one thing he did do with this performance is how that he can actually sing. Sustained notes. Long phrases. Good stuff. He may not be a power belter, but he has a nice voice. He skirted the edge of the lounge, but avoided stepping right in and grabbing a cocktail. And he certainly always gives things a modern, edgy feel. I agree with randy that Blake is one of the few contestants where I look forward to seeing what he chooses and how he does it because i expect the unexpected. So, what did it lack: he could have gone darker; he could have used his capacity for intensity and made it a slightly more sinister intensity. That would have given the performance more depth and more impact.

The verdict: Still safe, still the front-running guy

2. Phil sang "Night and Day" by Cole Porter

Poor creepy Phil. Usually it's his vocals that really keep him safe, but last night his vocals were not spot-on. He indulged in his occasional tendency to sound like Kermit-the-Frog, and he was even slightly off-key at various points throughout the song. Mostly, the song seemed really short, and like it didn't go anywhere. There were no levels, no moments of surprise and delight. And he really really needs to wear a hat.

The verdict: so very at risk...and probably out the door

3. Melinda Doolittle sang "I Got Rhythm" by the Gershwins

Melinda took her little 2 minute performance and made it a study in performing and making a song one's own. From the bluesy beginning, to the uptempo middle, to the slightly raunchy ending...I loved all three parts of her performance. As Simon said: what can you say? I guess I could say i didn't like the hair because it hid her already-short neck, and I think she needs to wear her hair away from her face and neck. That's it. That's my critique.

The verdict: Who can beat her? I don't know.

4. Chris sang "Don't Come Around Much Anymore"

At the end of this song Chris stepped up his vocals and his energy to really lay it out there for us. He should have given it that much 'zazz all the way through. Chris has, whatever else he may lack, an easy likable quality. This didn't wow me, but i still just liked watching him.

The verdict: other did poorly enough that Chris should be safe. but his likability factor will only carry him so far, and he need to take how he ended the song and sing that way on every single note to stay in the competition.

5. Jordin sang "On a Clear Day"

I have to say that I want more from Jordin. I am not satisfied to see her sing well, but with so much superficiality. It's not enough for me that she's young and cute and talented. I want her to step up. Fantasia was a teenager too, but she sang with the soul, the joy, the range of emotions of someone who had lived life. Jordin has tremendous potential, but she needs to do more than attack a song like "Clear Day" as though she was in a high school musical. It had no meaning whatsoever. I ask you: what do you think Jordin was thinking about while singing it. if you can come up with a single thought or emotion i'd be surprised. i think she was thinking about singing well. That's fatal in my opinion. But I'm getting that I'm in the minority here :)

The verdict: she's safe.

6. Gina sang "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin

I love this song. Gina did a respectable job, but not a great job. It was so low key that I'm afraid it was quite forgettable and might get lost in the shuffle entirele.

The verdict: Well, i keep thinking she'll be at risk, and she never is. She's this year's Nikki McKibbon I guess.

7. Sanjaya sang "Cheek to Cheek"

This week's hairstyle: A Donna Reed flip. This week's pet peeve: I wish he would stop the aimless rambling about the stage that he does. He just sort of wanders here and there with no discernible sense of purpose. The actual singing: sure, he was on pitch most of the time and has a nice enough (if a bit weak and breathy) voice.

The verdict: I am beyond hoping at this point that he will in fact be at risk.

8. Haley sang "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller

Oh, snap! Tony totally went for Haley more than the others by completely shooting down her choices about the song. She wanted to turn it into a Betty Boop rendition, singing it to every man in the vicinity. Tony pointed out the whole point is about saving it for one guy. He actually said she would "destroy the story of the song" if she did it her way. She had neither the smarts to listen to him 100%, nor the balls to just do it her own damn way no matter what he thought. So she did this weird, flirty, kewpie-doll, non-specific performance. The judges mostly talked about how she looked. And the whole thing reminded me that Haley has the tendency to do every number like she's Joey Heatherton performing in vegas.

The verdict: since Sanjaya has a deal with the devil, if Phil doesn't go home, Haley will.

9. Lakisha sang "Stormy Weather" by Harold Arlen

Lakisha looked fab, and I had high hopes for this one (expecting it to be along the lines of her "God Bless the Child".) You'll remember that I commented about that past great performance that Lakisha often sings with only really generalized emotions, but that halfway into "God Bless the Child" she kicked in with a really specific, touching performance. She never kicked in like that on this one. it's a simple as this: I did not believe her. I did not feel any real pain and despair. this was very loungy, and I'm not sure why no one called her on it. (she even had some pitch issues, which is unusual for her.) Not her best performance, but...

The verdict: Oh come on, she's safe.

Bottom Line:

If I could choose the bottom 3 it would be:
Sanjaya
Phil
Haley

And yes, I would still choose to get Sanjaya off there before anyone else.

Will America agree? No, I think the bottom 3 will be:
Phil
Haley
Gina

And Phil will be gone.

What do you think?