Amer Idol - Over the Rainbow

My 6 year old son refused to watch tonight because Chris is no longer on the show. I'm sure though that his career is about to explode and not being the winner will not matter a bit.


In my opinion, KATHARINE gave her best damned performance of the entire season tonight. (I'll get to that in a minute)

ELLIOTT sang first, though, so I'll review him first. I agree with Simon that he started out a little stiff, but in truth he _always does_ and then finds his zone mid-song. "Open Arms" by Journey is one of my favorite songs by my favorite 1980s band and I think Elliott did a very nice job with it [despite the weirdly edited lyrics to keep it under 2 minutes]. Next he sang Paula's choice, "What You Won't Do For Love". Most of the audience won't know this one unless they listen to the Smooth Jazz radio station, but again it's one of my favorites and Elliott did it very well, even made it a bit sexy and had fun. Lastly, he sang "I Believe to My Soul", a Ray Charles song I'm not familiar with. I didn't really connect- the song seemed jumpy and I never got into the rhythm. However you could tell this is one of Elliott's favorites and that he loved performing it.

KATHARINE started off okay with "I Believe I can Fly" [another song I love and sing to my little boy at bedtime!] and she made it her own but I felt the orchestra was over-arranged, a little too stylized. Simon thought she 'created a moment' but I must have missed it. She also ended well with "I Ain't Got Nothing But the Blues". She looked sexy as hell and obviously loved what she was singing, though Simon didn't think it was a great choice. HOWEVER in the middle? She blew me away. Just floored me with her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Fantastic! She should _always_ sing like this- simply, unpretentiously and with very little musical arrangement. Damn, that girl has a voice! That was the performance to beat tonight. It was in fact, the best performance she's given all season.

TAYLOR was good tonight, but dammit, not great. He started off with "Dancin' In the Dark" and I thought he looked kind of stiff, a little forced? but he still did a good job. Next up was "You Are so Beautiful" which was also well done, but I thought it started a note too high for his range and could been more expressive. It's like he was channeling Joe Cocker but the reception had static. Last came "Try a Little Tenderness", one of the coolest songs ever and I really liked the new arrangement. It was authentic Taylor and he seemed to have a lot of fun. But dammit he messed up the lyric in the third line and what the hell was that staccato delivery nonsense at the end?


FINAL ANALYSIS:
I spent an hour voting for Elliott [4 successful votes and 2 error messages (wtf?)] because I think he needed me. I think he should get the Perseverance Award or Most Improved or something like that because I think he has done his very best every single week. It's going to be really, really close between him and Kat in the elimination tomorrow night. And, I hate to say it, but he's probably going home. (According to the Dial Idol website, he's in last place in the voting by a few hundred calls.) I do hope that Elliott goes on to a nice success with jazzy ballads and love songs. I will definitely buy a CD of his.

Katharine has been in the bottom a couple of times and frankly, if Chris' fans had been more persistent about calling, she wouldn't be here still. However, I think she saved herself with one stellar performance and two solid ones. Who knows, she may even have a shot at winning? Afterwards I think she will either have a mediocre career with Broadway showtunes/ classic torch songs or- if the right person takes her in hand- she could be groomed into a Celine Dion type stardom. Not sure if I'll buy a CD or not- it will depend on the song choice just like it has on the show.

If the number of threads on the American Idol message boards and the call volume as reported by DialIdol.com are to be believed, Taylor is the next American Idol. That being said though... I just can't see him being that great a success. What is his niche? Marketing is key and how would you market Taylor? He's a bluesman, he's Motown man. I don't anticipate hearing him on your typical pop music station [classic rock, maybe, or one of those best of the 70s and 80s stations] and I sure as hell don't see him selling out 50k seat stadiums the way a certain bald rocker will. I would buy a CD of his, but not a concert ticket unless it was a small intimate venue.

Truth be told? I'd LOVE to see Kat and Elliott as the last two standing on stage at the Kodak Theater. Now _that_ would be something to see!