Pic of the Day.
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Rod Stewart, the Classics, and Classy Singers
It was ponytail night on the 2006 American Idol 2006 competition. Say what?
Well I counted at least three ponytails this week on various contenders. Paris Bennett, Katharine McPhee and no less than Ace Young all sported a ponytail. The effect, however, added to the general aura of smoky lounges and sultry songs.
As for Rod Stewart, hey I tuned in to hear rollicking versions of "Maggie May" and perhaps a chorus or two of "Do You Think I'm Sexy". Turns out that like Barry Manilow before him, Stewart is coming out with an album of classic tunes. What's with these singers, they get old and as a last resort put out some albums of old songs to keep it going? All in the name of good old capitalism, of course, but still, there you have it. Rod Stewart the guest celebrity singer and no damn "Maggie May".
Which does not mean the evening's viewing was not enjoyable. In fact both husband and myself enjoyed this evening of the competition. Curmudgeon husband laments that all of the singers are "awful" to the point where I begin to lose any credibility in his assessment. The man makes Simon look like Pollyanna.
The show did prompt husband to regale me with tales of seeing Rod Stewart sing, twice in Massachusetts and one time in the Midwest somewhere. According to the spousal lore, Stewart once showed up at a gig two hours late, astoundingly drunk and first thing, he poked a hole in the nightclub ceiling. And now Stewart is singing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"?
On to the contestants. Who all performed very well and by this point in the series it's obvious that the singers who've made it thus far, seven of them, have grown comfortable on the stage and confident in their voices.
There were some mishaps though. As usual, this missive is being written BEFORE the eliminations of Wednesday 4/26/06. I'll make my predictions and at the end will post the results of the elimination show.
All in the interest of fair and balanced.
Chris Daughtry did NOT sport a ponytail last night. Heh. Chris performed "Wonderful World" and this rocker displayed nice, deep throaty vocals that surprised the hell out of me. I continue to see Chris as a very possible winner of this thing although at first he was way off of my radar. Simon said Chris gave a "great performance".
Next up, little Paris Bennett wearing a suit and there's that ponytail. Paris sang "Foolish Things Remind Me of You". Here's a young girl singing an old song and yet her voice embraced that song perfectly.Randy declared it was Paris' "greatest night ever" while Simon pronounced Paris' performance as "terrific.
Taylor Hicks too did not sport a ponytail and his hair remains salt and pepper. Taylor sang "You Send Me" and towards the end of the tune he did deliver an interesting riff that added some spice to that crooning tune. I don't particularly like Taylor in this contest and his performance didn't impress.
The judges seemed to like Taylor's performance but they certainly were not effusive in their praise. I predict Taylor will be in the final three for this week in the competition.
Elliott Yamin sang an unlikely song: “It Had to Be You”. Elliott sported some sort of outfit that looked like a tuxedo with jeans. His performance was okay, his outfit very strange.
Simon said the “performance lacked personality”. I predict Elliott will be one of the bottom three for this week of the series.
Kelly Pickler blew it. No not the song. She blew it by admitting on nationwide TV that she blew it. Kelly sang “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and although the song started out pretty enough, I thought it was off-key and in places, kind of screechy.
As I listened to Kelly sing the first thought in my head was that she is not going to win this thing. This is the first time I realized this as concerns Kelly. Although Pickler isn’t considered a final contender in most circles, hearing her sing a song without the benefit of her cute twang not to mention her inability to keep on key so late in the show, I could FEEL Kelly slipping away from the contest.
Paula, ever the nice judge, said Kelly “looked exquisite”. Simon said, simply, that Kelly’s performance “wasn’t great”.
Kelly, God bless her pea-picking heart, then totally agreed with Simon and then admitted on nationwide TV that she got ahead of the track at times.
I’ve said time and time again, these American Idol contestants need to adapt the attitude of a politician. Never, ever, ever admit a mistake, even if it pops up bigger and brighter than the morning sun. Be vague about it. When Simon says a performance wasn’t great, mumble and say something like “I thought I did pretty good”. The great American public watching the show might have missed a boo-boo, but if a contestant admits it, than they know it’s true because the contestant said so! I predict Kelly will be one of the bottom three this week and will likely get sent home.
Which might give Ace Young another week as I see it. Ace was another ponytailed AI contestant and with Ace, it looked so odd that it shocked. I do not know the song Ace performed or did my husband. I do know he made good use of his famous falsetto during the tune. The falsetto coupled with the ponytail and that dashing suit caused Paula to declare Ace “did great” and Simon to call it a “charming performance”.
Katharine MCPhee sang “Somebody to Watch Over Me”. McPhee also sported a ponytail for this performance.
As I listed to Katharine I thought she wavered on the low notes although I know there’s that throaty classic female singer of the 40’s going on. While I wasn’t all that impressed with Katharine’s performance, Simon said Katharine “made the others look like amateurs”.
The Eliminations
The bottom three this week consisted of Ace Young, Paris Bennett, Chris Daughtry.
I really had this wrong.
Next week is scheduled to feature the "greatest love songs" and will likely separate the wheat from the chaff and get this contest down to the top five.
More American Idol Reviews Here
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