AI 11 - Six Meet the Queen

Blogger is a pain in the ass and changed their whole setup, so I can't just come in and post like usual, I have to deal with their weird changes. I'll have to see if there's a way to revert to the normal.

     Well, I wasn't worried at all about Colton, and maybe a wealth of that feeling was part of what led to his being eliminated. However, I also have to admit that even though he was really good as an artist and seemed to offer a good future of interesting material, he didn't have near the most vocal talent, and that is a big part of this competition, or so they say. Plus, he would have been along the lines of David Cook or Kris Allen winning, and another more different type of artist winning would be nice. 

     It's nice to see Queen back, although of course to me there is much less Queen with no Freddie Mercury. In spite of the fact that I like the songs Brian May and Roger Taylor sing. But they're a different part of Queen. But they seem like such nice guys, though. Brian explains things so nicely. What a wonderful thing that they would go there to talk to them.

     Although it's wonderful to see Queen back, I don't know how I feel about these people performing Queen---and it's a shame Colton is gone, because I bet he would have loved to be here for this. As for who's left, I hope Elise can pull off something incredible, and I'm worried that this is a really dangerous type of music for Hollie to sing without her weirdness. But maybe the fact that she grew up in England, likely more familiar with Queen, will help a little.

     In the medley, Joshua was surprisingly great, while Phillip was annoyingly weird, as usual. Why does he make those pained faces when he's singing? Is it hard for him to hit the notes or what? Hollie did her Shirley Temple kissyface, and Jessica returned with the aged-lady pushing out R & B. They really sounded best when they were all singing together. Elise was okay, but seemed to have trouble staying on key in the harmonies. Skylar didn't have any problems, but I wish she would have sung more than growled.

     I am the opposite of excited to see Jessica singing "Bohemian Rhapsody." She's not mature enough to understand anything about the song---maybe she would be if she'd had other musical experiences, but from what she's shown on this show, it's clear she's not. Now we have to hear her turn this taut dichotomy of delicacy and blistering power into a forced R & B piece of garbage.

     At least that's what I thought. But no! She throws a little R&B power in there, because that's her power (as opposed to rock), but there's also the innocent young girl part where she's just singing softly and sweetly. The center power part was definitely the worst bit, but the rest was pretty good. Although I really disliked the fact she put in the "much" at the end.

     

     Oh, so Skylar is doing "The Show Must Go On?" Interesting choice! I love that one. And it's got a great mix of forceful desperation and strong emotional sweetness. And she was incredible. That was definitely one of the best performances I've ever seen on American Idol. 

     I don't know what Steven is talking about with them "putting a shine" on her voice versus the usual "dry" singing. What the hell is he talking about? I'm glad Randy gave her the enthusiastic response she deserved.

     Joshua is cheating himself out of Queen by singing "Crazy Little thing Called Love," and it's shame. He's way too shouty with it, and his eyes are dead as they so often are. He's also got the microphone almost up his nose.

     This the judges stand for? Ridiculous. That was nowhere near as good as Skylar's performance. I do like Joshua, but I'm disappointed he didn't take tis perfect opportunity to sing something different, not tthrowback or soul. On AI, they used to encourage artists to show a little of something out of their style, but now they're just not doing it anymore, and I don't think it's a good change.

     Why, why, why would Elise do "I Want It All?" First of all, it's much less well-known for non Queen (or non classic rock) fans. Second, she could have chosen something that suits her voice and style much more---there's so much Queen to choose from, I think she could have gone with something rock, but more dynamic. But maybe it's smarter to have her do one where she's not compared to the pure plain vocal.

     I guess it turned out fairly well. She looked a little unsteady at times, and only partly looked like she meant it, but it worked.

     Classical, Steven? I think you mean classic. I'm glad the judges liked it. I guess they were the ones who chose the songs, anyway. 

     Yeeps. "Fat-Bottomed Girls" for Phillip is probably the least exciting choice of song matchup of the night, and that's saying something! I hope he can keep it on the rails.

     There he is doing his weird non-changing thing with random "awww"s tacked on everywhere. He also sounds off key sometimes, when he seems to be sticking to his own note rather than following the melody. He was my least favorite.

     "You've done it again," Steven says, and I guess Phillip has. Same same. Jennifer, on the other hand, is in lalaland saying it sounds like a different "flavor" of Phillip. At least Randy agrees with me. Worst of the bunch so far (though he put it more tactfully).

     Wow, talk about unknown---Hollie gets it with "Save Me." But maybe she knows it more because she's from the UK. 

     Why do they have a 17-year-old wearing a pantsuit? She's doing a mix of normal and nervous. The words are on target, and she looks like she really feels them. But uh-oh, her voice crackled a tiny bit on one of the last big notes. I think she glossed over it well, but she's just still not as strong as she has the potential to be.

     Jennifer gave some very helpful advice, but Hollie's gotten some good advice before, and is only incrementally progressing. I hope she knocks it out with her personal pick later.

     How many times are we going to hear "Dance with My Father" on AI? Here we go again with Jessica. 

     She may be the best to sing it, but she's still straining too much through the middle, and on the whole the meaning of the song seemed way too mature, even if he father has been deployed here or there (what is the military doing in Singapore?)

     Oh, so Jennifer agrees with me about her being the best, but not about it being out of the breadth of her experience. But Randy is right, she is really gifted. I just think she's a little ahead of her age in a lot of her choices. 

     Skylar sounds a little flat in the first verse of "Tattoos on This Town," her personal choice song. She still sounds like she could be on the radio, and like she could have been on the radio in several decades. 

     I think Steven summed it up most like me of the judges, that it was great, missing some of the punch she can pack, and she has to be careful to choose the best songs. But then she explained that she chose it for her hometown, and she did put in a wallop in the second half, so she should be just fine.

     Oh, Joshua is surprising in his choice "Ready for Love" (not Bad Company, India Arie), and shocker of shockers, he totally looks like he means it! Maybe it's not surprising for someone who says he hasn't really had any experience with love, but I was starting to think he was committed to being asexual until he got his career sorted. Oddly, he's putting everything in here I wanted him to put in a Queen song. So maybe that's why he chose that one for the Queen bit, for some variation. But he was still shouty on the Queen. Here he was pretty flawless and awesome, though.

     Randy feels the same as I do. Jennifer and Steven, too! No shock.

     So Elise is going to sing Dave Matthews and Phillip is doing Jimi Hendrix? Oh, yeah, right. The reverse.

     I didn't ever notice that Elise does the hand movement to the notes every time she sings, but that package didn't have the same jovial tone as everyone else's it really looked like the rest if the contestants dislike her, and they don't get along!

     Elise as the guitarist sound pretty awesome on "Bold As Love," but I think she may have chosen a song that was way over almost everyone's head. It's gorgeous, but nobody knows it, and I think you have to hear it a few times to even put it all together and get it all. But she sounded good.

     Ah, Steven agreed with me, you have to pick the songs people know---yikes, then Elise made things worse with a flip "I thought everybody knew that song." Oh, Elise, please, don't come off as a music elitist. Be one, just don't let people know you are in that way. Sneak the good stuff in slowly, so they think they're learning on their own. I like that Jennifer fought with Randy on his interpretation that she overdid it. I think it is subjective, but since she's not Jimi Hendrix, I 'm with Jennifer that the vocalistics made it interesting. Oh my gosh! That was her own guitarist from her band! Impressive.

     Phillip is doing Dave Matthews, which is the biggest surprise of a surprising night. Or maybe more like something people totally expected not only on this night, but ever since he came on the scene. I'm not a Dave Matthews fan and I don't know this song, but it sounds very monotone. The song itself is interesting, but his vocals fall flat for me. They sound like a high-pitched Lurch.

     I agree with Jennifer, if that was the way the song was supposed to be sung, it was indeed too "artsy." I don't know if it's obscure because I know like 5 Dave Matthews songs. So I disagree with Randy, and I think to a lot of people this song will sound "off," whether or not it was supposed to be sung that way. 

     Oh, good, I'm glad to see that Hollie is doing a young, simple song with Miley Cyrus's "The Climb." Aww, crap! She's starting off with her serious mouth business. Be young, Hollie, be young! As she goes, she seems to be relaxing, and by the "just keep moving on" she looks like she's completely immersed in herself singing, like Jennifer advised. I'm so glad! It was awesome! And yes! She got a standing O from the judges. Go Hollie!

Tonight's ranking:

1. Skylar Laine

2. Joshua Ledet

3. Elise Testone

4. Jessica Sanchez

5. Hollie Cavanaugh

6. Phillip Phillips

Who should go? It's easy for me this week, Phillip should go. Compared to everyone left, his vocals just don't measure up. But I don't know if he would go, especially if Julianne Hough has a little crushie on him. That speaks to lots more crushies from the non-famous, non-smokin' hot girls across the country. What I say to them: open your ears, girls!

Who will go? It's tough to make this prediction after Colton left last week. But for three in danger I'd choose. . . no, you know what, I have no idea. I'd say Hollie, Elise, and possibly Jessica or Phillip, depending on whether people wise up to Phillip's actual sound or whether Jessica's safety last week was bounce-back and only bounce-back from the elimination.