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"American" Idol?

Change we can believe in?
The Virginia Governor has declared April Confederate History Month.
Once again, "American" Idol has lived down to its history of relegating superior black singers to the back of the pack.
Please tell me you understand why those two statements go together.
Change we can believe in? Really?

(There. I finally said it.)

Hey Lee - It's a SAD song!

There were a lot of good things about tonight (Siobhan) and some very good (Big Mike, Crystal, Casey). But there was one thing that has me very angry and since this blog has always been all about me, I need to get it out of my system. Lee not only butchered Hey Jude but completely misrepresented the song. Singing badly I can handle. But did he bother to read the lyrics or get the history of the song which is a song Paul McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's son Julian during his parents' divorce? Uh, grinning ear to ear and shouting, "Everybody put your hands together", isn't typically the way one handles a young boy losing his home life. The whole way he sang the song (uptempo, shouting, toe tapping, clapping) was just so, so wrong and I am really quite angry about it. And musically, it is one of those songs that can't be shortened without ruining it. It reminded me of Michael Johns trying to do A Day in the Life a few years ago.
And what was with the freaking bagpipe?

OK - with that beginning to get out of my system, I can review the rest of the night. Everybody else was OK to great including Teflon Tim who seems destined to be with us another week. I will say the show felt too long to me at two hours maybe because everybody sang fairly slow tempo songs. Even though Crystal was fabulous - again - I really wish she had taken my first choice for her of Helter Skelter which would have broken up the mood of the evening created by so many somber songs. I do like the behind the scenes looks as they give us a better idea of the personalities of the Idolists which is so important to their stage personae.

I am also feeling a bit like the rest of the season doesn't matter for me because I don't really care who wins at this point although I so want Tim and his smile gone. I already know whose records I want to buy - Crystal's, Big Mike's and if matched with the right songwriters and producers, Siobhan's. The fun for me at this point is seeing how the Idolists change and grow, e.g. Casey showing a really soulful, sensitive side tonight or what My Girl Siobhan will wear each week.

As to tonight, Big Mike was my big winner. He sounded like Bebe Winans of contemporary gospel music fame and his version of Eleanor Rigby is ready for urban radio right now. Simon, who doesn't get gospel or R&B, won't understand.
Crystal was, again, Crystal. At this point she only needs to be compared to herself. I did recommend Come Together as a possible song for her and I thought what she did with was really cool. She does need to make more eye contact, though. Still, she is totally radio ready.
Casey finally showed us he is not a one-trick bar-singing pony. Jealous Guy (a John Lennon song from his album Imagine) was tender, sensitive, soulful and gave us an expanded perspective on who he is as an artist.

I've got My Girl Siobhan slightly below them tonight. She has the best pure voice in the competition and she gave a technically perfect performance of Across the Universe that was, unfortunately, a bit too restrained. Still, a great recovery for her from last week.

The rest: Aaron seemed to struggle with his voice tonight. It had no power at all. His arrangement of Long and Winding Road just laid there with nothing happening. He does need to sing an uptempo song - he should have taken my advice!
Katie is SOOOOO cute and telegenic but vocally she's just one of a zillion other 17-year olds out there who have nice voices. It was her best performance to date but just go ahead and download Jennifer Hudson's version of Let it Be.
Andrew made a good song choice with Can't Buy Me Love and his Jason Mraz-y take on it was alright but nothing worth remembering.

That leaves Tim. The following are real quotes from Diandra. First, she held her head and whined, "I'm melting", in the voice of the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. Then this exchange:
Christine: Do you know who he reminds me of?
Diandra: Satan?

Need I say more?

Lennon-McCartney Week and I Pick the Songs

First, let's get the blindingly obvious out of the way. The catalogue of Lennon-McCartney is epic in it's breadth and depth. Therefore, to predict what the Idolists will sing is folly. But it's my blog so I get to tell them what I want them to sing. So here we go, in no particular order:

Casey: Back in the USSR, an old-school style rocker with guitar licks he can play with.

Crystal: I hear a bunch of songs for her but a cool stretch she could pull off is Helter Skelter; I also hear "Crystal-ized" versions of Blackbird, Come Together, or Eleanor Rigby.

Siobhan: Let It Be. Just sing it straight up and let everybody hear what a great voice you have and that you can be taken seriously.

Andrew: an Andrew-ed version of Hard Day's Night.

Aaron: he should bring his country-twang to either Eight Days a Week or Ticket to Ride.

Katie: she's probably going to get skewered no matter what but let's give her something upbeat and catchy like Can't Buy Me Love or Paperback Writer.

Big Mike: If he wants to break out of his R&B comfort zone, I would love to hear him sing Lady Madonna. But I think he could stay in his R&B comfort zone and still blow everybody away with the Stevie Wonder version of We Can Work It Out (on my short-list of all time favorite covers).

Lee: Day Tripper is a perfect rock type song for him. A possible alternative is Drive My Car.

Tim: BANNED FROM SINGING THE BEATLES!!!! And he should be convicted of a hate crime if he sings Yesterday.

What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted Ryan Without Didi?

Look - we knew it wasn't going to be Teflon Tim even though he appears to have taken up permanent residence in the Stools of Abject Rejection. However, he is sure to lose his lease soon. Given that he seems untouchable for the moment, Didi (Benami - not to be confused with Diddy Dirty Money) was a logical choice to go on merit.

For all of those who have been predicting the demise of Idol, when have they ever seen Usher and Diddy (Dirty Money not Benami) on the same show that wasn't an awards show? Usher appears to have left his best days behind him and Diddy (Dirty Money) might want to consider getting diet advice from Ruben Studdard before he goes back to being Puffy. Still, that's pretty impressive when the big guns come on Idol to promote themselves.

At least now the nightmare that was Ryan's Didi-crush is over. Sadly, the nightmare of Tim mangling the Holy Grail of Lennon and McCartney lies ahead of us. Give me strength.

Lee Makes a Large Leap

First a shout-out to the (Used to be Kris Lovin' but now) Lee Lovin' Ladies of Scottsbluff, Nebraska with whom I watched Idol tonight. We didn't find too much to argue about and we were able to share each others' pain during Didi and Tim's back-to-back atrocities.

Wow - what was My Girl Siobhan wearing?

"Hi, I'm Usher and given my years performing R&B, I am proud to be a mentor to these performers." Translation - "I am proud to be here pimping my album that comes out tomorrow. Please buy it and throw your Robin Thicke CDs in the trash." OK, seriously, Usher is great and he was a fabulous mentor. You can really see why he is a big star.

The highlights: Lee and Crystal. Lee has had a personality transformation and his stage performance FINALLY matched the quality of his voice. I am seriously re-evaluating him as a legitimate contender not that I think he is the best but because he is good enough and will be someone that will attract a lot of votes - a Kris Allen situation.
Crystal, of course, was fabulous. I agree that she looked a little uncomfortable on the piano but when she sings - WOW! To make a song as iconic as Midnight Train to Georgia sound like it was yours is remarkable. She draws you into her songs and makes you feel them.
I also liked Casey and Andrew this week.

The rest in order of performance:
My Girl Siobhan - Through the Fire was a bad song choice and was poorly sung - and what exactly was she wearing? She should have done Sweet Love and saved us from Tim's aggregious attempt at it. Anita Baker's low sultry voice fits Siobhan better than Chaka Khan. She really needs to tone down the quirky or nobody will take her considerable talents seriously.

Casey - Hold On, I'm Coming was good, really good.

Big Mike - I personally liked the song Ready for Love better than the performance although I am certain I am in the minority on this one. It's a tender song but it didn't register any emotion in me for whatever reason and I thought his voice sounded thin at times.

Didi sang What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted Ryan When Didi Gets Voted Off the Show. Ryan - YOU CAN LET GO OF DIDI'S HAND NOW. It is getting painful (another week of my head in my hands) to listen to her now and even Didi was trying to get crushing Ryan to LET GO OF HER HAND!

Tim - first, there was laughter. Then dead silence. When will this blight on our national conscience end?

Andrew's take on Chris Brown's Forever was really good this week, too.

Katie - It is time to declare Idol an Aretha-free Zone! Yes, Katie is adorable but she is not yet an artist. Yes, the notes are there and a voice is there, too, but where was the drama in the song? Please, please, please, don't let people sing Aretha!!!!

Aaron - I was surprised at how mediocre he was given how good I thought he was going to be from the clips of him with Usher. Ain't No Sunshine was a good song choice but totally lacked dynamism. Don't look now, Aaron but Lee is in your rear view mirror and moving fast.

Two other quick thoughts: I liked the post-performance behind the scenes shots. And all the time the judges spent critiquing Siobhan tells me that they really like her and will try to keep her around a long time.
Overall, this was a pretty good night, especially for Lee.

We Are the Fallen concert review

Diandra and I saw We Are the Fallen at the Sonar Club in Baltimore on May 27th. The Sonar is a converted warehouse with standing room for 1,000 at their main stage. We Are the Fallen is a "new" band fronted by Carly Smithson. For me, Carly was one of the best singers ever on Idol is spite of her unjust 6th place in Season 7.

A little history for context is in order. We Are the Fallen is essentially the original Evanescence band from their first album with Carly as the singer in place of the mercurial but utterly captivating Amy Lee. Evanescence's 2003 album Fallen sold 15 million copies worldwide and was nominated for six Grammy awards (winning two) including Album of the Year. The band went through a variety of break-ups and was essentially a different band by the time of their second album especially with the absence of co-founder and co-songwriter Ben Moody. Calling themselves We Are the Fallen seems to be a statement that this is the Evanescence band of the Fallen as opposed to the work that followed that album. This was the second stop on their U.S. tour opening for the Finnish metal band HIM.

While it was fun to see Carly it would have been better if we could have heard her, too. The sound was very challenging and whether it was the mix or the loudness of the band, Carly's voice was drowned out far too often. There was also some question we had as to whether the songs were written in slightly too high a key to perfectly fit Carly's voice. However, musically this sounded like what I imagine Evanescence's second album would have sounded like had these musicians, in particular with Ben Moody, had stayed together. A highlight of the evening was a goth-rock version of Madonna's Like a Prayer. It was very clever and totally worked especially with gothic choir sounds replacing the original's gospel choir.

I had an opportunity to talk to Ben Moody after the show and told him how happy I was that this group of musicians was back making music together again. Others in the band overheard me and agreed they were happy, too! As a lover of the Fallen album, I am looking forward to hearing the music again and want to hear what Carly really sounds like with this band. For a 6th place Idol finisher, this could be a big deal. Quick - how many 6th place finishers are really doing anything that we know about with the exception of Kellie Pickler? Carly is working with a band that sold 15 million albums and whose songwriter not only co-wrote those songs but also has written for Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, and Avril Lavigne. This is quite a opportunity for her and also for a great band to re-establish itself at the top of the charts again. We Are the Fallen's album will be released on May 11.