It’s 1960s British Invasion week, so we get Peter Noone and Lulu to help the singers. And every time I see Lulu advising a contestant, I think I’m watching Twiggy on AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL. Just to help add to the confusion, the producer of GREASE is sitting behind Noone in the studio, so I keep waiting for Austin to show up, stick his well-toned arms out to his sides, and start belting out pop songs like they were show tunes. Confusing night.
But we’re talking the music of the 1960s, which included groups with names like “Jerry and the Pacemakers.” I suppose members of that generation look at the 90s and think, “Goo Goo Dolls? And you’re making fun of The Pacemakers?” Good point.
Truth be told, there’s a lot of really cool songs from this period, and we heard a few of them last night. Those little pop songs are such little bits of confectionary perfection. They’re catchy. They have melodies. They often include harmonies. They’re so deceptively simple that you can’t help but remember them. And, best of all for the contestants, they’re malleable. You can mess with them, keep them recognizable, and still have fun with them.
Haley Scarnato got the “You Go First” kiss of death from the producers. She went with “Tell Him,” which is a perfect song for her vocal range. As Lulu told her, you don’t have to have the Big Voice to do well. And Haley did well last night. She looked confident on stage. The dancing may have only been a half step removed from a stripper’s pole at times, but it was much more comfortable to watch than last week’s performance. Simon called her a “naughty little thing.” I suppose Kelly Pickler removed the word “minx” from his vocabulary for good last season.
She did well, but she went first and wasn’t over-the-top great. She’s in trouble.
Chris Richardson did “Don’t Let The Sun Getcha Crying.” Or “Catch Ya Crying.” I’m still not sure, but I know I’m not a fan. He was whiny and nasally again this week. It’s a boring ballad song that, though the judges complimented him on his restraint, was still too vibratto-filled. He added syllables in too many places. I hated it. But he’s safe. Simon called it his best vocal — well, duh, that’s because he actually SANG last night.
Stephanie Edwards failed where Nadia Turner shone a couple of seasons back. Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” is a great song. Nadia made it come alive. Stephanie started out strongly with some real emotion behind the song, but came up short in the second half. She didn’t go far enough with the song. She played it safe and it got boring when it should have been nearly manic. Simon called it “cabaret,” and I’m not sure I’d disagree.
Blake Lewis did his thing, dawg. Like I said at the top, these are songs that can survive reinterpretation. Blake was mellow and restrained in his beat boxing around “Time Of The Season,” but kept the dance moves alive. He was entertaining and performed well. I’m not sure his vocal was spot on. He was drowned out by the background singers on the power parts, and it looked like he was running out of breath to sing and dance at the same time once or twice. But the guy can move, does have a voice, and brings something new to the show that hasn’t been there in the six years so far.
LaKisha did the first of two Shirley Bassie songs on the night. I never thought I’d type in a sentence like that, but welcome to IDOL 2007. This one was the Bond song, “Diamonds Are Forever.” I thought it was a little karaoke in parts. She phrased parts just like Bassie, but Bassie was unique, so it didn’t work for me. Her voice was still strong and she stood up to a tough song, but it was boring in the end. This is the first chink in the LaKisha armor that will send her home early in a massive upset in a few weeks. They can’t all be songs created to blow rooves off studios. And I think people will quickly take her for granted.
More after the break, including the best and worst performances of the night, and predictions for tonight’s results show.
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I just realized today that I forgot to put up the discussion thread on 24 this week. So here we go.
