Aaron Kelly- Long and Winding Road: Die-hard Beatles fans like myself generally consider this to be a very schmaltzy song rather than the classic some others would believe it to be. That means in hindsight it seems obvious that Aaron would pick it. On top of that, Aaron’s vocals were very wobbly. Grade: D
Katie Stevens- Let It Be: Beautiful song sung gorgeously. Katie has always had one of the best voices of the competition and tonight it all came together(no pun intended). I’ll deduct a few points because of her facial expressions which oversell the song. She doesn’t have to try so hard to convey the meaning with her face. Grade: A-
Andrew Garcia- Can’t Buy Me Love: Despite what I said about loving the Beatles melodies, I do believe a singer can play around a little bit and still come away with a great performance. However, this is not a good example. There’s no range to Andrew’s singing style, and every week ends up sounding very similar. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t singing Maroon 5’s “This Love” before it’s all said and done for him(which could be this week actually). I thought this was very cheesy. Grade: C-
Michael Lynche- Eleanor Rigby: Here’s an example of how switching the melody can work. While I didn’t love this rendition, I appreciated the risk. I thought the vocals got better as the song moved forward. Grade: B
Crystal Bowersox: Come Together- It is documented on facebook that I predicted Crystal would choose Come Together tonight. I’m bringing that up not just to give myself credit, but to also criticize her on her predictability. It was a very safe performance despite having that weird African instrument at the beginning of the song. A performance does not have to be revelatory in order to be good, and she did sound wonderful tonight. At the same time, it lacked the wow factor for me. Grade: B+
Tim Urban: All My Loving- This and Can’t Buy Me Love were the only two songs picked from the Beatles’ early period known to be less complex than their later years. Therefore, it’s fitting and smart that Tim picked a fairly simple song to sing. Unlike Andrew, Tim stuck to the melody and (gulp) did one of the best jobs tonight. Despite his flaws, Tim generally stays in key because he knows his limits. He’s like a baseball pitcher who hangs around the majors despite having an average fastball. As long as he doesn’t think he can blow people away with heat, he can do ok. Just like this pitcher may never win the Cy Young award, Tim will have a hard time rising above a certain grade. Grade: B+
Casey James: Jealous Guy- I just don’t love Casey as much as everyone else does. It’s hard not to come across as sincere and personal when singing this great song . I don’t think it was quite the moment the judges thought it was. And Randy- please stop comparing Casey to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Grade: B
Siobhan Magnus- Across The Universe: Confession time. I think this song is overrated. I’ll mention this in my upcoming Beatles posts, but the one area I think the Beatles are a bit overrated is in the lyrics department. Some may say the words are poetic and create some sense of mystical imagery. I think it’s all just gibberish. That’s why I wish Siobhan chose a different Beatles song to display another side to her incredible ability. I wish she sung “In My Life” or “Mother Nature’s Son.” By the way, Kara is wrong. Siobhan should not be faulted for not doing her typical manic performances. There is nothing wrong with restraint. I do agree this was a bit on the sleepy side, but Siobhan can sing a tender ballad with the best of them. Grade: B
Lee Dewyze: Hey Jude- This may contradict what I said earlier, but Hey Jude is one Beatles song that I’d classify as untouchable. The original is one of the few perfect recordings in music. Everything about it is pure. Listen to McCartney’s opening delivery of the title; it’s the best opening two seconds in music. It’s empathtic, chilling, perfect. Lee’s rough voice isn’t the right match for the song. Don’t even get me started on that bagpipe. How does that belong part of “Hey Jude”? Talk about a lack of emotional connection. Grade: C-
Who Is Going Home: Like last week, it will be interesting to see just how strong certain fan bases are. Based solely on performances, Aaron and Andrew belong in the bottom two. Lee doesn’t belong there based on tonight, but he still might earn a spot on the bottom three as a lifetime achievement award sort of thing. If it does come down to these three I feel like it’ll be Andrew’s time to go home even though he’s never been in the bottom three before.
My quick thoughts that might differ from yours...
ReplyDelete1) Lee was TERRIBLE... even before the bagpiper arrived. That performance was only redeemed by Ellen's comment about the bagpiper being lost from his parade.
2) I may be on an island with this, but Siobhan is extremely overrated. I give her credit for hitting high notes, but I think she's just average with any other notes. She seems to get extra credit for being quirky and for having an interesting fashion style.
3) Very dissapointed in Andrew. Just seems like another week where the ghosts of "Sugar, We're Going Down" criticism kept him from sticking to his strength, good acoustical performances. Too much band behind him tonight. The bright side... no mention of "Straight Up"!
4) Agree with you on Aaron being weak and Katie being strong.
5) I thought Casey James was fantastic. One of my favorite performances all year. Not to get all Kara, but it's the first time he connected (or at least pretended to) connect to a song, and it worked. He also avoided smiling while singing, which is a first for him.
I don't know how the bottom 3 isn't Aaron, Andrew, and Tim tonight.