CleverDonkey.com …Musings, Commentary, Opinions, and Drivel

This is 2004’s American Idol page. Click here to see the American Idol 2006 Dashboard!! This week:

The impressively sized Kodak theatre may have gotten the better of Diana DeGarmo. Both divas got to sing three songs — two of their own choosing, and one written by former Idol contestant Tamyra Gray. I was disappointed that both sang songs they’d previously sung in prior competitions, however. I was really looking forward to something new and different that I hadn’t seen and heard before. Was this something the producers enforced for some odd reason? If so, boo hiss. I wanted something fresh!

Diana:

Her songs were okay but not great. She led off with the Tamyra Gray song, and she did a good job with it. Her other two songs, No More Tears (the Donna Summers tune) and another torchy number, were good and shaky, respectively. I think she really got rattled, either by the pressure of the event itself, by the size of the auditorium, or both. Her last song she went terribly off key for a few notes, and I’ve never heard her do that in any performance before. She didn’t really bring it the way she’s done in the past three or four weeks, however.

Fantasia:

Her first song, which I didn’t recognize, was really awkward and choppy. She sang it well, I guess, but it didn’t ‘gel’. As Randy would say, it was just ahight for me. Her second song was a repeat performance of Summertime, from Porgy and Bess, right down to starting her performance sitting side-saddle on the floor. Boring.. didn’t we see this about 7 weeks ago?! Her performance was unreal, however. She really is a riveting singer. She finished off with the Tamyra Gray song. I intially thought Fantasia might’ve made a strategic error, choosing to go second, especially since she and Diana were going to have to sing the same song. I should’ve had more faith in her decision. She did a phenomenal job with that song, and singing it second only highlighted how much style she brings to her performances, as well as what a great voice she has.

Prediction

Fantasia.

The Results

Fantasia.

Unfortunatly, for the first time this whole year, I did not get to watch the show (alas, my TiVo and I were parted and I haven’t watched it yet). I, of course, did finally get the results via CNN and was relieved to see that the better performer won. I myself had voted for Fantasia, although I didn’t go into the final competition with preconceived notions of who I was going to vote for. I truly was going to vote for whoever gave the best performance, although truth be told if you look over the course of the entire comptetion, Fantasia is a better overall singer, performer, and artist. Diana is wonderful, and I think she can sing the heck out of stuff, but Fantasia puts some real guts into what she sings. It’s hard to believe there are only three years separating the two. Maybe it’s motherhood, but Fantasia seems like she’s got 15 years on Miss DeGarmo. Plus, I would really rather buy a record put out by Fantasia, I think — she’s more my style of singer.

So, ultimately, I think the right decision was made, and I think a star was recognized. I’m very happy for Fantasia and I can’t wait for her album to come out. I’ll buy it. Congrats to Bobo.

American Idol 2004 Who’s Been Voted Off So Far: