Carly Smithson
Very few people can sing Heart. Carly Smithson is one of them.
We've heard some disastrous Heart covers before on Idol, so I was a little worried about anyone attempting it. However, Carly really did a decent job — she didn't quite slay it, but it was definitely mortally wounded.
This is what's great about Idol — when you hear this girl sing you think, how is it she doesn't have a freaking recording contract?! Nice to know that after this season she probably will.
She is a fabulous singer. I agree with Simon's assessment that she's absolutely the best of the women vocally, she now just needs to pick really perfect songs for her. Crazy on You was a good choice but there are probably ones that would showcase here even more.
Syesha Mercado
Hunh. Me and "Mr" Jones.
Cool to take a song like this and change the gender around. And she did a decent job on it.
But I'm bored. Yeah, she can sing and belt and has decent range and control. And no originality. And she has that actress' canniness of where the television camera is. Call me old fashioned and even a bit cranky, but I don't want to feel like I'm getting manipulated. I mean, I'm young enough that I grew up on MTv (back when it played videos) and I'm comfortable with the singer-singing-into-the-camera paradigm, but in American Idol I still want a little bit of the "omniscient impartial camera" feel like the contestant is actually there, in the auditorium, singing that song for the live audience and the judges, rather than just flashing sly looks and shiny lips to the camera.
Brooke White
Not sure she knew the word 'Gavotte'…
Started off well — and a brave choice, singing Carly Simon's You're So Vain! But she cannot rock the low notes, her voice just falls off the low end of the slide there. And, it must be said, her guitar playing was distracting at the beginning… it overpowered the vocal and she didn't seem comfortable enough playing it.
Other than Brooke not being able to sing a good 22% of the song, it was a decent performance. Her voice during the soaring parts it was really quite lovely. At the very end she had a little husky tone to her voice and it was a really nice treat. But overall I would have to give it a grade C.
Well, one other thought: now that I know from Hollywood week that she's never seen a Rated R movie, I am thinking she probably doesn't have the life experience to sing that song. But it didn't feel robotic… at least during the parts where she could hit the notes.
Ramiele Malubay
She left us that way.
What is up with the wacky sideswept hair? It's distracting. Get that damn hair out of your eyes!
Oh wait, she's singing. At least she sounds like she might start singing soon. So far it's just preparatory noises, the song is going nowhere.
Ok, now she's singing. Well, she's kind of repeating the same 12 notes. Donna Summer songs (Don't Leave me this Way in this case) are generally great club jams with awesome baselines, but it wasn't much of a vehicle to show up the vocal talents of anybody. I mean, she did a decent job of it but there wasn't a good hook or verse to really hold onto and get taken for a ride. Know what I mean?? So in the end, she just kinda left us there.
Kristy Lee Cook
Honey, you need to take some standin' lessons
Ok, I am all about the outdoorsy girl, horsewoman, athletic thing, it's all cool. But honey, you're right, you cannot walk in heels. For that matter, you cannot walk in pants. Because you walk and stand like a man. It is REALLY distracting. Start wearing pencil skirts or practicing with your freaking knees bungeed together. Anything. Your voice was startlingly good during the start of You're no Good by the amazing Linda Ronstadt, but then I couldn't hear any longer because I was in shock at your singing posture.
Literally, it's like my ears quit working when you started the pose Engineerboy always refers to as "The Squat 'n Sing".
Ok. I'm going to try and finish listening to the rest of the song. I may have to look away to be able to write an actual vocal review.
The vocals were actually decent, this is the first time I think we've actually heard her voice. She was clearly comfortable with the song and it showed. But I cannot watch that strange forward squat.
Amanda Overmyer
Amanda rocks the chaps and sings her some Kansas
I really wanted to like this performance. But I'll quote Engineerboy here: "This is one of the lamest songs ever. Classic rock my ass. Classic tripe!" And I'll have to agree with him.
And I love Amanda. I love that she's consistent; she's her own woman with her own style — both vocally and sartorially. I love the heck out of her.
But I couldn't quite get into this groove on this pitch-fest… she flat-out could not quite hit those low notes and I'm realizing the husky quality to her voice might actually be a cigarette smoker's death-rattle. (One HOPES not since she's a nurse but I know several otherwise intelligent people who still suck on those disgusting things). She rocked the fast parts and the strong note at the end was cool, but… overall it was a bit of a flop.
But that was a cool outfit (special points to Engineerboy for seeing her hairstyle and asking… "Is that Aslan up there??") and I hope she sticks around to wow us again. I like her. She should go the Daughtry route and front a band; she'd do really well in that role.
Alaina Whitaker
'Is someone taking the anal temperature of a cat?!'
So now know you know Engineerboy's opinion.
For me, I liked this about 1000% better than I thought I would. I mean, I still have a part of me that secretly likes the movie Grease (don't tell Engineerboy) but this is a really corny and stuuuuupid song. But she allllmost rocked it. There were flashes of real actual singing in that warble-fest. But this was one lame song.
Alexandrea Lushington
Alexandrea slaps some boots on her workout outfit and rushes over to sing on Idol
-or-
We finally realize Alexandrea is an alien as she steps through her 'star portal' onto the Idol stage.
Hahahaha, Alexandrea has probably never heard Butters sing this song on South Park when he's trapped in the bomb shelter. Butters does a better version.
Never pick a song with oo-oo-OOO as the opening to the chorus. She did a workmanlike job with the vocals but it was overall a sloppy mess. She sounded nasal and unsure of herself and the song was boring, unoriginal and not one freaking bit current. Feh, I hope I forget it in the next five minutes.
Oh and BOO HOO on calling herself "the underdog" in the competition. Wyyyannhhh.
Kady Malloy
Modeling Flinstones couture, Kady murders a Heart song.
-or-
A vortex spontaneously appears behind Kady to suck her back to her universe where that performance would have been in tune.
Tough with Carly, who's probably the best female vocalist they have, already having rocked a Heart song. There is no way this crazy overly-tanned (even for Houston) chippie is gonna pull off the low growl required for Heart's Magic Man. It was AN OUT OF TUNE MESS.
Horrible!!
I can't think of bad enough words to encapsulate how out of tune she was on everything other than the chorus. Oh, and she basically sucked on the chorus too.
I will say I will be amazed if she's still around after tomorrow's vote-off.
Asia'h Epperson
She's gonna be all by herself, alright.
That was awful. Did her mic cut out or did she just completely fail on that first note?
Horrible. This song is one-hundred-percent a singer's song. And she just couldn't sing it. It was a risk and she crashed and burned, I'm sorry to say.
Randy and Paula liked it (I can't understand that) but at least Simon agreed with the CleverDonkey household — she couldn't handle that song one bit.
Here you will find a very sporadic catalog of announcer Alan Kalter’s non-sensical and hilarious David Letterman intros:
Standouts this week
Facing Elimination This Week – Boys
Jason Yeager – Goodbye!
Alexandrea Lushington – Goodbye!
Alaina Whitaker – Goodbye!
Robbie Carrico – Goodbye!
