Tuesday night, we heard more over-arranging and overall unevenness as our fading former frontrunners and judges' faves (Danny, Lil) tried to up their game and missed; and our challengers (Matt, Allison) weren't at their best. Anoop, Kris and Adam hit their sweet spots: but while the first one surprised me and the second mesmerized me, the last left me, funnily enough, a bit cold.
Here's how I heard it:
This song won a Raspberry award, did you know that? Allison bottomed out on some of the low notes at the beginning but when she hit her stride and started belting it, she was powerful. The editing of the song was a little odd, and I think made it sound more off-pitch than it was. Even Simon, grudgingly, had to acknowledge her as a likely frontrunner, and certainly the best hope of the two gals. Solid effort, but not nearly as good as last week. MTME Rating: 3.5 / 5
Anoop Desai - “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams - Robin Hood
Anoop! Dawg!! You KILLED it!! What a gorgeous arrangement--an arrangement that actually worked (hear that Matt? see below). Anoop brought out all of the emotion of the song, through holding on to those key words and notes, and by projecting it to the audience (oh yeah, he MUST have been singing to someone special!). I usually find this song slightly cloying, as I do much of Bryan Adams' music, but, as he did with True Colors (a song I do like), Anoop really sold it to me! He climbs out of the bottom 2 with this performance, easily. I hope the voters see it that way. MTME Rating: 4 / 5
Adam Lambert - “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
A wild ride, for sure. Everything from the sneers to the pelvic thrusts to the interplay with the band and the final, on-his-knees spent posture were contrived and delivered with specific intent. It was just way over the top in a clichéd, I-wanna-be-a-rock-star kind of way. As a result, there was no emotional connection for me--I didn't feel the power of the song, which is a classic rebel yell. His performance, by being so calculated, ran counter to this anthem to rebellion, and to being uninhibited, wild and free.
Now, you may say--what on earth was Adam doing if he wasn't wild and free in this performance? But wait: he was not. Every move, every look, every vocal inflection was staged and planned to give the impression of being so, but it was an act. This is the Adam show with which we are now very familiar. It's high energy and vocally proficient, yes. But when he picks these uptempo songs, it gives him even less room to actually bring nuanced emotion to the stage. He just becomes very, very ... theatrical. There's no other word for it. And because I was so aware of it being an act, I didn't end up feeling what he wanted me to feel. It was, as Simon is fond of saying, self-indulgent. Yes, I stood and watched, in awe, of his vocal acrobatics and tremendous energy. But that fourth wall--it is still there. MTME Rating: 3.75 / 5
Matt Giraud - “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” by Bryan Adams - Don Juan deMarco
Oyyyyy ... this was a bit of a mess, and I really, really like Matt. I do. But this has just got to stop. He is overarranging and trying too hard. This was actually a pretty good song pick (too much Bryan Adams tonight, but still...). It started nice and simple, with a lovely piano accompaniment, but by the line "see every dream", it started a steep decline. He wrestled it back when he returned to the melody, but every time he tried to change it up, he just went off. It was painful. I bet it will be better in the studio. The other thing is that falsetto: I think I understand now what he is doing with it. He is overusing it to make up for a lack of range, I believe. The analogy that is coming to mind is of a plain woman who wears far too much make-up. From a distance, it looks pretty, but get too close-up and it just highlights the real flaws. All of the vocal flourishes (or some of them, anyway) serve only to disguise what is, at the core, a pretty average range and tone. I liked the bit at the end when he went into his growly voice, and then that last falsetto note, but by then it was too late. MTME Rating: 3.25 / 5
Danny Gokey - “Endless Love” by Lionel Richie - Endless Love
Arrrrrrrrrrggggggggggh. No, no no no no no. A harp? A HARP! Someone please just shoot me now. Perhaps he would like to come out in a white flowing gown wearing angel wings, hmmm?
And Simon pandered right back at him, because ... oh who cares why. We all know why.
Danny is, when I'm feeling generous, a B-range singer. He has a nice raspy tone to his voice, which would be served better if he would veer away from the cheap sentiment--which is, at best, sincere but misguided, and at worst, deliberately manipulative. He is choosing songs that pander to his audience's emotions in as crass a way as it is possible, whether intentionally or not. And tonight, he was off-pitch more than he was on, from the beginning through to at least the middle. He then picked it up for a big sentimental ending. I'm surprised they didn't lift him (and the harpist) up on guywires to the rafters in a crescendo of tearjerkery glory. I am filing this performance under "Céline" cross-referenced with "overwrought angst." Paula, Simon ... you totally missed the boat not calling this guy on that stuff, and your failure to do so--especially you, Simon--is evidence of your own crass manipulation (and underestimation) of your audience. MTME Rating: 2.5 / 5
Kris Allen - “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once
Quentin said: Kris "lived up to the spirit of the competition most." Amen, brother, and nowhere was that more apparent than in tonight's line-up. Thank you, Kris, for being the anti-Adam and the anti-Danny of this competition. This is not only appreciated (at least, by me) but also smart. What we get from Kris--quiet, consistent, confident Kris--are simple, nuanced performances of depth and quality (leaving aside the misstep of All She Wants To Do Is Dance last week, of course). We get subtlety and genuine emotion. Was it a perfect vocal, or a technically outstanding one? No, but it was a very strong vocal, a controlled one, and one that touched us with its authenticity.
What I like about what Kris did here (and this takes extreme control and confidence), is that he picked an original, unusual, very hip song, and then he let it BE. There is no need to over-arrange a song that almost no one has heard anyway, and he resisted the urge to do anything big and blowsy with it. Good choice not to have the guitar (or other instrument)--very similar to what he did with To Make You Feel My Love. Without the guitar, we got to focus on the emotion of the song, and his delivery of it. Kris, again, hit that sweet spot that is uniquely his (and, increasingly, although in some way less compellingly, Anoop's): the sincere, heartfelt performance. Where the others are trying to throw every vocal trick in the book at us to impress the judges and cow their competitors, and also overarrange these overdone songs to try to make them interesting, Kris instead picks an interesting song and sings it well. I mean, it's so simple really!! With subtlety and I would even say strategy, he is sneaking up the middle, letting Adam do his Adam thing and polarize the masses; and watching Danny and Lil self-immolate. Now that Matt has had another off night (and may even be on his way home because of it), I'm thinking Kris' real competition is Allison, hehe.
"Take that sinking boat and point it home / we've still got time" -- listen to the nuance, the subtlety, the emotion in that. Oh. My. Just perfectly gorgeous. It was a bit rough starting, but when he got to the chorus, he totally had his hooks in me. Heartwrenching and wonderful. MTME Rating: 4.5 / 5
Lil Rounds - “The Rose” by Bette Midler - The Rose
I did not hate this. I thought it was a pretty good song choice--she did pick something "big" but compared to what we were all worried she was going to do, it wasn't THAT big. I also hear where she was trying to take it, and I thought she was partially successful--I like some of the trills and runs she brought to it, but -- similar to Matt -- it was too much fluff on top of what is really a very classic melody that just sounds, well, odd with all those vocal curlicues. Thing is: Bette Midler is about as white as you can get, as is this song, and it just really doesn't take well to an R&B patina, y'know? I really felt bad for Lil tonight, because I see what she was trying to do. And I applaud her attempt to justify her decision to Simon; I hope that doesn't backfire against her. By the end, she was in tears, and even Ryan seemed to desert her as he rushed to get the final clips up. It made me sad. MTME Rating: 3.75 / 5
So, weirdly enough, here are the MTME Rankings (out of 5) for the evening:
Kris 4.5
Anoop 4
Lil 3.75
Adam 3.75
Allison: 3.5
Matt: 3.25
Danny 2.5
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