MBADC American Idol
Armchair Quarterback 2007, Season 6
American Idol, from
the perspective of someone who's booked artists at the national-level: who we like in the
competition, what works, what doesn't work, what contestants can do to improve
their chances of success, and advice you can apply to your own performances.
Season 6
Top 20: The Top 10 Guys
Perform
Air date: Tuesday, February
27, 2007
Phil Stacey:
John Waite's "Missing You" was a
good song for Phil Stacey's range, and he did it well. The crescendo was
especially good. The band wasn't great, and the tempo was a little fast, but
Phil himself was fine. We do, however, agree with Simon's assessment in that
there's not much originality in Phil's voice.
Tips for success:
If your voice doesn't have originality, develop a unique image or trademark
style. Meanwhile, continue to work on developing something unique
about your voice; as you grow as an artist, it may come.
Jared Cotter: Jared Cotter's version of Marvin
Gaye's "Let's Get it On" was OK, albeit very pitchy in the 2nd verse.
Performance-wise, he's worked on his stage presence a lot since last week.
Tips for success: Continuing to
work on vocals is equally as important as stage presence; one feeds the
other.
A.J. Tabaldo:
The jazz classic
"Feeling Good". We absolutely hated the
Bland Band's music behind him--Michael Buble's band it ain't--, but we liked A.J. Tabaldo's vocal a lot. With
a really good band behind him, we think he could do a contemporary,
radio-friendly version of this. A.J.'s problem is probably going to be one
of styling: growing out his hair and getting a different haircut would help.
Tips for success:
The total package is important: vocals,
stage presence, and clothes/grooming/imaging.
Sanjaya Malakar:
Sanjaya Malakar's version of
the pop standard "Steppin' Out With My Baby" was off-pitch, the timing was off, and wasn't high energy
enough. It came off as very awkward and Telethon, and the whole thing just
wasn't the quality of performance that the American Idol needs to be.
Tips for success:
We're good, but we're not miracle
workers, so we'd recommend acting lessons instead.
Chris Sligh:
Ray LaMontagne's
"Trouble" was the perfect song
for Chris Sligh's voice, and he did an excellent job. That performance was
radio-worthy. Vocally, Chris is 100% ready.
Tips for success:
Continuing to improve his stage
presence (which is coming along nicely) and choosing the right songs each
week is key. Image-wise, we really like that Chris seems to know who he is
and seems comfortable in his skin, so if he was our client we probably
wouldn't recommend many changes. Instead, we'd focus on developing drop-dead
riveting stage performances.
Nick Pedro:
The vocal was OK on Nick Pedro's
version of Peggy Lee's "Fever," but we really wanted to hear more energy
during the first part of the song, and we wanted to see more charisma.
Despite the fact that we like "Fever" as a song, this wasn't one of our
favorite performances, and Nick just isn't memorable.
Tips for success:
"Fever" isn't a song you sing; it's a
steamy song you perform, all-out, no holding back, and you have to
know exactly who you are in order to get away with it. (Bon Jovi and Madonna
are examples of artists who have performed it very well live. See what
we mean?)
Blake Lewis:
Blake Lewis's version of
Jimiraqui's "Virtual Insanity" was hampered by a lame, watered down
arrangement (and performance) by the Bland Band that was way too Telethon.
Vocally, Blake was better last week, but the beat boxing was very cool. We
like Blake, but we're with Simon on this one. Tips
for success: Never let a watered-down arrangement
pull you down.
Raise your game, and bring extra
energy and finesse to your part.
Brandon Rogers: Brandon
Rogers' version of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" was pitchy in places (such
as the first verse), and it didn't show what he's really capable of vocally.
We're with Randy Jackson on this one: without the film dedication
introducing it, the performance would fall flat. Tips for success: An
artist's performance should be enhanced by accompanying film clips,
not rely on it. Vocally and emotionally, to be successful, it must
stand on its own.
Chris Richardson: Chris Richardson's version of Jason Mraz's "Geek in
the Pink" was good from a performance standpoint, but the
vocals were a little shaky. We did really like the energy and ease of his
performance and stage demeanor, though, and we were entertained. On a
side note,
we'd like to hear Chris do an up-tempo
Rob Thomas song, adding his own twist.
Tips for success:
The vocals are as important as the
performance...especially for a vocal-heavy contest like American Idol.
Don't get carried away!
Sundance Head:
Sundance Head's version of the classic
"Mustang Sally" has a great vocal, but once again, suffered from the
lameness of the Bland Band. Isolating the vocal, we'd give Sundance the
award for Vocal of the Night. Tips for success: We'd really like to
hear Sundance put that vocal power to use on a current song. Image-wise,
we'd also give him a bit of a makeover, because he comes off as older than
his true age.
We voted for: Chris
Richardson.
Ryan Seacrest Smart Quip of the Night: None, but we're distracted at the
end of the show when he says, "I've been Ryan Seacrest..." Who is he
after the broadcast? Just go back to your old radio-style sign off of
"Seacrest out," please Ryan.
American Idol
Armchair Quarterback
The MBADC American Idol Armchair Quarterback is intended as commentary and
is not affiliated with Fox Television, American Idol, or its producers or
judges in any way. Tips should be taken as a suggestion only and are not
intended as a substitute for qualified vocal coaching or artist management.
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