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 career.
Season 6
Top 24: The Top 12 Guys
Perform
Air date: Tuesday, February
20, 2007
Rudy Cardenas: Regardless of what might have been on American
Idol's list of licensed songs,
Dan Hartman's "Free Ride" would not have been on ours; arranging this song to
not sound dated is exceedingly difficult. Unfortunately, Rudy Cardenas's version veered
off-pitch. There were a couple of nice long notes, but he screeched his way
through a good portion of the song. Performance-wise, we agree with
Randy Jackson that it was "corny." Tips for success: Careful song
choice, or A-plus talent in arrangement might have helped here. Improving
his stage movements is key for Rudy, too, because what he did here just didn't
make him look cool.
Brandon Rogers: Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" was a poor song choice
for Brandon Rogers, because it didn't utilize his power, and he went
off-pitch. He had good presence, looked comfortable onstage, and used the
camera well, but one of our staffers felt he smiled too much. We agree.
Tips for success: Always choose a song that plays up your natural vocal
strengths. Watch live clips of various major artists, and you'll see
that most artists rarely smile while singing, and when they do, it looks
genuine. Smiling just because
you think you should, or because your mom wants you to, just looks
fake.
Sundance Head: Sundance Head's version of The Moody Blue's "Nights in White Satin" was, to
put it bluntly, boring and shaky. (What is this, 70's night?) We liked some of
Sundance's audition performances, but this just didn't live up to it. Tips for
success: If you want to wow the judges and win an audience, don't do a
slow song for your first performance! It pulls down the energy of the room.
Paul Kim: Paul Kim's version of Wham!'s "Careless Whisper" was a little
subdued, and it was pitchy. We loved his audition, but this ain't the song
for him. Tips for success: Paul's talented, but he
needs to step up his game, because he has an additional hurdle to get over
that the other contestants don't: As of
2007, a male solo artist of Asian descent has yet to break through and
become a serious major artist in the U.S.. Leftover racism from Vietnam or
World War ll? Probably. Whatever the reason, artists of Asian descent have a hard time connecting with mainstream U.S.
audiences. We want that to change, and it will take a phenomenal
performer to make it happen.
Chris Richardson: "I Don't Want To Be" was a good song choice for
Chris Richardson's voice and style, but he was pitchy in a few spots.
Image- and performance-wise, we'd like to see him cultivate his own look; he's looking
a little too much like Justin Timberlake (down to his posture at the mic), and
we have a J.T. in the biz already. Tips for success: If you look or
sound like another artist who's already successful, do something to tweak
your look and sound to bring out your own originality. Clones aren't
cool.
Nick Pedro: Richard Marx's "Now and Forever" was a good song for Nick Pedro's voice and
style, and we do like his voice a lot, but he was pitchy in this
performance. Performance-wise, he uses the camera well, but we'd like to see
him look more current and a little less "average Joe". Tips for success:
Stars don't look like the guy in the next cubicle, so it's important to
bring something extra to your look.
Blake Lewis: Blake Lewis' version of Keane's "Somewhere Only We
Know" had a great arrangement, and the song was a superb choice for his vocal
range. He did an excellent performance, looked comfortable onstage, and we
wouldn't change a thing. Tips for success: Blake's choices on this
performance were great, so we wouldn't change anything...just keep
raising the bar (no Cingular pun intended) and going for it, because
complacency is the enemy here.
Sanjaya Malakar: Sanjaya Malakar's version of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks
Me Off My Feet" was, to
be blunt, boring and off-pitch. Looking good on camera isn't enough. Tips for success:
An upbeat pop song probably would have helped. Focusing on improving stage
presence would, too: Improving your stage presence builds confidence that
then helps you hit the notes, which makes for even better stage presence,
which...
Chris Sligh: Mute Math's "Typical" was an excellent song selection, and he did an excellent job. Bravo!!! He
looked very comfortable onstage, and we like that he's unique. Tips for success:
Continuing to build his stage presence, combined with well-chosen songs
should make Chris a fun competitor to watch in upcoming weeks.
Jared Cotter: Jared Cotter's version of Brian McNight's "Back at
One" was a bit pitchy and shaky at first, but it got better. Overall, it was a
fairly good vocal. Not really unique, but an OK performance. Tips for success:
Strive to be unique, in addition to singing well. Good singers
are a dime a dozen, so you have to be memorable as well.
A.J. Tabaldo: A.J. Tabaldo's version of Luther Vandross's "Never too
Much" was an OK performance overall, but it wasn't unique. We'd like to see
him do a song that stands out a bit more. Tips for success: Luther
Vandross, like Stevie Wonder, is the male singers' equivalent of "Never sing
a Whitney Houston song": No one will ever sing it better (or even as well)
so better pick another song.
Phil Stacey: Phil Stacey's version of Edwin McCain's "I Could Not Ask for More" was way off pitch on the verse, but strong on
the chorus. Performance-wise, he had nice presence. Tips for success:
Control the nerves, make sure you can hear yourself, and get all the stage
experience you can.
We voted for: Blake
Lewis (we'd definitely sign him), with Chris Sligh a very close 2nd (ditto).
Ryan Seacrest Smart Quip of the Night: None specifically, because we
were laughing too hard at the bickering between him and Simon.
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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