MBADC American Idol
Armchair Quarterback 2007
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: The Top 8 Perform
Latin Music
Air date: Tuesday,
April 10, 2007
Guest: Jennifer Lopez
Melinda Doolittle Melinda Doolittle's version of the much-covered
classic, "Sway" was the perfect song for her voice, and her vocal was nearly
perfect. (We think she'd do a great Bossa Nova album!) Image-wise she looked
elegant and flawless, and her performance reminded us of old-school singers
like Shirley Bassey and Eartha Kitt, without being the least bit gimmicky.
Pure class! Tips for success: Continuing to work on her
confidence and "owning" and accepting her talent is all Melinda needs to do
to succeed.
La Kisha Jones La Kisha Jones' performance of Miami Sound Machine's
"Conga" was a bit lackluster, despite a decent vocal. It just didn't have
the spark the song needs and was very Telethon (which the Bland Band didn't
help). We liked her vocal variations, but the performance lacked sizzle.
Tips for success: A fast song like "Conga" needs fire.
When you have a lyric that says, "You know you can't control yourself any
longer," express it!
Chris Richardson Musically, Chris Richardson's version
of Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas's "Smooth" suffered terribly at the
hands of the Bland Band, although his vocal wasn't bad. The music had
no sizzle, but Chris worked around it OK, and image-wise, he looked great.
Tips for success: Better song selection would have helped
here: never trust a well-known, musically-oriented song to a lackluster
house band.
Hayley Scarnato Weeks ago, one of our associates predicted that
Hayley Scarnato's wardrobe would continue to get smaller as long as the
weeks went by. She was right. Meanwhile, Hayley's rendition of the Gloria
Estefan version of Vickie Sue Robinson's "Turn the Beat Around" was...very
B-grade resort hotel lounge. The vocal and timing were off, and her
performance seemed a little frenetic in places. Tips for success:
Discovering the fact that you have looks doesn't mean you can ignore the
vocals. If she worked on the vocals and got them back to where they were
weeks ago, we think she could do fine singing in commercials or musicals.
Phil Stacey Phil Stacey's version of Santana's "Maria" had a
good vocal, although there was a little too much of a run in the first
section. But the performance needed more spark, and once more, the Bland
Band didn't help. Image-wise, although we like hats, that particular
one covered his face too much. Tips for success: 1.When the
band is less than top-notch, step up and deliver the performance of your
life anyway. 2. Wearing hats on camera is
tricky; in rehearsal, check your look from every camera to make sure your
face isn't hidden in the shots. Less hat is usually more.
Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks' version of Gloria Estefan's "The
Rhythm is Gonna Get Ya" was warbley and shaky at first, but it got better.
As a song choice it was a boring song, but she did a lot with the vocal. She
just didn't "wow" us with it, which is what you really want with Latin
music. Tips for success: 1. Song selection, song
selection, song selection. Stage presence is vital on a song like this one,
if you must do it. It's not firey and fast, but it's also not a powerful,
heartfelt ballad, so its impact on the audience all has to come from you.
Blake Lewis Blake Lewis had great stage presence on his
version of Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know," and his vocal was pretty good.
One of the backup vocalists was terribly off in parts of the song, so kudos
to Blake for not letting it throw him off. We do think the song would have
been the perfect place for a little of Blake's trademark beatboxing, though,
and we missed it. Image-wise, he looked great, but the hat was a little too
Palm Springs old guy for our taste. Tips for success: If you
have a signature move, as Blake does with his beatboxing, know when to use
it.
Sanjaya Malakar Sanjaya Malakar's version of the
1940-written, Luis Miguel-covered "Besame Mucho" was his best performance
yet. Which isn't saying much. His vocal is much improved, but the
whole thing was cheesy beyond belief. It reminded us of the worst of the
musical output of some of the 1970's Tiger Beat alumni. Tips for
success: That train has left the station, people. Just get him a
hosting job for a kids' show and let's get on with it.
We voted for: Melinda Doolittle.
Ryan Seacrest Smart Quip of the Night: None, but the raised
eyebrow and dramatic voice he used to introduce Sanjaya made our webmaster
laugh out loud.
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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