MBADC American Idol
Armchair Quarterback 2008, Season 7
American Idol, from
the perspective of a former national-level talent booker, demo screener, and
performance coach: who we like in the
competition, what works and what doesn't, what contestants can do to improve
their chances of success, and advice you can apply to your own career.
Editor's Note: Much has been made in the media about some of this year's
contestants having had label deals in the past. After much discussion, we at
MBADC made a conscious decision not to use this as a factor when rating each
contestant's performance in the MBADC American Idol Armchair Quarterback
column...including the new "most signable" section.
Season 7
Top 16: The Top 8 Girls
Perform Songs From the
80s
Air date: Wednesday,
March 5, 2008
Asiah Epperson: Asiah Epperson's version of Whitney Houston's "I
Wanna Dance With Somebody" wasn't bad, but the vocal wasn't fabulous,
either, because doing a Whitney song leads to expectations that no one else
can meet. A different song would have been better. Performance-wise, she had
good energy, but she moves neck and upper body around in a way that that's
distracting and a little odd on camera. Tips for
success: Practicing in front of a mirror, and watching back your
performances is a great way to break yourself of bad habits.
Kady Malloy: Kady Malloy's version of Queen's "Who Wants to Live
Forever" was off-key in places and droned on. She looks beautiful on camera,
but the performance was so boring, it was hard to stay focused on whether
she was hitting the notes or not. Tips for success: Choosing a
higher-energy or more emotional song, and really getting into the lyrics
would help tremendously.
Amanda Overmeyer: Amanda Overmeyer's version of Joan Jett's "I Hate
Myself for Loving You" was a great song choice for Amanda's voice and style,
and she sang it well. Performance-wise, we'd like to see her project out
toward the back of the room a bit more and involve the whole audience. She
looks down a lot, and projecting out and using the camera more would bring
everyone into her performance. Tips for success:
Learning to use the camera well is key. As for projection, using this song
as an example, Amanda could project out by mentally focusing her performance
energy on the word "you" in the line "I hate myself for loving you" rather
than thinking about the "I hate myself" part.
Carly Smithson: Carly Smithson's version of Celine Dion's interpretation
of "I Drove All Night" was sung well, but the song is extremely boring and
kept us from focusing on her as an artist. (The song was a hit for Celine
because of Celine's personality...it wasn't the song.) Performance-wise,
Carly's not terrible, but not memorable: she has tatoos but there's no edge
to her voice or personality, so her image and who she is as an artist is one
big question mark. Tips for success: Song selection, and bringing up
the level of her stage presence. Carly Smithson, in our opinion, is in
danger of being Idol's next Katharine McPhee: a good voice that wins
the competition, but so boring and non-descript as an artist that they don't
know what to do with her, she doesn't sell, and ends up getting dropped.
Kristy Lee Cook: Kristy Lee Cook's version of Journey's "Faithfully"
was really great. The arrangement was excellent, the vocal was decent, and
the country aspect of it was really nice. Definitely recordable and
releasable as a current hit. Tips for success: Developing her onstage
image and stage presence is key, because she needs to be memorable as an
artist. (We had to wait for her name to pop up on the screen to write it in
our notes for this column, because we didn't remember it.)
Ramiele Malubay: Ramiele Malubay's version of Phil Collins' "Against All
Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" had a great vocal, and she looked great. But
we're so sick of hearing this song on American Idol we're ready to
tear our hair out, because it's starting to affect our opinions of the
performers who sing it. Tips for success: Different song, please!!!
Brooke White: Brooke White's version of Pat Benatar's "Love
is a Battlefield" had a decent vocal and was an excellent song
choice...especially done acoustically, which was the whole key to it
working. She should definitely record it this way, and it could be a hit
again. (Paula was way off on this one; the lack of the band made it work.) Tips for success: Keep
building that confidence and working on stage presence and onstage image.
Syesha Mercado: Syesha Mercado's version of Whitney Houston's "Saving
All My Love for You" was pitchy in a couple of places, but was a good vocal
overall. She even looks great on camera, but we weren't' impressed. The
problem here is song selection and arrangement. She didn't bring anything
new to it at all, so it didn't tell us anything about her as an artist
except that she can kinda-sorta hit the notes on a song that someone more
memorable did better. When you're competing for Whitney's former chart
position (which ultimately, the contestants are), you have to be great. Tips for success:
Better song selection, unique arrangements, and developing a memorable
performances is key.
Most signable: Based on tonight's performances, we're watching the progress of
Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook, who are the most musical (meaning, they're
good at bringing good new arrangements and making the songs their own).
Musical plus decent vocal is always better than just a perfect vocal in our
book.
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.
American Idol
Armchair Quarterback |
