MBADC American Idol
Armchair Quarterback 2005
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.
Week Thirteen
Tuesday,
April 12, 2005
(Songs from the Years They Were Born):
Nadia Turner: Nadia Turner's "When I Dream" was the perfect song
choice for Nadia's voice and range, and she performed it excellently. While
not necessarily a "hit" song, it could be a great album cut, and Nadia sang
it so well, it could be recorded and released as is. She looked great too,
and her imaging is back on track. Of all the performances tonight, we liked
Nadia's best. Tips for success: Consistency, consistency,
consistency. Now that Nadia's got her look back, at this stage of the
competition, she'd be wise not to change it.
Bo Bice: Bo Bice's choice of "Free Bird" wasn't necessarily a great
choice, because as we've said many times, taking on a signature song is
always dangerous. Bo performed it well, and with excellent stage presence,
but it was a bit too karaoke for our taste, and we'd have preferred to see
Bo's signature style come out. It was a little too much of an imitative
performance. Tips for success: Choosing songs Bo connects with, that
allow him to bring out his own originality, and that the audience also
relate to, is key here.
Anwar Robinson: Anwar Robinson's "I'll Never Love This Way Again" had
a nice arrangement, and he sang it with a lot of originality. His
performance was pitchy in places, but it was an excellent song choice, and
he looked like a star. We think if Anwar went into the studio and recorded
this, he could probably have a new A/C hit with it. Tips for success:
Anwar's star quality continues to shine, and his stage presence gets better
and better. Hard work with a vocal coach to get some of those wandering
notes back in line during live performances can make him a star.
Anthony Fedorov: Anthony Fedorov's "Every Time You Go Away" was his
best performance in a long, long time. This was never one of our favorite
songs, but it was an excellent choice for him, and he brought something new
and refreshing to it. Anthony Fedorov is finally back on track. He looked
great, too. Tips for success: Whatever Anthony did this week to
improve, he should keep it up, because it worked. If he continues to nail
the song selection as well as he did this week, he has a good shot.
Vonzell Solomon: Vonzell Solomon was energetic on "Let's Hear it for
the Boy," but her choice of upbeat, generic pop songs sometimes leaves us
feeling like we've just watched a Barbie doll or pageant contestant. She had
some shaky notes but had good stage presence. Unfortunately, like most
pageant contestants, we just don't connect to her emotionally or find her
memorable. Would we pay money to go see Vonzell Solomon in concert? Probably
not. Tips for success: Song selection, song selection, song
selection...and finding something that makes her more memorable.
Scott Savol: Scott Savol's "She's Gone" had a really nice arrangement
that presented a nice use of his range, but was a little pitchy on the low
notes. We liked his passion on the chorus, though, and although the vocal
performance had some shaky moments, it was a good song for him, and we'd
send him into the studio with it. Unfortunately, Scott's comment about
people watching at home not having the nerve to get up onstage was a
complete turn-off, and we're ready for him to leave now. It's never good to
alienate potential fans, let alone the people you want votes from. Tips
for success: Other than a major attitude adjustment, we're not wasting
our time.
Carrie Underwood: Carrie Underwood's "Love is a Battlefield" was a
poor song choice for her voice, because she had to push so hard to get rid
of her natural country twang. The result was a version that was so karaoke,
she even did Pat Benatar's dance move from the video...not the way to
achieve originality and put visions of the original artist out of the
audience's head. The vocal delivery was a little pitchy, too--especially on
the big note. Carrie Underwood is capable of so much better. Tips for
success: Being herself instead of trying to get rid of her innate
country sound is what Carrie needs. Imitating another artist isn't going to
help her post-Idol career. Being true to herself and her natural voice will.
Constantine Maroulis: Constantine Maroulis singing "Bohemian
Rhapsody"--Queen's signature song--is just plain scary. He didn't have the
vocal chops to pull it off, and as always when Constantine tries to rock
out, he came off more like someone portraying an aspiring rock singer in a
bad off-Broadway play. Plus, Constantine's new "thing" of sticking out his
tongue grossed us out (leave that for Gene Simmons), and his overblown
rocker character just leaves us groaning at the TV. Tips for success:
Choosing which road he wants to take--musical theater or rock and roll--and
then engaging in some all-out, hard vocal training for that genre would
probably give Constantine more credibility to us. Right now his rocker
persona doesn't come off as organic to us, and we don't buy it.
We voted for: Bo Bice, because although tonight wasn't our favorite
performance of his, as an artist we still like him the best over all the
other contestants. 2nd choice: Nadia Turner, because of all tonight's
performances, we liked hers best.
Ryan Seacrest Smart Quip of the Night: No smart quip, but Seacrest's
delivery on some of his lines made us chortle. Along with David Letterman,
Seacrest is one of a handful of people who could probably make us smile at
his reading of a phone book.
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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