MBADC American Idol
Armchair Quarterback 2006
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.
Week Seven: Girls Live Performance 3
(The Top Twelve is Chosen)
Tuesday,
March 7, 2006
Editor’s
note: How do this year’s American Idol contestants stack up to previous
seasons? There are more contestants who are technically proficient singers,
but the overall image and stage presence of the contestants isn't as good as in previous seasons. How can we tell? At this point in the competition
in every previous season, we’ve known most of the contestants’ names by now,
and we could put faces with the names when seeing them in print.
Not this season: We still have to look at the names on screen or play back
video to get the names as we take notes during the performances (especially
the girls). Something you can apply to
your own career: Be memorable!--RR
Paris Bennett:
Paris Bennett did an
acceptable version of Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's "Conga," and
her stage presence was right on, as usual. It was a little pitchy in a
couple of places, but she did score points by throwing in a nice
vocal variation. The song selection could have been a lot better, though; we
like Paris, but it was borderline cheese, and she's too good for that.
Tips for success: Song selection, song selection, song selection. It's
important for her to choose something young and with personality, but over
the top cute adds a little too much cheese and can go the wrong way.
Lisa Tucker: Lisa Tucker's version of Tiffany Taylor's "Here's Where I
Stand" wasn't a great song selection for her voice, and she was pitchy. Her
stage presence was excellent, but the vocal quality and song selection made
this one a so-so performance for us. Tips for success: Vocals
are as important as stage presence. Off-pitch notes can't hide behind
showmanship, so always keep working on the quality of both. Poor song
selection highlights the negative, so strive to find what really works for
you (which can be difficult at 16, because you're still finding yourself as
a person).
Melissa McGhee: Heart's "What About Love" was the perfect song
for Melissa McGhee's voice, range, and style. It was a little pitchy in
places, but it's a difficult song to sing live, and the song was such a
great pick we could live with it. The negative? At the end of the song she
just sort of stopped and immediately went out of performance mode, which
looked awkward. Tips for success: Always "finish" the song and create
a moment when the song ends by remaining in the character of the song for a
couple of seconds.
Kennik Sky: Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" was a poor song selection
for Kennik Sky's range, and it was too rangey
and difficult for an unseasoned performer to handle live on TV with nerves.
The pitch was unfortunately all over the place, and it just wasn't great.
Her presence and look is much improved, though, and she's getting rid
of the pageant-y image and presentation we mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
Kudos to her for continuing to work hard.
Tips for success: It's important to know
what your voice does when you're nervous: Do you tend to waver on low notes,
or do you go too sharp? Choose your song accordingly.
Katharine McPhee: Katharine McPhee's version of Aretha Franklin's
"Think" was sung very well and performed like a
pro, but to us she comes off more like a studio singer and doesn't have
enough edge and personality to her performances. It's pleasant and perfect,
and she's a good technician, but we're bored. We think Katharine can make a
great living doing studio work or backup vocals, though, and there's nothing
wrong with that. She might also do well in musical theater. Tips
for success: Continue to work on presence, and maybe bring out a little
edge. Not so much that it's fake and doesn't fit, but a little imperfection
image-wise is sometimes a good thing.
Ayla Brown:
Ayla Brown's version of Natasha Bedingfield's
"Unwritten" was fun and a good choice for Ayla's range and
style, but it didn't blow us away because it wasn't memorable. We agree with
Randy Jackson and blame the song here for it not being spectacular. When the
song itself is nice but not spectacular, it doesn't do much for a performer
with a nice voice but not spectacular stage presence. We like Ayla's voice,
though, and we're rooting for her continuing stage presence improvement: her
efforts are showing, and we respect that. We also like that she's really
working on how to use the camera. Tips for success: Keep working on
stage presence by watching concert video of performers known for their stage
presence. Experience onstage helps it come
together. (More ideas on
how to improve your stage
presence can be found here.)
Mandisa: Mandisa's version of Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman"
was delivered with confidence and excellent stage presence, and
she's a real pro when it comes to performing live. The vocal had a
couple of small pitch problems, and it's never been one of our favorite
songs, but overall it was a great job. Tips for success: Choosing
songs that haven't been performed by every live performer in your
genre is important. That's what made us connect more with
Mandisa's performance of a Heart song a couple of weeks ago.
Kellie Pickler: Melissa Etheridge's "I'm the Only One" was the right
style for Kellie Pickler but the wrong song for her voice. It wasn't our
favorite performance of hers because it didn't highlight the best qualities
of her voice (her power notes), but we like her because she's fun, and it's
cool seeing her stage presence improve week by week. Tips for success:
Choosing songs that highlight the best qualities of your voice is important,
because the audience looks forward to hearing your "trademarks". Continuing
to work on stage presence is a great thing, too, and with experience you can
put the two together by playing "Will she go for that power note" with the
crowd and surprise them by changing your game plan for the song now and
then.
We voted for: We weren't blown away so we didn't vote tonight, but
Mandisa and Ayla Brown had the strongest performances.
Ryan Seacrest Smart Quip of the Night:
None, but Seacrest's impression of Simon speaking in Randy
Jackson speak was hilarious. We also cracked up over Ryan cracking up at
Kellie Pickler at the end of the show...which is good, because not having
his trademark "Seacrest out" signoff sometimes makes the end the show just
plain awkward.
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.
|
