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So....this time around we get "21st
Century Music" night. Should be interesting but will also
mean I'm not going to know the songs as I gave up radio and pop music
long before 2000.
Bart: I agree - I didn't know any of
the songs last night.
It's nice in one way to not know
the original songs because you're not comparing them,
you can judge the performance. That said, almost all of these folks
have a 'signature' move
that you can always count on.
Casey Abrams - Harder To Breathe: Wasn't familiar with the song, and
didn't like it at first
but once it got past the intro I was digging it. Great energy from him,
did a good job with it
and only one grunt that at least fit the timing of the song. And, no
matter what, he can say he kissed J-Lo.
Haley Reinhart - Rolling In The Hay: Wait a minute, that's Rolling In
The Deep, sorry about
that Freudian slip. A great song for her, though Adele has one of the
best young soul voices out there.
Used the growl thing sparingly and effectively and hit some high notes
with clarity, consistency and confidence.
Plus, legs. Go Haley.
Jacob Lusk - Dance With My Father: Well, I thought he was going to
start crying and melt into
a puddle of goo at the start but he regained his composure and gave us
a performance that we've
seen plenty of times before; over-the top drama, THE big note, a couple
of dramatic key changes
...still, he has a nice richness to his voice. Would love to hear him
get funkywiddit.
James Durbin - Uprising: Again, was not familiar with the tune but I
just get excited watching
JD's performances - this song didn't follow his typical style but he
made it his. Had a couple of lines
where he did the whole run in an upper octave to good effect. Really
seems to enjoy the stage.
His outfit looked like something out of Mad Max or The Flintstones but
that's a minor point.
Go James - he's having fun and is fun to watch.
Lauren Alaina - Born To Fly: A mid-tempo/upbeatish modern country song,
not a very adventurous one at that.
But her energy was good and she did a good job with it. She really does
have a confidence that is beyond her age.
She could also do with showing what versatility she has if she wants to
win any new voters over.
Scotty McCreery - Swingin': Well, I thought this was supposed to be
21st century songs...am I the only one
who remembers this as a John Anderson song from the 80's? Anyway, I AM
familiar with one and hate the song.
Scotty's performance was (again) all the same cliches he's done before,
and did whole lines with that low voice
which didn't work so well. This one really seemed like karaoke (or KTV
as they say here in China) to me.
Big thumb down.
Stefano Langone - Closer: Poor Stefano - this may just be his last
song. Listening to him and watching him
remeinded me of an old skit where it showed "The Pips" performing by
themselves, throwing in their backing vocals,
doing their dance steps, and pretty laughable in the absence of Gladys
Knight. The start was weak and he botched
some notes pretty badly. Ended better but this song is not really a
singer's song. He comes off as a boy band singer
without the band.
Best of the night - James Durbin
Worst - Stefano & Scotty
Who should go - Stefano
Who will go - See above
That's my take - Bob in Beijing over and out