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Buzzcook's Idol Recap
Well just like Elvis there are no “Sinatra” songs,
just songs that he sang.
So there really isn’t any need to try to find
a new way to sing these songs.
They pretty much can just sing the songs straight.
Basically Sinatra was just a continuation of what
was started by Armstrong, Holliday, and Crosby.
That pretty much means singing to the lyric instead
of the melody. That doesn’t sound like much,
but it was darn revolutionary in the twenties
and still new stuff in the forties, when Frank started out.
I didn’t care for Frank as a kid; he was just
a big pop star for old folks that sang goofy songs about banana trees.
It wasn’t until I listened to Frank Sinatra live
in Las Vegas with Count Basie that I really found out what a good singer
he could be.
If you can find that album get it and listen
to it.
A few weeks ago I woud have said there was no
way to mess up these classic songs.
I’ve learned that with Idol nothing is impossible.
Aaron Kelly tries “Fly Me to the Moon” Slides
up to the first note and not in a good way.
Does an ok jazz break, He needs to hit the big
notes harder, sharper attacks. Loosens up later in the song
and gets some poppy swing stuff.
Ends weak. Disney sitcom level not Disney movie level.
Randy says good job. Ellen PSB about Connick.
(Harry is her friend so we can expect lots more bad jokes at his expense.)
Kara thinks last week was better, predicts he’ll
be here next week. Simon agrees with Kara thinks Aaron was mousie. All
the judges talk up Sinatra.
Casey shirtless boy picks “Blue Skies” Harry tells
Casey not to screw it up. Struggles to keep on key. Second verse gets a
bit bluesie.
He’s losing control of the song. This is sucky
sucky singing. If you listen you can here Connick hitting the right notes
with a hammer.
Casey didn’t listen to Harry.
Randy is yowing, calls worst performance. Ellen
psb about Harry, (I told you so). Kara says it sucked less at the end
and Casey had vibrato that you could drive a
truck through. Simon says he’s uncomfortable, calls awkward and embarassed.
Connick says Casey was great in practice. I can
believe that because the arrangement was solid and Casey had shards of
a clue. Too bad.
Crystal Bowersox does “Summer Wind” She does a
solid Crystal version of the song. Sounds like one of the fifties chanteuses.
She could have been a bit sharper at the start,
it sounded a bit breathy.
Randy doesn’t know, calls it sleepy. Ellen says
it was better in the second half. Kara kinda likes it, says her phraseing
is good.
Simon thinks it was a bad song choice and the
first bit was too jazzy. “Too jazzy”? idiot. Crystal stands up for herself,
that’s usually a bad decision. I think the panel
will take its revenge on the uppity contestant.
Big Mike sings “The Way You Look Tonight”
So lets make a prediction. Mike will sing a smooth soul version with a
bit of falsetto at the end.
Surprisingly Mike does go a bit Frank on this
tune. The difference is Frank popped the notes when he went up tempo.
Big Mike was still a little too sliddy and legato.
I vote much improved.
Randy says Mike is in it to win it. Ellen says
Mike is comfortable.
Kara says Mike was dramatic and didn’t lose himself.
Simon says fantastic.
Lee DeWyze braves “That’s Life” This is probably
the hardest song to sing of the songs tonight.
Lee borrows something from Dr. John. He’s doing
the Connick version of the song and does a pretty good copy.
Better than Crystal (I thought I’d never write
that).
Randy says it was still rocker. Ellen psb, says
it was the best so far.
Kara tells him to write "I can win" 100 times
. Simon gives props to Harry, agrees with Ellen.
Bye bye Casey.
I gotta agree with Simon. Harry Connick did a
great job with the idol kids. He even made a valiant, but futile, effort
to save Casey.
That’s more than the regular band ever did. I'm
betting it was Harry that pushed Big Mike out of doing his same old schtick.
Buzzcook