American Idol Top 5 week recap

Now that we’re down to an all-girl top 5 on American Idol, things are getting really interesting. All in all the singers did very well last night with a few issues regarding song choice and arrangement mixed in. but in general, the competition is really heating up and it seems like each and every contestant is stepping up her game.

Angie Miller singing “I’ll Stand By You” Photo courtesy of Denver.metromix.com and Michael Becker of FOX

Here’s how I rank last night’s first performances:

1. Angie

2. Kree

3. Candice

4. Amber

5. Janelle

Last night’s second performances:

1. Angie

2. Amber

3. Kree

4. Candice

5. Janelle

Overall (with brief commentary):

1. Angie – She made a great song choice for both rounds. The first was heartfelt, emotional and flat out outstanding. The second was right on the money, so powerful and beautiful.

2. Kree – Her smooth, engaging voice and wonderful tone allowed for a pretty good first performance. However, the second really showed off her range and was well done.

3. Amber – The first song was in her wheelhouse, a bit soft but good in the higher parts. The second was classy and simple with and was beautifully subtle.

4. Candice – The first song was done a bit too slow. It was good but not her best. The second was good but didn’t show off her range until the end.

5. Janelle – The first song was classic country. It was simple but not bad overall. The second was more upbeat and came across as a fun, catchy tune. It worked out well. 

Final thoughts:

While there were some memorable performances last night, some of the ladies didn’t make the greatest song choices. This was especially true of the firth round of songs. Angie has always been among the top contenders but she more that redeemed herself after a bit of a drop off last week. Conversely, Candice made a bad arrangement choice in her first song and didn’t really play to her biggest strengths. She’ll still be around after tonight but she has shown her vulnerability. Going into the night, the bottom spot was likely to be a battle between Amber and Janelle. But last night, Amber’s second performance probably saved her and then some. We’ll see how thing play out tonight.

Reminiscing about monster ballads

I’m a fairly young guy (although I consider myself a child of the 80′s). But from time to I get a bit nostalgic. The other day I was riding as the passenger in a short drive and listening to the radio. On came the classic Poison track “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” and it got me thinking about the great so-called monster ballads of the 1980s.

In that decade, “hair bands”  ruled the charts with their often hard rock style but every once in a while they took the risk to show their tender side. Here are just a few examples of some of the ones that really rocked.

The aforementioned ”Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” by Poison

“I’ll Be There For You” by Bon Jovi

“Faithfully” by Journey

“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses

 

Well, hopefully you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me.

Music review – We see a new side of Carrie Underwood in “Blown Away”

Carrie Underwood has been a mainstay on the country and pop music charts since her rise to fame as quite possibly the most successful winner of American Idol to date.

Her newest release “Blown Away” does feature some classic Carrie elements but also seems to venture into new territory with mixed results. Several songs include some surprisingly electronic beats and some have lyrics of a deeper, darker nature than anything else we’ve seen from Underwood in the past.

The most notable tracks on the album include “See You Again,” “One Way Ticket,” “Do You Think About Me,” Nobody Ever Told You” and “Who Are You.” Between these songs Underwood delivers a little bit of traditional country but mostly a mix of fun and uplifting music and lyrics with a lot of pop.

The lesser quality tracks would have to include “Two Black Cadillacs,” “Thank God For Hometowns” and “Cupid’s Got A Shotgun.” The first has a fairly traditional country vibe but is extremely dark. The other two go the extreme country route as well with the first being too basic and the second coming across a bit cheesey.

The rest of the tracks are pretty decent but nothing outstanding.

All in all, “Blown Away” is probably not one of Underwood’s best efforts but it is still far better than most of the music out there. I would give it a grade of a B-.

American Idol Top 3 Recap

The top three performances had some ups and down and gave us an extremely tight level of competition. While there where several very good performances, none seemed to really stand out head and shoulders above the rest. It should be an interesting vote this week.

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SONGS CHOSEN BY THE JUDGES:

1.  (Tie) Jessica and Phillip

3. Joshua

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE CONTENT CHOSEN SONGS:

1. Jessica 

2. Joshua

3. Phillip

HERE’S HOW I RATE THE SONGS CHOSEN BY JIMMY:

1. Phillip

2. Jessica

3. Joshua

OVERALL:

1. Jessica - Very solid overall with great tone and vocals. There where a few issues with song choices and lack of defining moments but she provided good performances all in all.

2. Phillip - Stepped up his game this week, especially in round one and three. His cool, funky, vibe is by far the most unique sound among the final three.

3. Joshua – He had the pipes and showed a ton of confidence but his over the top screaming and vibrato could be a killer.

Side Notes:

I was thoroughly disappointed with Jimmy’s song choices. This songs for Joshua and Jessica where destined for a train wreck and lack of vocal challenge respectively. The only one that worked was the song for Phillip. Conversely, the judges’ choices worked out to be a nice fit. Jessica took a huge risk going with “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” considering it was seemingly out of her comfort zone. The risk paid off as she aced it.