Anoop. Kicking off the show, plus negative judges' comments: not a good thing.
I actually thought he was a bit better than usual, more relaxed. It was fun to see him working the crowd. Vocal was weak, though; he wasn't really hitting the high notes; it reminded me of My Prerogative. He could use some vocal training. Unfortunately, I think without that, this is as good as he gets, right now.
Megan has such an odd voice. I try but I can't get totally used to the sound. I thought for once she wasn't bad. Not great but not as bad as usual. The judges' comments bothered me. Not because of anything I disagreed with, but because they just aren't very good judges, and they really prove it every once in a while, in their inarticulate rambling.
Danny. I think I say something like this every week: he has a pretty amazing voice.
I don't especially love his taste in songs, but they do show who he is as an artist and what he wants to do as a recording artist (I think). He usually sounds very professional and polished, and this is maybe his best feature, to me. I really do like listening to him. His worst is that he's not a very interesting singer, sometimes. I don't especially find myself looking forward to his performances. He doesn't touch me a lot, even if Kara (I think it was) said he moved everyone in the audience tonight. Maybe you had to be there.
Allison was supposed to look (as Simon says) "current," I guess, but she looked like Pebbles, from the Flintstones, to me. All that was missing was a bone in her hair. I think her "look" did detract/distract a bit from her performance. But, hey, was it necessary for the camera to start at her feet and pan up her body to her head, three times (I think) ? No need to embarrass the poor kid.
Her performance was okay. I don't really get the love. I don't think she's so original, and I don't think her tone is all that nice to hear. I wrote in my notes, "She just always seems to be copying a rockstar style." Sort of similar to Simon's comments.
Scott definitely did give his best performance so far. I didn't love his actual singing but he was much better than usual, more connected, sincere, and mature. He needs to learn how to use what he's got a little better. For instance, he needs to stop sustaining notes, because he can't. He goes flat/sharp and strident when he tries to. He doesn't really know how to play his strengths and weaknesses.
I really didn't get Matt at all; the staging was a little unfortunate because he was presented as an idol and you have to be an idol to pull that off. I don't dislike him. I just don't get the love for his voice. He just seems to be off key all the time, to me. And kind of bleating.
Lil gave a pretty good performance (in yet another hairstyle); it was a good vocal, she has a good voice, but no magnetism, or something. She's really just not an artist, as far as I can tell. She would have been proving it week after week, by now, if she was. Part of it seems to be she has this killer diva voice but she just isn't a diva and can't really either get down and dirty, or else spiritual and uplifting. Or emotional. She's nice. Too nice for show business, probably.
Adam is awesomely talented, in terms of what he can do with his voice. And he seems to get those incredible effects without a whole lot of effort. In a way it's almost like he's too talented. In other words, how much do you like a display of talent, vs. a display of artistry? (Okay, Kara used this word to describe Kris, but I'm not using it for that reason or trying to compare them. It's something I've thought about a lot, re Adam.) Tonight was mostly a display of talent, and his talent amazes me. I would definitely go to one of his concerts. He even makes me like the kind of singing ("scream" singing, I call it) I usually can't stand.
Some time around boring performance number five or six, tonight, it occurred to me that Kris might get the pimp spot, or at least the next-to-last spot, and I thought, "Great, just as long as he doesn't have to follow Adam." Because I thought that would be the most jinxed pimp spot of all time. But he was absolutely awesome. In my not very humble opinion. He gets great effects and connects to the song without the overdone shouting, showing off, whatever, of a lot of performances, yet he really kills it. I love that. Plus, I get almost a lump in my throat listening to him sing, and I get that with very few singers. Great song choice, also (great song, period). Unfortunately, whoever gets the pimp spot gets truncated judges' comments, because of time restraints (because the frikkin' Osbornes Reloaded has to be seen by the world). Btw, Simon apparently is never going to give Kris a true rave, which I think costs him votes every time.
I actually thought he was a bit better than usual, more relaxed. It was fun to see him working the crowd. Vocal was weak, though; he wasn't really hitting the high notes; it reminded me of My Prerogative. He could use some vocal training. Unfortunately, I think without that, this is as good as he gets, right now.
Megan has such an odd voice. I try but I can't get totally used to the sound. I thought for once she wasn't bad. Not great but not as bad as usual. The judges' comments bothered me. Not because of anything I disagreed with, but because they just aren't very good judges, and they really prove it every once in a while, in their inarticulate rambling.
Danny. I think I say something like this every week: he has a pretty amazing voice.
I don't especially love his taste in songs, but they do show who he is as an artist and what he wants to do as a recording artist (I think). He usually sounds very professional and polished, and this is maybe his best feature, to me. I really do like listening to him. His worst is that he's not a very interesting singer, sometimes. I don't especially find myself looking forward to his performances. He doesn't touch me a lot, even if Kara (I think it was) said he moved everyone in the audience tonight. Maybe you had to be there.
Allison was supposed to look (as Simon says) "current," I guess, but she looked like Pebbles, from the Flintstones, to me. All that was missing was a bone in her hair. I think her "look" did detract/distract a bit from her performance. But, hey, was it necessary for the camera to start at her feet and pan up her body to her head, three times (I think) ? No need to embarrass the poor kid.
Her performance was okay. I don't really get the love. I don't think she's so original, and I don't think her tone is all that nice to hear. I wrote in my notes, "She just always seems to be copying a rockstar style." Sort of similar to Simon's comments.
Scott definitely did give his best performance so far. I didn't love his actual singing but he was much better than usual, more connected, sincere, and mature. He needs to learn how to use what he's got a little better. For instance, he needs to stop sustaining notes, because he can't. He goes flat/sharp and strident when he tries to. He doesn't really know how to play his strengths and weaknesses.
I really didn't get Matt at all; the staging was a little unfortunate because he was presented as an idol and you have to be an idol to pull that off. I don't dislike him. I just don't get the love for his voice. He just seems to be off key all the time, to me. And kind of bleating.
Lil gave a pretty good performance (in yet another hairstyle); it was a good vocal, she has a good voice, but no magnetism, or something. She's really just not an artist, as far as I can tell. She would have been proving it week after week, by now, if she was. Part of it seems to be she has this killer diva voice but she just isn't a diva and can't really either get down and dirty, or else spiritual and uplifting. Or emotional. She's nice. Too nice for show business, probably.
Adam is awesomely talented, in terms of what he can do with his voice. And he seems to get those incredible effects without a whole lot of effort. In a way it's almost like he's too talented. In other words, how much do you like a display of talent, vs. a display of artistry? (Okay, Kara used this word to describe Kris, but I'm not using it for that reason or trying to compare them. It's something I've thought about a lot, re Adam.) Tonight was mostly a display of talent, and his talent amazes me. I would definitely go to one of his concerts. He even makes me like the kind of singing ("scream" singing, I call it) I usually can't stand.
Some time around boring performance number five or six, tonight, it occurred to me that Kris might get the pimp spot, or at least the next-to-last spot, and I thought, "Great, just as long as he doesn't have to follow Adam." Because I thought that would be the most jinxed pimp spot of all time. But he was absolutely awesome. In my not very humble opinion. He gets great effects and connects to the song without the overdone shouting, showing off, whatever, of a lot of performances, yet he really kills it. I love that. Plus, I get almost a lump in my throat listening to him sing, and I get that with very few singers. Great song choice, also (great song, period). Unfortunately, whoever gets the pimp spot gets truncated judges' comments, because of time restraints (because the frikkin' Osbornes Reloaded has to be seen by the world). Btw, Simon apparently is never going to give Kris a true rave, which I think costs him votes every time.
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Live is so much better even when it's absolutely drecky (and there have been some really horrific group sings - I'm looking at you Canadian Idol) But it's always better to see something performed live in the moment (even if it's live to tape) than played back on tape and edited with the live pretense. You lose some of the magic that way.