Citation :And then there were 10
With last week's eviction of Kevin Covais, the American Idol competition stiffens and the grooming chores get tougher as our quartet of coaches eyes the narrowing race (8 p.m. ET/PT tonight)."Kevin was too easy a target," says music critic and author Don Waller. "Barry Manilow was right to tone his delivery down, but the advice didn't take and once again he wound up sounding like Jim Nabors."
Rona Elliot, left, Gene Sculatti, Don Waller and Rich Martini are watching and analyzing American Idol. Rona Elliot, left, Gene Sculatti, Don Waller and Rich Martini are watching and analyzing American Idol.
By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
This week, our Idol coaches look at the remaining candidates' performances from 1950s Night. Waller, music journalist Rona Elliot, filmmaker Rich Martini and author/critic Gene Sculatti assess the contestants' skills and vulnerabilities and provide tips that may keep them in the game.
Bucky Covington: Swap 'Oh Boy' for 'old boy'
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Bucky Covington
Sculatti: Bucky's a good old boy, which the producers have pounded into our heads by judicious editing of videos, and I give him points for straying out of his midtempo blues-rock comfort zone. The arrangement that Barry Manilow came up with (for Oh Boy) didn't do him any favors. Simple, straightforward '50s rock has gone so out of the culture people don't know how to handle it anymore. It was contemporized and gussied up. Bucky stumbled a bit at the end. He might have fared better if he'd just rocked out. A lack of confidence may be tripping him up. As weeks go on, these singers have to show more sides or use illusions by sticking to their strengths while appearing to stretch. Bucky's in a bind. He's like a candidate in a national election who can't win unless he gets the undecided voters. Taking a big leap probably won't do it.
Martini: This Oh Boy was more "Oy vey." The repetitive Buddy Holly tune doesn't hold up. The mike tossing didn't help. Way too karaoke. He should sing only tunes that fit him like an old boot. Bucky's got to get hold of a Vince Gill or Clint Black tune and let it fly, not think about bopping, but just stand his ground and let it rip. He's got the Southern cred and doesn't need to pose or dance. If he wants to stick around, he should give each note his all.
Elliot: He had all the right moves and the Southern mojo, but the sizzle has gone flat. This sweet little '50s classic needed enthusiasm, energy and a kind of raw and innocent sensuality and discovery. Going steady! Feeling that wacky hormonal teenage rush! None of that was in the performance. The second half of the song picked up a little and the vocals got better, but it lacked a knockout punch.
Waller: Weak performance, thanks in part to the soggy arrangement, even with adding a key change that Holly didn't need in his original. Sounded like he was fronting a '70s bar band on their fourth set — and fifth — of the night. He's not a powerful or clever enough singer, nor an energetic enough performer, to hold an audience's attention or carry a band on his back. He must prove capable of doing something more than just tossing everything into the same Southern rock crockpot.
Lisa Tucker: Tell us who you are
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Lisa Tucker
Sculatti: Beyond being an affable showbiz kid with a good voice, she hasn't told us who she is yet. There's potential, but it's getting dark out, and she'll have to show something soon. What can move her ahead quickly is a killer performance. Mandisa can sing anything and knows who she is. Taylor picks stuff just right for him. I don't know what else Lisa can show. The Frankie Lymon song was youthful and exuberant, which reinforces the basic conception of her, but she needs two great songs that pull us in and tell us, "This is who I am." Though Paris handled Fever pretty well, I don't think taking on more mature material is the cure-all for Lisa. On the style front, she looked like one of The Jets.
Martini:Why Do Fools Fall in Love with this lightweight tune? Lisa was already on the rocks, and this rendition barely puts her back in the pool. She sported a cute campy '50s outfit but didn't show off her voice or seem connected emotionally to this overplayed tune. She should pick a song that's an audience favorite and shows how strong her voice is, then sing every note as if it's her last. And it probably will be, at least until the Idol summer tour.
Elliot: Lisa is running out of gas. She's got the pipes, but I think her maturity works against her age. Lymon's teen ditty is a fun, light-hearted disposable pop song, and Lisa just couldn't lighten up sufficiently to deliver it in that spirit. All her training got in the way. There was energy and poise, but no fun, no spark, no release. For Lisa to stay in the game, she'll need to live inside a song until she can feel the groove and lose all the training that's taken her this far.
Waller: Stiff performance. All the multiple, ultimately pointless key changes aside, she still wound up sounding like an airline stewardess, closer to Diana Ross's 1981 cover than Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers' lung-pumping original. Costuming that made her look like she was in a high school production of Grease didn't do her any favors, either. She's like a star high school athlete trying to make the transition into the pros, and she seems perplexed that people aren't simply blown away. She must find material that allows her to showcase her vocal skills without thinking so much about trying to hit the next glass-shattering note.
Kellie Pickler: Sing it like you mean it
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Kellie Pickler
Sculatti: After a bad week, she got back in the saddle. She's an unaffected young singer with a pretty good voice and strengths in roots-oriented rock and country. People like Katharine McPhee can go in a store and try on several items that fit, but Kellie is out of her depth in jazzy and R&B stuff. What it's going to take is a triumphant reading of something out of the box but not untrue to who she is, nailing a song that's right for her. Maybe she should go for something unfamiliar that reveals more about her, a good John Hiatt song or a song by Elvis Costello, who's written rootsy and country material. It would give us another look at her rather than just amplify what she's done.
Martini: While she gave this old Patsy Cline tune a sexy sparkle and a great finish, she seemed distracted navigating the stairs and the set. She should follow the steps of last year's winner, Carrie Underwood, and play her Southern roots to the hilt. They're from the same cut of cloth, and Carrie knew how to work the twangy Southern belle routine. Kellie's blond moment was her reply to Simon's minx comment: "I thought you were calling me a coat." Better to let the singing do the talking.
Elliot: I like Kellie's disposition and authenticity, and while Walking After Midnight should have been a perfect fit, she was emotionally flat. It was too mature, and she couldn't pull off the suffering and anguish. Her voice sounded good but the whole thing was a real mismatch. Kellie was working it too hard, walking the stage, playing to the judges but never getting into the soul of the song. Kellie, you've got to live the song or you'll be gone. Personality has taken you as far as you can go.
Waller: Ripping a page from the Patsy Cline songbook was a good idea, but didn't anyone else notice that her "that's why the Hooters waitress is a vamp" performance was completely at odds with the lyrics? Like this fembot needs us to tell her how to sell s-e-x? As long as they keep making Viagra, she's got a guaranteed fanbase. As for her tongue-tied interview segments, well, you can't get there from here when there's no here there.
Mandisa
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Mandisa
Martini: "Open big and end big," was Barry Manilow's advice. I agree, it took her a bit to take this song off the runway, although the last note redeemed it. The new Patti LaBelle look works; her streaked hair and slinky style helped her light up the stage.
Waller: Good, if rather standard blues performance. Far brassier than Dinah Washington's take on the tune, which no one mentioned was originally a hit for country star Hank Snow. Big props to her hair stylist. Her vocals still lack distinctive character and she still needs to find a definitive piece of house-wrecking material. I still want to hear what she sounds like in a jazz context. She must prove she's a star as opposed to a backing vocalist.
Elliot: She couldn't have been any better, and it's a testament to her self-confidence to pull off a Dinah Washington song. Mandisa exhibited some coy sexuality that's new, including a little growling, which let you see she was willing to loosen up her control, a little. She was all-present singing I Don't Hurt Anymore and displayed unexpected sophistication for the first time. If she wants, she could carve out a "serious" music career in jazz, standards, pop, soul, you name it. Mandisa is spearheading the battle and may yet vanquish the others. The versatility and depth she has naturally make her more potent, but she has to watch her back. There is still something that's missing overall in her but I can't put my finger on it.
Paris
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Paris Bennett
Martini: I love Paris in the springtime. She commands the stage and knows how to rip up a tune. Sultry and confident in her yellow dress, she turned the heat up on Fever, and if she keeps this temperature up, she'll sail through to the end.
Waller: Smokin' performance. Sang — and sold — the song well. Retro hairdo and costuming helped. Reminiscent of a child actress, she steps into the spotlight and becomes this other person. (Difference between her and, say, Scarlett Johansson, is we don't see Scarlett off-camera right before she does her scenes with Bill Murray.) Again, everyone seems to have forgotten that the late great Little Willie John cut a similarly smouldering version of the song that was an R&B hit two years before Peggy Lee's more ice-blue rendition of the tune. She didn't need the vocal gymnastics at the end and could've taken everything down to a whispered ending for even greater effect. Let her purr.
Elliot: There's no way else to explain it: this girl is channeling some historic performers and they're providing good advice from the other side! You just know Paris never heard that Peggy Lee version of Fever. Even if she studied it, she made it her own, absolutely. She brought a searing, convincing maturity to the song, took the heat way down in it and exercised total control on the stage. Instead of burning up, she sang Fever with a controlled restraint that made her performance even more potent. Her stage presence was impeccable, and she makes it seem effortless. Paris is going the distance in this race. The only question is — what is the distinction going to be between the last few when there is so much talent?
Chris
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Chris Daughtry
Martini: Chris walked this Line with a brilliant twist on a classic tune. I had no idea where he was going and was impressed from start to finish, easily the best of the night. Kudos for the new scruffy-face look, but don't forget to let the audience know you're having fun up there.
Waller: If Ikea sold alternative-rock vocalists, they'd sound and look like this. As anyone who's heard, say (ex-Screaming Trees/ Queens of the Stone Age/solo artist) Mark Lanegan, knows, this guy's no Mark Lanegan. By the way, that penguin-in-bondage arrangement came courtesy of Live, who are currently — and deservedly — residing in the "Where Are They Now?" file. Chris has got to prove he's more than a one-trick pony. They shoot horses, don't they?
Sculatti: The judges keep crediting Chris for being "who you are." It's almost an illusion because he does that by dragging in every anguished alt-rock trick out there.He's actually very conservative. And he doesn't need to be.
Elliot: The intensity he demonstrated with I Walk the Line makes him a contender as the race narrows. Chris shows that compelling rock star persona which, combined with a soulful quality, makes him extremely appealing while elevating him to the heartthrob category. He knows his strength and works it, albeit relentlessly. I Walk the Line showed a laser-sharp focus and compressed energy, which all great rock talents must have to keep the audience eyes on them alone. It was a misstep perhaps not to give credit for the song's arrangement to the group Live, but for most viewers it won't make a difference. Chris needs to deliver another home run, with another unexpected selection, then he's home free to the final four. He remains the singer easiest to imagine in a stadium with spotlights on him and girls eagerly throwing their panties his way!
Katharine
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Katharine McPhee
Martini: Yes, she's seasoned, she's got a big voice, but I felt like I was watching a Vegas rendition of a Broadway tune. She eschewed her muumuu for the silky, slinky look, and it added needed notes of sophistication. Looking forward to hearing Mac sing a tearjerker.
Waller: Sultry performance — reminiscent of Michelle Pfeiffer as the lounge singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys (minus the crawling around on the piano). But her unnecessarily ornate vocals led to a couple of badly missed notes. Yeah, I know she was trying to do Ella Fitzgerald, but she would've been better off to focus more on the drama inherent in the lyrics than the vocal curlicues. And while it was recorded many times in the '50s — Ray Charles did it better than anyone — this Johnny Mercer-Harold Arlen song dates back to 1947. She's gotta shake the unmistakable air of having just stepped off the set of Desperate Housewives.
Sculatti: So far, Katharine is the person who seems to best handle a variety of familiar material.
Elliot: Katharine once again had the total package, the vocals, the subtleties, the facial expressions, the range, the goods. And she did what Manilow preached to each of the singers — own every word, come alive in the meaning of each word. She even pulled off a little growl (one would've expected more of a purr), which I found very appealing and appropriate. It's obvious Katharine has exceedingly high, exacting standards for every aspect of her performance, and they will keep her in the race until the end. If Katharine can continue to sizzle, and lose a little of the sugar, she might burn all the way to the top.
Taylor
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Taylor Hicks
Martini: I love his whiskey tenor, but Taylor's rendition of Not Fade Away made me want to. He knows how to sell it, but while showing off his charm, he didn't show off his great chops.
Sculatti: We've got to see something else from him, something reflective or introspective or genuinely romantic. I love him, but is there more to this guy than just a good-time party singer?
Waller: Most disappointing performance of the night. Exceptionally poor song choice; not near enough melody to showcase his vocal abilities. And whoever did the arrangement doesn't know (Bo) Diddley about power or dynamics. The Rolling Stones already did the definitive version of Not Fade Away back in 1964, and there's no way a guy who dances like a panda bear is going to match Mick Jagger's footwork. The sub-Bruce Springsteen/Clarence Clemons shtick with the tenor sax player was embarrassing. Realizing he was drowning, he attempted to salvage the performance with time-honored audience invasion technique. If he's going to outperform the more skilled vocalists, he's going to have to do some serious work on his choreography. He also needs to lose the white shoes and restrict his wearing of light colors to accents. Speaking of material, he's gotta realize he's a rhythm 'n' blues, not a blues, singer.
Elliot: Love the guy, almost impossible not to. He delivered pretty well with Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away, but didn't bring down the house. The tune is not a scorcher but he did a heartfelt interpretation. I particularly liked his interaction with the horn player — it was real. His voice is a killer, and his charisma is off the charts. Taylor knows the right material for him and he can move. I've seen Joe Cocker dozens of times around the world, and Taylor can move much better than Joe Cocker ever has. The challenge here will be to pick something unexpected, then suffuse it with heart and soul and surprise us.
Elliott
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Elliott Yamin
Martini: Al Jarreau may have scored with this song, but I think Elliott swung and missed. It's a technical tune that shows off arpeggios and complexities but won't win any pop contests. That big old tie made him look like a guy who takes the microphone at a wedding. A song choice should come from the heart, not the head; pick tunes that highlight your talent from start to finish.
Waller: Undone collar, loosened tie, untucked shirt, no jacket: Who's picking up the check for styling this guy? Even with the new goatee, he still has the charm of an empty refrigerator. This performance of a song that was pure corn syrup to begin with was about as exciting as watching a block of ice melt. Put him in a white tuxedo. Let him sing something, anything uptempo or, failing that, some big doomed ballads that would showcase his ability to sing a melody made up of long, sustained notes. Somebody needs to slap the taste for schlock out of his mouth.
Elliot: Oh, if there were a shrink on this show! I think Elliot has the most subtle and sophisticated taste and delivery in his musical choices of just about anyone in this group. But, because his charisma rating is lower, his sense of music understanding and stylistic delivery is sometimes overlooked. The guy really needs a coach to teach him to breathe more naturally and to find his true funky self. But those pipes! For Teach Me Tonight, I would've liked to see him a little more relaxed. He's got the vocals, usually in a distinct category every week, but he'll need to dig deeper to claim his own territory.
Ace
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Ace Young
Martini: Ace was sexy, sultry but snoozy. It wasn't that strong of a vocal, and it verged on putting this Nemo into slumberland. I was waiting for the tune to catch a wave, but he seemed to surf along casually until the great falsetto finish. I'd like to see him rock one out.
Waller: Mediocre performance, no thanks to the pseudo-jazz arrangement. Would've preferred to hear him sing the whole thing in falsetto with as close to an a capella arrangement as possible. If he's going to persist in singing these romantic ballads, get him out of that skate-rat wear and into an Italian suit. And buy him another facial expression while you're at it. The last animate object that looked at me like that was a golden retriever.
Elliot: Ace surprisingly pulled off the 5 Satins' In the Still of the Night, the great make-out song of the '50s. Having made out to this dozens of times, I feel I'm in a position to evaluate the tune, so there! I thought his performance the week before was pushing him out of the race, so it was nice to see him come back strong with a song that has no depth and little meaning but enormous standing in the great pantheon of rock and pop classics. This is a slow dance, and with Ace's soulful interpretation you could see it sweatily happening before your eyes. He was sweet and sexy but not threatening. Ace is the boy-band guy, who couldn't be a rock star without a sensibility transplant. To remain a contender, he needs to knock one out of the water in a truly unexpected way. His singing, range of talent and experience aren't enough to win, but if he finds a passion, it could keep him in the game a few weeks.
source:US today online
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