Top 8: Dude, where's the talent?
Week in, week out, we hear what must be the most cliche phrase in Idols history: emotional rollercoaster. Well, I have to say, it's not just the contestants who are riding a rollercoaster. This thing has more ups and downs than a kangaroo on a pogo stick.
After last week's phenomenal performances, I was really anticipating being blown away this week. OK, to be fair, I was blown away - in all the wrong directions.
There wasn't a single performance this week that I would have rated outstanding. There were some very good ones, but only a very few, there were some mediocre ones, and then there were some that were just plain disappointing. Maybe I should have sensed trouble when the band made its reappearance, which I imagine will be the case from now until the end.
It all started with the eagerly-awaited group performance. As I've said, I've heard these guys sing together, and they do it so well. But tonight's group performance was quite the let-down. It felt rushed and uncohesive, and the choices for who sing together were puzzling and unbalanced. There were a few moments of pleasantness, especially during solo parts, but overall, it didn't live up to my expectations at all. But, I still held out hope for the individual performances.
So here's my rundown, in order of appearance.
She's been called Sister Ree, and South Africa's greatest Diva, and she picked a song that suited her talents to a tee. So how is it that Karin failed to give me goosebumps with this performance? While she shone as one of the night's best performances, I don't believe it was her best performance to date - in fact I think it may have been one of her weakest. It got off to a slow and lackluster start, but picked up in the middle enough to reassure me she still has it in her. However, for all of my hopes for this song, she failed to dazzle me, and left me feeling slightly disappointed. She did well enough to outshine most of her competition, and to secure her spot for next week, but I really hope she'll come back next week with one of those powerhouse performances that I've really come to expect from her.
A rollercoaster in her own right, Ayanda has alternated between disappointing me and amazing me. I held out some hope for her, thinking she had a pretty decent chance of really making a splash with Diana Ross' "Mountain High". So far, her best talent has been her energetic, funky stage presence, but tonight it all just seemed a bit off. Her delivery was rushed, her stage performance didn't quite match the song, and her vocal ability was less than excellent. She's walking a fine line, here, and while I'd love to see her go farther, those old doubts about her ability are starting to come back again...
If there is one thing I have to give V credit for, it's consistency. Aside from a disappointing first week, she's given near-perfect vocal performances every single time. However, she's just as consistent in her inability to connect to me. I did quite enjoy her tongue-in-cheek dedication of the song to Randall, confirming what we all knew - that she was basically telling Randall to stuff it. But I found her performance nearly identical to all of her others, so I was a tiny bit puzzled by Randall's sudden turn around. It may have been faint praise, but it's the highest praise she's gotten from him so far. However, in a night of really disappointing performances, V's was one of the better ones, so there's something to be said for that.
I called it the most frequently butchered song in Idols, and tonight didn't do much to alleviate that. I like Nhlanhla, but I had a few problems with his performance tonight. Firstly, the reedy quality in his voice that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago was back in full force tonight. Secondly, there's a reason why men don't sing "Killing Me Softly". I think if he'd changed it to a song about a woman, it might have made a little bit more sense, but there was such a disconnect between hearing the song sung by a man, about a man, that it lost a lot of its emotional weight. And what emotional weight might have been left was erased by his attempts to "hip" the song up. If he'd stuck to a slightly altered cover of the Roberta Flack version, I think he'd have been a lot more successful. He'll still be here next week, I am sure, but I hope he'll take some of the judges' criticism to heart and come back with a song more suited to his abilities.
I know, I know. Deidre battled with voice problems over the past week. Unfortunately, it showed in a very big way tonight. Had she delivered tonight's performance in a first round audition, I don't think she would have made it through. Her voice was weak, wavery and her performance was completely uninspiring. My heart broke for her, knowing that health issues were probably a huge factor this evening, but she has definitely landed herself squarely in the danger zone, and it's very possible that she'll be going home tomorrow. If she's lucky, her fanbase will help save her from this week's bad luck and give her another chance to show us why she belongs up there with the rest of them, but either way, I think her days are numbered. However, even if tomorrow does prove to be the end of the road for her, I think she can bank on a decent career for herself, because she has definitely proven herself to be a talented, energetic singer who is just so easy to love.
Martelize is just as easy to love. She's such a sweetheart, and she really does have a strong talent. However, I think she was once again let down by a combination of song choice and nerves. She fell a little flat on the low notes, and sounded slightly screechy on the high notes. It was a lackluster performance, and considering the fact that I think she's been walking a very fine line these last few weeks, I think she's also facing a very real danger of going home tomorrow.
And then there's Nicky, who I don't think I can make predictions about tomorrow. It wasn't perfect, but she did a damn good job with one of the most technically challenging songs we've heard so far. Oddly enough, I thought it was the low notes that proved to be her weakest this week, but all in all, she did decent justice to "My Immortal", far surpassing my most optimistic expectations about her. The Burg must be just bursting at the seams this week...
And finally, there's Gift. Sexy, smooth, and sultry, I thought he'd nail "Fever". Turns out he seemed to be phoning it in. One of the things I like most about Gift is the fact that he can usually make me feel like he's singing directly to me. Tonight, however, he was distracted, disconnected, and vocally overwhelming, though I have to say that I think the overall sound quality took a sudden, drastic turn for the worse during his performance. There was almost no hint of bass in his voice, leaving him sounding thin and distant. I'll chalk tonight up as a fluke, and pray that his fanbase will see him through to next week, but he definitely can't afford to slip up again.
So who will bid adieu tomorrow night? I don't think it's ever been so difficult to say. While I thought her performance was better than Deidre's this week, I think her lack of such a strong fanbase will be Ayanda's downfall, and once again, she's my prediction for tonight's casualty. My perfect streak was broken last week, though, so we will just have to wait and see what happens...
--
Colin has been flying under my radar a bit last week, not because he's been doing well, necessarily, but more because he hasn't been doing painfully badly. Hints of that old, awkward lack of charisma started creeping back in again, along with yet another embarassing mistake when he called Deidre Martelize. Sure, it can't be easy, being up there live, under the lights, in the boiler room that is the Hippodrome, but my standards for presenter are nearly as high as my standards for the contestants, and I have to say, Colin just does not live up to them. If there is an Idols next year, I really hope they'll look into either a co-presenter, or someone entirely new.
And once again, the band is back. I guess they were out of the picture for the first few weeks because of the sheer volume of contestants that were present, but now that it's been whittled down to a more manageable number, they've reappeared, and will likely be around for the rest of the season. They didn't sound too terrible tonight; indeed, they sounded better than most of the contestants, but I'm reserving judgement on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Only time will tell.
All in all, a severely disappointing evening, with some of the worst performances since the Top 24 rounds began. All I can do is hope that this means the rollercoaster is about to ramp back up again, and that next week will bring back some of the talent that we've been enjoying until now.
After last week's phenomenal performances, I was really anticipating being blown away this week. OK, to be fair, I was blown away - in all the wrong directions.
There wasn't a single performance this week that I would have rated outstanding. There were some very good ones, but only a very few, there were some mediocre ones, and then there were some that were just plain disappointing. Maybe I should have sensed trouble when the band made its reappearance, which I imagine will be the case from now until the end.
It all started with the eagerly-awaited group performance. As I've said, I've heard these guys sing together, and they do it so well. But tonight's group performance was quite the let-down. It felt rushed and uncohesive, and the choices for who sing together were puzzling and unbalanced. There were a few moments of pleasantness, especially during solo parts, but overall, it didn't live up to my expectations at all. But, I still held out hope for the individual performances.
So here's my rundown, in order of appearance.
She's been called Sister Ree, and South Africa's greatest Diva, and she picked a song that suited her talents to a tee. So how is it that Karin failed to give me goosebumps with this performance? While she shone as one of the night's best performances, I don't believe it was her best performance to date - in fact I think it may have been one of her weakest. It got off to a slow and lackluster start, but picked up in the middle enough to reassure me she still has it in her. However, for all of my hopes for this song, she failed to dazzle me, and left me feeling slightly disappointed. She did well enough to outshine most of her competition, and to secure her spot for next week, but I really hope she'll come back next week with one of those powerhouse performances that I've really come to expect from her.
A rollercoaster in her own right, Ayanda has alternated between disappointing me and amazing me. I held out some hope for her, thinking she had a pretty decent chance of really making a splash with Diana Ross' "Mountain High". So far, her best talent has been her energetic, funky stage presence, but tonight it all just seemed a bit off. Her delivery was rushed, her stage performance didn't quite match the song, and her vocal ability was less than excellent. She's walking a fine line, here, and while I'd love to see her go farther, those old doubts about her ability are starting to come back again...
If there is one thing I have to give V credit for, it's consistency. Aside from a disappointing first week, she's given near-perfect vocal performances every single time. However, she's just as consistent in her inability to connect to me. I did quite enjoy her tongue-in-cheek dedication of the song to Randall, confirming what we all knew - that she was basically telling Randall to stuff it. But I found her performance nearly identical to all of her others, so I was a tiny bit puzzled by Randall's sudden turn around. It may have been faint praise, but it's the highest praise she's gotten from him so far. However, in a night of really disappointing performances, V's was one of the better ones, so there's something to be said for that.
I called it the most frequently butchered song in Idols, and tonight didn't do much to alleviate that. I like Nhlanhla, but I had a few problems with his performance tonight. Firstly, the reedy quality in his voice that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago was back in full force tonight. Secondly, there's a reason why men don't sing "Killing Me Softly". I think if he'd changed it to a song about a woman, it might have made a little bit more sense, but there was such a disconnect between hearing the song sung by a man, about a man, that it lost a lot of its emotional weight. And what emotional weight might have been left was erased by his attempts to "hip" the song up. If he'd stuck to a slightly altered cover of the Roberta Flack version, I think he'd have been a lot more successful. He'll still be here next week, I am sure, but I hope he'll take some of the judges' criticism to heart and come back with a song more suited to his abilities.
I know, I know. Deidre battled with voice problems over the past week. Unfortunately, it showed in a very big way tonight. Had she delivered tonight's performance in a first round audition, I don't think she would have made it through. Her voice was weak, wavery and her performance was completely uninspiring. My heart broke for her, knowing that health issues were probably a huge factor this evening, but she has definitely landed herself squarely in the danger zone, and it's very possible that she'll be going home tomorrow. If she's lucky, her fanbase will help save her from this week's bad luck and give her another chance to show us why she belongs up there with the rest of them, but either way, I think her days are numbered. However, even if tomorrow does prove to be the end of the road for her, I think she can bank on a decent career for herself, because she has definitely proven herself to be a talented, energetic singer who is just so easy to love.
Martelize is just as easy to love. She's such a sweetheart, and she really does have a strong talent. However, I think she was once again let down by a combination of song choice and nerves. She fell a little flat on the low notes, and sounded slightly screechy on the high notes. It was a lackluster performance, and considering the fact that I think she's been walking a very fine line these last few weeks, I think she's also facing a very real danger of going home tomorrow.
And then there's Nicky, who I don't think I can make predictions about tomorrow. It wasn't perfect, but she did a damn good job with one of the most technically challenging songs we've heard so far. Oddly enough, I thought it was the low notes that proved to be her weakest this week, but all in all, she did decent justice to "My Immortal", far surpassing my most optimistic expectations about her. The Burg must be just bursting at the seams this week...
And finally, there's Gift. Sexy, smooth, and sultry, I thought he'd nail "Fever". Turns out he seemed to be phoning it in. One of the things I like most about Gift is the fact that he can usually make me feel like he's singing directly to me. Tonight, however, he was distracted, disconnected, and vocally overwhelming, though I have to say that I think the overall sound quality took a sudden, drastic turn for the worse during his performance. There was almost no hint of bass in his voice, leaving him sounding thin and distant. I'll chalk tonight up as a fluke, and pray that his fanbase will see him through to next week, but he definitely can't afford to slip up again.
So who will bid adieu tomorrow night? I don't think it's ever been so difficult to say. While I thought her performance was better than Deidre's this week, I think her lack of such a strong fanbase will be Ayanda's downfall, and once again, she's my prediction for tonight's casualty. My perfect streak was broken last week, though, so we will just have to wait and see what happens...
--
Colin has been flying under my radar a bit last week, not because he's been doing well, necessarily, but more because he hasn't been doing painfully badly. Hints of that old, awkward lack of charisma started creeping back in again, along with yet another embarassing mistake when he called Deidre Martelize. Sure, it can't be easy, being up there live, under the lights, in the boiler room that is the Hippodrome, but my standards for presenter are nearly as high as my standards for the contestants, and I have to say, Colin just does not live up to them. If there is an Idols next year, I really hope they'll look into either a co-presenter, or someone entirely new.
And once again, the band is back. I guess they were out of the picture for the first few weeks because of the sheer volume of contestants that were present, but now that it's been whittled down to a more manageable number, they've reappeared, and will likely be around for the rest of the season. They didn't sound too terrible tonight; indeed, they sounded better than most of the contestants, but I'm reserving judgement on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Only time will tell.
All in all, a severely disappointing evening, with some of the worst performances since the Top 24 rounds began. All I can do is hope that this means the rollercoaster is about to ramp back up again, and that next week will bring back some of the talent that we've been enjoying until now.
posted by Julie at
10:00 AM
