Five Alive
Well, we're getting close to the end now. Only two more shows, and after tonight, four more contestants. Will there be a double elimination next week? My hunches say there will be, but the Idols gang is remaining stubbornly tight-lipped, so I guess we just have to wait and see.
Last night's show was a good one, though not the best one of the season. There weren't many performances that really moved me - some were great, some okay, and a few that left me a little dissatisfied. At this point in the season, that's something of a disappointment - I'd really expect the Top 5 contestants to offer up consistently dazzling displays of talent, but instead, it remains a mixed bag.
I'm a sucker for audience participation songs. So maybe it's no surprise that I just loved Gift's performance of "End of the Road". For that one song, he looked like he had already won this thing and had the road for his first tour. He came off as completely confident, charismatic, and charming, and the audience was just loving it. Before the show began, the stage production manager announced there would be a group participation piece, but gave us no details as to what, saying only that it was a song "we all know". And the audience, as always happens in audience participation songs, came through brilliantly. And to cap it all off, he sang it beautifully, and turned it into what was undoubtedly the finest performance of the evening. Unfortunately, however, I found his Usher number less inspiring, more due to the song itself than anything Gift did (aside from muffing the beginning). As I feared, the song itself just isn't very compelling, and I was left underwhelmed. I can think of few contestants who really deserve a spot in the final, but Gift is definitely one of them - hopefully he'll make song choices that give him a chance to keep proving the talents that make him so great.
V had a nice contrast of songs that displayed both her vocal talents and her versatility. Strutting her stuff in Beyonce's "Work It Out" I enjoyed her display of fresh moves and sassy groove, and she handled the vocal challenges perfectly, and gave an excellent performance. At the other end of the spectrum, she treated Christina Aguilera's "I Turn To You" with just the right blend of delicacy and
power. I'll have to wait until I see the show on TV to see how she came across on the screen, but live, she did amazingly well. And of course, there is the topic that had everyone talking last night: Mara's criticisms of V. I know some of you disagree that there is any bias happening, but even as someone who has been very critical of V, I simply can't understand Mara's stance. She seems patently unwilling to acknowledge anything good about V's performances - aside from the surprising praise for "Call Me" - and also unwilling to give any actual constructive criticism. "Aikona"? While I can accept that it's possible Mara didn't enjoy V's Christina number, I fail to see a single aspect of the performance that warranted an "Aikona". There have been far worse performances throughout the Top 12 - off-key, mistimed, poorly performed deliveries - and none has earned such harsh criticism as V has been given. Mara often tends to give mild or lukewarm criticisms to contestants - pointing out that vocally, it was good, but the performance didn't match, or that it was good overall but there was no light and shade. There doesn't appear to be any hint of constructiveness in her pans of V, though. And when V legitimately questioned whether "Aikona" was meant as a good thing or a bad thing, the near-animosity in Mara's reply to her was staggering, as if it was inconceivable that V could have thought it was a good thing. I may make myself unpopular for voicing this opinion, but that's all it is - an opinion: I really believe that Mara simply does not want V to win this thing. It seems to me that Mara feels that V doesn't deserve it, and that V goes against everything that Mara believes Idols is for, so she refuses to give one of the strongest contestants of the season any support in making it any further. I'm not talking about racism, I'm talking about plain, simple bias - she has made up her mind as to whether she feels V should win, and nothing V can do will change her mind in that. At this point, I think V could have the whole of South Africa in tears, even get Randall to tell her that she has proven herself to be the Idol, and Mara would still sit there and defiantly say "It was okay." Obviously, Mara is entitled to her opinion, but she won't garner any respect for herself if she fails to demonstrate that her judgements are based on anything other than personal feelings rather than on the contestant's performance.
(Stepping down from soapbox)
I was very eager to hear Karin sing "Never Never" again, and I wasn't disappointed. It's amazing, the change and progress she has made, and yet manages to retain the simple, unaffected beauty of her voice. And the transformation from the timid girl in fishnets in Capetown to the increasingly confident and beautiful woman we see in the Hippodrome each week is nothing short of amazing. However, I found her second song surprisingly underwhelming, yet was a little (pleaantly) surprised when even Gareth gave it a less than glowing review. A combination of uncompelling song and uninspiring performance canceled out her vocal abilities and left me less than impressed. Not that I think she has anything to worry about, but I have seen better - both from her and the other contestants.
Nicky escaped my pre-show elimination predictions this week, due mainly to the fact that she has surprised me with her ability to pull off some notoriously difficult songs. Unfortunately, it seems to me that it's the challenging ones that Nicky does best. She did pretty well with "Small Room" but perhaps due to my unfamiliarity with the song, I just wasn't blown away. And with Jewel, she got off to a slow and uninspiring start, but she nailed the chorus and rallied back to deliver an enjoyable song that should see her through to next week.
Before I begin on Nhlanhla, I do want to say this: last week I mentioned that I've noticed a distant attitude in Nhlanhla both on and off the stage. Last night, after the show, I saw the "old" Nhlanhla - smiling, happy, energetic. I even managed to get a picture of him - a feat that I had struggled to accomplish since the shot I got of him at the first Top 12 show. Nhlanhla is confident that he is staying true to his talent and has decided that he won't let what others might think of his performance - if he knows that he is doing his best, and that he is doing it well, then that's enough for him. For that, I have to commend him, and it was a real pleasure to see him having fun and just living it up last night. Good to have him back.
Unfortunately, while his change it demeanor won me over, his performances failed to do so. I'm not going to rehash the same, tired criticisms that I have over the past few weeks, aside from saying that once again, he is a stunning stage performer, and he is a lot of fun to watch. If his vocals could regain the pleasant quality that I enjoyed in the beginning, he'd be a serious contender in this competition. Unfortunately, I still believe it will be Nhlanhla who says goodbye tonight, and I honestly do think that's a shame. However, I am sure that even if tonight does prove to be the end of his Idols journey, he has made his mark on South Africa, and he has done both himself and his mother proud, and we're very likely to hear much more of him in the future.
--
For the first time last night, I noticed some of the judges really checking out the audience reactions during the songs. Dave, especially, would scan the audience, apparently trying to get a feel for how they were receiving each performance. He says he trusts their judgements, and in the end, I think he's right to do so. The main concern of any producer is that people will buy the CDs, and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if he loves them, or Mara loves them, or even if 51% of the country loves them - if the audience is loving the performance, then that's what really matters - and you don't need an Idols crown to prove that you're a star.
Last night's show was a good one, though not the best one of the season. There weren't many performances that really moved me - some were great, some okay, and a few that left me a little dissatisfied. At this point in the season, that's something of a disappointment - I'd really expect the Top 5 contestants to offer up consistently dazzling displays of talent, but instead, it remains a mixed bag.
I'm a sucker for audience participation songs. So maybe it's no surprise that I just loved Gift's performance of "End of the Road". For that one song, he looked like he had already won this thing and had the road for his first tour. He came off as completely confident, charismatic, and charming, and the audience was just loving it. Before the show began, the stage production manager announced there would be a group participation piece, but gave us no details as to what, saying only that it was a song "we all know". And the audience, as always happens in audience participation songs, came through brilliantly. And to cap it all off, he sang it beautifully, and turned it into what was undoubtedly the finest performance of the evening. Unfortunately, however, I found his Usher number less inspiring, more due to the song itself than anything Gift did (aside from muffing the beginning). As I feared, the song itself just isn't very compelling, and I was left underwhelmed. I can think of few contestants who really deserve a spot in the final, but Gift is definitely one of them - hopefully he'll make song choices that give him a chance to keep proving the talents that make him so great.
V had a nice contrast of songs that displayed both her vocal talents and her versatility. Strutting her stuff in Beyonce's "Work It Out" I enjoyed her display of fresh moves and sassy groove, and she handled the vocal challenges perfectly, and gave an excellent performance. At the other end of the spectrum, she treated Christina Aguilera's "I Turn To You" with just the right blend of delicacy and
power. I'll have to wait until I see the show on TV to see how she came across on the screen, but live, she did amazingly well. And of course, there is the topic that had everyone talking last night: Mara's criticisms of V. I know some of you disagree that there is any bias happening, but even as someone who has been very critical of V, I simply can't understand Mara's stance. She seems patently unwilling to acknowledge anything good about V's performances - aside from the surprising praise for "Call Me" - and also unwilling to give any actual constructive criticism. "Aikona"? While I can accept that it's possible Mara didn't enjoy V's Christina number, I fail to see a single aspect of the performance that warranted an "Aikona". There have been far worse performances throughout the Top 12 - off-key, mistimed, poorly performed deliveries - and none has earned such harsh criticism as V has been given. Mara often tends to give mild or lukewarm criticisms to contestants - pointing out that vocally, it was good, but the performance didn't match, or that it was good overall but there was no light and shade. There doesn't appear to be any hint of constructiveness in her pans of V, though. And when V legitimately questioned whether "Aikona" was meant as a good thing or a bad thing, the near-animosity in Mara's reply to her was staggering, as if it was inconceivable that V could have thought it was a good thing. I may make myself unpopular for voicing this opinion, but that's all it is - an opinion: I really believe that Mara simply does not want V to win this thing. It seems to me that Mara feels that V doesn't deserve it, and that V goes against everything that Mara believes Idols is for, so she refuses to give one of the strongest contestants of the season any support in making it any further. I'm not talking about racism, I'm talking about plain, simple bias - she has made up her mind as to whether she feels V should win, and nothing V can do will change her mind in that. At this point, I think V could have the whole of South Africa in tears, even get Randall to tell her that she has proven herself to be the Idol, and Mara would still sit there and defiantly say "It was okay." Obviously, Mara is entitled to her opinion, but she won't garner any respect for herself if she fails to demonstrate that her judgements are based on anything other than personal feelings rather than on the contestant's performance.
(Stepping down from soapbox)
I was very eager to hear Karin sing "Never Never" again, and I wasn't disappointed. It's amazing, the change and progress she has made, and yet manages to retain the simple, unaffected beauty of her voice. And the transformation from the timid girl in fishnets in Capetown to the increasingly confident and beautiful woman we see in the Hippodrome each week is nothing short of amazing. However, I found her second song surprisingly underwhelming, yet was a little (pleaantly) surprised when even Gareth gave it a less than glowing review. A combination of uncompelling song and uninspiring performance canceled out her vocal abilities and left me less than impressed. Not that I think she has anything to worry about, but I have seen better - both from her and the other contestants.
Nicky escaped my pre-show elimination predictions this week, due mainly to the fact that she has surprised me with her ability to pull off some notoriously difficult songs. Unfortunately, it seems to me that it's the challenging ones that Nicky does best. She did pretty well with "Small Room" but perhaps due to my unfamiliarity with the song, I just wasn't blown away. And with Jewel, she got off to a slow and uninspiring start, but she nailed the chorus and rallied back to deliver an enjoyable song that should see her through to next week.
Before I begin on Nhlanhla, I do want to say this: last week I mentioned that I've noticed a distant attitude in Nhlanhla both on and off the stage. Last night, after the show, I saw the "old" Nhlanhla - smiling, happy, energetic. I even managed to get a picture of him - a feat that I had struggled to accomplish since the shot I got of him at the first Top 12 show. Nhlanhla is confident that he is staying true to his talent and has decided that he won't let what others might think of his performance - if he knows that he is doing his best, and that he is doing it well, then that's enough for him. For that, I have to commend him, and it was a real pleasure to see him having fun and just living it up last night. Good to have him back.
Unfortunately, while his change it demeanor won me over, his performances failed to do so. I'm not going to rehash the same, tired criticisms that I have over the past few weeks, aside from saying that once again, he is a stunning stage performer, and he is a lot of fun to watch. If his vocals could regain the pleasant quality that I enjoyed in the beginning, he'd be a serious contender in this competition. Unfortunately, I still believe it will be Nhlanhla who says goodbye tonight, and I honestly do think that's a shame. However, I am sure that even if tonight does prove to be the end of his Idols journey, he has made his mark on South Africa, and he has done both himself and his mother proud, and we're very likely to hear much more of him in the future.
--
For the first time last night, I noticed some of the judges really checking out the audience reactions during the songs. Dave, especially, would scan the audience, apparently trying to get a feel for how they were receiving each performance. He says he trusts their judgements, and in the end, I think he's right to do so. The main concern of any producer is that people will buy the CDs, and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if he loves them, or Mara loves them, or even if 51% of the country loves them - if the audience is loving the performance, then that's what really matters - and you don't need an Idols crown to prove that you're a star.
posted by Julie at
9:28 PM
