Tuesday, April 12, 2005

EVERYBODY'S HIGH ON CONSOLATION: It's time to get serious about American Idol 4. I find that as time goes on, the more my opinions align themselves with Simon's -- I am judging for the competition that he wants to run, for the type of singer he's looking for, and it's impossible to break out of that framework. So, as such:
  • Constantine gets it. This is a competition looking for a pop singer who can hit glory notes and oodles of charisma. It's not looking for a "rocker", and even if it were, it's not him. So he does what he does well -- it's cheesy and smarmy, but he knows his niche here, and he exploits it.
  • Bo, on the other hand, I still don't get why he's there. The more he tries to do "his thing" with an orchestra, not a rock band behind him, the less authentic it feels. "Freebird" in two minutes? I held up my lighter and requested something else.
  • Vonzell is this year's LaToya/Tamyra/Hudson: completely competent, and will hang around for a while, and be eliminated through no fault of her own.
  • Carrie resurrected GoatGirl tonight, and it was not pleasant.
  • I have nothing good to say about Scott or ThroatBoy. Beyond his moral failings, Scott's also an uncompelling singer with no stage presence. What he did to "She's Gone" tonight, Andrew Jackson did to the Creeks. And Federov would do well on the British version, which goes for asexual teenybopper boys like Will Young, but he's utterly outclassed here.
  • Which leaves the enigmas. Nadia has always seemed to me to be way too rehearsed, like she's singing in a pageant with all the overblown, overdetermined stagey gestures. And Anwar, dawg, you do your thing well, but if he's going to overtake the big two, he needs a breakout performance already.
Maybe it's just me, but this season has not seen the blown-away equivalent of Kelly's "Stuff Like That There", Ruben's "Superstar", Clay's version of that immigrant mouse song or Fantasia's "Summertime" -- this season's best remains yet to come. Or am I wrong?

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