New URL for the American Idol buzz blog!
Please go to the new American Idol Buzz blog at http://blogs.ajc.com/american-idol-blog/
Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > March > 05
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
3/5: Top 8 Idol gals recap - a Whitney bookend!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The ladies weren’t quite as good as the guys this week but better than a week ago. I still haven’t seen that “wow” performance.
The tops for me were Carly Smithson by far. Then it’s Amanda Overmyer and Kristy Lee Cook, who both may have eked out just good-enough performances to sruvive. Syesha was, as Simon noted, predictable but solid and in fourth for me. This is followed by Asia’h’s ordinary take on Whitney Houston in fifth.
My bottom two: a dull Ramiele and a forgettable Kady.
Who is out? Anyway, I’d say Kady Malloy is gone no matter what. Then it’s tricky. Maybe Asia’h might get snagged. Or Kristy Lee. Sigh. Like yesterday, I do have to commit. My predicted two out: Kady and Kristy Lee.
Asia’h Epperson (“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Whitney Houston) — Her embarrassing moment: she fell as an extra in a film requiring her being on roller skates. Vocally, she’s the best I’ve heard in awhile, but she seemed a bit nervous and not quite as sparkly as usual. Definitely not as good as Whitney at her best and she failed to add anything new to the song. Randy: “It was a tall order for you take it on. That’s why we got you there… that’s hot!” Paula: “She’s picking big songs… you nailed it. You really nailed it.” Simon: “I’m not quite as enthusiastic. Last week, it was Celine. This week it’s Whitney. It’s second-rate Whitney.” B
Kady Malloy (“I Want To Live Forever” Queen) Her embarrassing moment: after a bad performance at a talent show, she tripped over the cord. She starts sexy and cool but when she tries to hit the high notes, she’s awfully offkey. Nail in the coffin, Kady? Randy: “Nice Queen song. You did a pretty good song. You hit the big notes pretty well.” Paula: “I think to date this was your best performance. The tenderness on your natural voice is where the magic is.” (I agree.) Simon: “It was better than last week but I’m still having issues with your massive lack of personality. You’re like a robot when you sing.” B-minus
Amanda Overmyer (“I Hate Myself For Loving You” Joan Jett) Her embarrassing moment: she accidentally burned down a pool/porch. She smartly picked a song that didn’t require any major octave changes and fit her narrow range. And Joan Jett is a good match for her. It was much better than last week. It might just save her into the top 12. Randy: “That’s the bluesy rocker chick. That’s who you really are. Well done, baby, well done.” Paula: “When you pick the right song, you found your niche.” Simon: “I thought it was fantastic.” (Was it really that good?) B-plus
Carly Smithson (“I Drove All Night” Cyndi Lauper) Her embarrassing moment: She got her leg stuck in a railing and a friend had to oil it out. She chose a very pop song, covered by Celine Dion in the ’90s. She hits the high notes, proving she has the best vocal abilities among the women. It’s very clean. My favorite Carly performance to date. Randy: “I loved that dude. [dude?] Another great performance.” Paula: “You are like a dependable dog. [huh????] You’re totally into your niche.” Simon: “Once again, I don’t think you chose the right song. I thought you made the most out of it.” A-minus
Kristy Lee Cook (“Faithfully” Journey) Most embarrassing moment: when she was seven, she pretended she was a dog. Odd. She starts well. I like country lilt during the first verse and into the chorus. Can she hit the big notes Steve Perry knows so well? Nope. The money shot end note is just okay. Best of her three performances but that isn’t saying that much. Randy: “Two things near and dear to my heart. Dogs and Journey. No one will ever sing this like Perry, Steve Perry. But you put a country lilt into it. [hey, Randy, stop stealing my lines!]” Paula: “That could be a hit for you in country music.” Simon: “It was good we heard a country influence. Your problem is you’re forgettable… Best I can see you is tenth.” B/B-plus
Ramiele Malubay (“Against All Odds” Phil Collins) Most embarrassing moment: in fifth grader, she dropped off her photo at a boy’s house and he laughed at the photo. No-no-no. Not again! Corey Clark sang it. Scott Savol sang it. George Huff sang it. Kat McPhee sang it. Jessica Sierra sang it. It has to be the most sung song ever in “Idol” history, ahead of even “I’m Every Woman.” The fact of the matter is, she’s boring. And a relatively boring song doesn’t help matters. zzzz… Randy: “Find that confidence again. I feel you thinking.. just go for it!” Paula: “There’s such an innocent pure voice in you.” Simon: “It was good, but I actually thought it was very old fashioned… I’ve heard a lot of performances over the year. It was a bit predictable.” (Danny, her bud, is wearing her glasses.) B-minus
Brooke White (“Love is a Battlefield” Pat Benatar) Most embarrassing moment: post church, she was complaining to someone she thought was her dad but it wasn’t! She goes acoustic on a song that is normally rather intense. She does it in that singer-songwriter way and she makes very intense faces sitting on the stage. I think she has a very interesting voice and a memorable look. This arrangement is a major risk and I she more or less pulls it off. Randy: “I liked it. It allowed me to focus on your voice. I don’t know if you brought anything new to the song. It’s very interesting.” [Randy—stop taking my boring adjectives!”] Paula: “It was very very pure. What I would have loved if you incorporated the band more.” Simon: “I could not disagree with Paula more. It was an original take on the song. Once again, two weeks running, you’ve done a great performance.” B plus (bonus points for trying to change it up.)
Syesha Mercado (“Saving All My Love For You” Whitney Houston) Her most embarrassing moment: in second grade, she wrote a note to a fellow student saying she liked him and he told on her. She goes for Whitney, just like Asia’h. I like Syesha’s intensity. She doesn’t go for the big note - smartly, probably because she can’t. It’s lovely. But like Asia’h, she doesn’t really offer anything special to a very well-worn Whitney nugget. Randy: “Good.” Paula: “Sophisticated, lovely.” Simon: “Predictable, but good.” B-plus
According to Ken Barnes on Idol Chatter, here’s what Simon said that was barely discernible about David Hernandez Tuesday night:
Also, I sure didn’t catch it, and I doubt if anyone with hearing less sharp than the average bat heard it with the naked ear, but recording devices show that after David H.’s performance Tuesday night, Simon leaned over and urged Randy, “Say, ‘I liked the way you stripped it down.’ ” Randy chuckled but wisely refrained. That Simon — what a card!
Here’s some gossip from tmz.com from the “Idol” rehearsal tonight:
David Cook and Michael Johns were talking as the girls were on the stage discussing who was hot. At one point David said, “I would do her,” pointing to someone — sorry, we don’t know who.
All the contestants were there and they have some kind of code, constantly referring to “shenanigans,” which normally is a buzzword for hijinks but they were clearly referring to something specific.
Danny Noriega and Ramiele Malubay are definitely best friends. He was on the side making a half-a-heart sign with his hands and she would complete the heart. The two talked about going to the mall for food after rehearsal.
David Cook was making fun of David Archuleta, like a big bro ragging on li’ bro. Cook was beaucoup arrogant during the rehearsal.
Ryan sang You Give Love a Bad Name and was just as bad as yesterday, but lil’ blondie freely admitted he was bad.
We’re told they had 20 million votes for the guys last night — a high for the season.
Anyway, here’s the holding spot for the ladies, who we can only hope can improve from last week.
3/5: Chris Sligh interview
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chris Sligh, season five top 10 finalist with the big hair and quirky sense of humor, has a new Christian contemporary pop-rock album coming out May 6 dubbed “Running Back To You.” He passed through Atlanta today to promote it. He’s tooling around in a rented Dodge Caliber with his drummer Jon Skaggs.
I met him for some coffee at Starbucks in Buckhead next to the building where 104.7/The Fish is located. Kevin Avery and Taylor Scott, the morning hosts, had just interviewed him. Sligh was bemused because Avery kept calling him Chris “Slay.” I said that’s his evil heavy metal spawn. (Avery, in an email, said he’s just an “idiot” for calling Chris “Slay” and is actually a big “Idol” fan.)
Sligh, by the way, is the only “Idol” finalist I know who actually reads this blog on a regular basis so Chris, if there’s anything I write that is incorrect, please email me at rho@ajc.com and I’ll fix it!
Check out his first single “Empty Me” on his myspace page,. It’s a power ballad with just a slight bit of edge but not too edgy for Christian pop stations. He said about 20 stations have added it so far. The local Fish has not done so but he says Salem, which owns the Fish, is fairly cautious and is “pretesting” it. But he’s confident the Fish will eventually put it on the playlist.
He notes that radio airplay still has a strong impact on sales in the Christian music world. He’s working with Atlanta-based Brash Records. He opted for this small indie instead of a major label because it fit better with what he wanted to do. He said he could have gone the route of mainstream pop-rock but felt more connected going the Christian route. Plus, it’s only a two-record commitment, not a five record deal that the major label wanted. And given his 50/50 deal with Brash, Chris said he only needs to sell about 50,000 copies to recoup the costs of making the album. (It only cost about $75,000 and Chris himself is funding most of this promotional tour out of his own pocket.)
While he isn’t happy that Nigel Lythgoe has shrunken the list of songs the contestants could choose from, he is happy and jealous that season seven folks are allowed to use instruments. And he loves the Beatles, the theme for the top 12. If he had had his chance, he would have chosen “Helter Skelter.” “My wife and I were talking last night,” he said. “If only this had been my year, it would have been totally different.”
After he was eliminated, he told the media he was cool with finishing in the top 10 and wasn’t really gunning to win. That’s partly true but he said today he would have preferred to make it top 5, which also would have provided a small financial bonus.
Among this year’s singers, he’s not overly impressed with the gals. “Carly is okay,” he said. The problem? “There’s not a lot of emotion. She’s like dead in the eyes.” He loves Brooke but is still awaiting that one great performance from her. He’s not a big fan of Asia’h. Syesha, he said, “is very marketable.”
He liked Jason Castro’s “Hallelujah.” Like most everybody, he’s a fan of David Archuleta but isn’t sure if he will actually win, that he might have peaked early. He also thinks David Cook has greatly improved from the first week. “He was smug early on,” Sligh said. “I was impressed that he was able to take that Lionel Richie song and make it sound current.” He’s not a big fan of David Hernandez’s voice, thinks it’s too Broadway. He thinks the gay stripper stuff might hurt him in the voting. Michael Johns? “He has not blown me away but he’s good. He could make it top 5.” Danny Noriega? “He’s just annoying. I hope he goes home soon.”
Chris wished Josiah Leming (the dude who lived in his car) had made it to the top 24 and would like to work with the guy.
If you want more of his thoughts, he does occasional commentary with the online version of “Entertainment Weekly” such as this one..
He also related a story about his final week on Idol when he sang the Police song “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” Last year, when the time came to pick songs, usually a couple weeks in advance, the contestants race to pick songs from a pre-cleared list (or request their own.) He saw Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” during Gwen Stefani week and sent it in, beating Haley Scarnato to the song by 12 seconds. He had an idea to do a cool arrangement of it. But Haley was upset because it was the only song she knew particularly well. So he gave it to her and opted for “Give a Little Bit” by Supertramp. But he felt the song was too dull cut down to two minutes. So he went for the Police song at the last minute.
He said he learned a lot on “Idol” on how to go on stage without a guitar and emote into a camera, a very different skill from just performing on stage in a tiny club. (It’s a problem Michael Johns has—he’s not connecting with the camera, as blogger Deirdre noted.). He said Jordin picked it up quickly. He recently watched back his performances on “Idol” last year and felt he could have done better in every case. “I’m not a natural performer jumping around on stage,” he said. “I’m a drier personality.” He also said he was sick for much of the time on “Idol” with a cough and dry throat, which didn’t help matters.
Chris said though his vocals weren’t half bad the week he sang the Police, he looked distinctly uncomfortable. He said the show producers wanted him to move around so that made it difficult for him to hear the backbeat and he didn’t quite connect with the band. He almost went a cappella, he said.
ABOVE: Chris with his traveling musician buddy, Jon Skaggs.
Chris said he wrote or co-wrote everything on his new album and it features a mix of explicitly Christian songs and more secular ones. He hopes to eventually pitch some songs to rock radio. He is planning a spring tour and thinks he’ll land at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur sometime this spring.
And one song features a little sampling of beatboxing Sligh did. It was something he was doing as a joke and the producer stuck it in one of the songs. He was at a taping yesterday for Fox Reality TV’s “American Idol Extra” and told Blake Lewis about it, jokingly saying, “You taught me well!”
Chris now lives in the Nashville area with his beautiful wife Sarah. He said some folks last year were so suspicious of his wife that they thought he had hired someone as sa plant to be his wife because they couldn’t believe he had nabbed someone so hot. He thought that was hilarious. He also found a photo online of a guy having sex with a blonde woman except Chris’ head it photo-shopped on it. He emailed it around to all his buddies because he thought it was hilarious. He even sent it to his pastor. (That’s one easy-going pastor!). His mom thought it was real and freaked out!
Chris writes a regular blog dubbed frommymindtoyoureyes.blogspot.com. Check it out here.
In other Idol news:
I just got overnight ratings for “Idol.” It’s the first show in which the ratings exceeded last year’s comparable show. This year, the show drew 28.2 million, according to preliminary ratings, and will likely end up at about 28.4 million. Last year, it was 27.95 million. I think that finally reflects the greater depth of talent this time around vs. a year ago. I’m certain the “Idol” producers and Fox execs must be thrilled. The show is down 10% year over year to date.
And here’s a nice backgrounder on David Archuleta from MTV.com
Oh, and Brian Dunkleman, lame co-host with Ryan Seacrest season one, will be joining “Celebrity Fit Club” March 13 with the likes of Erin Moran (“Happy Days”), comic Sommore and returnees Dustin Diamond, William Aames and Tina Yothers.
