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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > April > 24
Thursday, April 24, 2008
4/24: Carrie Underwood concert at Gwinnett Arena
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Carrie Underwood, co-headlining with Keith Urban tonight at Gwinnett Arena, proved why she’s already at this vaunted level after just two albums (oh, and that “American Idol” victory.)
Dressed in a demurely sexy black getup with four-inch heel leather boots, Carrie started right on time at 7:30 p.m. with a rabble rouser from her second album “Flat on the Floor.” Barely half the crowd was at their seats but the numbers increased rapidly in the intervening minutes.
She took advantage several times of a runway that ran more than halfway across the arena, giving folks not in the front row a better view.
Personality-wise, Carrie is no Kellie PIckler and she never will be. She’s more poised than she was three years ago thanks to oodles of practice on stage over the past three years, but her patter sounded stagey and scripted, at least in the early going. Her bag of stage tricks are fairly limited to wiggling her legs and waving to individuals in the crowd.
But vocally, she sounds amazing. And it seems so effortless. If she missed a note, she hid it well. The purity of her voice permeates every corner of the arena. She can hold high notes for hours if need be, as it seemed during “I Know You Won’t.”
Despite her rather vanilla persona, “Before He Cheats” proves she can play the tough gal and get away with it. And on her latest single, “Last Name,” the modest Carrie sass comes out in full force. Heck, she somehow got away with covering Guns n’ Roses’ “Paradise City” without a trace of irony or self deprecation.
Near the end, though, she got serious. “I want to thank you guys for putting me on this stage,” she said. Then she stopped and wiped her eyes. “I don’t know why but I’m about to cry.” Pause. “I get to watch ‘American Idol.’ It’s so amazing to think that a few years ago, I was on that stage. You guys helped me through. I can’t believe there are five people left. It’s incredible I managed to survive the next two years that followed. It’s been an amazing, amazing ride. Thank you guys. God bless you for it.”
Then during “Don’t Forget To Remember Me,” she literally stopped partway in tears and could barely finish the song. That truly defines sincere gratitude.
And when she sings “All American Girl,” it’s a title nobody can dispute.
Later, during Urban’s set, she joined him for a rip-roaring rendition of that classic Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” (above, from the huge high-def screen)
The set list:
Flat on the Floor
Wasted
Get Out of This Town
The More Boys I Meet
Just a Dream
Jesus Take the Wheel
I Know You Won’t
I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore
Last Name
Don’t Forget To Remember Me
Twisted
All-American Girl
So Small
Paradise City (yes, the Guns ‘n Roses song)
Before He Cheats
She performs again Friday night with Urban at G\winnett Arena. Though sold out, on Thursday, they opened up a few extra seats that may still be available at Ticketmaster.
For those of you who came to see Urban, this is the “Idol” blog, therefore I wrote about her. But I’m going to have to give props to Urban, who is a consummate entertainer. He’s not flamboyant, he’s not cheesy, but he managed to bring just enough grittiness and charisma to offset his pretty boy looks. And he pumped it out for nearly two hours after Underwood’s 70 minutes. (Okay, he really was the headliner but she was like a super opening act, as opposed to just a regular one.)
What made the night even more fun was the fact Urban was recording the concert for a DVD, so there were extra hi-def cameras, including one on a crane and another elevated over the runway. He did the acoustic part of act in the round with his entire band, including a wonderful version of my favorite Urban song, “Making Memories of Us.” (above, from the screen, where they showed him in black and white) And he hit pretty much all his big hits, without too much variance from the radio versions, from a pensive “Raining on Sunday” to a delightful “Somebody Like You.”
He did famous guitar riffs at one point to show off that he’s not just a great vocalist. He hit the piano for a couple of ballads, including an aching “Tonight I Wanna Cry” and a song he dedicated to Nicole Kidman, “Got It Right This Time.” He kept the patter to a minimum, though he did note that he rehearsed this set list at the Fox awhile back. During “You Look Good In My Shirt,” he climbed into the stands and sang about 10 feet from me. (photo above) He then signed and gave that guitar to a lucky gal in the audience.
And future reference for single guys: there were at least twice as many women there, due to the Urban Sex Symbol Factor.
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4/24: In defense of Brooke & Jason, Carly Smithson exit interview
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Michael and Carly gone, there is building animus toward Brooke and Jason for very similar reasons.
Both are sweet, sweet people with limited vocal skills. Both are talented but fairly one dimensional. Both are more comfortable behind an instrument. Both emote quite nicely and sell their songs when they’re really into it. Both seem mildly awkward when interviewed. Both feel like real human beings on and off camera. The fact is likability over pure singing got them into the top 5. And no matter how badly either do, I have a hard time hatin’ on either of them.
Down the road, I think more people are going buy their albums over those by Syesha, Carly or Michael. I suspect both have those types of dedicated fan bases that can translate into ticket, merchandise and record sales.
And this proves once again the sbow has and always will be a popularity contest, not a pure singing contest. But there’s nothing wrong with that.
Plus, we know it’s going to come down to David & David anyway. Nobody truly expected Carly or Michael or Kristy Lee to make it to the final two. And I can’t see Jason or Brooke making it into the final two either unless something truly bizarro happens. It’d be great to see my early prediction of Syesha in the top 3 come true!
-Anyway, here’s what Carly Smithson had to say during the weekly elimination press conference.
She is, as I recall when I first interviewed her, a sweetheart and articulate, conversational and gabby (so gabby, she took far fewer questions than any other contestant so far this year.) She also has a good sense of humor and is very grounded. She said multiple times how grateful she is for the experience and is happy to be sixth. She’s truly heartfelt about everything she says. After every reporter, she said, “Thank you so much” with real sincerity.
“I think I made enough of an impact to be able to reach a good fan base,” she said. “I get to be me without the theme nights and make a cool record.”
Being sixth: She wants to see her husband and take a break, too. So she isn’t disappointed. As one of the reporters noted, she is far peppier and far sunnier than any prior contestant this year on these interviews. She said if she had finished 10th, she might have been more bummed but she’s cool with sixth.
**On how she changed over time on “Idol.”: “I realized not to take everything so seriously. Early on the show, they set the standard so high for me. They were a lot harder for me than a lot of contestants. It got to me for a few weeks. I think by the time I met Mariah Carey, I had changed my mind. She was just so cool and so normal and so nice. They want us to be stars. I come from a bar. I have no idea what a star is supposed to act like. When we met her, I realize I can just be normal. That’s cool.”
A second chance?: Although she had a record deal years ago, she said this feels like a first chance, not a second chance. “It’s so big and such a different experience,” she said. “It’s such a gift.”
She’s ready to make a record and write her own songs and stop doing cover songs (though she’ll have to do more covers all summer on tour.)
During the show, she said she was the “camp counselor,” consoling others, giving them support.
What she misses most? “I miss the most are my pots and pans. I’m a kitchen gadget nut. I miss my kitchen so much,” she said.
When asked her favorite “Idol” (other than herself), she naturally demurred as they seem to be trained to do. But she said her favorite of those eliminated was Amanda Overmyer, her former roomie.
What would she have sung on Neil Diamond week next week? “Sweet Caroline.” “I wanted to do a ballad version. I did such an uptempo song this week, I wantet to do it with a cello and piano, make it slower. It’s such a big, big song. It’s such a recognizable song. Neil Diamond has such amazing songs, such a huge catalog. We were amazed by the songs he had written but were sung by others.”
Her past: “I kind of started the show with some bad press. And I don’t think it helped me much.”
About fumbling her lyrics and saying she got it right last night, which some perceived to be a diss about Brooke, when in fact she was just talking about herself: “The song was so last minute. When I sang for Andrew Lloyd Webber, I had learned the other song, ‘All I Ask of You.’ There are a lot of works in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ I fumbled on a few of the lyrics… I was so irritated! Last night, I got them all right.”
**Nobody asked if she felt her tattoo hurt her with Middle America. I’m going to try to talk to her Monday and ask some follow ups. But here’s what she had to say about the tattoo on her arm, which everyone (including this week’s mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber) thought was Amy Winehouse?
“It’s a geisha,” she said, with a chuckle. “It’s just not colored in. I love the tattoo but it really bothered me it wasn’t finished. We never got any time… By the time it’s done, she’ll look nothing like Amy Winehouse!”
