AI 4/20 Only
I wrote this about last night's competition before tonight's results were revealed, but had to get off line to make some phone calls.
Diana -- First time I heard some real communication from her. Twinnie, every time Barry Manilow (Barely Manenough as they used to joke where I once worked
and of whose songs and singing I am not a fan) told one of the contestants "think about what you're singing; tell a story!" I wanted to say, "You go, Barry! You go, guy! That's my Twinnie talkin'!" My neighbors and I watched it together and they said basically the same thing: That Diana has a great gift but she's like a pom pon girl out there with high kicks and a nice smile, although tonight the light seemed to dawn. I was actually kind of glad to hear her hit that one really awful note because I felt as if perhaps she indeed was thinking about telling a story rather than the fireworks. The communication was sporadic, but at least she had some. Props for Diana for breaking her own mold, but IMO she still needs about four-five more years of the right kind of training (emphasizing communication and singing from the heart), experience, and maturing before she can really put those gifts together on a CD that will sell.
George -- I started off not liking George, then closed my eyes and just listened and liked him, but tonight I think he tried to hard to do too many things. I don't think he has the vocal control to master an interpretation like that, at least not yet. I hope he goes back to simple and direct because in his case, communication is one of his strongest assets.
Jasmine -- She came back very nicely after a couple of bad weeks and I was thrilled to hear her do that. I may not be a fan of Barry Manilow the singer/songwriter, but he definitely coached some of these singers to a substantial notch above where they were.
Jennifer -- I liked her. Not her best, but she was soft in the beginning and saved the powerhouse for the end. My only criticism would be that I would have liked a more gradual build-up. That is, it went from soft to BIG in one beat. OTOH, that's difficult to do with short versions of songs. Still, I felt she knew what she was singing about, told the story well, and has both an unusual and beautiful low range that I just love. The latter is admittedly a matter of personal preference and it can get out of hand. But if she gets with the right producer, I think she could be absolutely stunning.
LaToya -- Although somewhat like Simon I would also say that LaToya is the best vocalist (not sure about singer--to me that encompasses much more) in the competition and I enjoy her singing, IMO she's getting predictable. It's as if there's a map for every song: Start out slow and easy, build it up, big finish. Certainly it works, but she's better than that. When I think of her songs, none really stands out, although on the whole she's the most consistent. I guess now is the time I want her to break out with something different, sort of the way Kelly Clarkson did with "Stuff Like That There" and Clay with "Vincent," which I actually liked even though I don't like the song. It's risky, but I'd still like to see her try.
John -- I thought John and Barry's comments in the pre-song clip were VERY interesting. John was first and foremost impressed that Barry immediately knew the pitch and meter of the song. Barry, off camera from John, said (basically), "I told him to forget about the pitch and the meter. Just remember what the song is about and tell the story. As soon as he did that, his phrasing changed and he got much better." I think this is the musical version of the "smoking gun" for John. I remember his choral teacher saying how John was always on pitch and if another student was having trouble, she would always use John to demonstrate perfect pitch. So I think that much like Diana has always been praised for her power lungs, John has probably always been praised for his "perfect technique," and that he also admires singers with perfect enunciation, pitch, tone, etc. Those are great things to have, of course, but with "Mandy," for the first time I heard John let go and sing the song as if he was telling a story from his heart. Especially at the beginning and the end I thought, "This is how REALLY GREAT this guy could be if he keeps on this path." As you know, I had not been at all impressed with John since he sang, "Always a Woman to Me." In fact I was getting increasingly UNimpressed with him. But props to him this week for breaking out of his box. I think this was his best performance yet, but unfortunately, still very week. Even so, called in a vote for him.
Fantasia -- I think Randy put his finger on it when he said "Not enough melody." I think she sang it the way Manilow directed her to sing it, very gospel, very much church-stomping and spiritual. But again, I think the problem with some of the truncated songs is that there's not enough time to do both. Ideally, this song would have started out slow and melodically, then gradually built up to where Fantasia actually started the song. Given the *mellow* energy of the night, I didn't mind it, but it was not the best representation of her, except that it showed he spirit, connection, and comfort on the stage. I wanted to smack the producers for using her little girl like that. If somebody's going home, that's one thing; but to cut to Fantasia's mother holding Zion in the green room while she was singing was quite another. If anything, I think it costs a contestant votes when the producers do that because it looks like the singer is doing it so s/he can get votes.
Overall predictions: Last night was only the second time this season that I voted for over at least an hour. The first time was the week after Jennifer Hudson was second to last; that next week, I voted for Jennifer from 10-11pm EST (if you want to get votes in during EST, that is the time to do it). Last night I felt as if there was going to be some kind of response to the "three divas" comments from the judges; I remembered that last week was spring break for a lot of students; and the *Tamyra Gray Factor.* I don't remember it happening last season, though I could be forgetting someone, but then last season seemed to clearly be about Ruben and Clay from about the fourth show. I don't want to analyze it any further--it would just be guessing anyway--except to say I just felt that things were in for a shake-up. So I spent 9-10pm voting for Jennifer (bad sign--got through every time and I was doing nonstop redial) and 10-11pm voting for Fantasia (same thing getting through as with Jennifer). I don't know if this means anything, but last week when I gave myself a "whoop whoop" for picking the B3 and who would go home, I neglected to mention that those were my personal picks and that my predictions were "no way are John Stevens and JPL ever going to be in the B3."
Bottom line: Hell if I know, lol. But I do think it would make an interesting study to map voting trends week to week and ask a scientifically generated samply of people who they voted for, how many times they voted, and why they voted for a given person each week. My personal B3/GH: Diana, George, John, with John, as much as I admire his improvement this week, John GH.
Rgirl
PS: Last week I agreed with Guinivere who said "If the top four are anybody but LaToya, Fantasia, Jennifer, and George it will be a travesty." Then Show said she wouldn't mind if Jasmine were in the Top 4. Now I'm vascillating. George has had two off weeks and Jasmine did very well with Manilow and I loved her in the early weeks--though those lower registers are not her friend. George or Jasmine--I could go either way.
As for my neighbors: They haven't been watching regularly but they LOVED Jennifer and Fantasia, although they too thought the baby shot was cheap. Except they were laughing; they were like, "Go, mama! Use everything you got! It's an evil biz!" Needless to say they were joking a lot and kept me in stitches. They did not like LaToya at all. They thought she sounded *arrogant.* (These guys are a couple and tended to speak as "we" a lot.) They liked Diana and Jasmine; didn't like George and John, though they thought John was *cute.*
