Of course I watched this
Here's my blow-by-blow:
Alexander/Germany -I couldn't believe that he sang 'Maniac'. He looks like Seth and Josh Meyers (comedian brothers who perform on Saturday Night Live and MadTV, respectively). In fact, his performance was like a comedy skit. I felt bad that he went first and just got crucified by the judges though.
Guy/Austalia - I agreed with whatever judge said they hated the arrangement of this song, but that his talent came through anyway. I think he will end up in the top 5, but would have had a better chance to win with a better song.
Ryan/Canada - he totally out-Clayed Clay in the 'nerd-with-a-big-voice' department: he's a bigger nerd and he's got a better voice. (guinevere now dodging tomatoes hurled by Clay fans - of which I am one BTW) I lurved him.
Jamai - I think his song (Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word") was a bad choice for Jamai. EJ has plenty of songs that are quite bland vocally (like, most of them from the last 15 years...), but Jamai chose a song that really showcases Elton John's vocal distinctiveness, and sang it with zero power. I kept hearing the real song in my head, and the comparison was not good for Jamai.
Heinz/South Africa "Don't Want to Miss a Thing". Right off the bat Heinz was missing notes right and left. Also, the song was slowed down considerably and felt really heavy. Josh in AI2 sold me on a country version of this song, but Heinz' boy band ballad rendition did nothing for me.
Alix/Poland - Hey, I didn't know Carmen was Polish!! All right, all right, Alix is no Goat Girl, but she was a mess. I was glad to hear her speak at the end, because I actually thought she didn't speak english and she was singing phonetically. I'm not making fun of her - I just couldn't think of any other reason for the bizarre disconnection between the words and her performance. Her facial expressions are frightening!!
Diana/"Pan Arab" - I love that she chose to sing in her own language. I agree that it diminished her chances to do well in this particular competition, but her voice was obviously lovely. I liked where they put her in the program as well, because, seeing clips of Alix's Polish Idol history (songs sung in Polish) made me wonder how all of the non-native-english speakers felt about having to sing in a different language for this show, if they hadn't in their original competition.
Kelly - Back to Aretha. Kelly wisely chose to skip the earsplitting (and off-key) high note she went for when she sang this in AI, but unfortunately kept the hat. I 100% agree with the Canadian judge (shouting some of the power notes) and especially the UK judge (
stop with the danged trills already!!), but Kelly has amazing talent, coupled with great stage presence. Her performance is kind of beside the point - as Simon pointed out, she's already an international star, and I figured off the bat Kelly would win this no matter what happened...*
Peter/Belgium - Thank you for singing a song that I actually listen to! And vocally, he was right on. I felt bad for him that he had those idiotic stage effects to deal with - the first time the flames came up, he looked surprised, like he didn't know it was going to happen. I do believe that Simon was right when he said that performing on a show like World Idol would be Kurt Cobain's worst nightmare, but I disagree with his assessment that anyone who sings harder edged songs on his show is a fake (he gave the same treatment to the rocker dude from AI2 - and Peter has a much better voice).
Will/UK - Right away I thought "It sounds like he's channeling Jose Feliciano on helium". I spent much of the song trying to remember if this was one of the songs Feliciano actually covered, so I was glad that the SA judge mentioned it. Will has a unique voice and I like him, but I don't think enough people watching this show remember (or ever heard of) Jose Feliciano, so they'll think Will came up with the arrangement. He also got the lame pyrotechnics, although his were at least off to the side of the stage.
Kurt/Norway * (see above)... until I saw and heard Kurt. From the few clips we heard of him from Norway Idol, as soon as they announced he would be singing U2's "Beautiful Day", I knew it was perfect for his voice. WOW. He is fantastic, and, although I still think Kelly is 'supposed' to win this, I really hope Kurt pulls an upset. I called in for him like 50 times. I love him, gap teeth and all!!!
I liked the British hosts, liked having the judges from different countries (even the Polish judge!) and HATED having Kelly tell us what she thought of the other contestants. Did every country make their 'home player' do this? UGH. ps - what was up with seeing the responses from only 2 or 3 of the judges for each contestant, except Kelly, for whom we were shown ALL the judges comments - and Kelly's reaction? I mean, how many times do we have to see Kelly nod and say 'Thank you'?
guinevere
