"I just wish you could sing better"
Although there was plenty of good singing tonight on American Idol, the Simon quote above about Antonella Barba still stood out as the most memorable moment of the evening tonight. Sometimes Mr. Cowell can really get to the heart of the matter in just a few words. Actually, Antonella's retort was pretty memorable too, for an entirely different reason, but I'll get to that in a moment.
Jordin Sparks ("Heartbreaker")--I really liked Jordin's song choice here--not because I'm a big fan of this Pat Benatar song, but because she chose a rock song. That sets her apart from some of the other top women--particularly Sabrina and Stephanie--who seem to be picking the same kind of R&B belters every week. And while I can't say Jordin's performance was anything special, it sort of worked. She pretty much pulled it off and showed she has some range--overall, a solid week for Jordin.
Sabrina Sloan ("Don't Let Go")--Sabrina is a good singer, and she sang this fine, but I agree with Simon's criticism of her being mechanical. Unlike Jordin, she's sort of sung the same song every week and hasn't shown anything particularly new--just come out and belted out a song. That's getting a little boring. I'm very thankful theme weeks start next week--it should force Sabrina to stretch and we'll see if she can sing other kinds of songs.
Antonella Barba ("Put Your Records On")--So we have the first allusion to the Antonella photos, and it hardly made an impression with everything else going on during the time Antonella was on stage. First, her singing was better this week, at least for parts of the song. Of course, other parts were horribly flat, and overall it was still the worst of the night by far. As for Simon's criticism that "I just wish you could sing better," that kind of says it all. He's absolutely right. I think everyone involved in the show wishes she could sing better, becuase, um, did you see how hot she looked tonight? Nice outfit, with the boots and....Anyway, as I said, I didn't think there was anything wrong with what Simon said--anyone who watches the show knows he's absolutely correct. For Antonella then to say that she deserved to be in the final 12 and that "I have a different style" than the other things and "I don't try to be like them" was just breathtaking. Antonella, considering many of the other women, as you said, are really good singers, I guess when you say "I don't try to be like them," you're saying you're not trying to be a good singer? Is singing off-key this "different style" you're talking about? Wow. And then she actually said to not judge her against the other contestants because they're different. Whatever.Those silly statements may have cost her the votes she needed to stay around--although probably not. But if she wanted to help herself, saying "I think I did my best, and I hope I get another chance to improve" or something like that would have served her a lot better--and not made her look completely clueless. As for Simon's comments about the photos, I thought they were fine--alluded to them while praising her for getting through the last couple weeks. She seemed to appreciate it.
But one last comment: Since the theme of the taped pieces tonight was "things you didn't know about me" or whatever, wouldn't it have been great if Antonella had said something like "You might not know I posed for photos in a wet t-shirt at the World War II Memorial"? If she had done that, I would have voted for her for all two hours.
Haley Scarnato ("If My Heart Had Wings"?)--What was that song? It sounded like one of the original songs that got rejected for the American Idol final show. What an awful song. Having said that, I suppose Haley did a decent job singing it, but that was the definition of what Simon calls "forgettable."
Stephanie Edwards (A Chaka Khan song I don't know the name of)--Stephanie is the other reason I'm excited for the theme weeks, so we don't have to hear her sing another one of these slow jam songs that I'm not a big fan of. I guess she sang it OK, but I'd like to hear her sing a quieter song with a better melody to see what she's got.
LaKisha Jones ("I Have Nothing")--This song was last heard on that memorable night when Katharine McPhee popped the buttons on her dress and people all over the Internet claimed they could see her private parts. That has nothing to do with LaKisha, I just thought it was worth remembering. As for Lakisha, that was great--strong vocals, and yet controlled and didn't overwhelm the song. Melinda may be the more polished favorite, but I wouldn't count out LaKisha yet.
Gina Glocksen (Some Evanesence song)--Like Simon, I'm also glad that Gina took his advice about being more "edgy" and did get edgier--if that's a word. I do wish the edgy rock song she had picked was better. I suppose she did OK on an unexciting song. But I hope she keeps up the rock thing--at least as much she can during the theme weeks--because it at least gives the viewers something different and nonexistent in the competition otherwise this year.
Melinda Doolittle ("I'm a Woman")--Wasn't crazy about the song choice, but she sure sang it well. Although I've commented on how I like Melinda's down to earth personality, I'm already getting a little tired of the "Oh, I can't believe you think I'm good" look she was giving the judges tonight. And I loved Simon's rip of Jennifer Hudson--that's who he was referring to when he mentioned that somebody had said her time on Idol was a "stepping stone." It was actually the only "stone" she had at the time--without Idol, she never would have gotten an audition for Dreamgirls. But I'm not going to get into that whole thing now.
So who's going home? Haley is an easy choice for one. And I really hope it is Antonella, because I think the other six all are deserving of the final 12 and it would be a shame for any of them to lose out to a far inferior singer. So I'm going to predict that Antonella will be the second person ousted--although if she survives, I'll guess that Gina Glocksen goes. Fingerhut out.
Jordin Sparks ("Heartbreaker")--I really liked Jordin's song choice here--not because I'm a big fan of this Pat Benatar song, but because she chose a rock song. That sets her apart from some of the other top women--particularly Sabrina and Stephanie--who seem to be picking the same kind of R&B belters every week. And while I can't say Jordin's performance was anything special, it sort of worked. She pretty much pulled it off and showed she has some range--overall, a solid week for Jordin.
Sabrina Sloan ("Don't Let Go")--Sabrina is a good singer, and she sang this fine, but I agree with Simon's criticism of her being mechanical. Unlike Jordin, she's sort of sung the same song every week and hasn't shown anything particularly new--just come out and belted out a song. That's getting a little boring. I'm very thankful theme weeks start next week--it should force Sabrina to stretch and we'll see if she can sing other kinds of songs.
Antonella Barba ("Put Your Records On")--So we have the first allusion to the Antonella photos, and it hardly made an impression with everything else going on during the time Antonella was on stage. First, her singing was better this week, at least for parts of the song. Of course, other parts were horribly flat, and overall it was still the worst of the night by far. As for Simon's criticism that "I just wish you could sing better," that kind of says it all. He's absolutely right. I think everyone involved in the show wishes she could sing better, becuase, um, did you see how hot she looked tonight? Nice outfit, with the boots and....Anyway, as I said, I didn't think there was anything wrong with what Simon said--anyone who watches the show knows he's absolutely correct. For Antonella then to say that she deserved to be in the final 12 and that "I have a different style" than the other things and "I don't try to be like them" was just breathtaking. Antonella, considering many of the other women, as you said, are really good singers, I guess when you say "I don't try to be like them," you're saying you're not trying to be a good singer? Is singing off-key this "different style" you're talking about? Wow. And then she actually said to not judge her against the other contestants because they're different. Whatever.Those silly statements may have cost her the votes she needed to stay around--although probably not. But if she wanted to help herself, saying "I think I did my best, and I hope I get another chance to improve" or something like that would have served her a lot better--and not made her look completely clueless. As for Simon's comments about the photos, I thought they were fine--alluded to them while praising her for getting through the last couple weeks. She seemed to appreciate it.
But one last comment: Since the theme of the taped pieces tonight was "things you didn't know about me" or whatever, wouldn't it have been great if Antonella had said something like "You might not know I posed for photos in a wet t-shirt at the World War II Memorial"? If she had done that, I would have voted for her for all two hours.
Haley Scarnato ("If My Heart Had Wings"?)--What was that song? It sounded like one of the original songs that got rejected for the American Idol final show. What an awful song. Having said that, I suppose Haley did a decent job singing it, but that was the definition of what Simon calls "forgettable."
Stephanie Edwards (A Chaka Khan song I don't know the name of)--Stephanie is the other reason I'm excited for the theme weeks, so we don't have to hear her sing another one of these slow jam songs that I'm not a big fan of. I guess she sang it OK, but I'd like to hear her sing a quieter song with a better melody to see what she's got.
LaKisha Jones ("I Have Nothing")--This song was last heard on that memorable night when Katharine McPhee popped the buttons on her dress and people all over the Internet claimed they could see her private parts. That has nothing to do with LaKisha, I just thought it was worth remembering. As for Lakisha, that was great--strong vocals, and yet controlled and didn't overwhelm the song. Melinda may be the more polished favorite, but I wouldn't count out LaKisha yet.
Gina Glocksen (Some Evanesence song)--Like Simon, I'm also glad that Gina took his advice about being more "edgy" and did get edgier--if that's a word. I do wish the edgy rock song she had picked was better. I suppose she did OK on an unexciting song. But I hope she keeps up the rock thing--at least as much she can during the theme weeks--because it at least gives the viewers something different and nonexistent in the competition otherwise this year.
Melinda Doolittle ("I'm a Woman")--Wasn't crazy about the song choice, but she sure sang it well. Although I've commented on how I like Melinda's down to earth personality, I'm already getting a little tired of the "Oh, I can't believe you think I'm good" look she was giving the judges tonight. And I loved Simon's rip of Jennifer Hudson--that's who he was referring to when he mentioned that somebody had said her time on Idol was a "stepping stone." It was actually the only "stone" she had at the time--without Idol, she never would have gotten an audition for Dreamgirls. But I'm not going to get into that whole thing now.
So who's going home? Haley is an easy choice for one. And I really hope it is Antonella, because I think the other six all are deserving of the final 12 and it would be a shame for any of them to lose out to a far inferior singer. So I'm going to predict that Antonella will be the second person ousted--although if she survives, I'll guess that Gina Glocksen goes. Fingerhut out.
posted by Eric Fingerhut at 12:00 AM
1 Comments:
Man, you have got to get up your your R&B knowledge if you are going to continue this. That song by Chaka is a CLASSIC. I respect the knowledge that you have, but you have repeatedly dismissed some great R&B songs as not worthy simply because you don't know them. That being said, you really do hit the nail on the head quite often. As far as Antonella goes, she can't sing and her looks are nowhere near as hot as you make her out to be. She is a pretty girl, granted, but she is no knockout. So, who goes? Antonella and Haley should be out of there. Glad that Fingerhut out is back!!!
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