hwc: I actually prefer Josh Stoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s version. She captures a bit of the flavor of Janis Joplin, but still sings in a relatively natural voice without overdoing the affectation.

Boy, just the opposite from here. I think she overdid the affectation way more than Allison, which is my problem with Joss Stone in general — I haven’t heard much of her stuff, but it’s too over the top for me. I wouldn’t damn her with one of my ultimate criticisms — a comparison to Michael Bolton, who has only one setting, 1000% — but I’m afraid the thought did cross my mind!

sma11ie: Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m like, watch Billie Jean, ABMB, Hello, MOTN, and he refuses.

You tell him for me that he’d darn well better watch at least MOTN, or I’ll come over there and kick his stubborn butt! :biggrin_wp:

Wow, to the point where I almost got goosebumps thinking about how cool it would have been to see DC and Allison do that song live!

Yeah, I’ve been thinking for a while that they could do a good duet. Bring it on! Finale night, anyone??

I found a Youtube by someone who edited David Cookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and Allisonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s studio versions of this song together à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  and I was rather shocked by how raspy he sounded and what a relief it was each time her beautiful voice came back into the edit. Nothing against DC à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  I like him a whole bunch and am married to a DC fanatic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  but I think his voice was pretty shredded by that point last year.

I agree with you that DC’s voice was COMPLETELY shredded by Top 3 night last year. I have a friend who loves IDWMAT and only saw the Top 3 and Top 2 episodes last season, and has stubbornly decided on the basis of IDWMAT that DC isn’t that great a singer. UGH. I’m like, watch Billie Jean, ABMB, Hello, MOTN, and he refuses. Anyway, rant over– I was gonna say, JohnM, thanks for that link! Despite the aforementioned shreddedness of DC’s voice and my personal meh-ness on the song… I have to say I LOVED that edit! Wow, to the point where I almost got goosebumps thinking about how cool it would have been to see DC and Allison do that song live!

I actually prefer Josh Stone’s version. She captures a bit of the flavor of Janis Joplin, but still sings in a relatively natural voice without overdoing the affectation. I don’t think she’s a great singer, but she’s got a pleasant enough voice and does a good job interpreting these kinds of songs.

Mellissa Etheridge (whom I normally cannot stand) is just fantastic in that video. Standing ovation for that performance.

JohnM: Are you thinking that she went off key on the line about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“staying here in this moment for all the rest of timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ?

That is exactly the spot.

ppwars: Didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t she go off key in both performances about 1/2 way thru?

By now you’ve probably seen my comment above about the fact that this edit is even more jarring than the AI edit because they cut out part of the bridge. Are you thinking that she went off key on the line about “staying here in this moment for all the rest of time”?

If so, that’s exactly the jarring bridge edit I’m talking about. When I heard it on TV this morning and she hit that part, I thought to myself, “Oh no, I bet some people will think she went off key there,” because that edit throws you into an unexpected part of the song. A really bad editing job.

Aside from that, I heard a few very small pitch problems that didn’t bother me much and I suspect most people didn’t even notice.

She’s just awesome and so much fun. Glad that she had a sit down interview with Ellen.
The girl is going to be a real star.

jerzytrash: She didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t sound merely raspy, she sounded hoarse and I think her high note was a little screamy.

I disagree about the screaminess, but…. I think all the high-finishing contestants get strained, first from the competition, and then from the barrage of appearances during the press tour. So I think she sounds great here in light of that. Interestingly (and weirdly!), I found a Youtube by someone who edited David Cook’s and Allison’s studio versions of this song together — and I was rather shocked by how raspy he sounded and what a relief it was each time her beautiful voice came back into the edit. Nothing against DC — I like him a whole bunch and am married to a DC fanatic — but I think his voice was pretty shredded by that point last year.

Jillianjiggs: They really have to shorten up the songs donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t they?

Yeah — the version she sang on AI was a pretty bad edit, and this one is even more jarring, because it cuts out part of the bridge as well.

ppwars: Why choose this! Not bad, but hardly stellar. Another tactical mistake. There were much better options to showcase her talent.

As much as I hate this song, I actually think it makes a lot of sense from the standpoint of showcasing vocal talent. It’s a power ballad (yecchh), which lets you straddle the rock-type audience and the ballad audience (soft, ballady verse, powerful ending). It works the singer’s range well, highlighting the low end at the start and building to the high end, and builds to those couple of glory notes. So I think it actually makes for a useful vocal showcase. Still a sucky song though!

And as sma11ie said, maybe she just likes it. She is entitled to one mistake, isn’t she? :wink_wp:

sleeptalker: IDWMAT was not her best live performance, definitely. Especially with just a pianist to accompanyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Yeah, solo piano accompaniment doesn’t fit well with the powerful vocal of the back half of the song. But it actually works really well for the verse — I really like that section, with just the piano and her beautiful lower register.

And, bottom line…. Once again that darned girl has gotten that stupid song stuck in my head and made me like it! Damn, she’s good!

I LOVE Allison!! It’s going to be so hard watching Idol this week without her…

IDWMAT was not her best live performance, definitely. Especially with just a pianist to accompany…STWOM would have been a great choice for this show.