Here are this week’s American Idol iTunes studio performance reviews. My favorites are: Joshua Ledet’s “You Don’t Know What It’s Like”, Hollie Cavanagh’s “River Deep Mountain High” and “Bleeding Love and an honorable mention to Skylar Laine’s “Fortunate Son”. What are your favorites?
Hollie Cavanagh – “River Deep Mountain High” – Girl has got the best tone. THE BEST. She’s a little overpowered here by the orchestration and the background singers, but I have to say I really enjoy her pop take on this classic. It’s the song as if Petula Clark recorded it instead. – Download from iTunes
Phil Phillips – “The Letter” by The Box Tops – I did not like the live performance and I do not like this. It sounds like a dirge. – Download from iTunes
Skylar Laine – “Fortunate Son” – She really delivers this song with passion, which surprises me considering she has stated publicly that she’s not down with the song’s anti-war message. I’m so attached to that original message, that I want to hate this song—but I don’t. She totally rocks it out. – Download from iTunes
Jessica Sanchez – “Proud Mary” – You really have to be a baby boomer to understand how played out this song is. I have seen Tina perform this song, in exactly the same way, many many times on comedy variety hours over the years. There’s really no way not to compare–and that comparison is always going to be unfavorable. But having said that–Jessica fares much better in the recorded version without the cheesy live presentation. Her husky R&B vocals are actually well suited to the song – Download from iTunes
Joshua Ledet – “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” – Not surprisingly, Joshua can sing the crap out of a Motown song. Next. – Download from iTunes
Hollie Cavanagh – “Bleeding Love” – I like Hollie’s delicate, emotional rendition of this song better than Leona Lewis’s. No, I’m not kidding. Her vocal is so sweet and pure, I can feel her young heart shattering into a million pieces. – Download from iTunes
Phil Phillips – “Time of the Season” – Now that Auto-Tune has fixed the falsetto problem Phil had singing the tune live, I can say this recording is solid. The way his vocal snakes around the verses, Phil has got the sexy vibe down. – Download from iTunes
Skylar Laine – “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” – Of course, it’s not Dusty Springfield, but although it’s not as dark as the original, there’s an ache in this version that tugs at the heart strings. It’s as if Skeeter Davis or Brenda Lee covered the song. Maybe they should have. – Download from iTunes
Jessica Sanchez – “You are So Beautiful” – Not going to lie. I started looking through my twitter feed half way through this song. Jessica’s interpretation is snoozy and old-fashioned. Please Jessica, I hope you’ve picked better songs for next week. – Download from iTunes
Joshua Ledet – “To Love Somebody” – This is one of my favorite Bee Gees songs, so I’m not easy to please here. But pleased, I am. Joshua brings a soulful yearning to his interpretation–one of his best vocal performances to date – Download from iTunes
