SPOILERS??!!!?
Holy Crap. Thanks a lot USA Today for beating me at my own game! Now spoil my fun. Hee.
Here is the official list. From USA Today, so it must be true
-
•Ace Young, We Will Rock You: “I urbanized the verses a little, just by riding on (the notes). I put a little R&B soul on it. When we were done, they said, ‘That sounds like a record.’ “
-
•Bucky Covington, Fat Bottomed Girls: “Yes, we all love the fat-bottomed girls.”
-
•Chris Daughtry, Innuendo: “It’s a relatively unknown song. It just had a mixture of a dark feel and a positive message. And I just found out they’ve never performed this live.”
-
•Elliott Yamin, Somebody to Love: “I was drawn to the passionate emotion of the song. I heard a lot of soul in it.”
-
•Katharine McPhee, Who Wants to Live Forever: “How could (this) not be fun? We’re working with so many different legends.”
-
•Kellie Pickler, Bohemian Rhapsody: “We only have 1 minute and 30 seconds, and the song is really long. Having to cut so many pieces is really hard to memorize, because I’m not singing the song as it’s originally played.”
-
•Paris Bennett, The Show Must Go On: “Being with the band was a big experience to me, never being with a rock band before. I was able to pick a song that fits me, that’s still rocky.”
-
•Taylor Hicks, Crazy Little Thing Called Love: “You listen to a Queen song, it’s really melodic and very powerful, and the dynamics (are) really cool.”
Ok, can I tell you that this has been the most confusing frustrating week I’ve had so far compiling these spoilers? Can I just tell you? This stuff usually does not phase me, but I have to say I’ve been a little rattled these past few days.
Frankly, I’m really surprised that Kellie Pickler is singing Bohemian Rhapsody, rather than Ace Young. Because I heard from a really good source–honest, I’m not kidding–a really good source, that Ace would be singing BR.
Secondly, I can tell you, there was much confusion over Taylor Hick’s song choice. And I can tell you why: “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” was NOT his first choice. In fact, a few hours after I posted that Taylor would NOT be performing CLTCL, I heard from yet another good source, that Taylor WAS rehearsing “Crazy Little Thing Called Love, ” and that it wasn’t his first song choice.
But I only knew that he was rehearsing it. So at that point, I said to myself, “Nope. Keeping my mouth shut ’til I’m sure.” Especially since many of you SP’s seemed so unhappy with the choice. All my sources were good, but getting different information at different times. Song choices have a way of changing at the last minute, I’m afraid.
Anyway. There it is. My job is done I guess. See ya tomorrow night!
Mailbag
Another wacky week in Idol-land!!
Now, on to the mailbag….
Sniff…
After my last Mailbag I got many awesome “You go on girl with yer own bad self!” themed comments and emails from folks who like what I do here. That really meant a lot to me. Thank you. Seriously. But of course, keep the razzies coming too. Y’all keep me on my toes. dani, note the correct spelling of that contraction. And, just thanks again for the lively conversation that goes on here. I say it every week–If you read this blog make sure to check out the comments. It’s good stuff.
Country Week
Country week produced more comments of the “What, MJ are you high?” variety than I’ve ever had. But even after I listened to the performances on MP3 (thank you carieb for the link to that great site overmused.com). I still think Chris Daughtry and Ace Young had the best performances of the night. In fact, on mp3 I thought they sounded even better. Kellie and Mandisa sounded a little better. Elliott sounded not quite as good (still good though). The rest about the same. Many diverging opinions amongst the fans this week, that’s for sure.
Lots of controversy, too, this week. Taylor Hicks had an off week. There were a lot of people wondering why Taylor’s performance was so completely off the mark. It turns out that A: He probably didn’t get to sing his first song choice, and had to scramble to learn a new one. And B: he may have been sick on top of it. Whatever was going on, Taylor sure didn’t seem like himself. Many folks out there helped me sort through the rumors. Thanks so much.
Mandisa’s not-so-suprising boot also generated controversy on a couple fronts. Her association with Christian author Beth Moore and her “Lifestyle” comment the week before had some fans wondering if she was homophobic. Many of you had opinions on this. And since you all rawk, the discourse stayed civil. That’s more than I can say for some of what I read around the net this week. As far as the reason for her elimination, I’d like to emphasize, that personally I don’t think one single thing is to blame. A list of things converged–each one alone would have hurt her, but not destroyed her. Two bad song choices in a row, the flap around her spirituality, her gay fans more than likely deserting her after the Beth Moore disclosures, her unfortunate fashion choices, TPTB no longer seeming to pull for her–all these things together were just too much to overcome. That’s how it goes in Idol-land sometimes.
Much darker and more troubling were the rumors that the momma-of-all-racial-epitaphs was hurled at Mandisa by some punk teenagers as she was eliminated. Looking at the video, there was definitely some weirdness going on that night. I noted that in my re-cap. But I swear, if that word had been uttered in that studio, loud enough for everyone to hear, there would have been a much stronger reaction. And there would have been 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand accounts showing up IMMEDIATELY on the messageboards. It would have at least hit the gossip pages, if not the mainstream press. It’s also a week later, and there is still only one lonely account by a poster named “goldberg” on the Official forums. And, I’ve listened to my own high-quality divx recording of the show over and over again, and I hear no obvious silences. And I mean audio holes–cause that’s what would have been left if something had been chopped out of that 7-second delay.
Some readers suggested that maybe a less odious epitaph, like “bigot” was screamed out, or maybe there was some kind of commotion in the studio that left everyone confused, but not really horrified. These seem like more reasonable explanations–if indeed something happened.
I hope more people who were at that taping step forward to clear up the mystery.
The Awesomeness that is Katharine McPhee
Speaking of listening to performances without watching them. I can’t believe it took this long! According to a couple of readers, the only possible reason I could be critical of Katharine McPhee’s performances is that I’m a girl and just envious! You know, of her stunning beauty and perfect vocals! I’ve been asked to take the challenge: Listen to Katharine sing with my eyes closed. Well, fellas, here’s my answer:
I will….if you will. Gotcha there! Just playin. Those who can tear their eyes away from Katharine’s exquisite loveliness might notice that I’ve actually both praised and criticized Katharine’s performances over the weeks.
We Are The Champions
I appreciate the thoughtful responses to my essay on Queen and Rockstar:INXS. A couple of you made the excellent point that while INXS was a successful pop band, Queen is a legend, and any attempt to actually replace Freddie Mercury would fall flat.
I wonder though, if there could be a way to find a young lead singer who could somehow honor Freddie without replacing him? The newly formed INXS can continue to record new music while touring with the old hits. Queen as it stands is destined to remain a touring museum piece. One could argue that it’s not a bad thing, considering their awesome catalog. However, it’s not a very creative existance.
WINK!
Kudos to the reader who picked up on my little 80’s punk rock reference in Wednesday’s re-cap! And yes, Kitty, I would love to see American Idol perform the songs of X. Heh.
Thanks Again
Thanks to everyone again for your help with the spoilers–and all the great articles and tidbits of information you send my way. I really appreciate it.
There WILL Be a Pointy Pose!
Check it out! The Top 8 perform the music of Queen on Wednesday. Hooray!
Tuesday, we turn to the iconic music of QUEEN. Don’t miss a note of what will surely be a legendary night, tomorrow 8/7c. Then come back for the *1-hour results show, at a special time, Wednesday 8:30/7:30c, which will also feature the Top 8 performing a song by QUEEN.
