Our very own halo9125 (and resident Pia fan!) reviews last night’s Idols Live show! Enjoy.
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Hi all! If you watched my tweets from the Idol concert last night- I was mshalo18, but you all know me here as halo9125.
OK- enough about me, lol. First, a little bit about the Nassau Coliseum as a concert venue. I’ve been to quite a few concerts there- and in the past, the stage was in the middle of the hockey rink. For this concert, the stage was on one end of the rink- so if you weren’t sitting in the floor seats in the first few rows, or the first level on the sides adjacent to the stage, you were pretty far away.
Dear lord- this concert was LOUD- too loud at some points- several of the Idols were drowned out by the music, which ticked me off. And even with earplugs, my ears are still ringing.
NOW- onto the show. The girls sounded phenomenal on BTW- probably the first time I’ve liked that performance. They were greeted with great enthusiasm from the crowd- but went NUTS when Pia came out. This was her hometown show (Lauren told us, as well as pointed out where her family was sitting) and you can see by her face how thrilled Pia was to be performing for this crowd. She had a HUGE smile on her face and was waving to various members of the audience- she looked adorable and just so happy. When she performed Empire State of Mind- and hit the line “New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of there’s nothing you can’t do”- the crowd exploded in applause. The crowd was equally enthusiastic on California King Bed- I’m telling you- I LOVE when she sings in her middle register- the tone of her voice is just so gorgeous, and it filled the arena- she just gave me chills. And THEN- Stefano joined her- the crowd went nuts! The videos that we’ve all seen don’t do this performance justice- they sound INCREDIBLE together- Stefano is so much better than he was on the show. This song works SO much better as a duet.
Paul was up next with “Maggie May”. As my friend said- he’s no Rod Stewart (which he’s not) – but he does have a lot of energy up there, and his voice didn’t sound hoarse at all. He didn’t have a lot of success getting the audience on their feet, but you can’t fault the guy for trying.
Next up was Thia. She was very warmly received- BUT- she has almost no stage presence at all, and the song (for me, anyway) just kind of sat there. She has a lovely voice, but she really should have waited a good 5 years to try out for Idol.
Next up were Naima, Thia, Pia, and Haley on Tightrope. I have to say- this is one performance I preferred watching on the videos. The girls were almost entirely drowned out by the music, and much as I was trying to hear the vocals, it was difficult. And have I mentioned the lighting? It was really difficult to get a decent picture, because of the way the lighting was bouncing off the stage directly back at us (if nothing else, we were dead center).
Up next was Stefano– who really, truly had me convinced he’d catch a Grenade for me. He was certainly a crowd favorite- you could hear the audience squealing with-hmmm- delight? – as he emoted on the stage. And on DJ’s Got Us Falling in Love- well- when that shirt came off- I think half the women in the audience passed out. The other half was screaming their lungs out, including my friend who commented on how nice his body is. I reminded her we were both old enough to be his mother, which put a bit of a damper on that moment.
Hmmm….guys on Animal. What can I say about this without being utterly snarky? Ok- it was entertaining, and it appeared the audience was enjoying it. It just didn’t appeal to me at all. Naima, on the other hand, is quite the entertainer. Honestly- JLo can only dream of being able to dance and sing simultaneously the way Naima does. She was actually the only one of the Idols we got a GOOD look at after the show. She is such a tiny little thing- and absolutely beautiful. She was very sweet with all the kiddies that wanted pics with her as well.
Up next was Pia singing This Time. They have added the videos for her, Scotty and Lauren when they perform their singles. Now- I have been reading for almost 2 months how, when Pia performs this song, the response is tepid, she sucks the life out of the room, etc. Well- NO- and did I say NO? She was totally into it, working the stage, and was completely comfortable. When she gets towards the end- the “I promise you this time” line- there is this fantastic break in her voice, and from that point on, she just rocks it out. The audience loved it.
I freely admit I am not a big Casey fan, but I found him thoroughly enjoyable on Smooth- it happens to be one of my favorite songs. The kid next to me, however, didn’t seem to appreciate my enjoyment (I was singing along) and stuck his fingers in his ears. I was looking forward to Moanin’ , but the music was so loud, it drowned out a lot of Haley. I have to say- Casey’s scatting is NOT enjoyable- Haley’s is FAR better (what I could hear of it). Haley should not hook herself up with Casey on an album- she is way ahead of him in terms of musicality and interpretation. Casey was up next on Harder to Breathe- this performance was right up with for me with Animal- I could have done nicely without it.
The first half closes with Forget You- which is just a great, fun performance. Yes, the choreography is corny as hell, the outfits leave something to be desired, and the whole thing had a Brady Bunch/Partridge Family feel to it. I loved it.
Lauren opened the second half of the show. Flat on the Floor happens to be a favorite of mine, and I enjoyed her rendition. I THINK- if I remember correctly- she skipped the high parts of the song towards the end- but unless you’ve heard the song before, you probably wouldn’t notice. Next up, was Like My Mother Does- and here’s where showing the video behind the performer did NOT work at all. The Lauren on the video barely resembles the Lauren who was performing- between the tan, the makeup, and – I could be wrong about this- the gauze that they appeared to shoot some of the video through (to give it a sort of airbrushed effect)- it seemed like two different people. The performance was fine, but she seemed to fade a bit towards the end, and that was carried over to If I Die Young. She is absolutely going to have to work on vocal stamina, for lack of a better term. Another thing that drives me nuts- first- those tutu dressed have to go- they simply don’t flatter her. And she has taken to prancing around the stage, legs wide apart (yes I know they wear shorts under those dresses) – it is just not attractive or ladylike. I know she’s a kid, but for me, this just didn’t work. But there is no denying she was a crowd favorite.
DURBIN! Like him or not, this guy is a performer. He had the crowd going crazy at his entrance for SCOM. He was all over that stage- lord, what energy he has- and the crowd ate it up. I don’t care for the song Uprising, but no matter- he wowed the audience.
Next, it was church time with Jacob. Now, here’s where I disagree again with what I’ve been reading- his set is a nice buffer between James and Haley. Do I care for his type of music? No, but again, the audience really enjoyed what he was doing, and lord knows he gave everything he had during his time on stage.
Haley was up next and started her set with House of the Rising Sun. Now please don’t jump on me- I happen to like this – A LOT (and for the record, I bought her Walmart EP)- this was a lovely, nuanced performance- but I really expected the vocal to be more powerful, and it surprised me. I’m not a fan of Bennie and the Jets no matter who sings it, so I can’t really judge it one way or the other. I was left with the impression that she’s a bit bored performing these songs, but yet the audience clearly enjoyed her performances.
Obviously, little NY girls don’t care what type of music Scotty sings- they just love him. I just find him kind of meh. Sure, he’s personable in his brief banter with the audience (he pointed out the Team Pia t-shirt wearers in the front rows), and he has that aww shucks kind of personality. I’m just not a country music fan- at all. I’m sure he’ll have an excellent career, and I’m actually looking forward to Out of Summertime being released- but enough with Your Man, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not and I Love You This Big already. And this is where I have to say I’m a bit sorry that I watched so many of the videos before attending my concert- I was bored by a few of them before I even saw them live. I have to say- I never noticed what a LONG song I Love You this Big is- and somehow the video playing behind it made it seem longer. I did enjoy Gone- that was the best, for me, of the Scotty set. By the time he did his duet with Lauren, I had mentally checked out.
As for the finale- yes, it was energetic, and fun, and the Idols were totally into it. I just found it to be a bit of a mess.
Before I end this really long recap, a couple of things I want to mention. This was my first Idol concert, and I know a lot has been written about the format. The first half of the show was far more faster paced than the second- it offered up more variety, the performances (excluding James’ in the 2nd half) were far more engaging. The only part of the second act I really enjoyed was House of the Rising Sun. I honestly think I would have hated mini-sets throughout the show. Finally – about this being the Pia show- that has been so greatly exaggerated, it’s not even funny. Yes, she is on stage a lot- doing backup- but so are Haley, Thia, Naima, and Stefano. The only group number where she had a somewhat more prominent role was Firework- and that’s been cut from the show. The way it’s been described, you would think the girl was starring in the entire first half- and she’s not. She has her songs which are very well received, and the rest of the time she takes a backseat to the highlighted performer. As far as becoming breakout performers from Season 10- I see Scotty, Haley, and Pia having really nice careers. I think Lauren is talented, but her ongoing vocal issues my hinder her.
I know this was really long, but I wanted to cover it all- thanks for reading!
