American Idol....

For something a little different, I'll just review American Idol tonight!

Round 1

James Durbin has amazing vocals, even if some of his song choices aren't ones I wouldn't normally choose to listen to. For example, there are places in that Journey song he was singing that other vocalists would go flat and it was so NICE that he was right on with pitches. Loved it!

I like Haley's softer vocals, when she puts more into it, it sounds like her voice is exhausted. The MJ song is just odd though. Not a huge fan of that song. She's growling like Casey a lot tonight. Randy really reamed her tonight, though!

Scotty, oh Scotty. First thought, use your upper range on occasion! It's so lovely! And he did, yay! Simple, sweet song. He's got the country vote. I like the way he tells a story when he sings. I think Orthodoxy has spoiled me in that way -- informational singing. I hope he next song is up beat.

Lauren... I love her clothes. :-) I've never heard this song, but the first chord of the song and I could feel that it was a big song. Big song for a big voice. Nice vocals. Good job. Um... not a huge fan of the song, *I* didn't connect as much to the song as I'm sure others could. The song was dramatic, the music itself was dramatic, but I didn't feel the lyrics matched the feel of the song. Anyway, to her performance. It was beautiful. I liked the way she used dynamics in the song and changed her tone for the lyrics. It showed some artistry.

Round 2.... (less thorough review)

LOL Haley's a little pissed at Randy!

Haley.... I like her dynamics! Much better song. Much better performance. Hubby was GREATLY amused with her angry eyes at Randy.

Ok, Scotty, I prefer the less crazy eyes. But he had fun. And I like the up beat.

Lauren had great vocals for the "evil" song, but I thought the first half was better than the latter.

And now, back to James. I love how he breaks the song and leaves you wondering what the heck he's doing! I think I was more amused with M's hysterical laughter while he was singing. Setting the song to a more rock version of the song turned out very well.

In general, I am much more impressed with this years contestants than previous years. As a group, they are much better performers. I also appreciate that there seems to be a larger focus on singing as a whole. There are some very excellent singers with great range and ability to control their voice. It's much more pleasant to listen to! Especially since Paul is gone!