American Idol Recap: Who Gave Us Movie Magic?
3. Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, "Falling Slowly"
This? This was cute. Not astounding or even great, but a definite Idol moment with all the whirling-dervish camera pans to put a Hype Williams remake of Vertigo to shame. Crystal, of course, wittily injected life into her performance while Lee stammered and almost gained consciousness during the homestretch. I cannot stand that a Final 4 contestant doesn't understand showmanship. So weird, y'all. Depressing. Although this rendition didn't top Kris Allen's version last year (as I warned it wouldn't yesterday), it was serviceable. Like oh-so-much of this season.
2. Casey James, "Mrs. Robinson"
Remember when I predicted this too? Well, I sort of didn't. I predicted Casey and Michael would retool the Simon and Garfunkel hit as their duet, but close enough. Fact is, it'd have better served them both in that capacity. Why didn't they choose that? I keep being right, somehow. At any rate, Casey's spin on "Mrs. Robinson" was sweet, unforced, and memorable. I loved the ukulele-ish accompaniment, even though it brought back rough memories from Jason Castro's uke performance at that Bachelor wedding. No "Tiny Bubbles" for me, fanks.
Randy Jackson's favorite comment came into play after this performance ("I don't know if it was my favorite performance, dog -- I mean I wasn't jumping out of my seat, but yeah, you know, you're a singer."), and it incensed me this time around. Can't an effing guitar player enjoy a soft acoustic performance sometimes? God! If you want to impress Randy Jackson, descend from the ceiling with an electrified double-bassoon, scream for five minutes, then jump off a trampoline into a beautiful dream-catcher. That's where the artistry is. In the big stupid spectacle. Can't we enjoy something classic? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio and Taylor Hicks?
1. Crystal Bowersox, "I'm Alright"
Oh, hell yes. Caddyshack ("I'm Alright's" origin) may be a freakishly overrated film, but Crystal's performances pretty much can't be oversold. In retrospect, I honestly prefer Didi Benami's subtle warble over Crystal's less-marketable, somehow more predictable style, but facts are facts: Crystal is the best singer. She brings vitality to the vocals, transitioning from sentiment to sentiment in each song with evident comprehension. She's a canny contestant and likely a legitimate artist. "I'm Alright" served as a firework, a flare sent up to onlookers who worried for her recent critiques had deflated her. She's LIVIN', y'all. That gleeful, yet weary tr
ill reverberated in a way that no other performance did tonight. Crystal's best performances have an air of spontaneity, and her "I'm Alright" cover marked another rollicking venture in an Idol career full of smart, sparked performances. Stunning. And of course, under-praised.
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As usual, Crystal Bowersox killed it. We love you MammaSox!
Lou
http://www.anonymous-posting.us.tc
I don't get why the judges are under praising Crystal and Casey and constantly overpraising Lee and to an extent Mike. It baffles the mind. Crystal is seriously not capable of sounding bad, she also has the ability to make everything she sings sound like an original song, she schools everyone on how to make something truly your own. The duets, well Casey and Mike did so much better than Crystal and Lee.
The final four – and just a couple of episodes left – to decide a winner. Last night’s performances were far from cinematic, but they at least helped give us two somewhat stirring duets. Will it be Michael or Casey that goes home tonight? I think it’s safe to say Lee and Crystal will make it through to the end – or will there be an upset? http://thesmogger.com/2010/05/12/idol-hangover-the-final-four-perfourm/
Please don't make predictions about my feelings on the performances, especially when they're as wrong as "I didn’t care for the duets, and I bet you didn’t either.".
"Falling Slowly" was for me a serious contender for best performance of the season, and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman", while not up to that level, was still far better than either of their solo attempts (who would ever have thought a great song like "Mrs. Robinson" could be so boring?)
I think part of what made the duets unsuccessful (for me) is that they're 1:30 long. That's barely enough for a solo Idol performance -- and for a duet, it gave the contestants so little time to build chemistry on stage.
I think youa re right about Crystal doing the best solo, but I think her duet with Lee was better than her solo song.
However, Lee's solo song was horrible.
Let me know what you think of my recap:
http://iamnoahjames.com/2010/05/12/idolspec-top-4-performance-show-%e2%80%93-5112010/
Well, at this point I'm feeling...disgusted I guess is the word, and have to get it out somewhere other than at my husband (who has never watched the show and rolls his eyes when I kvetch about it). Sorry fans, but I find neither Crystal's busking, Lee's gravel, Mike's melisma nor Casey's bleating entertaining. I've only watched S9 at the request of my 10-year old, who chose it over endless reruns on Disney/Nickelodeon, for the dearth of talent has killed my interest altogether. Thankfully, the weather is nice now and she plays outside instead. Mr. Virtel, I truly commend your ability to find anything to write about this abysmal season. And thank you - I can count on your recaps at this point to save me from watching the "performances" of the "top" four!
Thank you! I think the most depressing part of the season is that voters have been wronger than ever. If the top five had been Crystal, Siobhan, Didi, Lilly Scott, and a developing talent like Alex Lambert, this season could've been sophisticated.
If the top 5 had been Crystal, Siobhan as she was before the Top 10, Didi as she was before the Top 11, and Lilly and Alex as they magically fail to falter under the stress of performing week after week and keep up how they managed to perform for 1 or 2 weeks in the semis, it WOULD have been a sophisticated season.
You're replacing reality with your imagination of the best possible performances from those singers, while ignoring their low points.
Ooh! Your reality sounds judge-influenced. Didi's only middling performance (to me) was her final one -- and that was because it was too sped up for her. Their criticism that she was trying to be something she wasn't didn't make sense. There's a wonderful rendition of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" by Joan Osborne, who's not so stylistically removed from Didi's realm. If Didi had sat on a stool and sang, Kara would've been fooled into believing it was a "singer-songwriter" performance.
I thought Lilly's final performance was wonderful, and I think Siobhan's vocal gimmicks and penchant for conventional balladry were inoffensive. I'd rather hear people with dramatic highs and occasional failures than these plateaued below-par performers.