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107 of 131 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tomorrow's Stars Today or just marketing schmootz?, May 25, 2005
The AI phenomenon leaves me deeply, deeply conflicted. What's bad is that it's by nature a multi-week karaoke competition in which contestants are scolded for singing anything too far from the mainstream (just ask Nadia). The show is more interested in who'll move more units at at Best Buy and Wal-Mart than in developing the next Dylan, Lennon (unless it's Julian), or Kurt Cobain. On the other hand, I prefer a good pop vocal to most (all?) Bob Dylan, and I really like a few of the singers on this disc.
As I type this, there is less than an hour before we find out whether gorgeous, sweet Carrie can edge out gruff, hairy Bo to be this year's champ. I will be watching "Lost" because 1) the TV schedulers are sadists and 2) finishing second hardly hurt Clay Aiken's career. Here's my song-by-song, person-by-person review after having watched faithfully all season. In order of how they finished:
1. (or 2) Carrie Underwood, "Independence Day": Much better here than last night's rendition. Carrie showed she could handle rock (great job on Heart's "Alone") but the AI machine will likely try and mold her as the next Faith or Shania. Carrie seems genuinely sweet and looked truly sad when most of the others were voted off. She also was visibly more nervous as the show wore on. She's a sweetie with a great voice and I hope she enjoys much success.
2. (or 1) Bo Bice, "I Don't Want To Be." Bo slammed several songs out of the park this year and is the clear favorite of EVERY SECRETARY IN MY OFFICE (except my own, who's a guy). His "Spinning Wheel" and "Vehicle" were better, but including a newer song on the CD makes sense. Now the bad news. The show's clear bias towards him was ridiculous: he was always first or second in those Ford commercials, and if I had a dollar for each time Randy drooled about AI finally having a "real" rocker I could retire. But Bo showed real class the week Seacrest asked him to pick a group to stand with (one "safe", one "endangered") and he stood in the middle. (See Scott and Constantine, below, for the WRONG way to handle the situation.)
3. Vonzell Solomon, "Best of My Love." When "The Vonz" (Seacrest and his nicknames; but "Scotty the Body"?) took on this Emotions scorcher, Simon correctly called it her first memorable performance. Vonzell was inconsistent but at her best was absolute dynamite (this song, "Don't Leave Me This Way", and "Chain of Fools"). Personally, I preferred Nadia. And I don't know what was up with the crying the week she beat out...
4. Anthony Federov, "Every Time You Go Away." I was so glad this kid made the top four. I think he was the best pure singer on the show this year, but the producers didn't want to risk the show being seen as a Clay Aiken factory. To me, "A-Fed" seemed to care as much about pop music as he did about being a star, and his continued enthusiasm in the face of lukewarm reviews from Randy, Paula and (gosh) Simon showed it. He did go overboard with the adult-pop ballads, but consider: those songs are harder to sing than rock, and if you screw up there's no grinding guitars to hide behind. I hope the AI machine lets Anthony make a CD. He really deserves the chance. And what was with Paula unprofessionally crying and hugging Constantine's family the week Anthony outlasted him in the dreaded Bottom Two? Paula, what message did that convey to Anthony and his family? Not cool. Nice moment: Ryan calling Anthony "a class act" after he was voted out.
5. Scott Savol, "Against All Odds." To look at him, you'd never guess this guy could do really good impressions of Luther Vandross and Freddie Jackson. The Phil Collins warhorse used here had special meaning to Scott, but do the rest of us need another version of it? I REALLY hated how Scott and Constantine, unlike Bo, took Seacrest's bait and stood with Bo and Carrie, leaving Anthony and Vonzell (who ended up outlasting both of 'em) on the other side like a couple of losers. The next week, he actually thought he was "safe" sitting with Anthony while Vonzell was left standing and they hadn't got to Bo and Carrie yet [if you don't watch, AI ritually tortures the kids like this before revealing who's eliminated each week]. I also think Scott screwed his partners over in the early going when they everybody audition in groups of three. Whew. Yet, he managed to outlast...
6. Constantine Maroulis, "My Funny Valentine." I also cringed at this guy's mugging for the camera and that damn "call me" hand signal every week when they showed his vote-in phone numbers. That said, his version of this true classic is brilliant. I missed the week he did it on the air (I think it was--ugh---"Broadway Week"), but "Yo, dog, I gotta give you props. This was da bomb!" Constantine also did a fantastic job on "I Can't Make You Love Me" that deserves release someday.
7. Anwar Robinson, "A House Is Not a Home." Can someone be too nice? Somehow I never warmed up to Anwar. Neither did RandyPaulaSimon, who kept noting his "technical" skills but seemed to want more emotional punch in his performances. I hope that was the reason for his fairly early exit, and not his non-rumor-squelching song choices by Dionne Warwick and Chaka Khan. This Dionne/Bacharach-David classic was among Anwar's best.
8. Nadia Turner, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." I absolutely loved Nadia, and this Dusty Springfield song was her most, well, showstopping performance. The ex-cheerleader with the wild 'do deserved to go much farther than this. The judges' faulting her for a fine job on an obscure song (Crystal Gayle's "When I Dream") exposes AI's biggest flaw--familiarity over innovation. Sigh.
9. Nikko Smith, "Part-Time Lover". Nice Stevie Wonder imitation by the son of pro baseball player Ozzie Smith. Nikko made the top twelve when Mario Vazquez abruptly quit. By finishing in the Top Ten he gets to tour. Still, I didn't find him as good as...
10. Jessica Sierra, "Total Eclipse of the Heart." This spectacular version of a spectacular song seemed to guarantee local (to me; she's from Tampa) talent Jessica a long run on the show. But the next week she was gone. Snotty Simon hurt her chances by comparing her unfavorably to Carrie.
11. Mikalah Gordon, "God Bless the Child." Not the strongest singer but oy, such a personality! Nothing this side of Mary Roach was funnier than her warning Simon that he had to take her to her prom if she didn't make it through to the top 24. Mikalah may be my favorite all-around performer in the group, even though she's been dissed by the message boards, Billboard, and even Amazon. Like Anthony, she showed a real love of pop music. A mike disaster screwed her up on "Son of a Preacher Man", but she really shined on songs ranging from "Somewhere" to "Young Hearts Run Free" to this slow-burning classic most associated with Billie Holiday. By a 17-year-old! The fade is screwed up though (not Mikalah's fault). The youngest of the top 12, Mikalah was not helped by the three judges alternately advising her to be "sassy and fun" yet "adult and mature". Then they criticized her lack of a consistent style! I hope this girl makes it big. I definitely hope she gets to make a record.
12. Lindsay Cardinale, "Knock On Wood." Odd choice, since this is the song Simon said would make thousands of viewers turn the volume down and then Lindsay was eliminated. I think Lindsay sings it very well; my problem with it was that it was "Sixties Week" but she did the (1979) Amii Stewart disco version rather than the Eddie Floyd original. Well, that and the awful job by the AI band.
As for the "ensemble" version of "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", it seems that the leads of the "bottom four" were erased to allow the "top eight" more lines. This may have been done because only eight were left to perform it when its choice as a single was announced on the air. Officially, all 12 are credited as "background vocalists". Still, I wish they'd kept all 12 leads on the released version.
How many of these people will become stars? How many will get to have hit songs? And how many, given a choice, would kick Simon Cowell right in the Well, we're out of time. Bo or Carrie? Carrie or Bo? Still a half-hour to go...
P.S.: guess there will be an office full of pissed-off secretaries tomorrow. Congratulations to Carrie! (Bo will be fine, trust me. Both are set to have CDs out by September or October.)
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Versatility, July 25, 2005
This cd has an amazing amount of versatility. Linsdey Cardinale singing Knock On Wood has a disco sound to it, while Carrie Underwood singing Independence Day is a great country performance. Bo Bice singing I Don't Want To Be is an upbeat rock song, while Jessica Sierra singing Total Eclipse Of The Heart is a rock ballad. Nikko Smith does an upbeat R&B song, and Anwar Robinson does an R&B ballad. Vonzell Solomon does an outstanding version of the oldies soul hit Best Of My Love. Constantine Maroulis does a broasway song, and Nadia Turner sings You Don't Have To Say You Love Me which is an olies rock song. Scott Savol and Mikalah Gordon both do pop ballads while Anthony Federov does an upbeat pop song. The group song is an oldies pop song. Basically, this cd is very versatile, and you will like it no matter what your favorite type of music is. Everybody does a great job with their song, no matter how good or bad they were on the show.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Here come the showstoppers!!, May 29, 2005
I am a huge fan of AI. I think this is one of the best seasons so far. There was a lot of newly found talent this time around. Instead of writing about what songs would have been better for the Idols to sing on this particular CD, I'm going to rate the songs that are here with my unbiased opinion (I do have my favorites, of course..but unbiased is the way to go)
1. Independence Day - Carrie Underwood=I think she did great on this song. Carrie can really belt it out, I'm not surprised that she won this season. 10/10
2. I Don't Want to Be - Bo Bice=Good song choice. Bo is an excellent rocker. 9/10
3. Best of My Love - Vonzell Solomon=I think Vonzell was holding back a little with her vocals at the beginning, but she really brought it home on this one overall. I like the song choice and I love her voice. 9.5/10
4. A House Is Not A Home - Anwar Robinson=Anwar's voice is smooth and very consistent. This song is no exception. 9/10
5. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me- Nadia Turner=This was another good song choice. She went home too early. 9/10
6. Part-Time Lover- Nikko Smith=This is one of my favorite tracks on here. It's the perfect song for him, his vocals are wonderful. He also left too early. 10/10
7. My Funny Valentine- Constantine Maroulis=As much as I love to hear Constantine rock out, this was still a nice song for him to sing. I like the softer side of him as well. He certainly got cheated. 9/10
8. Total Eclipse Of The Heart- Jessica Sierra=This was another good choice, I love the song. Jessica has a powerful voice that I think was overlooked a lot of times. 9/10
9. Everytime You Go Away- Anthony Fedorov=I think this wasn't a very good choice for Anthony, it didn't showcase his talent enough. He can really sing, I've heard it on other selections from the show. 8/10
10. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)- Scott Savol=I was never a fan of his, but I do think this was a good choice for him. It's hard to take on a Phil Collins song, but he did fairly well. 8/10
11. Knock on Wood - Lindsey Cardinale=Her vocals were too drown out here. This wasn't a very good choice of tune, I think a slow song would have done her more justice. 7/10
12. God Bless the Child - Mikalah Gordon=I was surprised here. I never like Mikalah's voice on the show, but this is good. It's a good choice, her notes sound smoother. Much improvement. 9/10
13. When You Tell Me That You Love Me - American Idol Finalists - Season 4 - I do agree that some of the individual vocals were lost in the background, but altogether, they blend well. This is one of the best group songs they did this season, in my opinion. 8/10
Overall, I think each track is pretty listenable, despite the flaws that I have noted here. If you are a fan of American Idol, I wouldn't miss this one. If you aren't, you may be interested, but I think in a lot of cases, probably not.
-A review from someone that has actually heard the CD all the way through
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