Wednesday, April 27. Tonight, the Top 6 were asked to sing something from the 50-year hit catalog of Carole King whose first success, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by the Shirelles, hit #1 in 1961. In the video package, the screen flashed though the many different artists who’ve recorded her songs, but I was annoyed that after focusing on Rod Stewart, the camera went up to the title of his album If We Fall In Love Tonight. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote that one, not King. So why even bother “going there?”
To fill time (well, Fox could’ve given us an hour show and not the now-usual 90 minute one), in addition to their individual performances, the contestants sang duets with each other. I was rather disappointed with the song choices because too many of them came from the catchy yet less sophisticated ‘60s era and stopped at the 1971 Tapestry album. I’d hoped to hear more mature ‘70s King classics like “It’s Too Late,” “So Far Away,” “Jazzman,” or “Nightingale.” No such luck.
Babyface joined Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine in the mentor seat, which was a good idea since he’s a real singer who can address more technical vocal issues than Iovine (glad they finally gave Will.i.am a rest).
1. Jacob Lusk: “Oh No, Not My Baby”/Maxine Brown. Several people recorded this and only Brown managed to get it into the Top 40 and not very far (#25 in 1965). My favorite version was by Linda Ronstadt in 1994, but it only became an adult contemporary hit. It was telling that during rehearsal, Iovine and ‘Face made Lusk sing it 65 times. Ironically, the lone black guy left in the competition has no sense of rhythm—he couldn’t sing the chorus on the right beat! Which makes sense because he’s driven me up the wall with his “all over the place” style of singing which means no discipline and just unchecked emotion. However, because last week, the judges said they wanted Lusk to take off the restraints again, Iovine reversed his earlier direction to not overdo it by telling him to go for it.
The performance started off strangely with Lusk appearing--in a ridiculous plaid dark blue jacket which clashed with his ‘50s-looking light blue vest, yellow shirt, and old-fashioned bowtie--then back-up singers entering the stage. At first, I thought he was going to do a duet. It says a lot that in the end, Lusk only attempted the chorus once and was flat climbing up to it. He never sang the succeeding choruses, instead letting the background singers do them so he could let out long “ahhhhhhh!”s (which were meant to impress the judges) and spend a lot of time doing vocal riffs. But he couldn’t sustain his final long note without again veering off key.
Steven Tyler said the singer’s strut was magic. Jennifer Lopez tried to be complimentary but had to acknowledge that he was “having so much trouble with it.” Randy Jackson noted Lusk went sharp in a couple of places but liked the energetic performance, believing “the scatting was incredible.”
2. Lauren Alaina: “Where You Lead”/Barbra Streisand. Not the strongest song (even though it later became the theme for “The Gilmore Girls”) as Streisand released this as a single twice in the early ‘70s, one in a studio version and another in a live concert medley with “Sweet Inspiration.” She barely made the Top 40 both times, reaching #40 and #37 respectively. During rehearsals, the 16-year old admitted being afraid to go for high notes because she was afraid she wouldn’t pull them off. Babyface asked if she ever failed while attempting them, and she admitted no. “Duh,” he responded. Miley Cyrus walked in and, with her 40-year old whisky drenched voice, gave Alaina encouragement advising her not to worry about what people say on the internet as they’ve said horrible things about both her and Iovine (yeah, but they’re right about you, you little eye-pulling, self-absorbed, spoiled brat!).
During her performance, Alaina looked confident, picking up a guy from the audience and dancing with and singing to him (Ryan Seacrest later find out he was 19 and warned him “we have rules!”). She tried the high note at the very end, but it wasn’t quite as pure in tone. Lopez said it was OK that her voice cracked because she was at least pushing herself. Jackson agreed with me that he didn’t love the song calling it “a little bit safe and boring” but felt she managed to make it into something more. As she listened to Tyler’s compliment with a sweet smile and tears in her eyes, I have to admit for probably the first time ever, I felt for her (later in a backstage interview, she explained her emotional response saying she knew she blew the note so was so happy the judges liked her performance anyway).
3a. The first “filler” duet featured Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart taking on “I Feel The Earth Move.” Reinhart looked confident--radiant even--especially when smiling across the judges table looking at Abrams (no wonder; they’re supposedly a couple). Abrams sounded terrific when he added his harmony for the first time. And toward the end, he deviated from the melody (a good idea because it can quickly become monotonous) enough to make it his own.
Seacrest only asked one judge for feedback—Tyler—who said it was “nothing but good.”
4. Scotty McCreery: “You’ve Got A Friend”/James Taylor. Acknowledging that the judges actually criticized the country singer for the first time last week (about time!), Iovine and Babyface wanted McCreery to really concentrate on starting soft so he could build to something and to not rely on his security blanket--singing baritone all the time (remember during his audition and Hollywood week, he did the same song three times simply because it showed off his lower range?! It became a joke). Good advice. And although the arrangement was still country, we’d never heard it with that flavor, and the strings took it to another level. For the first time, McCreery actually looked (no smirk, no weird eyebrow movement) and sounded sincere in what he was singing as opposed to looking like he was thinking, “Sh*t, I’ve got the audience eating out of the palm of my hand! Just wait till I get to that low note! They’re gonna flip out!” It certainly helped that it’s one of the best songs ever written.
Jackson felt the beginning was flawless but advised him to hold on to the high notes longer because he fell off of them too quickly. Tyler said, “I don’t think you ever sounded better.” Lopez loved hearing the higher range in his voice and that “you told that story beautifully.”
4. James Durbin: “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”/The Shirelles. The rocker wanted to prove he could just sing a ballad. He started the song with a single strum of his guitar (which was totally unnecessary--he shouldn’t have played it) then sang a cappella for a while before the band kicked in and made me feel like I was at a sock hop. Durbin may’ve fooled most people, but he still ended up shrieking from the middle of the song on, so this was not purely a ballad performance.
I knew the judges would be fooled. They were. Lopez called the beginning “totally magical” and said he was the first performer to get her moving all night. However, she rightfully asserted he’s been consistently strong every week (unlike the others—ahem.). Jackson felt Durbin proved he wasn’t just a great rock singer but a great singer, period. He went as far as calling it the best performance of the past two months: “This guy might win the whole thing!” At Seacrest’s encouragement, the judge even went on stage to hug the guy! In all fairness, if Durbin doesn’t win this contest, it’s a joke. He really is the strongest vocalist here.
4a. Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery teamed up for the umpteenth time to sing “Up On The Roof,” first made popular by the Drifters. Wish they’d done James Taylor’s more sophisticated 1979 version instead. McCreery was back in his element relying on his annoying, ever-animated eyebrows and baritone again. Ho hum. Well, they’re not really getting judged on this one, so what the hell.
After coming back from a commercial, Seacrest seemed a bit lost. He looked into the audience and said, “Carole King is over here. Carole King’s daughter Sherry!”
5. Casey Abrams: “Hi-de-Ho”/Blood, Sweat & Tears. This should’ve been a perfect choice for the bluesy singer. He began his performance in top hat and tickling the top half of the ivories as a pianist played the lower notes. Great touch and impressive that he can play yet another instrument. But soon, the band kicked into a clichéd blues riff you’ve heard since childhood, and I realized the bearded one wasn’t so much singing the song as much as growling and scatting through it. Of course, Jackson loved it, saying it was entertaining and that he felt like he was watching “The Casey Show and Revue.” Tyler, chose his words carefully (perhaps because he said so many bleepy things last week): “The best mother… lovin’… show… I’ve seen… It made my scalp itch, it was so good!” Lopez liked it too but advised Abrams to loosen up physically--especially his legs.
6. Haley Reinhart: “Beautiful”/Carole King. I was not looking forward to hearing this obscure track from Tapestry. In rehearsals, Iovine kept forcing the singer to put more emphasis on the word “get” as in “You got to get up every morning.” It made a big difference as the singer confidently took to the stage to a strong beat and blaring horns and gave an aggressive performance (the singers have really benefited from getting coached by Iovine and his team this year; before, the contestants were left to come up with their own arrangements, and that’s probably why so many of them failed every week). She then transitioned into quieter, more reflective verses, and I have to admit it was pretty good for a non-hit.
Tyler made quite a declaration: “I just saw God. I heard God in your voice.” Lopez: “Beautiful. You have one of the best voices in this competition. Amazing.” Jackson didn’t love the beginning but loved the end.
For the only time tonight, instead of hearing only one performance before going to commercial, we heard a second song, Jacob Lusk and James Durbin doing “I’m Into Something Good” by Herman’s Hermits. They took turns serenading Lopez with the judge turning her seat to face the audience, gamely looking at each of the singers alternately, and putting on an “oh my gosh!” face. It was pretty funny. Again, Lusk went off key toward the end on the title of the song (not good). Tyler asked, “Where were you going with all that?!”
Once again, none of the six contestants gave a really bad performance but tomorrow night, half of them will wind up in the bottom three no matter how well they did. So it comes down a lot to a popularity contest. Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, and James Durbin have never landed in the cellar before, and I don’t believe any one of them did anything to get there this time. So I’m assuming Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams, and Haley Reinhart (she’s been there the most) will be in the bottom three. Going home: Jacob Lusk (he received the second lowest votes last time, and he’s still going off key).
Check in here tomorrow night for a breakdown and analysis of the results. Last years’ runner up--Crystal Bowersox--and coke addict Bruno Mars will perform. Till then, remember: Don’t try melisma at home. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could hurt yourself.
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