Mar 31/09 - TOP 9

I think the AI band is great but I think the producers need to work a little on sound, several times tonight I felt the band and back-up singers overshadowed the lead. I know they want to fill the theatre with sound. I’d like to actually hear the contestants. This is not the first show I’ve noticed this with. Doing sound for a live televised show is a big challenge…. but this is not their first season.

Here’s my ranking, from bottom to top:

9-MEAGAN (Bob Marley) – I have yet to be impressed with Meagan’s vocals. Her voice seems weak… there is tone, but she tends to sing so that it resonates nasally or she crunches it back in the throat. The colour of the voice is then dark and metallic. I think she needs some serious vocal coaching, and IMO she doesn’t belong in the top 10.

8-SCOTT (Piano Man) – as a voice teacher I just itch to work with Scott for a few weeks, lol. There is potential– but Scott’s way of singing is getting in his way. He tends to either sing closed, through the teeth, or big & wide AND pushing; there is tightness in the jaw; he tends to lift his head up which stretches the neck & causes tension; these things cause an unnatural and unattractive vibrato. However, I do appreciate his spirit.

7-MATT (You Found Me) – Vocally Matt was pretty good, his voice shows promise, but the song didn’t thrill me.

6-ALISON (Don’t Speak) – she sang off pitch and off beat. I wrote down that she shouted the song – and then Simon mentioned it. I do think she tries too hard. She needs to understand dynamics. But I could give a hoot about what she chooses to wear.

5-LIL (I Surrender) – Lil is a singer in search of her vocal identity. She’s got fabulous pipes but every week they tell her, it’s not the right song. Yet she works incredibly hard to produce a good performance. She has good depth & warmth of tone, although I heard the odd pitch issue, I thought she really came to life in the second half. She’s a diva in the making, if the right people could help her figure it out.

4-ANOOP (Usher) – I agreed with Randy that Anoop sang well but the song choice didn’t thrill me.

3-DANNY (What hurts the most) – in the first verse, I wrote ‘wonderful bloom in the voice, great texture, very expressive. But when the song hit the chorus… the sound was unbalanced and my ear couldn’t pick out his voice from the mix & the performance didn’t seem as strong. I also thought the arrangement was rather strange.

2-KRIS (Ain’t No Sunshine) – Another singer with good potential, if he would open a little bit more (sing less through the teeth). Excellent arrangement, good singing, solid performance.

1-ADAM (Play that Funky Music) – Great vocals, of course. Everything a voice teacher would want. Thought he made it his own, lots of fun, good stage presence. What can you say but ‘wow, Steve Tyler move over’.

Results - 26Mar09

Bottom Three:

8 - Scott
9 - Matt
10 - Michael

Really enjoyed Stevie Wonder's performance. It's a pity Michael had to go, he has a lot to offer.

25Mar09- TOP TEN

Overall an enjoyable show except for the boring bickering between the judges and the endless commercials. 2 hour show, 10 performances. That’s what… 15 minutes of music? Oh, but we love it anyway, I suppose, lol.

Here's how I ranked them, from #1 to #10:

*DANNY (Here I come) – Strong, solid voice, he demonstrated how to be “present” in a song (with it, in it) without ever pushing the voice. Very polished performance, he sang on pitch, and came across as grounded. Good song choice.

*ADAM (Take a good look at my face). Hmmmm. I’m a big Adam fan, but honestly I wasn’t too sure about this. I felt the voice sounded a little bit unsupported… the song was possibly set too high. Not that he doesn’t have range. The tessitura of this song (where in the range it sits most of the time) placed the voice in an area that seemed somewhat disconnected from the body. The tone was very sweet and very clear, tho. He sang with great emotion and he showed awesome control.

*ALISON (Pappa was a Rolling Stone) – Puleeeeaaase. Look, I’m getting just a little suspicious of the ‘raving’ over the last performance of every show. Oh is that just a perception on my part? Alison sang… okay. I thought the last few notes of the song were solid and showed something real and deep. It showed what she might be capable of doing with the right song. It wasn’t the best performance of the night, it wasn’t the worst performance. It was a decent performance, but my socks were still on my feet when she sang the last note.

*ANOOP (Oh, Baby Baby) – Clear and very solid tone, firmly on pitch. Some depth in the sound. A real ability to ‘paint the song’ with his voice. I would have liked a little more support in a few of the top notes (funny, just after I wrote that, Kara said it). If I had Anoop in the studio I’d give him specific exercises to do that would assist in understanding the instrument and negotiating the range easily and with consistency. Very good tho.

*KRIS (How Sweet It Is) – As soon as Kris started to sing I felt he was ‘present’ – he brought character to what he was doing. He was solidly on pitch, he negotiated the phrases easily, well done.

*MICHAEL (Ain’t too Proud to Plead) – Hmmm. It’s interesting to hear the judges talk about a performance like this, which came across as being ‘hot’ in a sense, but is also ‘not’ what they want. They’re looking for authentic artistry and I think that’s really hard to ‘get’ sometimes. You pick a song you like, that you know the audience will like, but the judges aren’t wild about it, as they say it’s ‘not the ‘you’ we’re looking for.’ I thought that Michael had good phrasing, and that he was pretty solid on the riffs. Could he do better? I think so. Will he get the chance? I think so.

*LIL (Heatwave) – my goodness, what a song to pick. I sang it myself back a few years ago when we were the dance band at the local Legion. Before Lil sang I wrote: “should be in her element.” After she began, I wrote: “what isn’t working about her singing for me?” In this particular performance, it was… that she was all at one level. There were no dynamics (or just one – loud). In addition, she thinks too much about what she is doing. With the ‘shouting’ of the song – which partially might have been reaction to the band, who was very loud & covered her – the voice started to get tired and you could hear the stress. If Lil was in my studio, I’d show her some technical things to focus the tone and give power without effort, and I’d work with her to ‘balance’ the voice so that she could negotiate the range easily and evenly. I’d also work to help her use texture in her voice to express the song, rather than volume.

*SCOTT (You Can’t Hurry Love) – I thought Scott did a little better tonight. Like I said last week, he sings with the voice placed in the back of the throat, but he didn’t lift his head so much this time, which helped the tone stay more consistent (stretching the neck means we stretch the infrastructure around the vocal chords & add tension to the voice as well). He sounded more present in what he was doing, he had a relationship to the text and the song. He’s very talented on the piano. I agree with Simon, though, I have always thought that Scott sounds too ‘lounge-like’. One of the reasons, IMO, for this, is the lack of ‘form’ in the production of the sound. Right now there is a sense that the voice is separated from the body. If I was working with Scott, I would try and help him develop a deeper connection to the resonance of the voice, and teach him how to frame the words so that the tone is solid, consistent and has depth.

*MATT (Let’s Get it On) – I liked the top of the song, but when he stood up, he lost something. It was like it was less grounded. Towards the end, he seemed to find it again. So the middle was (as Randy might say) ‘sort of okay for me’, but it didn’t thrill me. I thought his tone was good, he sang on pitch. I think it can be difficult – or distracting – to move and sing at the same time. We have to be careful that we don’t ‘throw’ ourselves by trying to do too much. It was interesting that the judges felt opposite to me – that he was more grounded when he got up.

*MEAGAN (For Once in My Life) – if one of my students came to the studio and sang like Meagan sang this song, I would stop them, and say ‘you’re trying too hard.’ I’d say ‘you were sick last week, and you want to prove that you’ve got it, but you’re actually pushing ‘it’ away.’ In the beginning, the voice had a nasal resonance, and as she moved into the song, it was obviously constricted. It’s like she is clamping down on the voice in the throat and often pushing at the same time – this can often give the illusion of power, but it’s actually tension that holds the voice back / down, which is why she is pitchy & has an unnatural vibrato. She shouted the song, and I was particularly worried when she ground her throat. The voice was already tight, and grinding does nothing to assist it to work effectively. It did not add anything to the performance & is unhealthy. She did look fabulous, though.

Who should go: Meagan
Who will go: Lil

P.S. RYAN SEACREST (little riff from ‘oh Baby Baby’) – sweet tone, Ryan, if a little… unsure. Could be a little more grounded. Let me know if you need some coaching. *blows a kiss*

Top 11 - Results

Bottom Three:

*Alison (my rating - 6.0/10)

*Michael (my rating - 6.5/10)

*Alexis (my rating - 5.5/10)

Alison is safe, says Ryan. While Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis sing, I'm rooting for Michael to stay.

I'm not quite sure what Carrie is wearing, her headdress and the waist of her dress is kinda strange, but the colour red suits her. Carrie sings with a clear and solid tone, the textures of her voice transmit the emotion of the song. When she goes up, she makes the transition smoothly and the upper notes are clear and strong. She never pushes the voice, altho she's always present in what she's doing. Randy comes in with his part. I feel like they are slightly imbalanced, the song seems slightly low for him, but he has an agreeable warm tone. The song is really hers.

Back to the results. Simon says they would consider saving one of the bottom two. We go to commercial as I wonder which one they would save. Hopefully Michael.

Here we go - after the nationwide vote of 31 million... Michael is safe. Alexis is going home. Or maybe not. She has to sing & then they will decide. As she sings I think it's ridiculous that she had the least votes when the weakest vocalist in the show this week was clearly Scott. Meagan we can forgive.

Unfortunately they decide not to save her after all. But she's young and talented. People know who she is. She has the potential for a career if she is wise and uses the contacts she has made to move forward.

Idol is the beginning - not the end.

TOP 11 – 17Mar09 – Country Week

Best dressed award goes to: Paula (lovely gown), Ryan & Randy, who outclassed Kara and Simon in the fashion department. On to the singing….

MICHAEL SARVER (6.5/10) – Michael seemed in his element with this song. I like the quality of his voice. The song wasn’t “challenging” in terms of range, but he sang and performed it well. I could see him on the country charts. Vocally he sings a little too “tight” – he shapes his vowels very flat and very wide, this places the voice in the back of the throat. He would get more depth and range and projection if he opened in the right way. When he does open his mouth, there is good quality in the tone. I know it’s country style. I totally disagree with Simon’s “1.2 out of 10.” Michael looked good, had fun, remembered the lyrics, and sang on pitch. It was at least a 6.5.

ALISON IRAHETA (6.0/10) – Alison has a good voice, but she hasn’t got enough experience or training to understand her instrument. For me it sits too far back – it’s like she’s swallowing the words. Another “tight” singer – meaning you clamp down on the voice in the throat, and then push for ‘power’. So you get a ‘hollow’ sound. Doesn’t work that way. That way is the road to constriction and potential damage. And limited range. There IS a bloom in the voice, but it is hard to hear it with this method of singing (oversinging). That’s why it sounds “tuneless” and has a “dull” tone.

KRIS ALLEN (6.25/10) – Kris has a clear tone, there’s a nice bloom on the voice. The song was well-arranged (simple) and let him shine. Well-phrased. It didn’t blow my socks off, but I thought it was solid.

LIL ROUNDS (6.10) – Lil is not a country singer, but I wish she had chosen a song that fit her better. However, it was well-phrased. She has good tone and solid vocals. I agree with Paula, singing a second verse before going to the chorus was not the best choice, the song took too long to take off. Simon was right – the song didn’t fit her.

ADAM LAMBERT (9/10) – Well I was looking forward to this as IMO Adam clearly has all the ingredients to be an American Idol. What will he do with country, I wonder. Johnny Cash, ‘Ring of Fire.’ All rocked up, interesting take on the song. The best voice in the competition, bar none. If I had him in my studio I’d have very little to say. He seems in command of his instrument, and he’s creative with it. He’s an Artist, for sure. I disagree with Simon – it was an different & interesting take on the song, not at all ‘horrific’. I agree with Randy – Nine Inch Nails doing country (“Hurt”, anyone?).

SCOTT MACINTYRE (5.0/10) – Scott is talented, no doubt. Especially on the piano. But I don’t think he’s a particularly good singer at this moment in time. I think the voice needs further development. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about him, or want to see his dream die, but I think we also need to assist young people to assess their abilities honestly and figure out what they need to work on to grow and improve. One of the issues is how he pronounces his words… very wide vowels, which means he loses tonal quality and strength of tone. The too-big shapes and the lifting of the head as he sings leads to an unnatural vibrato in his voice and a sense of thinness in the sound. I found the debate between Paula & Simon over whether or not Scott should use use the piano to be irritating. I agreed with Randy, it was a ‘nice’ and ‘safe’ performance.

ALEXIS GRACE (5.5/10) – Alexis has a strong voice, she phrased the song well and put her own interpretation on it. Her top voice needs development – really, she needs to understand her instrument better. When we have a powerful chest voice and we are in the habit of oversinging… our pushing takes something away from the top voice and makes the transition to the upper register more difficult (and unhealthy). There was a word that she especially pushed on that caused the tonal quality to be very hard/harsh, and there was an unnatural wobble in the sound at that point. This kind of pushing leads to pitch problems and uneven tone. She needed to sing it simply, and trust the song to bring her voice out (if a song doesn’t bring your voice out effectively – pick a different song!). One of my main issues with the Idol shows as samples of ‘good singing’ is that they often lead to the misapprehension that ‘loud’ is better. Alexis’s performance was a good example of that misunderstanding.

DANNY GOKEY (7.0/10) – Danny has a good voice, although I find it a little nasal in quality, especially in the verse. Pretty solid performance, though. I didn’t feel like it was a terrific song choice for him, and I agree it took awhile for the song to begin to work for him. Randy was right about the need to support the verse better, and Danny said he didn’t know what to do with that part. That surprises me. I understood that, besides working with Randy Travis, the competitors had a vocal coach. But I guess they can choose whether they use those resources or not. If you don’t know… why wouldn’t you work with a coach. If you don’t know… perhaps it’s the song itself that isn’t a fit. In any case, I thought it was extremely interesting to hear the judges comment on this performance. Compare what they said about Danny to what they said about Adam. They actually said that Danny’s performance was better than Adam's performance. Really?

ANOOP DESAI (7.10/10) – I like the placement of Anoop’s voice. It’s not back in the throat, it doesn’t resonate in the nasal cavity, he has a clear bright tone. He phrased the song well, and I liked how he built the song using vocal texture – which demonstrates sensitivity and mastery. Sometimes, simple is best. And letting the song ‘sing itself’ while you sing from your heart, is powerful.

MEAGAN JOY (5.2/10) – There is a depth to Meagan’s voice, but I don’t think this song (or any other song she’s sung to date) really shows it. I thought this was a rather “girlish” performance and that some of her licks were insecure. I felt like it was “Beach Blanket Bingo”. However, at the end of the song, the judges pointed out that Meagan has been very ill, and I give her kudo’s for performing so well under enormous pressure. As a singer myself, I know there is nothing you can do to create tone or stay on pitch if you are so ill that the voice isn’t responding. However, I looked back at how I’ve rated her in the past… the average out of 3 performances was 5.1 out of 10. I marked her 5.2 for this performance. I’m sure she’ll be back, and we’ll see how she progresses.

MATT GIRAUD (5.5/10) – Nice bloom on the voice, I like that warm vibrato. I wondered about some of the phrasing and how breathing was handled. The practice of singing breathy in the verses (which tires the apparatus) and then pushing the chorus is one I dislike for many reasons. The judges raved so much about this sometimes pitchy, seemingly insecure performance that I went back and watched it again. It certainly didn’t work for me, and I shook my head when Kara, Paula and Simon were all over it as being the best of the night. Not to put Matt down for putting it out there and doing his best, but I do sometimes wonder if I am hearing a different performance than the judges, or if it sounds different in the theatre than it does on tv.

Who should go: Scott.
Who will go: Lil.

Results Mar 11/09

Jasmine & Jorge voted off. Not that surprising.

Top 13, Mar 10/09

My picks. I have always felt that Adam has great vocals, tonight he was amazing, reminded me of Steve Tyler and other terrific rock artists. My only worry is that he may be peaking too soon. I hope he is wise enough to rest up, and focus on continuing to work hard. You don't want to assume you have it in the bag. My bottom two are Kris & Anoop... many of the others are rated pretty close to each other right now.

*Adam (10/10)
*Danny (7.25/10)
*Lil (7/10)
Matt (6.95/10)
Alison (6.9/10)
Meagan (6.8/10)
Michael (6.75)
Jasmine(6.6/10)
Jorge (6.55/10)
Scott (6.5/10)
Alexis (6.30/10)
-Kris (6.25/10)
-Anoop (5/10)

Wildcard Show 5Mar09

Well, let's see what they come up with tonight.

JESSE (3/10) – boring, agree with Simon, a little 'self-indulgent'

*MATT (7.2/10) – not sure of song, brought his personality out, a little self indulgent too, but very enjoyable

MEAGAN (4/10) – too low for her, wanted to hear more of her range, nice tone, kinda missed the last note. Okay song.

*VON (8/10) – great vocals. What? This guy is boring and the others so far weren’t?

*JASMINE (7.8) – okay, she has a voice, she has potential. Is she ready to be an Idol? I don’t know. Felt a little pitchy, I thought it was a shaky performance.

RICKY (7.5/10) – ain’t it obvious where the judges are going? His performance wasn’t THAT bad.

*TATIANA (7.7) – okay, so she sang the same song. She sang it pretty well. Her voice is mature, strong – ready – unlike Jasmine. She can sing on pitch, too.

*ANOOP (7/10) – he’s not bad, not bad. Some strength, some depth of tone

**MY PICK – Von, Jasmine... Matt… maybe Tatiana, Anoop?

--Jasmine: they call her up, what do you think they are going to say? Randy says… heavy deliberation… welcome to the top twelve.

--Ricky – front and centre – Kara says… you showed more personality… but not enough.

--Meagan / Tatiana – it’s not over… what you’ve done is astonishing. Continue with your dream… MEAGAN?????? Give me a break.

--Jesse – Simon says – you didn’t make the top twelve

--Von – I don’t think he’ll make it, they have called him up now & there are other people left.

--Matt, Anoop. Should be Matt. Simon says… Matt, you’ve made it through.

Then they announce… they are going to make it a top 13, and Anoop is in.

Top 13 now includes: Jasmine, Meagan, Matt, Anoop

Well, on to the real competition now. Maybe.

Results 4Mar09

Lil (no big surprise), Scott (not the best singer by a mile), Jorge.

Simon: "One of you is through to the top twelve. The other is not." Yeah.

Here are the wildcard contestants and my rating of their performance: Von Smith (7/10), Jasmine Murray (3/10), Ricky Braddy (8/10), Megan Corkrey, Tatiana del Toro (6.75/10), Matt Giraud (4/10), Jesse Langseth (7.1/10) and Anoop Desai (4/10)).

Last group of 12 – 3Mar09

I thought it was a better show in terms of quality of singers, but I have to admit I started zoning out towards the end. Two hours, too much chit chat. I look forward to when we have the top 12 and can zero in on individual performances better.

*VON SMITH (7/10) – nice tone, sang smoothly in tune, song had an agreeable groove, not bad.

TAYLOR V (6/10) – rather low, but I liked her delivery of the first verse. The second seemed less secure – probably because the voice gets tired swiftly when we sing too low in the register for too long. I felt she has a nice instrument but it needs more development. I wasn’t sure of the song choice for her. She did look comfortable on stage.

*ALEX W-T (7.5/10) – good voice, solid tone & depth. I wanted him to open his mouth more. He showed personality.

ARIANNA (6.5/10) – I felt there was depth to the voice/tone. Odd song, but good voice. She needs to be careful not to push the voice. I thought the accompaniment was a bit strange. Who arranges these things?

*JU’NOT (6.8/10) – nicely done, very secure, good song choice for him, good build. Kept me with him all the way through. He knows how to paint a song with his voice.

KIRSTEN (6.2/10) – She was dressed like Maria in ‘The Sound of Music’ and the song / performance was overdone.

NATHANIEL (6.6/10) – A bloom on the voice, nice flow, youthful personality. An okay, fun performance.

?? (6.4/10) – I felt like there was some good tone in the voice, not bad, a little pitchy… I started to zone out and didn’t even get her name.

SCOTT (6.3/10) – It was a safe, okay performance, I would have liked to have heard more depth.

KENDALL (5.10) – Very cute, I thought the song was pitchy & pushy. Not the song for her.

JORGE (6.45/10) – Solid tone, sung on pitch, the performance was okay… last note was good.

*LIL (6.9/10) – I’m afraid I felt a little skeptical listening to all the judges rave about this performance. Yeah, she was good… but she didn’t blow my socks off. A warm rich voice, I thought it was a safe song choice, not a bad performance.

As you can see, I didn’t rate anyone more than 7.5 and most of the singers were in the 6.0 to 7.0 range – acceptable but not extraordinary.

Maybe 3 out of these 4 will go through: AlexW, VonS, Lil, Ju’Not