TOP 5 - APR 28/09 - RAT PACK

KRIS (The Way You Look Tonight); I like Kris and his style. His technique is not bad. The voice is a little throaty. He has a good sense of phrasing and dynamics, his upper notes are solid and sweet. 8.5/10

ALISON (Someone to Watch Over Me); I thought she sang with a little more dynamic sense than usual, her nasal huskiness is distinctive, but the voice sits too far back for me, it makes her tone have a dull edge. Her best performance to date, IMO. 8/10

MATT (My Funny Valentine); I disagree with the lowering of the key. I felt the beginning of the song was too low and this made Matt lose tone in the first few phrases. He does have some agility and range, but he’s up against stiff competition. 7.5/10

DANNY (Come Rain or Come Shine); I have always thought that Danny and Adam are pretty closely matched. I like Danny’s husky voice, and he has such a good sense of musicality. Very nice dynamics, good phrasing, every note on pitch. He has natural power, he looked and sounded totally committed to the song. Excellent. 9.5/10

ADAM (Feeling Good); Beautifully bright tone to start off, immaculately on pitch. Extremely well done, can’t fault him. 9.6/10

I believe Matt will go home this week.

Results - Disco Wk / Top 7

Lil - eliminated at the top of the show

After a rather questionable disco medley... we got on with the rest of the results.

Kris - safe

Adam - safe

Danny - safe

Anoop - bottom 2

Matt - safe

Alison - bottom 2

The choice is Anoop or Alison. It will be Anoop. I'd be shocked if it was Alison, although her song choice this week wasn't that great.

45 million votes - and Anoop goes home. Alison is safe.

I thought Lil and Anoop performed well. What's up with Simon? Telling someone they are clumsy or horrible is, at best, unhelpful.. at worst, arrogant.

DISCO NIGHT – APR 21/09 – TOP 7

My take on the night, from top to bottom.

ADAM (If I can’t have you) – beautiful phrasing, well-modulated dynamics, excellent tone, heartfelt, wonderfully done, understated elegance and simplicity that shows true spirit and skill.

DANNY (September) – Definitely showed strength and range, good solid vocal, fun performance.

KRIS (She Works Hard for the Money) – Nice bloom on the voice, worked it out in his own style, interesting arrangement, world vibe. Good work.

MATT (Staying Alive) – When I heard the title I wondered how he was going to manage the range. But he delivered, sang a good solid vocal and it was a fun performance.

ALISON (Hot Stuff) – Once again I am impressed with the maturity/depth of Alison’s voice, however, I thought the song, or the arrangement it of it, was blah. She sings in her throat, swallows the words, and has no dynamics in her phrasing. But she is a strong performer.

ANOOP (Dim the Lights) – Anoop has a wonderful tone, beautifully bright, good range, a lovely bloom on the voice. The vocals were strong and secure, but the song sucked.

LIL (I’m Every Woman) – It was fun but I don’t think the song did anything for her.

I think Lil & Anoop will go home.

MOVIE SONGS Apr 14/09 – Top 7

My assessments, in order of ranking:

ADAM – Right on pitch, good body in tone, a fun song, great range as always; wonderfully done. I do wonder if he could sustain that kind of performance for an entire concert.

ANOOP – beautifully bright and open tone (forward position), securely on pitch, understood the words, has a ‘bloom’ on the voice, lovely top notes.

DANNY – Husky tone, in charge of his instrument, nice falsetto, pretty strong performance.

ALISON – verse felt too low, chorus was OK, also seemed a bit low, it didn’t bring out her voice in the way I’d wish. A couple pitchy spots, after the key change it started to work. She has a distinctive sound, but she places her voice so it resonates in the throat and we can’t understand the words.

KRIS – I liked the beginning, I wrote ‘solid vocal’ but at the end I agreed with Randy that it was pitchy here and there.

MATT – Nice tone, swallows the words a bit, bridge a little pitchy/squeaky.

LIL – I was disappointed in the song choice. I use “The Rose” as the first rock ballad for some of my female students who have not yet developed much range. It’s very low and has very little in the way of vocal challenge. I expected Lil to sing something like ‘Goldfinger’. Anyway, I wasn’t sure of the arrangement; it was a bit pitchy, and I agreed with Simon that she’s got to challenge herself vocally if she expects to stay in the competition.

***RESULTS

Bottom Three: Anoop, Lil & Matt. Matt got the lowest number of votes but was saved by the judges.

Results - Apr 8/09

ADAM - safe. Good. No suprise.

KRIS - judges said he was boring & indulgent. I don't think so. Yes, Kris is safe.

ANOOP - judges said he was original & flawless - in the bottom 3.

DANNY - judges said he sang well, made song his own, brilliant. Safe.

MATT - judges praised his vocal ability, incredible on every level. Safe.

SCOTT - judges were not impressed - in the bottom 3. Good.

ALISON - judges loved her rendition, a la Kelly Clarkson. Safe. Darn right.

LIL - she should be bottom 3. Beautiful karaoke, 3rd rate Tina Turner. Needs to be more original - in the bottom three.

So we have Anoop, Lil and Scott on the stools waiting.

In the meantime, let's talk about Scott, cause I've been thinking about him all night. As a voice teacher it is part of my ethical obligation to be both supportive and also honest. I appreciate Scott for all he is, but at this moment in time, he does not belong in this competition. It is a disservice to his talent to allow him to think he is currently singing at a professional level. We must have enough respect for him to be honest in our assessment of his instrument and his skill right now. I believe in dreams but I also believe in hard work and humility. My coaches paid me the compliment of using their eyes and ears and instincts to help me assess where I was, and shared their expertise with me so I could grow over time. They taught me to observe myself disspassionately, objectively, without judgement and use my awareness to know what needed work. When they told me something was very good, I knew it was excellent. They never led me astray. Their honesty was a gift to my process of growth as an artist.

Is it just me or is Kelly Pickler way off key? Ouch.

One person back to safety is.... Lil. Well, I disagree with that. Anoop clearly sang better than Lil last night. However, I think they both should stay. Hopefully that will be the result. We shall see.

Anoop & Scott. 34 million votes. 30,000 difference in votes between them. The lowest number of votes goes to Scott. I nod my head. Anoop is safe. This is right.

Scott needs to sing for a save, which I hope they will save this time. His performance doesn't change my mind. They are divided on the save, which suprises me. Simon finally speaks up. He's right. It doesn't diminish what Scott has accomplished, he will tour with the top ten, he has a chance to make a career. But for right now, he's going home.

TOP 8 – APRIL 7/09

Here’s my ranking, from bottom to top:

SCOTT (The Search is Over) – unfortunately this was totally the wrong song choice for Scott. He’s not a rock singer and it felt like the music was off kilter – something in the timing didn’t work. Instead of showing Scott’s skill, the song made his vocal weakness quite clear. His instrument is really just not ready for a singing competition.

LIL (What’s Love Got to Do With It) – Seemed a bit low at the start. Tina Turner? Why not Shirley Bassey or Whitney Houston or something that sits higher and brings out the voice more effectively. She did pull it out a little about half way through. Again, song choice. Kara made an excellent point about the low range not working effectively. Choose songs that accentuate your strengths, then.

KRIS (All She wants to do is Dance) – good vocals, on pitch, nice groove. Not bad. Didn’t think it was really challenging, but it was fun.

ALISON (I can’t Make You Love Me) – her voice is very mature for a 16 year old. I thought she sang with restraint and simplicity, this served her well. The song didn’t thrill me as a show of skill, but she sang it well.

ANOOP (True Colours) – solid tone, very emotive, on pitch, nice bloom on the voice, sweetly sung. Nice modulation and phrasing. Yes, not brilliant but solid.

MATT (Part-time Lovers) – very musical, easy riffs, good arrangement, sung with great spirit. Fun.

DANNY (Stand by Me) – great song choice, a little nasal in quality sometimes. Secure, confident, worked it out – a very good performance.

ADAM (Mad World) – excellent control, beautiful phrased, sung from the heart, good song choice. Magical, powerful performance. I wrote “a star” and then Simon rose to his feet and gave a standing ovation. This is what good voice training can do – assist in the expression of the artist within.

Likely Scott or Lil will go. It should be Scott. Give Lil one more chance to show what she can do with the right song.

Apr 1st - Results

We know that Alison & Meagan are in the bottom three. The last two people on stage waiting to hear which group they are in? Scott & Anoop. Randy says Scott should stay, but the consistently better singer is clearly Anoop. Nope, Scott is safe.

They’d save one of the bottom three, Simon says. I think they’d save Alison. No worries, she’s safe.

Now Anoop and Meagan. Yes, Meagan is last. Okay, finally. She should go, IMO. She certainly has a wonderful look, but she needs some serious vocal training if she expects to have a career. Her final performance didn’t change my mind. But she’ll tour the group, so her journey is not over.

I totally agree with the final result.