Real Kato Blog: Television: Idol Update, Week 5

Eleven contestants remaining.

It's Barry Manilow night. Or, wait, no, it's actually 1950s songs that Barry Manilow happened to sing recently, but are otherwise completely unrelated to him. I guess they just wanted to get some Manilow time.

Chris Daughtry: 9/10. Overall=8.5.
"Walk the Line". Holy crap; this is as original a performance as I've seen on this show. Vocally there's a couple of rough spots, but the Chris' star quality and inventiveness more than makes up for it. Wow. Update: maybe not as inventive as I originally thought... Live did a version very similar to this. Chris's score has been revised downward.

Taylor Hicks: 7/10. Overall=8.3.
"Not Fade Away". Umm, this isn't a very challenging song... in fact, a little boring, despite Taylor's best efforts to inject some energy into it. Not a bad performance, just a bad song choice.

Paris Bennett: 9/10. Overall=8.0.
"Fever". Ah, the return of Paris! This is exactly the kind of stuff she should be singing. A few problems with low notes, but she nails the power section.

Katharine McPhee: 7/10. Overall=8.0.
"Come Rain or Come Shine". She seems more and more polished every week; Simon says she's turned into "a star". The singing is pretty good, but it seems to lack passion. She doesn't make the song as sexy as it should be.

Mandisa: 9/10. Overall=7.8.
"I Don't Hurt Any More". A great song choice, and a really smooth and polished performance. She looks good and sounds great.

Kellie Pickler: 7/10. Overall=6.8.
"Walkin' After Midnight". This is a little too subdued for her, and it hurts her when she has to hit those soft low notes. And she's apparently been taking some weird coaching on pronunciation, because for the word "searching" she's saying "sairching", like she's got a German accent or something. But not bad. She should have no trouble staying around.

Ace Young: 4/10. Overall=6.3.
"In the Still of the Night". Okay, it sounds like he's WAY off... sharp for most of the song. And he's a getting a little too hammy for my taste.

Elliott Yamin: 6/10. Overall=5.7.
"Teach Me Tonight". He's got a jazzy kind of voice, full of runs and vibrato... it's not necessarily bad, I just don't think it's right for this competition. Sometimes it goes a little overboard, and you wonder if he missed a pitch on purpose or if it was a mistake. And it's a little boring.

Lisa Tucker: 4/10. Overall=5.0.
"Why Do Fools Fall In Love". I said it was like a high school musical, and later Simon used those EXACT SAME WORDS. (I think I've really got Simon's pulse on judging.) The performance was not engaging or exciting, and at best I'd give it polite applause. She's in real danger of leaving this week.

Bucky Covington: 3/10. Overall=3.5.
"Oh Boy". Oh boy, this is boring. And I also tagged him with the "high school musical" thing. It's not challenging, and as Simon says, "pointless". He should go soon.

Kevin Covais: 2/10. Overall=1.5.
"When I Fall In Love". Admittedly a better singing performance than in previous weeks, but still bad. Simon says this song will appeal to his core audience, which is kind of a backhanded compliment, because before Simon said his core audience was 80-year-old women. Unfortunately, I suppose enough 80-year-old women are voting, because he's probably going to hang around for another week or two.

Permalink 2 Comment

Posted by Ken in: television

Comments

Comment #1 from Ken (realkato)
2006 Mar 23 - 7:09 am : #

I had the right bottom three this week! And the right bottom two. And... HOORAY, Kevin Covais is GONE!

Comment #2 from Bake Town (Guest)
2006 Mar 23 - 11:22 am : #

I those three picked too. And thank GOD that kid is gone!

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