Well, it's probably my favorite focused week, because I am one of them childs of the 80s, and I love me some 80s tunes. Looking forward to it. So let's do this, and as always I write my reactions to the performances before I hear what the judges have to say. Here they are, in order of appearance...
DeAndre: "I Like It" - Well I said I like the 80s music - what the heck is this stuff? If you're breaking' out the DeBarge there are better songs, right? When he said he was 17 in the video package I completely had forgotten how young he is. without trying to sound ironic, well, I liked it. From the last chorus to the end was very strong. If you 'like' that sort of thing.
Elise: Toga! Toga! Can't wait for Randy to reference Mariah's cover of this song. Not crazy about this arrangement, I would have liked them to have roughed up this one with some aggressive guitars.I thought that key change was 100% cheeseball. She could be in trouble as a result.
Colton and Skylar: "Islands in the Stream" - this song always freaked me out because as a country song performed by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton but written by the Bee Gees, it always felt like a song created by Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone. These two have all the chemistry of boring. They are like a "Flock of Reba-gulls."
Phillip: "That's All" - His face always has a secret, and it's one that is completely enjoyable to watch. I thought his schtick would get old after a while, but it truly has only grown in stature and interesting-ness. Screwed up the lyrics at the end, but I'm a fan.
DeAndre and Hollie: "I'm So Excited" - Which one of these two amount to one Pointer Sister? Again, there is no chemistry here. Never has a lyric been less evident on a couple's face than during this chorus. Sounded great, but seriously. I love the eighties, but this is not my eighties music. Where is Kajagoogoo when you need them? Toto? Anyone?
Joshua: "If You Don't Know Me By Now" - Loved the intro with the choir flyby… This kid is unbelievable, right? Sexual Chocolate! Wow, wow, wow. Flip's lid has flipped.
Jessica: "How Will I Know?" - Okay, she needs to let up on the alter ego talk. KEYTAR alert. One thing she's doing in the verse is holding out those high notes on each last line. That's impressive. Even Whitney just hit them and left quickly. This song isn't one of my 80s favorite, but it reminds you of just how impressive Whitney Houston was to have a song that's so bubblegum but so difficult to master - and Jessica mastered it. It's probably the alter ego who insists on doing lyrical sign-language, cause you know, I don't know what using a phone looks like.
Elise and Phillip: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" - Now this is chemistry. Finally! And a great song to boot. It's funny, they are doing the choreographed walking almost ironically. Best duet by a long shot so far. I might even want this from iTunes. Do they sell the mp3s of the duets?
Hollie: "What a Feeling" - The only part that worked for me is the key change chorus. Everything else was pretty barbie doll for me. Forced and robotic…
Joshua and Jessica: "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" - I actually liked this, but at this point I have run out of things to say about the duets. Okay I'll try something. They seem like they are on an award show and have had separate careers for ages and are performing together for the first time after a big fight. Like if we could have seen a duet between MJ and Prince.
Colton: "Time After Time" - I'm just glad he's not the one singing "Wind beneath my Wings"… Bring on the lifehouse chord alterations in the verses… I liked this, especially the drum breakdown. He has to be careful of his tone sounding like he needs some Nyquil. It really sounded nasally in that last chorus.
Skylar: "Wind Beneath Me Wings" - I have become a country freak or something, because I actually love the slide guitar there. It's pretty hard to break through the cheese of this song, but that entire first verse, she told that story like it was a classic country song about a pickup truck and a gun rack in the back. And that last chorus? Forget about it. That was completely compelling and unbelievable. Can you see how much better she is at the emotional selling of a song than Hollie or even Jessica?
RANDOM NOTES:
Steven saying "I forgot where I was" is not necessarily a result of DeAndre's singing, right?
I think all the judges need to stop talking about how the original writer or performer is "somewhere right now saying" whatever. Look. If El Debarge is somewhere saying something, he's probably saying "hey, someone is actually saying the words "el debarge" unironically on national television.
Gwen Stefani: "They're called goosies on this show." Nice.
Randy: I know there's a lot of lyrics and melody in that…" huh? as opposed to what?
Steven thinks that the word judge only applies to negative words, since he can't "judge" Jessica because he only has good things to say.
The Tommy Hilfiger experiment continues to dwindle in presence, now he's in the audience with a quick handshake. I suppose next week they'll just show an 8x10 of him in the Ford Commercial.
Jennifer's notes to Hollie were the most coherent and helpful notes I've ever heard her give.
Good for Colton giving credit to the band whose arrangement he borrowed. Clearly he's used to working in churches, and learned the lesson of Daughtry.
Skylar: "I miss my gun so much."
So who is in the bottom three? I gotta think DeAndre, Hollie, and Elise are bottom three bound. Not sure who it will be - but if it's Hollie, they might use their save.
DeAndre: "I Like It" - Well I said I like the 80s music - what the heck is this stuff? If you're breaking' out the DeBarge there are better songs, right? When he said he was 17 in the video package I completely had forgotten how young he is. without trying to sound ironic, well, I liked it. From the last chorus to the end was very strong. If you 'like' that sort of thing.
Elise: Toga! Toga! Can't wait for Randy to reference Mariah's cover of this song. Not crazy about this arrangement, I would have liked them to have roughed up this one with some aggressive guitars.I thought that key change was 100% cheeseball. She could be in trouble as a result.
Colton and Skylar: "Islands in the Stream" - this song always freaked me out because as a country song performed by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton but written by the Bee Gees, it always felt like a song created by Rod Serling in the Twilight Zone. These two have all the chemistry of boring. They are like a "Flock of Reba-gulls."
Phillip: "That's All" - His face always has a secret, and it's one that is completely enjoyable to watch. I thought his schtick would get old after a while, but it truly has only grown in stature and interesting-ness. Screwed up the lyrics at the end, but I'm a fan.
DeAndre and Hollie: "I'm So Excited" - Which one of these two amount to one Pointer Sister? Again, there is no chemistry here. Never has a lyric been less evident on a couple's face than during this chorus. Sounded great, but seriously. I love the eighties, but this is not my eighties music. Where is Kajagoogoo when you need them? Toto? Anyone?
Joshua: "If You Don't Know Me By Now" - Loved the intro with the choir flyby… This kid is unbelievable, right? Sexual Chocolate! Wow, wow, wow. Flip's lid has flipped.
Jessica: "How Will I Know?" - Okay, she needs to let up on the alter ego talk. KEYTAR alert. One thing she's doing in the verse is holding out those high notes on each last line. That's impressive. Even Whitney just hit them and left quickly. This song isn't one of my 80s favorite, but it reminds you of just how impressive Whitney Houston was to have a song that's so bubblegum but so difficult to master - and Jessica mastered it. It's probably the alter ego who insists on doing lyrical sign-language, cause you know, I don't know what using a phone looks like.
Elise and Phillip: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" - Now this is chemistry. Finally! And a great song to boot. It's funny, they are doing the choreographed walking almost ironically. Best duet by a long shot so far. I might even want this from iTunes. Do they sell the mp3s of the duets?
Hollie: "What a Feeling" - The only part that worked for me is the key change chorus. Everything else was pretty barbie doll for me. Forced and robotic…
Joshua and Jessica: "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" - I actually liked this, but at this point I have run out of things to say about the duets. Okay I'll try something. They seem like they are on an award show and have had separate careers for ages and are performing together for the first time after a big fight. Like if we could have seen a duet between MJ and Prince.
Colton: "Time After Time" - I'm just glad he's not the one singing "Wind beneath my Wings"… Bring on the lifehouse chord alterations in the verses… I liked this, especially the drum breakdown. He has to be careful of his tone sounding like he needs some Nyquil. It really sounded nasally in that last chorus.
Skylar: "Wind Beneath Me Wings" - I have become a country freak or something, because I actually love the slide guitar there. It's pretty hard to break through the cheese of this song, but that entire first verse, she told that story like it was a classic country song about a pickup truck and a gun rack in the back. And that last chorus? Forget about it. That was completely compelling and unbelievable. Can you see how much better she is at the emotional selling of a song than Hollie or even Jessica?
RANDOM NOTES:
Steven saying "I forgot where I was" is not necessarily a result of DeAndre's singing, right?
I think all the judges need to stop talking about how the original writer or performer is "somewhere right now saying" whatever. Look. If El Debarge is somewhere saying something, he's probably saying "hey, someone is actually saying the words "el debarge" unironically on national television.
Gwen Stefani: "They're called goosies on this show." Nice.
Randy: I know there's a lot of lyrics and melody in that…" huh? as opposed to what?
Steven thinks that the word judge only applies to negative words, since he can't "judge" Jessica because he only has good things to say.
The Tommy Hilfiger experiment continues to dwindle in presence, now he's in the audience with a quick handshake. I suppose next week they'll just show an 8x10 of him in the Ford Commercial.
Jennifer's notes to Hollie were the most coherent and helpful notes I've ever heard her give.
Good for Colton giving credit to the band whose arrangement he borrowed. Clearly he's used to working in churches, and learned the lesson of Daughtry.
Skylar: "I miss my gun so much."
So who is in the bottom three? I gotta think DeAndre, Hollie, and Elise are bottom three bound. Not sure who it will be - but if it's Hollie, they might use their save.
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