The Idols Go To Motown

Casey – “Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye This was my least favorite performance of his, which is weird because I usually love everything he does and I thought the Motown genre would’ve suited him well, so I’m not sure what happened.

Thia – “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas I like her voice. It’s thick and heavy and she has a great tone. I know they wanted her to pick up the pace with her song choices, so I hope they’re happy now. I wasn’t really moved by this performance, but I don’t think she was bad. I prefer her standing still singing a ballad (exactly what the judges are telling her not to do). Did anybody notice the Barbie twins singing background for her? Where did they get them from? They must be new this year. Then there’s also a threesome…two girls and a guy. I wonder how they decide who gets what each week. Maybe they let the contestants choose.

Jacob – “Your All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell Man, he’s just as sweet as he can be, isn’t he? He kills me when he bats his eyelashes. Anyway, WOW! This is his best performance so far. All the way through was good. No mistakes. He definitely worked that song and didn’t over do it. I got the chills for the first time this season.

Southern Bell – “You Keep Me Hanging On” by The Supremes She had a really cute dress on. I know that has nothing to do with singing, but I just though I’d mention that. This was the perfect song choice for her. See what happens when you let a professional choose your song for you? I see she opted for the Barbie twins to back her up. I think she sang the song well, but I’m not jumping out of my seat.

Stefano – “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie Hmmm. I was excited when I heard he was singing this song, because every week he is amazing, but I have to say I was under whelmed. Not my favorite performance of his. He seemed to struggle with the pitch.

Haley – “You Really Got a Hold On Me” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles Curly-haired girl got her hair straightened this week. I had high hopes for this girl from the auditions when she sang that song which escapes my memory right now, but I’ve given up hope for her. I think she’ll be going home soon.

Country Boy – “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder Oh Lord. I really don’t want to hear this boy sing ever again.

Pia – “All In Love Is Fair” by Stevie Wonder OMG, I love this song. Wow! I loved her performance. I really think this girl can be the next big ballad, movie power song superstar. She’s got the look and she’s got the pipes. I can’t wait for her to come out with her CD. The industry needs her to fill that void. Whitney is in rehab and Celine is back in Vegas for a couple of years so we really could use some Pia.

Paul – “Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson I think it was smart to switch the song up and sing it in that style. I think it could’ve worked great if he sang it well, but he didn’t. I’m over him. Send him home.

Naima – “Dancing In The Street” by Martha and the Vandellas I’m not a fan of this song. I think her vocals were mediocre, but the African dancing and the drums were pretty cool.

James – “Living For The City” by Stevie Wonder I’m not a fan of this contestant, but I think this was a smart song choice for him and he did a good job with it.

If my psychic powers are working properly, Haley and Naima will be in the bottom and Haley will probably go home.

The Lady Can Sing The Blues….But She Can’t Ease Down The Road

This formal apology goes out to my SIL (sister-in-law) and Diana Ross, simultaneously. I realize now that I haven’t been giving Diana Ross the respect that she deserves. I’ve been holding a grudge against her for nearly three decades. Everything about her was bothering me. I didn’t appreciate her getting those girls kicked out of the group because of her “special” relationship with their boss. I really can’t stand that big wig of hers, but what really made me mad was the way she ruined The Wiz for me. I first experienced the play live onstage with Stephanie Mills as Dorothy and I loved every second of it. I was mesmerized by this musical. Because of my obsession, naturally I was over the moon when they decided to turn the stage play into a movie. Michael Jackson being cast as the scarecrow was just icing on the cake. Boy did the wind get let out of my sail when I first watched the movie. I was severely disappointed by Diana Ross’s portrayal of Dorothy. Not only was her singing sub par, her acting was super cheesy and way over the top. I could barely stomach it. She completely ruined it for me and I couldn’t even enjoy MJ lighting up the screen without her goofy self all in the shot messing everything up. That was the end of me and Diana Ross. After that she could do nothing right in my eyes. Leave it to Oprah, the omnipotent, to end the feud between me and Ms. Ross. I recently watched the episode where Oprah had Diana Ross on and she came across as very endearing with her kids and her interactions with Oprah. As they recapped her career I was reminded of so many songs of hers that I grew up loving and if my memory serves me correctly, I’m pretty sure I sang “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand” in an elementary school talent show. Diana sang a couple songs and low and behold, she actually sounded pretty good, which is pretty impressive that her voice has held up this well over the years. It kind of makes me wonder if maybe she really could sing all this time and I just couldn’t recognize it because I was so mad with her. Then I was reminded of Mahogany and Lady Sings the Blues and those two movies alone are reasons to worship her. The fact remains that she sucked as Dorothy, but I’m finally willing to let that go and will no longer let that overshadow her other career highlights.

Check out both Dorothy’s and let me know if I’m wrong.

Click here for Stephanie as Dorothy.

Click here for Diana as Dorothy.

Hmm…I just watched the video of Diana singing as I was attaching it to this post and now that I listen to it with an open heart I actually really enjoyed it. She sounded good and even more than that the emotion she was singing with was very touching. Damn. Apparently I’m the one with the problem. My bad Diana.

Two Peas In A Pod (on a piano)…Where Are The Other Two Peas?

Here’s my recap for Idol Week 2, in case you missed it. Naima sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and it just wasn’t good. Her opening video package was more interesting than her performance. Paul (I think that’s his name) sang “Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”. Apparently he had a cold so his voice was hoarse so he didn’t sound good at all. Actually he doesn’t really sound that great when he’s not sick, but J-Lo had the nerve to say he sounded good after telling Naima that she was pitchy. Go figure. Thia sang the song from Pocahontas. I absolutely love this song and most of the Disney princess songs. I think she did a decent job with it, but once again she didn’t wow the judges. The rocker boy (don’t know his name) sang a Bon Jovi song. The judges thought he did great. I’m not falling for the smoke and mirrors. They get caught up in the performance aspect of it all but if you really listen, he’s not hitting those notes, he’s just screaming. The curly-haired girl Haley sang Whitney’s song “I’m Your Baby Tonight” which has me completely perplexed. Of all the Whitney songs there are to sing, this should be last on your list. I’m not saying she sounded that bad, I’m just confused as to why she even chose that song. What was she thinking? I don’t know why they don’t ask me first. If she would’ve asked me should she sing this song, I would’ve told her ‘hell to the no’. Stefano sang “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”. Once again, he sounded great. He is in it to win it and he’s been pretty consistent so far. He should sail through to the finals. Pia sang “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”. I wasn’t a fan of the up tempo music they created to try to make it appear like she was more than a ballad singer by doing something different. She still sang the song like a ballad. She sounded good though so I won’t sweat the weird dance track behind her. I’m not sure what the country boy sang. Everything he sings sounds the same to me. As far as I’m concerned he’s been singing “baby lock the door and turn the lights off” every time he gets on stage. Karen Rodriguez sang Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back”. I like this song and I enjoyed her performance. She did it in Spanglish again, which I am a fan of. Casey (Seth Rogers look-a-like) sang Nirvana. He’s just great to me every time. He’s always entertaining and I can’t wait to see what he does next. The thick girl that was sick sang a Melissa Etheridge song. She actually sounded good considering she was sick, but I wasn’t all that moved by her performance. Jacob sang Heart’s “Alone”. I love this song. I think he did a good job with it. Boy that Jacob sure is on fire…and not for the Lord, if you know what I’m saying. I’m pretty sure he had Mac lip gloss on.

On the results show, America voted Haley, Naima and Karen into the bottom three. I don’t think Karen should be in the bottom. I’m going to be pissed if America doesn’t start giving her the respect that she deserves. Do you think they’re turned off by the Spanglish? They can’t think she’s a bad singer, because she sounds good! The Black Eyed Peas dedicated their song to the people suffering in Japan…which is confusing because the song they sang had nothing to do with anything like that and was in no way inspirational. The performance started with Will.I.Am playing the piano and Fergie “singing” on top of the piano. I wonder where the rest of the peas are. Will.I.Am really thinks he’s a superhero. Something has happened to Fergie’s voice. I feel like at one point she sounded ok, but she’s been consistently horrible for at least four years now. Make it stop. The other two peas showed up later. At the end of the show Karen was in jeopardy of getting kicked off and was given one last chance to sing in hopes that the judges would save her. They didn’t. Whatever, I didn’t think she was going to win, but I don’t think she deserved to go home this early. Next week I’ll break this up into two posts so it’s not so long.

No Time for Fake Ones

Ok guys, it is time for Idol chatter. Since the top 10 or 13 or however many they select now have been chosen, I’m going to start blogging weekly to track their progress. I’ve been watching this show since the beginning so I know how it works and I don’t understand why these idol contestants just don’t run their song selections past me. If they really want to win, they should consult with me first. I can help them. If that piano teacher would’ve told me he was planning to sing “OMG” to make it into the top 10, I would’ve told him that the only thing singing “OMG” would get him is a plane ticket home. This week the contestants were asked to sing one of their idols’ songs. The judges didn’t care for the girls who sang LeAnn Rhimes’ “Blue” and Selena’s “Dreamin’”. I disagree with the judges. They thought the songs were too slow so the performance came across as sleepy and not very exciting, but the fact is they both sounded really good so I don’t think they deserved the negative comments. “Dreamin’” is my favorite Selena song and Karen Rodriguez did a good job with it. The curly-haired girl that sang “Blue” did a great job with that yodel. Don’t get me started on how hard I feel the yodel is. Refer to my blog from 12/15 if you want to hear me go on and on about yodeling. I think the guys that sang “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Lately” did a good job, but I think the best performance of the night was Pia singing “All By Myself”. I cannot tell you how happy I am that America voted the Diana Ross wanna be off in the first week. I couldn’t stand to look at that wig one more week. I really thought there was not one genuine thing about her and that diva attitude she tried to portray was so phony. On top of all that, her voice wasn’t even that great. Her attitude was fake, her nails were fake, her hair was fake and I’m pretty sure her name was fake. I bet you Ashton is a stage name she came up with. Her real name is probably Keisha Jones. If she stuck around I was going to nickname her Phony Braxton, but she’s gone now so we don’t have to worry about that anymore. By the way, that performance from Diddy Dirty Money was whack. I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand the point of this group. Does anybody notice how Diddy just puts those two girls off to the side way in the back as far away as possible? It’s almost like he has a restraining order against them and they have to stay a certain distance away from him at all times. Then it seems as if their mics are turned down really low because you can never really hear them when they sing the two lines that he allows them to sing. So I ask you, what is the point if you’re not even going to let them sing or get near you?