chop by Sigvold
How many of you feel that you wasted another hour on this show? I know I didn't. I watched the interesting Wednesday night reality TV: Wife Swap, Big Brother and America's Next Top Model and looked up the results during commercials.. So this essay is not going to discuss the lame-o question & answer period, or what Kim Locke was wearing for her song.
Were you happy with this result? Given the other choices I am. I placed Chikezie in my bottom 3 but called for him to be sent back to safety. But I'm much happier seeing Jason receive the "wake-up call." Next week, Jason should not only look for an interesting song with a message we've not heard that often, he should also look up interesting facts about his song of choice. He might have avoided the B3 this week had he taken a moment to check out Songfacts. He could have told us the interesting factoid about Fragile that the song was inspired by an American Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua who was shot by contras. Perhaps if viewers had seen Jason as someone who thinks about "bigger issues," that might have helped him to have more impact.
Anyway, I hope he takes a moment to study the lyrics next week and find a Dolly Parton song with which he can connect, if there is such a thing. I don't know her discography well at all; I even looked it up and didn't recognize the titles. It will be a difficult week for many of the top 9.
At this point, only Kristy Lee should have a good time of it. But it's the usual pitfall - the one area in which someone is expected to shine, they fall flat. It's down to song choice, which could prove much harder when you don't even know the catalogue AND aren't used to the genre.
Jason simply has to decide whether he wants to make a real effort next week. He's got a certain amount of talent; a little bit of time spent reviewing song lyrics and choosing something with a message he can relate to, is the effort he needs to make.
Actually, that advice would hold true for all the contestants. Read the lyrics of the song - what are you SAYING with this choice of song? I think that a song you can sell can be better than one that simply shows 'vocal range.'
Brooke sang a song about a stalker and got away with it because she's so cute. Chikezie sang a song that sounded like he was either asking for a one-night stand, or going off to war after having what amounted to a one-night stand with someone whom he just married so in case he got killed, the country could send benefits to a woman he barely knew and a child he never met. Man, was all that really going on?
Look, the trouble for Chikezie is he had marketed himself as someone who "changed up the song," throwing completely different styles together and entertaining us in a sort of shock-jock fashion. When he tried singing the song straight without a major change part-way through, his audience said, "No, thanks. That's not why we kept you in."
On the other hand, would Chikezie have had even this long of a stay without the gimmick? It's actually possible he'd still be in the competition, although everyone including Paula would have been calling him dull by now. The main problem with Chikezie could be that he put his competition together all wrong. If he'd done the "straight singing" style the first week and the weird style combo this week, he might well still be here. He'd have shown he has many sides to his performance personality, rather than causing people to be disappointed with him when they didn't receive the anticipated "unexpected" song treatment.
Alternatively, people might have viewed his gimmick as just a gimmick. But, if he couldn't or wouldn't find a song each week on which he could work his song re-arrangement "magic," then his mistake was branding himself as someone who did do in the first place. When he tried to change to a different kind of singer, a more "normal" kind, it was a non-starter. Rather than a music magician, he looked like a clown who'd already run out of tricks. He had no hope to woo people who wanted a straight balladeer because we weren't expecting that from him. A few of his fans commented on the night that it was a good song, sung well, blah blah but our expectations were for something completely different. He set us up to expect it, and when he didn't deliver he lost his fanbase.
What about Kristy Lee? I know many of you are wondering WTF? Why is she still here? Is it luck, or did she earn it? I think she earned it. Week 1 of the competition proper (i.e., the Top 12), Kristy was such a nervous wreck you could hear the fear in her voice. Week 2 she settled in and conquered most of her nerves. She was in the bottom 2 both weeks, but each time someone else was worse. Amanda even started out with a fanbase, which she lost by refusing to show different sides of her singing self. Kristy's song choice this week WAS clever, but not only that, she delivered the song well. Had she still been a bundle of nerves, the song choice would not have worked.
And what of Syesha, the other member of this week's Bottom 3? I ranked her very high this week, one of the better contestants among a field that mostly didn't impress. Is she simply fading into the background, competent but dull? Does she have anything to offer to rejuvenate her Idol career and keep her in the competition? It will come down to song choice for her. If there's a song in the Dolly Parton oeuvre with which she can connect, then she might have a chance to out-shine enough of the others. I really don't know.
Country week is a challenge for most of the contestants and this season's batch is no exception. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or dreading it, but I will be here to report on it.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.
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