Sorry for all the shorthand. That format is standard on another chat site and using it has become force of habit.

So, I will start this new format beginning with the Top 11 performances and it will be fun to see which singers register the most comments.

Bye for now!

p.s. might I suggest your critiques or comments be broken up by singer? The comment link after each singer’s critique implies the comment is specifically for that singer (i.e. “Share your comments about Melinda’s performance”). This causes a lot of commenters to leave off the singer’s name in their comment as they assume the comment is only about that singer from the link.
Thanks, again…

I admire anyone who works in the field of special education. That is a gift and a calling and requires a special talent. Good for you. we need more teachers like you in the world.

I like seeing real technique discussed in the realm of popular music. I have no idea what really happens in the music industry, but I worry about a lot of artists ruining their voices by being “money makers” for their labels before their vocal technique is really ready for it.

Reading your columns also makes me long for the days when I took lessons myself. I know that I do not have the natural talent that many of the AI contestants have, but I enjoyed working with what I had to produce something better. I added an octave to my range, although only 5 of those extra notes were “performance ready.” I also learned how to deal with the notes in my break, got rid of a lot of breathiness to my voice and learned quite a bit about head tone. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue with lessons after high school and I have no idea how to go about getting back into it now. I don’t know of anyone in my area who teaches, and I don’t know how I’d have time for it at this point anyway. I am a high school special education teacher and that leaves me very little time for things like lessons – especially since I am often staying at the school until 5 or 6 pm. It’s frustrating though, because I’ve lost all of my technique, and singing is extremely uncomfortable for me these days. I worry that I will permanently damage my voice without the technique.

I’m sorry for rambling about all of that. I said all of that to say that I love reading your columns because they remind me of the fun I had taking lessons and performing.

I was very disappointed to see Leslie leave. I just think her nerves truly affected her performances and I know that she still has so much success waiting for her. She needs to find the right “door”.

I thought that he was using the word “pitchy” more than necessary this week. Some singers were referred to as “pitchy” when in fact they were not and vice versa.

Maybe, the sound is different live than on TV, but I don’t think so.

Lakisha was very good as well, despite a song that I am sick of hearing on American Idol. I don’t like her style, but her ability is truly great. Her errors were so minor as to be utterly unimportant, and, as far as I can tell, she was technically flawless. Her potential is probably second only to Jordin in this competition, though I will probably never appreciate Lakisha’s style. Like Jordin, she could use work on choreography.

I have a much different opinion of Melinda Doolittle’s performance. Her singing was very well done, but I found her version to be vastly inferior to some others I have seen (heard), not technically, but in arrangement. I thought the phrasing was a mess, though she obviously carefully planned it exactly as it was done, and she needs to learn that, sometimes, simpler is better. In a professional singer, arrangement is very important, and I have to hold it against her since she chose it. She has taken some nice strides from a timid backup singer, and she is obviously a very good singer, but I think she needs to take some time out to learn that more complexity does not automatically mean better.

I like Alaina, but she needs a lot of work, and isn’t on par with a lot of the other singers right now. She has a great personality, and I wish she was better than she is. Her voice is sweet, but not strong. Her grasp on the technicalities of singing is not so great, and she frequently loses track of the pitch she’s supposed to sing. The beginning a capella segment was indeed pretty good, but she wasn’t on track at any point for the remainder of the song. It is fairly apparent she is a passionate person, and I truly hope she continues to work on her singing despite her recent rejection.

Antonella Barba, similar to Alaina, does need a lot of work, though I think a naturally very good voice means she is on par with some of the other singers at this moment. She is obviously untrained, a fact she pointed out at her audition. If she gets some good help learning the technical aspects of singing, she could be very good in the long run.

Haley Scarnato is another singer I’m disappointed with, because she was better than we experienced with this performance. She has a pretty voice, a very solid grasp of the fundamentals, some real power, and the stage aspects were good, but the song did not show her off, especially the subtleties and sweetness her voice is obviously capable of. Interestingly, it didn’t show off her power either. I’m definitely rooting for her to do well.

As for Sabrina, she needs to ease off, one look at her neck shows how much she’s straining for power. She is quite a competent vocalist, but she needs to learn not to strain, and get her power from elsewhere than her neck muscles.