American Idol Top 12 Guys: What’s Going On?

February 21, 2007 by Masterclass Lady 3 Comments


Good morning everyone:

I am running short on time here and I hope to write an abbreviated Vocal Masterclass summary for this season’s Top 12 male singers.

However, I was pretty much dismayed by the sub par performances last evening. I didn’t feel that any of the singers – except one – distinguished himself as an individual artist. It is still very early in the competition and yet the stakes are very high. This is the road to the Top 12 and it is quite sad when only one singer can distinguish himself as a Top 12 contender.

Generally, the guys were short on adequate vocal technique, correct song choice and artistic vocal presence. Also, I found many of the voices similar in tone and timbre – almost a veiled quality to their overall vocal sound, with a limited dynamic range.

The potential in many of these singers is very evident and I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised in the next couple of weeks. I give all of them kudos and back pats for their hard work and I am sure improvement will be evident as we move toward the Top 10 male singers next week.

So, who was this distinguishing singer? Blake Lewis! Loved him. Great voice and great presence on stage.

I will post my Vocal Masterclass article as soon as my schedule permits.

Masterclass Lady, Music, Rosanne Simunovic, Vocal Masterclass Articles, Vocal Tips
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About Masterclass Lady

Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli. When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler. She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8. In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman. In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins. In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright. In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins. Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
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3 Responses to “American Idol Top 12 Guys: What’s Going On?”

  1. Jesse February 21, 2007 at 5:27 pm

    I completely agree with you. I thought last night was a disaster. But all along I’ve been saying that the men were more about personality than vocal talent. I feel the women are much stronger singers and it’ll be interesting to see how things start shaking out once we get to the finals. Will America prefer vocal talent or personality?

    I also agree that Blake was the best of the night. It was so nice to see someone singing a contemporary, different type of song then the “stevie wonder” type of stuff that everyone else was doing. I really enjoyed his performance as well as Chris Richardson’s. Both have unique qualities from the rest of the pack that I’m looking forward to seeing in the future.

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  2. Pam February 21, 2007 at 8:29 pm

    I agree that the guys really were off their game last night. However, I have heard a lot of them pre-idol and they all just sang badly last night and usually are a lot better. Paul Kim, for instance had a lot available to listen to (gone now) and he just didn’t do well at all last night.

    I liked what Blake did, but I felt Chris Sligh sounded better, and also liked AJ and Phil.

    Chris Richardson sounded strange – like he had lost all depth to his voice and was singing in mono rather than stereo!

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  3. Rachel February 22, 2007 at 12:25 am

    I agree, the only performances that stood out to me were, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, and AJ Tabaldo. They did a great job! Blake did better by far compared to the rest, but those were my favorites!

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